Sesame Noodle Salad
on Mar 26, 2025
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This simple sesame noodle salad is perfect for meal prep for a vegan lunch or dinner. It has soba noodles, cabbage, edamame, carrots and bell peppers. Tossed in a nutty and creamy tahini dressing, you can enjoy the salad cold or at room temperature. To save time, you can buy shredded cabbage and carrots.
Also try this crunchy edamame salad recipe if you are looking for another great lunch salad.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This easy sesame noodle salad is loaded with fresh veggies, making it a nutritious meal that’s quick to make. Using packaged, pre-cut veggies like cabbage and carrots reduces prep time. There’s nothing complicated about this tasty recipe.
Feel free to adjust the ratio of noodles to vegetables based on your preference. Sometimes, I like to add extra veggies to my noodle salads to incorporate leftover vegetables I have on hand.
The star of this cold noodle salad is the creamy vegan tahini dressing. Tahini gives it a silky consistency and rich sesame flavor. Minced garlic and fresh ginger season the dressing and soy sauce and rice vinegar add brightness and umami. The dressing ties the ingredients together beautifully.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Soba noodles are in the Asian food section in the global food aisle at the grocery. Udon noodles or whole-wheat spaghetti will also work. Use rice noodles to make it gluten free.
- Cabbage: You can buy shredded cabbage or cut it yourself. For color, I prefer a combination of red and green cabbage.
- Carrots: Packaged shredded carrots have cleaner cuts. If you want to cut your own carrots, use the grater disc on your food processor or the big holes of a box grater.
- Edamame: This recipe calls for a cup of cooked edamame. There are multiple ways to cook shelled frozen edamame that will be listed on the package. I simmer them in salted boiling water. This takes just a few minutes. If you don’t want to cook edamame, you can use raw sugar snap peas. Cut them thinly on the diagonal into bite size pieces.
- Red bell peppers are fresh and crisp in the salad. Yellow and orange peppers will also work. Slice the pepper lengthwise into thin strips.
- Scallions: These green onions have mild flavor. I think of them as a cross between onions and fresh herbs.
- Sesame seeds give the salad nice nutty crunch. They are important for the sesame flavor beyond the tahini in the dressing.
- Tahini dressing: The vegan dressing turns out creamy. Besides tahini, it has fresh ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, olive oil, salt and pepper. You can swap out the soy sauce and use tamari or coconut aminos instead.
How To Make This Cold Sesame Noodle Salad
1. Make the dressing. Whisk together the ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, tahini, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and olive oil in a small bowl. They should be completely combined into a dressing that’s thick, but still very pourable. Then it will easily coat the noodles.
2. Cook the soba noodles. The water should be at a full boil. You don’t need to salt the water like you would with pasta. Follow the cook time on the package. Then drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them with cold water to stop them from cooking and to maintain their good texture.
3. Toss the half dressing with the noodles. Do this in a big bowl because you need space to add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Stir cabbage, carrots, red peppers, shelled edamame, scallions and sesame seeds into the noodles. You can add more dressing if you want. It helps to do this with a fork to toss it around and get the cabbage, peppers and carrots in between the noodles.
Serving
As mentioned, these noodles are great for a make-ahead lunch or dinner. If you have roasted or grilled chicken, baked tofu, shrimp or salmon, you can serve that on the side or toss it right into the salad.
Storage & Leftovers
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. The cabbage, carrots and peppers will lose some of their crispness the longer you store them. Before I eat the salad, I take it out of the fridge at least 10 minutes ahead of time. Then it won’t be have that intense fridge chill.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overcook the noodles. They should turn out al dente. Review the package directions and recommended cook time.
- Follow the recipe as written and toss the noodles with the dressing before you stir in the other ingredients. Doing it this way ensures that the soba noodles are well dressed. Then it has a lighter touch on the vegetables.
- You can make the sesame dressing up to 2 days ahead of time. Store it in a mason jar in the refrigerator. Put it out at room temperature for 15 minutes before you stir it into the noodles. Then it won’t be as thick, making it easier to toss in the salad.
- If you like a bit of spicy heat, you can add hot sauce, chili oil or chili crisp. Drizzle it on the noodles as you serve them.
More Noodle Recipes
Cold Soba Noodle Salad
Tofu Peanut Vegetable Stir-Fry
Udon Noodle Stir-Fry with Asparagus, Mushrooms & Peas
Mushroom & Bok Choy Noodles
Roasted Broccoli Tofu Noodle Bowls
Sesame Noodle Salad
Ingredients
For dressing
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For salad
- 4 ounces soba noodles
- 3 cups shredded cabbage (green and/or red)
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced lengthwise
- 1 cup cooked shelled edamame
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- For the dressing, whisk the ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, tahini, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and olive oil in a small bowl.
- Cook the soba noodles according to package instructions in a large pot of boiling water. Drain them in a colander and rinse them with cold water.
- In a large bowl, stir the noodles with half the dressing.
- Fold in the cabbage, carrots, peppers, edamame, scallions and sesame seeds. Drizzle in additional dressing as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
