Never cooked soba noodles? Follow the tips in this post to make a foolproof soba noodle salad that's loaded with veggies and great for weekday lunches!
Happy Monday! If you’re like me and you had a weekend full french toast, cake, and pancakes, then you’ve come to the right place! Today I have a fresh, delicious bowl of soba noodles to help start the week off in a healthy direction. The best thing about this bowl is that it’s super simple to make, yet has great zippy flavor. There’s a light sesame-ginger dressing that perfectly coats the soba noodles. On top of that, I chose to mix in a group of vibrant spring veggies, but keep reading for a few other suggestions to customize your noodle bowl!
What are soba noodles?
Soba noodles come from Japan, which is where Jack and I fell in love with them. Made with buckwheat flour, they have a wonderful nutty flavor and slick, soft texture.
Traditional soba is made with only buckwheat flour and water, so it’s easy to make soba noodle recipes gluten-free: despite its name, buckwheat has no relation to wheat! However, because 100% buckwheat noodles can be fragile and difficult to work with, you’ll often see soba that contains a mix of buckwheat and wheat flours. These are the noodles I usually choose (I also like these) – they still have the buckwheat’s yummy flavor, but they’re easier for tossing in a soba noodle salad like this one.
If you’re gluten-free, be sure to seek out 100% buckwheat soba (these are awesome!). Both varieties are readily available in Asian markets or in the Asian section of regular grocery stores.
How to cook soba noodles
If you’ve never cooked soba before, there are a few things you should know before starting this recipe. It’s easy for a package of soba to turn into a big gummy mess, but if you follow these tips, you’ll have sure soba success!
- First, unlike regular pasta, it’s essential that you cook your soba in unsalted water.
- Make sure not to overcook them! Don’t forget to set a kitchen timer for the time listed on the package.
- When your noodles are ready, drain them in the sink and rinse them thoroughly with cold water to remove starches that cause clumping.
- Finally, toss them with a glug of oil to keep them fresh until you’re ready to eat!
Soba Noodle Recipe Variations
The star of this soba noodle salad is the zingy sesame dressing, and though I love it over blanched snap peas, edamame, avocado, and radishes here, you could easily change up the veggies in this dish. Here are some ideas:
- Swap in cilantro or Thai basil for the mint.
- Sub baked tofu, sesame tofu, or baked tempeh for the edamame.
- Add sliced cucumber.
- Use blanched broccolini in place of the snap peas.
- Or stir in some sautéed mushrooms or bok choy!
Have fun making a bowl of soba noodles you really love. This recipe is great for weeknight dinners or packing for lunch, but if you do make it ahead, be sure to add the avocado at the last minute so it stays nice & green. Enjoy!
If you love this soba noodle recipe…
Try this maki sushi recipe, these avocado cucumber sushi rolls, this miso soup, or this stir fry next!
For more vegan recipes, check out this post!
Sesame Soba Noodles
Ingredients
Sesame Dressing
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari, plus more for serving
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil, plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup or honey
For the Soba Noodles
- 6 ounces soba noodles*
- Lemon wedge, for squeezing
- 2 avocados, sliced
- 2 cups blanched snap peas
- ¼ cup edamame
- 1 watermelon radish, or 2 red radishes, very thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, tamari, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and maple syrup. Set aside.
- Bring an unsalted pot of water to a boil and cook the soba noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse well in cold water. This helps to remove starches that cause clumping. Toss the noodles with the dressing and divide into 2 to 4 bowls. Squeeze fresh lemon juice onto the avocado slices and add to the bowls along with the snap peas, edamame, radish, mint, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Drizzle with more tamari or sesame oil, if desired.
Notes
Superb!! It took me back to my years living in Kyoto. I tweaked it by reducing the rice vinegar and substituting the remainder with homemade dashi to complete the 1/4 cup required. Instead of mint leaves, I substituted them with fresh shiso leaves. Arigato for sharing this recipe.
Hi Raul, I’m so glad you loved the recipe! That sounds like a wonderful variation.
I really like the overall recipe but the sauce is overwhelmingly vinegar-y from the rice vinegar
Try using less rice vinegar and add 2 tbsp of dashi. That should cut the acidity.
Fresh, quick, and infinitely customizable.
So glad you loved the noodles, Mara!
We loved this! We used the mild-tasting noodles you recommended, which kept their shape for the next day’s snack. I say snack because there were hardly any leftovers! I’ll double the recipe next time. Thank you.
Ha ha, I’m glad you loved it!
Made this last week and it was divine! Like all of your recipes. I added a dollop of sweet chili sauce and it was delicious.
Omgoodness this was sooo good! The sauce was fantastic. What a delicate blend of textures with filling nutritious balance.
I’m so excited about the variants. I also included some crispy baked tofu here. Just yum. Thank you for these.
This was so delicious! I followed the recipe except for the radish (used baby sweet bell peppers to add some red and orange with all of the lovely green). It rivals my favorite restaurant’s soba noodle salad (and maybe even better, so fresh and bright). I love sesame oil and soba, so this is right up my alley.
Hi Karen, aww I’m so glad you loved the noodles!
It’s great that you shared your secrets!
I wasn’t a big fan of the mint or the sauce.
It was super yummy and filling. It was a little too minty for me, next time I’ll try it with different herbs. This will become a staple lunch, for sure!
Hi Lisa, I’m glad you enjoyed the noodles!
This was so fresh and delicious!!! What’s more is that it was incredibly simple and made for a quick weeknight meal. Healthy and satisfying at the same time. This is going into the rotation. Thank you Love and Lemons ??
Hi Ashley, so glad you loved it!
This was good and a nice change. I wish I had mint on hand when I made it.
I really appreciated how the dressing was delicate in flavor, not too strong in soy. Well done, definitely a keeper. Thank you
I’m so glad you loved it!
This came out very bitter-tasting for me. I tasted my noodles after cooking and they were fine, but unfortunately, I did not enjoy how they combined with the dressing. I think I should have omitted the lemon, which was overpowering, and it could have used a little more salt.
I have made this a couple of times. A very enjoyable side dish.
Hi, thank you so much for this recipe! It sounds delicious!
I was just curious, as I’m trying to break into meal prepping, would this be stored all put together (minus the avocado)? And how long would you recommend before consuming? I was thinking to make a couple of servings ahead of time for quick grab-and-go lunches for work. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks so much in advance!
Hi Jamie, yes, I would store everything into individual containers without the avocado. It’ll be fresh for about 3 to 4 days in advance. I hope you enjoy!
Hi what is the nutrition breakdown please?
I’m sorry, we don’t post nutrition facts, but you can plug the ingredients into a site like my fitness pal.