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!
These sesame soba noodles are one of my go-to easy weeknight dinners and healthy lunches. I toss the cold Japanese buckwheat noodles with a tangy, nutty sesame dressing. Then, I round out the noodle bowls with edamame, fresh herbs, and crisp spring veggies.
This soba noodle recipe is incredibly flavorful, yet quick and easy. It comes together in about 20 minutes! I’ve been making it for years now—ever since our first trip to Japan. Most often, I make it as written, but it works well with all sorts of different proteins and veggies too. Find my favorite variations below!
What are soba noodles?
Soba noodles are Japanese buckwheat noodles that are served hot or cold. Jack and I fell in love with them on our first trip to Japan, and we’ve been cooking them at home ever since. Made with buckwheat flour, these noodles have a wonderful nutty flavor and chewy texture. One of my favorite dishes I’ve eaten in Japan is traditional zaru soba or mori soba, cold soba noodles served with green onions, daikon, and a flavorful dashi dipping sauce. At home, I love tossing soba into noodle salads like this one.
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 dried soba that contains a mix of buckwheat and wheat flours. These are the noodles I usually choose—they still have the buckwheat’s yummy flavor, but they’re easier for tossing in a noodle salad like this one.
If you’re gluten-free, be sure to seek out 100% buckwheat soba. Both varieties are readily available in Asian markets or in the Asian section of regular grocery stores.
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 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 a colander and rinse them thoroughly with cold water to remove starches that cause clumping.
- Finally, toss them with a drizzle of sesame oil to keep them fresh until you’re ready to eat!
Soba Noodle Recipe Variations
This soba noodle recipe is delicious as written, but there are all sorts of ways you can change it up! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Try another protein. Sub baked tofu, sesame tofu, or baked tempeh for the edamame. You could even top the noodles with a soft-boiled egg!
- Change up the veggies. Add sliced cucumber or use blanched broccolini in place of the snap peas. Or stir in some sautéed mushrooms or baby bok choy!
- Experiment with the herbs. Swap in cilantro or Thai basil for the mint.
- Spice it up. Top your bowl with a squirt of sriracha or a spoonful of chili crisp.
Have fun making a bowl of soba noodles you love!
Make-Ahead Tip
This recipe is one of my favorite meal prep lunch ideas. You can assemble it ahead of time and store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Just wait to add the avocado and herbs until right before you eat. That way, they’ll stay nice and green.
More Japanese-Inspired Recipes to Try
If you love these noodles, try one of these Japanese-inspired recipes next:
Sesame Soba Noodles
Ingredients
Sesame Dressing
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce, plus more for serving
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil, plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup or honey
For the Soba Noodles
- 6 ounces soba noodles
- Lemon wedge, for squeezing
- 2 avocados, sliced
- 2 cups blanched snap peas
- ¼ cup edamame
- 1 watermelon radish, or 2 red radishes, very thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, tamari, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and maple syrup. Set aside.
- Bring an unsalted pot of water to a boil and cook the soba noodles according to the 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 a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Drizzle with more tamari or sesame oil, if desired.
Notes
This post contains affiliate links.
After finally finding a good buckwheat-heavy soba, I’ve made a variation of this recipe at least two nights a week! It’s a refreshing change from the hearty and savory dishes during the week.
This was delicious! Surprisingly very quick and easy to put together. I added air fried tofu, cilantro and chili oil to mine.
I made this recipe for the cooking club. I had a purple daikon radish that worked great with it. I also included some marinated tofu and some cabbage to replace the snap peas I didn’t have. I really enjoyed it!
This was a great dinner. I added broccoli and bok choy because they are some of my favourite veggies. I also substituted chopped peanuts for the sesame seeds. It was delicious and easy!
Enjoyed the freshness of this recipe, especially after holiday indulgence! I’d be interested in subbing some different veggies (like carrots or bell pepper).
loved the flavors of this recipe! it made a great quick lunch that was filling without being heavy.
Simple and delicious recipe! We will definitely keep this in our back pocket for a quick weekday dinner.
This was another winner! Added sauted zucchini and mushrooms because I had them. Second time this month for this one.
I adore this recipe! So good for a leftover lunch. Also, this dressing is so good I could drink it!
From this recipe, I learned that I really like radishes! I’ve only had radishes with tacos where they were just in the background, so I appreciate how the radishes, along with the snap peas, really came through.
Lovely and bright recipe! Dressing was the right amount of flavor for the soba noodles and all the different elements paired really well together. Preparation took a little longer than expected but still turned out delicious!
This recipe was so wonderful! It is light and fresh but also has a really bold flavor. It was also really easy to make and does well as a weekday meal.
Thanks so much!
This recipes is delicious! We loved it so much we had it two evenings in a row! We added cooked carrots each night which added great flavor and color to the already perfect recipe. The sauce was light and simple and tasted aweome tossed with the soba noodles!
I highly recommend this recipe 🙂
Delicious flavor!! I made this gluten free by using the GF soba noodles recommended on the recipe card. It’s such a light, fresh, tasty dish! We had it as a side dish for soy-glazed salmon. So easy to put together while the salmon roasted. Wonderful!
Delicious and bright! This recipe was simple but packed with a ton of flavor.
Such an easy and tasty recipe. I honestly expected this to be more time so aiming than it was and it was o full of flavor. I will for sure be making this one again.
This is Holly Ponton Coleman. Recipe was amazing and so is the cooking club!!!!!
So yummy. I did the baked tempeh instead of edamame (which is amazing itself) and added sauteed bok choy. I ended up with a big bowl of deliciousness that will last me a couple of days ?
This recipe was amazing. Simple and delicious, my two favorite things in a recipe! Excited to make it again.
I made this for the cooking club tonight and I’m in love! I added scallions which went really well with the fresh flavor. Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow. -Hannah Augsbach Lamma
I’m so glad you loved it!