In just 20 minutes, you could be enjoying this DELICIOUS super saucy sesame soba noodle salad. It’s fresh, crunchy, creamy, a little spicy, and perfect for busy weeknights, hot days, meal prep, or easy lunches. Plus, you can easily adapt it with whatever veggies, herbs, or protein you have on hand.
Table of Contents
Sesame Soba Noodle Salad: At a Glance
⏰ Time: 20 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 4
🛒 Key Ingredients: Soba noodles, tahini, sesame oil, cucumber, broccolini, soy sauce, rice vinegar
🧠 Skill Level: Beginner-friendly
👩🍳 Cooking Method: Stove top
🍳 Make Ahead: Keeps well for up to 4 days
💃 Perfect For: Meal prep, heatwave cooking, BBQ sides, quick and easy dinners
Why this Soba Noodle Salad Works So Well
This is the kind of low-effort, high-reward meal I rely on in summer when I really can’t face turning on the oven, but it’s equally fab for any time of year.
It’s quick, nice and saucy, make-ahead friendly, and great straight from the fridge, making it perfect for hot days, meal prep, and potlucks.
“So mouth watering, the flavours are delish with the miso chicken.”
- Ready in 20 minutes, with no oven needed.
- Super saucy, thanks to the creamy tahini sesame dressing.
- Fabulous cold or at room temperature, so it’s perfect for lunches, picnics, BBQs, or meal prep.
- Super easy to bulk out with extra veggies (it’s a great way to clear out your veg drawers), or toss in grilled chicken (this miso chicken or sticky gochujang chicken is great), salmon, tofu, or pan-fried halloumi (like this sweet chili glazed halloumi).
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Soba noodles. These have a lovely, nutty flavor, and they’re great for cold noodle salads. You’ll find them in the Asian section of the grocery store. If you’re gluten-free, double-check the packet as lots of soba noodles contain wheat flour too. If you can’t find soba noodles, any other noodle will work – egg noodles, udon, or rice noodles are great in salads.
- Tahini. This is what makes the sauce gorgeously creamy, without having to use mayo. Different brands of tahini can vary a lot in flavor and texture – you want your tahini to be nice and runny, and not bitter. You could also use natural, unsweetened peanut butter.
- Rice vinegar. I love using rice vinegar to cut through any richness from the tahini, but you could use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar if you can’t find it.
- Cucumber. This gives freshness and crunch to the salad, and broccolini bulks it out a bit. You can play around here, though – swap in or add green beans, edamame, peas, shredded cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, or any other crunchy veggies you have on hand.
How to Make the Soba Noodle Salad
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the salad – the full recipe with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Start by smacking the cucumber with a rolling pin. The method of smacking the cucumber, as well as being super therapeutic, makes lots of little craggy bits in the cucumber that the dressing can cling to.
- Cook your soba noodles according to the packet instructions.
- Plunge them into cold water after they’re cooked, then give them a little scrunch and massage. This removes excess starch, which can make them stick and go gummy.
- Mix your sesame tahini dressing.
- Add all your salad ingredients to a mixing bowl, then pour over the dressing and toss to combine.
- Scatter with extra herbs, and a drizzle of chili oil, or chili crisp if you like, and enjoy.
How to Stop Soba Noodles from Going Gummy
Soba noodles have a bit of a reputation for being tricky to get right. They can quickly go from lovely and glossy to sticky, clumpy, and a bit gummy.
The trick is to rinse them properly after they’re cooked.
- Drain the noodles, then plunge them into a bowl of cold water, and use your hands to gently scrunch and massage them for about 30 seconds.
- This helps remove any excess starch that can make them stick together.
It might feel a bit strange, but it really works! It makes the noodles much easier to toss through the dressing.
Sesame Soba Noodle Salad FAQs
Yes! It keeps well for up to 4 days, stored in an airtight container in the fridge. The noodles will absorb some of the dressing as they sit, so you might want to loosen them up with a splash of water, lime juice, or soy sauce.
Udon noodles, regular egg noodles, or rice noodles are good alternatives to soba noodles for this salad. You could even use spaghetti to make this if you like.
I think the salad is filling enough on its own, especially for lunch, but there are easy ways to bulk it out.
Pair it with grilled or shredded chicken – miso chicken, satay chicken skewers, or sticky gochujang chicken would be great.
Or, you could serve it with grilled salmon (like this miso maple salmon), shredded or pan-fried tofu, or sweet chili glazed halloumi.
