This easy Asian Noodle Salad is colorful, crunchy, and delicious. It is loaded with fresh vegetables and Asian noodles, all drizzled in a sweet and savory ginger peanut dressing. It is flavor packed and quick, making it an ideal side dish for a weeknight, or add protein like crispy or grilled chicken or shrimp to make a complete meal.
How to make Asian Noodle Salad
To start, 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 thin slices of red bell pepper, broccoli slaw mix, chopped cilantro, roasted peanuts, and toasted sesame seeds. Now 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.
What noodles should I use for Asian Noodle Salad?
I like to use Udon rice noodles or Soba noodles as a gluten-free alternative. Just remember that soy sauce is not gluten-free. You will need to look for a gluten-free version. Other noodles that work well with this recipe are Chinese egg noodles, thin spaghetti, ramen noodles, spaghetti, or whole-grain spaghetti.
Helpful Recipe Tips
- 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 in place 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.
How to Toast Sesame Seeds
In a large dry skillet over medium-high heat, add the sesame seeds and cook until golden brown and fragrant, shaking the skillet several times. Don’t leave the skillet unattended, as it only takes a couple of minutes, and you don’t want them to burn. Remove the sesame seeds into a small bowl and add them to the dish right before serving.
What to serve with Asian Noodle Salad
- Protein – crispy or grilled chicken or fish, air fryer salmon, or baked cod.
- Appetizers – gyoza (Japanese dumplings), egg rolls, spring rolls, crab rangoon, or potstickers.
- Soup – egg drop soup, wonton soup, hot and sour soup, or miso soup.
More Salad Recipes
Asian Noodle Salad
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
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Jacque
This was so good. It is the perfect summer potluck dish! Everyone loved it. The dish was empty.
Rosey
That’s nice that you can even use spaghetti in there, which I might if the mood struck to make it and i didn’t want to go out (we almost always have spaghetti in the house). This looks good.
Zanny
We love this Asian noodle salad. It is a nice refreshing change from the usual fare with so much flavor and color.