Soba Noodle Salad!
Spicy. Peanutty. Salad that’s not a salad.
Happening now. You in?
First things first – soba is so cool.
It comes in those little bunches wrapped with a little strip of cute paper, and it is satisfying and nutty and noodley in the way that only the BEST noodle-based salads of the world can be. Hey, guess what? It’s also gluten free because soba = buckwheat. And guess what x2? It is a noodle lover’s dream for summer because it can be eaten straight-up cold. Delicious and colorful and flavor-boss-mode, straight out of the fridge. Which is basically how I eat half of my noodles to begin with.
See? This is all working out according to plan.
For this recipe, I actually revisited an older soba noodle salad recipe from 2014-ish that had been long since forgotten. Sometimes I get seriously sad about how many favorite recipe gems probably lie untouched in the archives of the blog – WHY AREN’T THERE MORE MEALS IN THE DAY? I was not about to reinvent something that had already been made and loved, so I pulled out this old recipe and revised it just slightly:
A little more heat, a new veg addition, and a swap of lime juice for vinegar.
Sounds about right.
This recipe is begging to be customized. Make it with more chicken. Less chicken. Only green vegetables. Spicier peanut sauce. It’s totally your call, and it’s totally going to be bomb delicious when you pull it out of the fridge for lunch/dinner/snack/repeat.
Would it be weird to say I am happy for you? Good things ahead, Soba Child.
Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad featuring red peppers, cabbage, chicken, soba noodles, and a quick homemade spicy peanut sauce. Salads don’t get much yummier than this.
Ingredients
For the Spicy Peanut Sauce:
- 5 tablespoons peanut butter
- 5 tablespoons water
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce, or tamari for gluten free
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil (optional – for flavor)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup chili sauce like sriracha (more or less depending on spice tolerance)
- 1/2 cup peanuts
For the Salad:
- 1 lb. chicken breast
- 1 red bell pepper
- 3–4 cups chopped purple cabbage
- 10 ounces soba noodles
- fresh cilantro or basil to taste
- crushed peanuts for topping
Instructions
- Spicy Peanut Sauce: Puree sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender. Add the peanuts last so you can control how chunky it is (I like to leave it a little more on the chunky side).
- Chicken: Cook the chicken in a skillet over medium high heat. Season with salt and pepper. When the chicken is cooked through, set aside until cool enough to handle and shred the meat.
- Vegetables: Chop the red pepper, cabbage, and cilantro to your desired size for the salad.
- Noodles: Cook the noodles according to package directions (usually just boiling for a few minutes).
- Assemble: Toss everything together with enough dressing to generously coat everything. Serve hot or cold!
Notes
If you’re making this ahead of time, toss everything together except the veggies. Those are best when added just before serving.
As written, this recipe is heavy on the noodles. If you want a higher chicken/veg to noodles ratio, you could double the amount of chicken, or vegetables, or whatever you want.
Sometimes I double the sauce because I am a sauce hog. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with extra peanut sauce in the fridge.
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: soba noodle salad, peanut soba noodle salad, spicy soba noodle salad
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best healthy summer salads page. Check it out!
Pinterest
Okay, so you’re pushing me out of my noodle comfort zone with these straight out of the fridge “cold” noodles concept. But I like it! And second confession of the morning: I’ve never had soba noodles. And I didn’t know they were from buckwheat, something I’m trying to eat more of. Thanks for this unique recipe!! But anything spice with a peanut tinge is a huge hit around here.
This salad looks so creamy and yummy. Honestly, I never have to try Soba noodle. I was wondering what is the taste like?
Very good like a creamier wheat noodle. Eating some now thinking how much I despise noodles at American grocer.
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Wahou ! This is a very yummu recipe !
I also wanted to tell you, I really miss your income reports. It was full of tips and really helpfull ! Do you think you are going to start again ?
I am a food blogger pro member but this reports were bonus… 😉
This looks so so good! I’ve never had soba noodles before, but I need to make this dish it looks so delicious! And peanut sauces are my fave! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
HOLY COW! This looks so delicious!! I will be making for dinner tonight!!!!
Thanks for sharing!
Rachel
http://www.simplesouthernlife.com
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This is so different from the kinds of things that I usually make that my first instinct was just to breeze right past it in my Bloglovin’ feed.
BUT… I’m really tired of the stuff that is in my comfort zone! So not only did I read all about it, and pin it, but I added these things to my grocery list. We’re goin’ crazy this week! 😀
Love the look of this Lindsay! And a fun fact about buckwheat and soba… because we’re fun fact people, right? But buckwheat and therefore soba are relations of rhubarb! So cool right. Sorry, just gettin my food nerd on!
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Oh man!! Definitely adding this to the dinner line up for next week. It looks SO GOOD.
I haven’t tried it yet, but I will this week. Very healthy! Thanks so much.
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I really enjoy your blog, Lindsey, and I’m looking forward to trying this recipe! I’m wondering if there’s a reason that you don’t include fiber in the nutrition info you provide? I have a health issue that responds well to lower fat, higher fiber foods so it is helpful for me to see that info up front.
As I’m drooling over your revisions, I am eating my lunch which is your original soba noodle salad recipe! I love the original and can’t wait to try this one. Your recipes never disappoint!
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This looks heavenly. I too have never tried soba noodles before but after seeing your recipe I will be trying them for sure!!
Important note: this is not gluten-free. The majority of soba for sale here is wheat and buckwheat, as are the noodles you linked.
Thanks so much! You saved me from gluten! I purchased some soba noodles that did not have an ingredient list and assumed it was fine! I made this tonight with rice ramen and it was so so good! I added matchstick carrot and will make it again!
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I am so excited to try this recipe. (I will be leaving out the chicken) I am a noodle freak and love the combination of ingredients. I may add broccoli to bulk up for left out chicken. Thank you for your great blog and everything you write.
Yum! We love soba noodles, but hadn’t eaten them in a while until last week my husband was out of town and I cooked some soba noodles to go with whatever we were eating. I poured leftover marinade/sauce from the weekend’s pork loin over the noodles and the kids loved them. I have a way-back recipe too for hearty asian noodle stir-fry. http://www.homeecathome.com/the-home-economist/hearty-asian-noodle-stir-fry
This salad looks so good.
This definitely looks interesting. Will try this for sure… will substitute chicken with tofu perhaps as I am a vegetarian!! Thanks for sharing!!
yumss
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Love soba noodles!Honestly,Am almost 56,and I regularly eat cold spaghetti,chili,any and most pastas COLD!Am so hungry I just don’t care!lol!Now,with our Arizona heat,that is going to be EVERY dinner!Haha😉
Your 2014 recipe is not forgotten! I make it all of the time — it’s one of my faves. My housemates and I all take turns cooking dinner, and all of them know that recipe. 🙂 And you are so right — definitely customizable. I’ve used red cabbage before (since you can even buy that pre-cut), and it was great. Fun to see it here!
Do you think this would be good without the sriracha? I am heartburn central so can’t do spice but it looks so delicious!
Wow, so pretty!!
So funny you’ve re-posted/invented this recipe Lindsay, because your original from 2014 is one of my go-to’s for dinner. I actually made this last week for my boyfriend and he called me a salad wizard… Can’t wait to try this updated version!
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I make your 2014 version of this all the time! It’s one of our family favs, and I can’t wait to try it with lime! Lovely idea! Thanks for sharing <3
This looks great! Missed your voice! Glad it’s back:).
Another hit, thank you!
We didn’t have soba noodles or red cabbage on hand so used brown rice vermicelli and green cabbage instead. Even with the modifications, it still turned out very yummy!
Can’t wait to make this one again!
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