This Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad features red peppers, cabbage, chicken, soba noodles, and a quick homemade spicy peanut sauce. Salads don’t get much yummier than this.
Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad
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AH-mazing!!! I made this recipe “as written” and it is really delicious. My friends at work will be drooling over my lunch today, for sure!
Deborah H
Soba Noodle Salad!
It’s (mildly) spicy. It’s peanutty and noodley. It’s a friend to all vegetables. It’s salad that’s… not really a salad.
It’s got big punchy flavor from fresh garlic and lime juice, and it’s extremely filling thanks to that creamy peanut sauce and the tangled pile of carbs known as soba noodles, and it’s also colorful and crunchy and fresh, so yes, it is my favorite category of food.
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Can We Talk About How Neat Soba Noodles Are?
First things first – soba is so cool.
It comes in those little bunches wrapped with a little strip of cute paper, and after it’s cooked and soaked in some sauce (peanut sauce is life), it becomes so satisfying and chewy in the way that only the BEST noodle-based salads of the world can be.
But hey, guess what? It’s also gluten free because soba = buckwheat.
And guess what x2? This noodle situation is a dream for all those low-key cooks out there because it can be eaten straight-up cold. Delicious and colorful and flavor-boss-mode, right out of the fridge. Which is basically how I eat half of my noodles to begin with, so I guess this is all working out according to plan.
Soba Noodle Salad Your Way
For this recipe, I actually revisited an older soba noodle salad recipe from 2014-ish that had been long since forgotten and revised it just slightly:
A little more heat, some new veg, and a swap of lime juice for vinegar.
This is just how I did mine (bell peppers, chicken, sometimes some purple cabbage or cilantro), but you are looking at a recipe that is begging to be customized.
Make it with extra chicken. Or meatless. With only green vegetables. Or 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.
So What Are Soba Noodles Made Of?
Soba noodles are made from 100% buckwheat flour.
So…what’s buckwheat flour then? Exactly what you’d think: flour ground from buckwheat. Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free and also has four times as much fiber than regular flour. Wowzers.
Buckwheat flour gives soba noodles a very yummy and very delicious texture and flavor. And it’s good for you to boot!
Would it be weird to say I am happy for you? Good things ahead, Soba Adventurer.
Let’s Keep The Noodle Salad Love Going
- Lemongrass Vermicelli Salad (a serious showstopper)
- Peanut Noodle Salad (our favorite way to combine veggies, protein, and noodles)
- Chipotle Sweet Potato Noodle Salad with Roasted Corn (a plant-based favorite)
- Cashew Crunch Salad with Sesame Dressing (made with crunchy chow mein noodles…YUM)
Common Questions About Our Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad
Can this salad be prepped ahead of time?
Yes! If you’re making this ahead of time, toss everything together except the veggies. Those are best when added just before serving.
This feels like salad that’s heavy on the noodles. Is that right?
Our favorite kind of salads are heavy on the noodles! As written, yes, 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.
Is this enough sauce for 8 servings?
It is, technically, but sometimes I double the sauce because I am a sauce hog. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with a little extra peanut sauce in the fridge.
Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad Recipe
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad features red peppers, cabbage, chicken, soba noodles, and a quick homemade spicy peanut sauce. Salads don’t get much yummier than this.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
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
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro or basil to taste
- 1/4 cup 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!
Equipment
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- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Sauté
- 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!
Filed Under: All Recipes Bell Pepper Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Healthy Lime Lunch Main Dishes Meat and Chicken Pasta Quick and Easy Recipes Salads Spring Sugar-Free
March 22, 2021
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Should we use raw peanuts or roasted?
Either works, but I always prefer roasted!
My daughter eats soba and peanut sauce quite frequently as her school lunch.
Tasted just as good the next day. Will be adding to my meal prep rotation.
I prepared 3 of your recipes for my housewarming party in Texas where I wanted food that could be served cold or warm. THIS recipe was the biggest hit! I also tried your teriyaki and mandarin orange pasta as well as the chickpea pasta with pesto and asparagus. RE: the teriyaki one – I prepared the dressing in advance. When I first mixed it I thought it was rather tasteless – but then – the next day – the ingredients melded in the fridge and it was wonderful – a complete transformation. I will be making all 3 again – and again. Thank you so much!
This is a great salad! The peanut dressing is flavorful and provides a nice amount of spicy heat. I added fresh ginger to the dressing and blanched broccoli to the salad. I’ve had this salad four times this week!
