This recipe for Soba Noodle Salad is colorful, tasty and comes together pretty fast. It’s also packed full of vegetables making it a healthy choice. It a great vegetarian option but you can very easily add some marinated grilled chicken thighs, salmon, tofu or even some fried eggs on top to get that extra protein.
Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat and has a slightly nutty, earthy taste. It can be served hot or cold. I love this dish served warm but its great served cold too. If you are going to make it ahead of time for a event I would recommend slightly under cooking the vegetable just a little more so they don’t wilt as fast, if you plan on serving it cold later on. We are just a family of two and this recipe with an added protein usually gives us two dinners and a lunch. So it’s plenty for a potluck or can be broken down for meal prep for the week. I find it taste good for about four days after I make it.
If noodles are not your thing, check out my Chinese Chicken Salad. Whatever you choose to make I hope you enjoy it.
Ingredients
- 8-9 oz. soba noodles. Most packages are one or the other
- 1 ½ tbsp. of avocado oil. I use avocado oil because it has a high smoke point. You want your pan very hot to sauté the vegetables and you don’t want the oil burning. Feel free to use peanut, coconut or vegetable oil instead.
- 2 cups of Napa cabbage, shredded
- 1- 5 oz. container of sliced shitake mushrooms
- 1 large carrot cut into thin strips or about a cup of pre shredded carrots
- 4-6 cloves of garlic minced
- A 1 inch knob of ginger peeled and finely minced or grated about ½ tbsp.
- 1 stalk of celery thinly sliced
- 1 Serrano pepper thinly sliced for heat *optional
- 1 bell pepper sliced into thin strips. I used jarred sliced roasted bell pepper because I had some about ¾ of a cup.
- 2 green onions, chopped. I separate the white ends from the green. I use the whites to cook and toss the greens in towards the very end for garnish.
- Fresh chopped cilantro for garnish
- Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Sauce
- 2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1 ½ tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce or 3 tbsp. of coconut aminos. If you use coconut aminos you way need to add a sprinkle of salt because it tastes less salty than soy sauce.
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
Directions
- Boil, cook, drain and rinse your noodles under cold water. Set aside. Mix together your sauce and set aside. Chop and prepare your veggies and herbs.
- Heat a large pan with sides (or a wok) over medium high heat. Once it’s hot add in your oil. Now add in your mushrooms and give them a quick minute to cook before adding the rest of your vegetables. Add in your vegetable and give them a sprinkle of salt and cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring pretty continuously.
- Now add in your garlic and ginger and cook also stirring continuously for another 2-3 minutes. Once that is done add in your noodles and sauce and mix well. Allow this to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. The goal is for everything to be coated with the sauce and your vegetables not to be over cooked. You want them to still have some crispness to them.
- Take off the heat and garnish with cilantro and your toasted sesame seeds.