Cold Noodle Salad With Spicy Peanut Sauce

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Total Time: 20 minutes
Rating: 4(7,316)
Notes: Read community notes

Soba, Japanese buckwheat noodles, are ideal for salads because they taste particularly great when served cold. Crunchy vegetables are highlighted here, adding lots of crisp, fresh texture. Substitute with any raw vegetables you have on hand, such as cabbage, carrot, fennel, asparagus, broccoli or cauliflower. The spicy peanut sauce is very adaptable: If you don’t want to use peanut butter, you can use any nut or seed butter, like cashew, almond, sunflower or even tahini. Both the soba and the peanut sauce can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge overnight, but wait to combine them until you are ready to eat for the best texture and consistency. The peanut sauce thickens as it sits, so add a tablespoon or two of water to loosen it up, if necessary.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

For the Salad

Kosher salt
10ounces soba noodles
1medium zucchini or cucumber (about 6 ounces)
5radishes (about 4 ounces)
1bell pepper (any color)
1tablespoon sesame oil
½cup roasted salted peanuts (about 2 ounces), roughly chopped
2scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
Handful of cilantro leaves
1lime, cut into wedges for serving

For the Spicy Peanut Sauce

½cup smooth peanut butter (not natural)
¼cup soy sauce
2tablespoons maple syrup
2tablespoons lime juice (from 1 lime)
1tablespoon sesame oil
2teaspoons chile oil or hot sauce, plus more to taste
1garlic clove, grated

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the soba, stir to prevent sticking, and cook according to package instructions until just tender. Rinse under cold water until the noodles are completely cold.
Step 2
Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, sesame oil, chile oil or hot sauce, and garlic. Add ¼ to ½ cup water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and whisk until the sauce is a pourable consistency. Taste and add more chile oil or hot sauce as desired; set aside.
Step 3
Cut the zucchini or cucumber and radishes into ⅛-inch thick slices, then cut into thin matchsticks. Slice the peppers into ⅛-inch pieces. Place them all in a large bowl.
Step 4
Loosen the soba noodles by running them under some water, then allow to drain again. Add them to the vegetables, add the remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil and toss to combine.
Step 5
When you are ready to serve, drizzle with spicy peanut sauce and top with peanuts, scallions and cilantro. Serve immediately, with lime wedges alongside.

Ratings

4 out of 5

7,316 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Acfh3 years ago

Why not natural peanut butter? Also can I use spiralized zucchini or summer squash noodles?

lynn rogers3 years ago

Because the processed peanut butters emulsify more readily into the sauces… because of the added stuff, oils in them. I won’t use them and like you always am able to make great results with natural peanut butter …

Beto3 years ago

I like a little fresh grated ginger and chopped cilantro in my peanut sauce.

Sueiseman3 years ago

For those watching their caloric intake, peanut powder is great. By adding water, it's peanut butter/sauce with the fats removed. Just watch the ones with added sugar!

Haidee Courson3 years ago

Blend the noodles and sauce together and then place vegetables on top of that mixture, they remain crisper and the color is better.

Martha Stewedrat3 years ago

Add some of those styrofoam peanuts for extra crunch...

Russ3 years ago

Added some savoy cabbage since we had some. Used a bit of sriracha instead of chile oil. Biggest thing I find with soba is to make sure you tend to it while it is boiling and then rinse it well, otherwise it gets sticky and gummy. I rinse with cold water in a colander and then transfer the noodles into a bowl of cold water. At that point I scrub the noodles to remove the starch and drain back into the colander.

Harold Lee Miller3 years ago

Again, why not natural peanut butter? Just curious, I will use it anyway, as I don't have anything else, and I won't buy anything else. Why would you eat peanut butter mixed with Crisco (hydrogenated vegetable oil)? If the recipe needs the Crisco for some reason, I'm sure it will be just as good without it. I've made any number of peanut sauces like this with natural peanut butter and they're all different and they're all good.

Lenna3 years ago

This was so easy and so good and so versatile. Everyone loved it. The sauce is just perfect. We added extra hot sauce and extra lime juice, just because that’s what we love. This is a total winner. We used whatever vegetables we had in the house. Thank you for this recipe!!

sissydude3 years ago

Super delicious! I highly recommend a few splashes of rice wine vinegar on the noodles when you add the oil to them. I did that to my leftovers today. Just gave it a nice kick... and punched up the peanut sauce.

