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 211 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. Carol
    01.25.2024

    5 stars
    This was good and a nice change. I wish I had mint on hand when I made it.

  2. Adrian
    09.29.2022

    5 stars
    I really appreciated how the dressing was delicate in flavor, not too strong in soy. Well done, definitely a keeper. Thank you

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.02.2022

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  3. Kate
    08.18.2022

    2 stars
    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.

  4. Beau
    07.11.2022

    4 stars
    I have made this a couple of times. A very enjoyable side dish.

  5. Jamie
    04.04.2022

    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!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.05.2022

      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!

  6. Abigail Reid
    03.26.2022

    Hi what is the nutrition breakdown please?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.27.2022

      I’m sorry, we don’t post nutrition facts, but you can plug the ingredients into a site like my fitness pal.

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.