Asian Noodle Salad

A beautiful and flavor packed Asian Noodle Salad full of crisp vegetables, peanuts, and sesame seeds all tossed in a sweet and savory peanut ginger sauce.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Asian ramen noodle salad, cold Asian noodle salad, how to make Asian noodle salad

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Servings servings

Calories 230kcal

Author Beth Pierce

Ingredients

Asian Noodle Salad
8 ounces udon rice noodles or gluten-free soba noodles
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
12 ounces broccoli slaw
½ cup chopped cilantro
¾ cup roasted unsalted roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Peanut Ginger Dressing
3 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon minced ginger or ginger paste
2 cloves garlic minced
2-3 teaspoons fresh chili paste optional, see notes

Instructions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil and cook your noodles according to package directions. Drain the noodles into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain again to remove as much water as possible.
Add the cooked and drained noodles to a large serving bowl and top with red bell pepper, broccoli slaw mix, cilantro, peanuts, and sesame seeds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, peanut butter, ginger, garlic, and chili paste. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Notes

Use Udon noodles, Soba noodles, Chinese egg noodles, ramen noodles, thin spaghetti, spaghetti, or whole-grain spaghetti.
Don't overcook the noodles. Cook them al dente or with a little bit of bite still to them. You don't want a cold mushy salad.
Broccoli slaw mix is similar to cabbage slaw mix, but it uses thinly sliced broccoli stems instead of green cabbage. It also contains carrots and red cabbage. You will find it at your local grocery store with the other prepackaged slaw mixes.
Mix the dressing up to 3 days in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge or in a mason jar. Shake well before you pour it over the noodle salad.
Sambal Oelek (ground fresh chili paste) can be found in the Asian food section of the grocery store. It has a very long shelf life (6-9 months) if stored in the fridge. Use it for some of my other recipes, like Asian Cucumber Salad.
I use ginger paste. It is available at most grocery stores, and it lasts for weeks stored in your fridge. A tablespoon of ginger paste is equivalent to a tablespoon of fresh ginger. I use it all the time in my Korean Beef and Pork Stir Fry.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Nutrition