Cordau3 years ago

Forget about whisking the sauce by hand. Put all of the sauce ingredients in a glass measuring cup or another deep container along with 1/4 cup of water and use an immersion blender to mix them. A few seconds of immersion blending produces a sauce that pours perfectly.

E.Peevie3 years ago

I know you meant silkiness, but I’m all in favor of silly sauce

Derek3 years ago

My recommendation for an easy spicy peanut sauce is to start with Trader Joe's Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette; and whisk in an equal volume of smooth peanut butter, and Sambal Oelek to taste. A little toasted sesame oil probably wouldn't hurt, too; but I've often gone with just three ingredients.

Kay3 years ago

Zucchini and summer squash have a LOT of water in them. If you eat the salad right away, it should work fine. If you store in the fridge awhile, it will get watery and not so nice.

Kikihughes3 years ago

This is such an interesting recipe. The spicy peanut sauce is very assertive on its own (I made it exactly to the recipe) but became almost bland when I tossed everything together. Next time I will *up* the ginger and garlic in the sauce. For those who find this time-consuming, a mandoline is a wonderful thing. It made short work of the radishes, cucumber, and bell pepper with the julienne plate. Soba noodles are wonderful summer food.

Robin1 day ago

I added some protein - edamame and thinly sliced tofu, marinated in a little miso/tamari/sesame oil for a few minutes and then baked at 350 for 15 minutes while I made the rest of the meal. Turned out very well!

Karen in Seattle1 day ago

Current heatwave (7/8/24) so made this for a good cold dinner, I made it to basic specs but used additional vegetables on hand, love the peanut sauce. Impressed my picky spouse.

Heather2 days ago

Super delicious! I’ve made this four or five times now, always turns out well. Especially good as a bed for pan fried salmon.

cam3 days ago

Just had a version of this last night for dinner. But for great crunch I picked up a green papaya salad from the local Vietnamese place (also can be found at the Thai restaurant up the road) and mixed it into the cold noodles. Great easy hot weather meal

dona3 days ago

Most soba noodles are buckwheat and wheat flour. They won’t be as sticky and starchy when cooked as the 100% buckwheat flour ones… I prefer the mixed flours but if you are GF you need to use the other one

Dory B4 days ago

Far better is the Sesame Butterfly Noodles from Sheila Lukins

Barbara4 days ago

So yummy! I replaced the soba noodles with rice noodles (gluten-free option) and used siracha as the hot sauce. It was a hit and perfect for a hot summer night. will make again and again.

Raq1 week ago

I made this tonight and it was such a delicious summer meal, very filling. The sauce/dressing is so delicious! I love the crunchiness of the veggies mixed with the noodles and the nuttiness of the peanuts, the cilantro and green onion add a good herb flavor. Got my picky husband to eat it, would definitely make again.

Jam1 week ago

Best peanut noodle salad, added fish sauce, grated ginger, 1/2# of pasta was plenty.

Meryl2 weeks ago

I followed the recipe exactly (unusual for me) and it was SO delicious! Doubled it for 4 adults and 4 kids (adults ate most of it). There's just one small portion leftover. Even had to go to the next town to get soba but it was definitely worth the effort. Chili oil on the side because of kids.

Sally2 weeks ago

Toasted sesame oil or plain sesame oil? Thank you

Sandy3 days ago

toasted.....always

laurie2 weeks ago

7,000 reviews can’t be wrong I figured. And they are right ! Had company and served this with NHT sesame cucumber and avocado salad and grilled Asian salmon. Quite a combo!! Will make this for company again this summer.

Joanna3 weeks ago

For mahjong group: leave out the garlic, and only use 1/4 tsp of sriracha (instead of chili oil). I also topped with basil instead of cilantro.

Perfect For A 90° Day's Dinner!3 weeks ago

Made it almost as written, just no bell peppers, don't like them. Halved everything except the dressing. (I think it'll be great in a chicken wrap tomorrow for lunch!) I also threw some shrimp in the noodle water at the end. I found that using my immersion blender did a great job blending the peanut dressing. Will definitely make it again.

thomas3 weeks ago

A little too spicy with two teaspoons of hot sauce. One would be enough.

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