Sesame Soba Noodles

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!

Soba noodles

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!

Soba noodle recipe ingredients

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.

Soba noodle salad

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!

Sesame ginger soba noodles

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:

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!

Sesame soba noodles in a bowl

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!

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Sesame Soba Noodles

rate this recipe:
4.96 from 212 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves 2 to 4
With a bright sesame dressing, fresh mint, avocado, snap peas & radishes, these soba noodles are so tangy and delicious!

Ingredients

Sesame Dressing

  • ¼ cup rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons tamari, more for serving
  • ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • ½ teaspoon maple syrup or honey

For the Soba Noodles

  • 6 ounces soba noodles*, see note
  • Sesame oil, for drizzling
  • 2 avocados, sliced
  • Squeezes of lemon
  • 2 cups blanched snap peas
  • ¼ cup edamame
  • 1 watermelon radish or 2 red radishes, very thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
  • Sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, tamari, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and honey. Set aside.
  • Bring an unsalted pot of water to a boil and cook the soba noodles according to 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 sprinkle with sesame seeds. Drizzle with more tamari or sesame oil, if desired.

Notes

I used these soba noodles in this recipe. I also like this brand.
If you're gluten free use gluten free soba noodles, I like these.
Make this vegan by using maple syrup instead of the honey.

 

75 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Shivany Powani
    01.15.2021

    5 stars
    So simple, so yum. Subbed a few ingredients, turned out perfect ❤️

  2. Katherine
    01.14.2021

    4 stars
    This was wonderful! So easy and quick to prepare – and a hit with everyone!

  3. Shannon H.
    01.12.2021

    I made this for the January Cooking Club and wow what an easy recipe that felt light! I love Japanese food but have never made it before as it seemed too daunting but really loved it. I added your baked tofu recipe with sambal instead of sriracha!

  4. Cassie Brandt
    01.10.2021

    Made this recipe with my sisters over a video call So much fun. I think this would be a cold lunch the next day.

  5. Jessica Hooper
    01.10.2021

    5 stars
    I made these with my sisters over video call. They tasted great and were a fun thing to try together!

  6. Kate
    01.10.2021

    5 stars
    Really love how easy and delicious this recipe is. Unfortunately, my store didn’t have soba noodles, but subbed in a pad thai noodle instead.

    Will definitely put this on the list for weeknight meals! So good!

  7. Sarah Blue
    01.10.2021

    My husband and I made a giant batch of these sesame soba noodles to share with friends! It was so easy and a lot of fun- we sat this big bowl in the middle of the table so everyone could help themselves. On the side, we HF sesame oil, soy sauce, and chili garlic so everyone could flavor to their desired taste. It was a huge hit!

  8. Melanie
    01.06.2021

    5 stars
    Made this today for lunch. It was yummy! I love the sesame dressing! Thank you!

  9. 5 stars
    Soba noodles come from Japanes, whole grain noodles with an upscale , warming flavor. Buckwheat protein is superior to other cereal grain because it has all essential amino acids, & is that the best.

  10. Alex
    06.23.2020

    I love how this recipe came into apple’s WWDC 2020 today. Gorgeous Webpage, amazing recipe!

  11. Jessica
    09.14.2019

    5 stars
    I used udon noodles because I coudln’t find soba noodles. Also I did stir-fried it

  12. Jessica
    07.01.2019

    5 stars
    This is delicious! The perfect meal on a hot day.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.10.2019

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  13. Sabrina from newkitchenlife.com
    05.13.2019

    great dish, have eaten but never cooked soba noodles,, interesting to know about the non wheat in buckwheat and version that actually has a little wheat, nice choice of ingredients too, thank you!

  14. Bill
    05.13.2019

    What happened to that thingie with the red center? What’s that?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      05.14.2019

      it’s a watermelon radish

  15. Leslie
    02.04.2015

    5 stars
    My new favorite recipe! Makes a great packed lunch

  16. Nicole from nicolemehl.com
    08.09.2013

    Tried this for lunch today and it was delicious! I will definitely make it again, thank you for sharing!

  17. Lauren from gourmetveggiemama.com
    02.26.2013

    Yum! I love cold soba, and with temps poised to start climbing any minute now, I’m about to be looking for more non-hot meal options. Pinning to try!

  18. Kathryn from londonbakes.com
    02.25.2013

    I love this kind of dish for a quick weeknight meal (and I like the leftovers even more for lunch the next day!)

  19. lindsey from dollyandoatmeal.com
    02.25.2013

    i have been experimenting with a lot more asian-inspired recipes. this sounds amazing. can’t wait to try it!

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.