Sesame Noodle Bowl Recipe - Love and Lemons

This easy noodle bowl recipe is a delicious combination of crispy snap peas, sweet orange segments, shiitake mushrooms, and a savory miso dressing.

This noodle bowl is one of my favorite “bowl food” recipes. “Bowl food” always has a mix of delicious veggie-heavy ingredients with varying tastes, textures, and flavors, with a hearty base underneath. It’s fun to eat because you get something a little different in each bite. The inconvenient thing about component bowls is that all those components can take time to prepare. Chopping and cooking raw plant-based ingredients is time-consuming! This Sesame Orange Noodle Bowl is the exception, though. You’ll be surprised how quickly and easily it comes together!

How to Make this Noodle Bowl Recipe

Whisk together the simple 5-ingredient sauce.
Dress the cabbage right in the serving bowls!
Sauté the snap peas and mushrooms one after another, using the same skillet.
Cook the soba noodles.
Assemble your bowls with the noodles & veggies and generously top them with orange segments, sesame seeds, tofu, and extra sauce.

This noodle bowl is a great recipe for a weeknight – it’s easy, packed with flavor, and full of fresh vegetables. It makes two large bowls of food, or 3 medium-sized bowls. If there’s any left over, pack it up for lunch the next day. See this post for my best meal prep and lunch-packing tips!

Noodle Bowl Variations

Bowl recipes are all about the components, so oftentimes, they’re incredibly flexible. This noodle bowl is no exception. If you don’t have or don’t like one of the ingredients in this recipe, feel free to swap in something else. Here are a few suggestions:

The veggies: I used red cabbage, sautéed mushrooms, and snap peas, but cucumbers, snow peas, carrots, radishes, blanched asparagus, roasted broccoli, or roasted Brussels sprouts would be great choices too.
The fruit: I love the juicy orange segments here, but diced mango would be good too. You could also skip it, or add pickled ginger for pop.
The protein: This recipe calls for baked tofu, but shelled edamame, crispy roasted chickpeas, or baked tempeh would be just as good.
The sauce: I make an easy stir-together sauce with miso, sesame oil, orange juice, rice vinegar, and tamari or soy sauce, but my 5-ingredient peanut sauce would work here too.
Something extra: I top this bowl with fresh cilantro, mint, and green onions. Feel free to use just one, or try fresh basil instead.

Let me know what variations you try!

More Favorite Bowl Recipes

If you love this noodle bowl recipe, try one of these tasty bowls next:

Then, find more healthy lunch ideas (and tips on how to build your own bowl) here!

4.7 from 6 reviews

Sesame Noodle Bowl

This noodle bowl recipe is one of my favorite easy lunches - feel free to pre-dress the noodles and cabbage and pack it ahead. It keeps well for a few days in the fridge.

Author: Jeanine Donofrio

Recipe type: Main dish

Cuisine: Asian, American

Serves: 2 to 3

Ingredients

Dressing/sauce

2 tablespoons white miso paste
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons tamari
½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
(plus excess juice from the orange below)

Bowls

1 medium orange
2 cups shredded red cabbage
3 ounces soba noodles, cooked, drained, & rinsed* (see note)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
⅓ cup chopped scallions (about 3)
1 cup snap peas, de-stringed and chopped
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
7 ounces baked tofu, sliced or cooked protein of choice
Sesame seeds
Handful of fresh herbs, cilantro or mint, optional
Sea salt

Instructions

Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the miso, rice vinegar, tamari, and sesame oil until combined. Slice the segments from the orange, set aside, and squeeze the excess juice from the orange into the sauce.
Make the bowls: Divide the red cabbage among two to three bowls. Drizzle with some of the dressing and toss gently to coat. Place the cooked soba beside the cabbage in the bowls.
In a skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil and add the scallions and snap peas and cook, tossing until lightly blistered but still vibrant green, for about 2 minutes. Remove and add to the bowls.
Add more olive oil to the pan and add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 8 minutes. Divide the mushrooms among the bowls and top with the orange segments, tofu, sesame seeds, and herbs if using. Drizzle with a little of the remaining dressing and serve the rest on the side. (Note: the dressing is slightly on the salty side so a little bit goes a long way - add it to taste and save any extra for salads/bowls later in the week).

Notes

*Cook your soba noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse them to remove excess starches. This helps them from clumping. If they start to stick together, toss them with a little bit of sesame oil.