This was so delicious, first time making it! It was super easy even though it required a couple more steps for a beginner like me. The flavors worked so well. I found my new favorite lunch to bring to work.
Absolutely delicious! I seasoned the chicken first before air frying them and cut them into thin strips to add to the bowls. I also didn’t have soba noodles on hand and used ramen instead. Everything came out perfectly and it had a bit of a kick to it, which I liked.
This salad is a delight! So crunchy and fresh and flavorful and the dressing is lovely.
This was refreshing and delicious! I halved the recipe, and slightly increased the ratio of vegetables to noodles.
I included a julienned carrot with the salad. I made a quick rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and white miso for the chicken before pan-searing, which caramelized beautifully. Next time, I would add some ginger to the dressing.
Really delicious and oh so easy. I appreciated adding whole peanuts into the dressing to add texture.
I did not have limes on hand but used a lemon instead (they can be interchangeable depending on their role in a recipe).
I did halve the dressing recipe to bring down a couple of servings.
It all worked well!
I tried to prep this ahead of time for lunches but think maybe I shouldn’t have. All the soba noodles were clumped together after being in the fridge. Any thoughts on this? I still give it 5 stars though because of the sauce. I had to stop myself from just eating spoonfuls of it while I waited for the rest of the ingredients to finish prepping. It was that good!
Run cold water over the soba noodles and let drain. Toss with sesame oil before you refrigerate and they will not clump or stick together.
Keeping the sauce separate will help! Rinsing to noodles should do the trick as well.
I wanted to love this, but my soba noodles turned out too mushy and it ruined it! Next time, I’ll probably just use regular pasta noodles. Everything else was divine, especially the sauce!
Hope you like this food blog recommendation! 🙂
Always beautiful food blogs. Keep up the good work, Lindsay! 🙂
Very good recipe. I used a garlic chili sauce – but less of it as my family doesn’t like hot – and the amount turned out about right. I also used a little less noodles and cut the red pepper into a smaller dice so it’s easier to eat. I found there was plenty of dressing, unlike other recipes that leave the noodles dry.
Made exactly as written but added chopped raw broccoli. It’s the perfect salad and will be easily adaptable depending on what’s in the fridge. Placed in regular rotation. Thanks for a great recipe!
So good!! My husband said it tasted like a professional chef made it 😂
Made this recipe for the first time and it wasn’t bad. I’ve also never made a peanut sauce of any kind before so I was nervous about trying this recipe considering I was a few tablespoons short of soy sauce. Gave the final product to my boyfriend and he gave me a thumbs up. I will be trying this again (hopefully better) in the future.
Thank you so much! This looks like such a delicious recipe I look forward to trying it!
I loved this so much. Couldn’t stop eating the sauce. My kids wouldn’t eat it but no idea why. I even kept the cilantro out of for them. Still giving it five stars as for me it was amazing. Husband liked too
This was absolutely phenomenal. The dressing is to die for, very glad I doubled the recipe! Thank you for sharing, all of your recipes that I have tried so far are amazing. X
This salad is amazing and a SUPER and easy quick dinner + leftovers for lunch the next day! I couldn’t stop eating it while I was waiting for my husband and son to come home, I was full by the time we sat down to eat! LOL I doubled the sauce as Lindsey recommends, added shredded carrots and forgot the garlic (ugh!) but it was still incredible. I used a food processor for literally everything – sauce, shredding cabbage/carrots/chicken; one pot meal basically!
Perfect lunch salad. I used pre-cooked grilled chicken strips to save time.
Great recipe! I doubled the sauce amount because along with the red cabbage and cilantro, I added julienned red bell peppers and carrots, thinly sliced kale, scallions, and chicken. Everyone in my family loved this. I really like the texture of the soba noodles and the heat in the sauce.
This recipe is one of my family’s favorite main dish salads. I usually customize it by doubling the chicken and adding a ton of arugula instead of cilantro. We have been missing this salad since we started eating Keto, so today I thought I would try adding spiralized turnip noodles in place of the soba noodles and IT WAS AWESOME. The raw “troodles” increased the crunch factor in a great way. I don’t know how the noodles would have held up for leftovers tomorrow, but I don’t need to worry about that this time because we ate the whole shebang tonight. 🙂 I thought I would share in case anyone is looking for a low-carb option.