Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce
This Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce is a healthy gluten-free and vegan recipe that is easy to make. It’s loaded with ingredients like cucumber, carrots and red cabbage and topped off with sliced green onions and sesame seeds!

What are soba noodles?
Soba noodles are a variety of Japanese noodles made from buckwheat flour, which has an earthy and slightly nutty flavour. They’re commonly used in Asian cuisine to make salads and stir-fries or in soups.
My favourite way to enjoy soba noodles is in salads. (They’re just as delicious cold as they are warm!)
Are soba noodles gluten-free?
Contrary to having “wheat” in its name, buckwheat is actually entirely gluten-free. It’s in fact not even a grain. Buckwheat is considered a seed. It’s also extremely nutritious and high in vitamins and minerals like magnesium, folate and vitamin B.
Important tip! Many soba noodles you’ll see in stores are NOT 100% buckwheat. Some contain a mix of regular wheat and buckwheat, so these noodles are not gluten-free. Make sure to check the label if they are 100% buckwheat noodles or not.
Cold soba noodle salad ingredients

- Soba noodles: The star ingredient! Make sure to look for 100% buckwheat soba noodles for a wheat-free option.
- Cucumber: I like to spiralize them, but you can slice them or shred them.
- Red cabbage: Not only is it filled with nutrients but it makes this salad look pretty!
- Carrots: shredded or sliced works best
- Green onions: Adds a bit of bite to these noodles
- Sesame seeds: Make sure to use toasted ones for the best flavour.
- Peanut butter: Natural or regular peanut butter both work for the sauce.
- Tamari: You can substitute soy sauce if needed.
- Rice Vinegar: This gives the sauce some “punch” to it.
- Maple Syrup: For a hint of sweetness
- Sesame oil: Don’t replace this with another oil! You want that sesame flavour.
- Sriracha: This is what makes it a spicy peanut butter sauce!
How to make a cold soba noodle salad
Step 1
Cook the soba noodles according to the package directions. Prepare the peanut butter sauce then and slice, chop and shred the vegetables and add them to a bowl with the soba noodles.
Step 2
Add the sauce to the salad and mix together to combine. Taste and adjust any seasoning if needed. You can optionally top off this salad with more sesame seeds and fresh cilantro.
How to store
Store this soba noodle salad in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. This salad stores well after it’s been dressed, but can also be stored separately from the peanut sauce.
Tips for making a soba noodle salad
- Shred the vegetables into small pieces so they can easily be evenly distributed throughout the salad. I like to spiralize the cucumber and slice the carrots with a peeler so they have a long noodle-like shape.
- Add any veggies you love. Feel free to add in edamame beans, broccoli or any other vegetables you love to this salad.
- Use toasted sesame seeds. Toasted sesame seeds will have much more flavour than raw sesame seeds. If you only have raw sesame seeds you can lightly toast them before adding them to the salad.
- If your peanut sauce is too thick, add a touch more water to thin it so it can be mixed in the salad more easily.
Soba noodle salad FAQ
Yes! If you prefer you can use rice noodles or vermicelli to make this chilled salad.
Yes! This cold soba noodle salad is fantastic to prepare ahead of time for dinner, a barbeque or a potluck since it will keep well for hours. I recommend dressing it right before serving, but it’s still great even if it’s been dressed a couple of hours before serving.
Yes. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat which contains fibre, protein and essential vitamins.
All the vegetables in this salad pair well with soba noodles, but if you’d like to add anything else to this salad try edamame, bok choy, broccoli, tofu or mushrooms.
More noodle recipes to try
- Yaki Udon
- Sesame Noodles
- Ramen Noodle Stir Fry
- Vegan Dan Dan Noodles
- 15 Minute Garlic Noodles
- Ho Fun Noodles
If you tried this Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!

- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This Soba Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce is easy to make and a healthy meal option!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces soba noodles
- 1/2 cucumber, spiralized or cut into strips
- 1 cup cabbage, shredded
- 1 large carrot, sliced or shredded
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- Cilantro to top (optional)
Spicy Peanut Sauce
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp tamari (can sub soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar (can sub lime juice)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (can sub agave, honey)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 3 tsp sriracha
Instructions
- Cook the noodles according to package directions.
- While the noodles cook, prepare the peanut sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients together.
- Once the noodles are cooked, rinse them under room temperature water to slightly cool them down slightly, then add them to a mixing bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients.
- Toss the soba noodle salad and peanut sauce together until combined.
- Optionally top with some extra sesame seeds, green onions and cilantro.
Notes
Try adding any veggies you love to this salad
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 4g
- Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 45g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 11g
Keywords: Cold soba salad, cold soba noodle salad, chilled soba noodle salad
After 3 days of huge Christmas dinners, this was soooooo good! So fresh and light and nourishing! Thanks for sharing! Cheers from the Netherlands!
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
If you make this the day before will it still be good the next day?
Yes! it stays well in the fridge.
This looks delicious. Could regular pasta noodles be substituted?
Hi jessica, yes you can sub any noodles you like 🙂
This looks good, I’m going to try it this week. I noticed that you have cabbage listed twice in the ingredients. I think one of them is supposed to be carrot?
Yes one is cabbage and one is carrot 🙂
Thanks for this great recipe! It was easy to make and so delicious.
★★★★★
Thanks Aleksandra! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I am drooling! These noodles look insane!
Hi Natalia, thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Perfect for a light summer dinner
★★★★★
Thank you Arielle! One of my favourite noodles dishes for the summer since it can be enjoyed cold!