For more delicious noodle salad recipes, try our ramen noodle salad and mango Thai noodle salad with sesame ginger dressing. It’s packed with fresh veggies, chewy noodles, and crunchy peanuts. We don’t add protein in the recipe, but you certainly can add edamame, cubed tofu, shrimp, or chicken. The tangy-sweet Asian-inspired dressing is delicious and brings it all together. There’s almost zero cooking involved, apart from boiling the noodles. Just chop the veggies and mix together the sauce ingredients while the noodles cook, then toss it all together. We like to let it sit for a few minutes so the sauce can soak in. It’s also completely vegetarian, and easy to make gluten-free or vegan. You can make it nut-free by omitting the peanuts. Enjoy this vibrant cold noodle salad for lunch, as a light dinner, or alongside Asian-inspired mains for a more substantial meal. You only need noodles, fresh vegetables, and a few pantry ingredients to make this tasty noodle salad. Here’s everything you need:
Linguine – the shape and texture of linguine works well for this salad, but you can also use spaghetti noodles. For gluten-free, use rice noodles or soba noodles (just make sure they’re 100% buckwheat noodles). Vegetables – we use a colorful mix of carrots, celery, cucumber, and red bell pepper. Feel free to use your favorite veggies or what you have on hand like sliced cabbage, snow peas, and bean sprouts. Peanuts – roasted unsalted peanuts are ideal for this dish. Sesame seeds – roasted, raw, or black sesame seeds for garnish.
Don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients. You’re likely to have most of them in your pantry. Here’s what you need for the dressing:
Olive oil – another neutral oil like avocado oil works great as the base for this dressing. Soy sauce – soy sauce is a key ingredient that gives the dressing its salty taste. You can also use tamari, or gluten-free soy sauce if needed. Honey – honey adds sweetness. You can also use agave syrup or maple syrup for a vegan version. Lime juice – lime juice offers brightness and a pop of citrus flavor. Rice vinegar – the slightly sweet taste of rice vinegar balances out the other flavors. Toasted sesame oil – you don’t need a lot of toasted sesame oil to impart a wonderful nutty, rich Asian flavor. Sriracha – sriracha adds a spicy kick so add at your discretion! Garlic and onion granules – garlic and onion granules add flavor.
Enjoy this cold Asian noodle salad for a workday lunch or as a light dinner. It’s versatile so you can toss in some tofu cubes, cooked edamame, shredded chicken, or any other protein you love.
We love bringing this pasta salad to share at picnics, potlucks, and parties. Be ready to share the recipe, because everyone always raves about it!
It works well as a side dish, too. Pair it with our Asian salmon or honey garlic chicken for a more substantial Asian-inspired meal.
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