This is a super customizable recipe, and you can make it your own once you have the base.
You could use asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, edamame, broad beans, peas, spinach, red peppers, onion… All of those would be delicious in this, so you can improvise with whatever you have in your fridge or freezer.
Or, throw in shredded chicken, tofu, flaked salmon, canned tuna, or chunks of pan-fried halloumi to add more protein.
Like this recipe? Here are more make-ahead salads to try
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
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Saucy Sesame Soba Noodle Salad
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
In just 20 minutes, you could be enjoying this DELICIOUS super saucy sesame soba noodle salad. It’s fresh, crunchy, creamy, a little spicy, and perfect for busy weeknights, hot days, meal prep, or easy lunches. Plus, you can easily adapt it with whatever veggies, herbs, or protein you have on hand.
Ingredients
For the sauce –
- 1/4 cup tahini (or use unsweetened peanut butter)
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or tamari)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (or use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili jam (or sweet chili sauce, or honey)
- 1 tablespoon chili oil (or chili crisp)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
- 1 to 3 tablespoons cold water, to loosen as needed
For the salad –
- 7oz (200g) dried soba noodles
- 1 cucumber
- 3.5oz (100g) broccolini (or use regular broccoli), chopped into small pieces
- 2 scallions (spring onions), chopped finely
- Handful of cilantro (coriander), chopped
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, plus extra to serve
To serve –
- 1 scallion (spring onion), thinly sliced lengthways, and put in a glass of water to curl up (optional)
- Extra chili oil or chili crisp
Instructions
- Make the sesame dressing. Add ¼ cup of tahini, 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of chili oil, 1 tablespoon of sweet chili jam, the crushed garlic, and grated ginger to a mixing bowl. Mix vigorously with a fork until smooth and creamy. If the dressing looks a bit thick, mix in a little water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it’s pourable. Taste, then adjust with more rice vinegar for brightness, or chili oil for heat.
- Smack the cucumber. Slice the ends off the cucumber, then lay it on a chopping board. Use a rolling pin to smack it firmly, up and down the whole cucumber, until it cracks and splits. Slice it in half lengthways, scoop out the watery seeds, then chop into smaller pieces. The reason for ‘smacking’ the cucumber is to end up with lots of craggy edges the dressing can cling to – you can skip the step if you like, but I recommend it.
- Cook the soba noodles. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then cook the soba noodles according to the packet instructions (usually about 5 minutes). While they cook, fill a large bowl with cold water. Drain the noodles, then plunge them into the cold water. Use your hands to gently massage and scrunch them for about 30 seconds. Drain, then repeat that process again. Leave them in a colander for any excess water to drain away for a minute or two. This slightly strange technique helps prevent the noodles from going gummy and sticking together.
- Blanch the broccolini. Place the broccolini in a large, heatproof bowl. Boil your kettle, then pour the boiling water into the bowl to cover the broccolini. Leave for 2 minutes, then drain in a colander, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
- Mix the noodle salad. Add the drained soba noodles to a large mixing bowl, along with the smacked cucumber, broccolini, chopped scallions, cilantro, and sesame seeds. Pour over the dressing, then toss everything together really well to make sure the noodles are well coated.
- Garnish and serve. Divide between plates or bowls, then sprinkle with more toasted sesame seeds, the curly scallion strips, and an extra drizzle of chili oil if you like.
Notes
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: This is a great make-ahead salad. You can assemble the whole thing and then store it in a container in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. It will last well for 4 days.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: This is a meal in itself, but you can bulk it out with some sticky gochujang chicken, miso grilled chicken or miso salmon. Adding sweet chili glazed halloumi slices on top would also be delicious.
SUBSTITUTIONS: If you don’t have soba noodles, udon or rice noodles are great alternatives. Play around with your veggies – green beans, edamame, peas, sugar snap peas, zucchini, or asparagus are great additions.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: salads
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 350g
- Calories: 560
- Sugar: 5.7g
- Sodium: 1912mg
- Fat: 28.1g
- Saturated Fat: 3.2g
- Carbohydrates: 65.9g
- Fiber: 3.8g
- Protein: 16.1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Made this for lunch today – was so delish!! And really easy too
Yayyyy I’m so pleased you enjoyed it!!
So mouth watering, the flavours are delish with the miso chicken.
Yayyyy so happy you enjoyed and that’s a fab combo!! Perfect flavours together x