Cold Soba Noodle Salad with a Spicy Peanut Sauce

This cold soba noodle salad with a spicy peanut sauce is an incredibly flavorful vegan meal with the perfect amount of crunch and freshness.

This spicy peanut soba noodles recipe is easy and comes together in half an hour!

The spicy peanut sauce is addictive.

I’m pretty sure these vegan soba noodles were inspired by the recent feature that Bon Appetit magazine did on cold noodle salads.

The photos were so beautiful and vibrant, and who doesn’t love noodles?! Is it weird that I get super excited when I receive the magazine in my mailbox each month? Simple pleasures.

Aside from that magazine feature, I keep hearing about soba noodles in general, but I had never made them myself before. It took me a couple trips to different grocery stories to find soba noodles (check the Asian aisle), and I am so glad I found them. It was time.

In case you were wondering, soba noodles are simply Japanese buckwheat noodles. They’re good warm or cold. They’re easy to work with and only take a few minutes to cook. They also happen to be vegan, which is a handy little fact to file away.

These will now be in my Asian-inspired recipe arsenal forever.

So what’s in here?

• Soba noodles
• Grated carrot
• Cilantro
• Red peppers
• Chopped peanuts
• Chives
• Sesame seeds
• A spicy peanut sauce (make it as spicy or mild as you want!)

I ate this spicy peanut soba noodle salad a couple of days after I made it, and it still tasted good. This would actually be a good meal prep option for something a little bit different. You could also easily add some extra protein to it, like some of my favorite grilled shrimp.

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time (it’s ok to just look at the pretty pictures tho), you will have read this next line like a thousand times and roll your eyes… so here we go. I do not handle spice well. I, for real, enjoyed this recipe as written with the 2 teaspoons of sriracha sauce. You go girl! I’d suggest including at least 1 teaspoon of it for flavor purposes, but you can also add more if you’re not like me. Play with it ’til it makes your taste buds sing.

Questions about this recipe? Leave me a comment below!

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Cold Soba Noodle Salad with a Spicy Peanut Dressing

This soba noodle salad recipe makes a delicious vegan meal with the perfect amount of crunch and freshness!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Keyword cold soba noodle salad, spicy peanut soba noodle salad, vegan soba noodles

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 2

Author Salt & Lavender

Ingredients

• 6.4 ounces soba noodles (I used half a package - anything around 6 oz. will work)
• 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 large carrot grated
• 1/2 tablespoon (or to taste) chopped chives or scallions
• 1 tablespoon cilantro chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts

Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce (or to taste)
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

1. Cook the soba noodles according to package directions. Rinse them under cold water, make sure they're well drained, then allow them to cool while you prep the other ingredients. 
2. Prep the remaining ingredients and add them to a large bowl, and whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. 
3. Toss the noodles and other ingredients with the dressing until everything is coated (I found it easiest to do this with tongs). 
4. Serve immediately or chill for later. Recipe keeps in the fridge for a few days.

Recipe Notes

• Tip: The ginger is easiest to grate if you freeze it first. I always keep some fresh ginger in the freezer for this reason. 
• Serves 2-4.

Hope you love this easy soba noodle recipe as much as I did!

If you like this recipe, I think that you may also like my veggie lettuce wraps with a peanut sauce or my garlic lime cashew zoodles.