by 
This sesame peanut soba noodle salad is the perfect use-whatever-random-summer-veggies-you-have-in-your-fridge kinda salad. Throw in cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, etc. pretty much anything (within reason) will pair well with this salad. Plus, it’s a simple, easy, one-bowl cold noodle salad that is the perfect weeknight dinner that you don’t need to turn your oven on for.Â
This peanut soba noodle salad is a combo of julienned summer cucumbers, carrots, and bell peppers paired with chewy soba noodles and a creamy peanut chili lime sauce. Plus, loads of toasted sesame seeds!!
Ingredients for this Peanut Noodle Salad
- Soba noodles: Highly recommend Hakubaku soba noodles – most stores carry them. The ingredients are super simple, and they taste fantastic.
- Carrots
- Mini cucumbers or Persian cucumbers
- Red bell pepper
- Peanut butter or sunflower butter: If you have a peanut allergy, sunflower butter is a great sub that happens to taste very peanutty (I personally prefer using sunflower butter).
- Soy sauce or coconut aminos: I prefer using coconut aminos for a sweeter sauce. Quick note, if you’re using soy sauce, don’t add any salt to the sauce, taste, and then add some if needed.
- Toasted sesame oil
- Lime juice
- Honey or maple syrup
- Chili crisp
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Kosher salt
Method Behind this Salad + How to Julienne The Veggies
Add the noodles to a pot of boiling water, along with a large pinch of salt, and cook until soft but still chewy. Drain and rinse the noodles in cold water, and set aside to drain. Let the noodles hang out in the colander until you’re ready to toss the salad, that way any residual water is drained.
In parallel, while the noodles cook, prep the dressing. Add all the ingredients to a small bowl, whisk together, and adjust for salt. If you’re using soy sauce, you may not need to add any salt at all, so taste first, then add salt as needed. Alternatively, you can whisk the dressing in the same bowl you’ll use for the salad to minimize dishes.
The key to this salad is to julienne the veggies. My little hack is to mandoline the carrots and cucumbers lengthwise to get thin, wide slices, and then thinly slice the stack of carrots and cucumbers. I like to mandoline the bell pepper, but you can thinly slice it with a knife if you prefer.
Add the noodles to a large bowl, along with the veggies, sauce, and toasted sesame seeds. Toss together with a fork or use your hands. Adjust for salt (I typically add a generous pinch of kosher salt) and enjoy immediately!
Notes
- Linking the mandoline I use (and LOVE) here.
- Double the dressing if you prefer super saucy noodles. I like my noodle salads with just enough dressing (too much makes the noodle salad feel a bit soggy to me) but if you prefer more, double the sauce recipe.
- Some suggestions to bump up the protein: add in shredded chicken, beef, or crispy tofu. My method for crispy tofu is to cut high-protein tofu into small cubes (1 cm x 1cm), toss in white pepper, kosher salt, and avocado oil, and pop it on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Then I’ll air-fry it in my toaster oven for 20ish minutes.
- If you’re meal-prepping this, mix the noodles and veggies together and store them separately from the sauce. Only dress the salad as soon as you’re ready to eat – the salt in the sauce will draw out the water from the veggies and make the salad watery/soggy, plus the noodles will soften and lose their bite if they sit too long in the sauce.
So excited for you to make this sesame peanut soba noodle salad – I think I might love it even more than this noodle salad. Don’t forget to leave a starred review and rating – love hearing your feedback so much!!
Print
Sesame Peanut Soba Noodle Salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: Dinner, Salads
Description
This peanut soba noodle salad is a combo of julienned summer cucumbers, carrots, and bell peppers paired with chewy soba noodles and a creamy peanut chili lime sauce. Plus, loads of toasted sesame seeds!!
Ingredients
Noodles & Veggies
- 80 g dry soba noodles
- 3–4 scallions, sliced thin lengthwise (18 g sliced)
- 1 small carrots, julienned (30 g sliced)
- 1 mini cucumber, julienned (42 g sliced)
- 1/4 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced (25 g sliced)
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Sesame Peanut Sauce
- 1 tbsp peanut butter or sunflower butterÂ
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos (I prefer coconut aminos for a sweeter sauce)
- 2 tsp honey
- 2 tsp chili crisp
- Kosher salt as needed
Instructions
- Boil the noodles. Add the noodles to a pot of boiling water, along with a large pinch of salt, and cook until soft but still chewy. Drain and rinse the noodles in cold water, and set aside to drain. Let the noodles hang out in the colander until you’re ready to toss the salad, that way any residual water is drained.
- Make the sauce. In parallel, while the noodles cook, prep the dressing. Add all the ingredients to a small bowl, whisk together, and adjust for salt. If you’re using soy sauce, you may not need to add any salt at all, so taste first, then add salt as needed. Alternatively, you can whisk the dressing in the same bowl you’ll use for the salad to minimize dishes.
- Prep the veggies. The key to this salad is to julienne the veggies. My little hack is to mandoline the carrots and cucumbers lengthwise to get thin, wide slices, and then thinly slice the stack of carrots and cucumbers. I like to mandoline the bell pepper, but you can thinly slice it with a knife if you prefer.Â
- Toss and serve. Add the noodles to a large bowl, along with the veggies, sauce, and toasted sesame seeds. Toss together with a fork or use your hands. Adjust for salt (I typically add a generous pinch of kosher salt) and enjoy immediately!