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Make My Asian Noodle Salad!
This is an Asian Noodle Salad where all the hype is not about the noodles but the spicy creamy peanut dressing (recipe coming soon) I make with it. It’s a simple salad that you can make ahead of time and it’s filling enough to have it as a full meal for lunch or dinner. Best part is that it’s gluten-free since it’s made with rice noodles as long as you use gluten-free soy sauce, and it’s totally vegan!
This Asian Noodle Salad with the Asian-inspired dressing is such a delicious meal that’s full of color, crunch and good-for-you ingredients! I haven’t found anyone who doesn’t enjoy eating the salad when I make it. And I love that it’s versatile so you can use any noodles you’d like, any vegetables you’d like and even throw on some protein like Sesame Shrimp, Shredded Chicken or Air Fryer Tofu to make it an even more filling meal.
Asian Noodle Salad Ingredients
- Noodles: Use rice noodles for this salad, or try egg noodles, soba noodles, buckwheat noodles or even spaghetti and linguine. Look for the rice noodles in the Asian food section at your grocery store.
- Carrots: Buy the matchstick carrots so they are long thin strips or you can also cut carrots into strips.
- Peppers: Cut them julienne (long thin strips) so that they mix in well with the noodles. Throw in any other vegetables like red cabbage, sugar snap peas or broccoli.
- Green onions: Thinly slice the white and green parts for a mellow onion flavor.
- Cilantro: Chop it finely for the asian noodle salad. If you like lemongrass, it goes so well with the Asian noodle salad.
- Soy sauce: Or use tamari sauce to make this noodle salad gluten-free.
- Rice vinegar: Rice vinegar has a mild acidity and popular in Asian cuisine. You can sub it for apple cider vinegar.
- Peanut butter: Use smooth rather than crunchy, and unsalted peanut butter if possible. If you use peanut butter with salt, just taste the dressing and add more acid if it tastes too salty from the soy sauce and the salted peanut butter.
- Oil: A little sesame seed oil gives it an authentic Asian flavor. If you don’t have, you can also use olive oil.
- Sriracha: This spicy chili sauce adds a nice bit of spice. You can adjust the amount to suit your tastes or swap it with hot sauce.
- Sugar: Sugar is optional, but I find it helps to balance out the other flavors, and you can swap it for maple syrup or agave syrup.
- Ginger and garlic: Musts in any Asian dressing in my book and use fresh for the best flavor. You can substitute with ground ginger and garlic powder, and in that case, you wouldn’t need to blend the dressing.
Popular Additions
- Mango or pineapple: The fruit helps balance the spice and acidity. Use about 1 cup of thinly sliced or diced mango or pineapple.
- Edamame or shredded chicken: If you want to make it more filling, add 1 cup of protein. Shelled edamame keeps it vegetarian, or shredded rotisserie chicken makes it heartier.
- Sesame seeds or chili crisp: I’m all about adding more texture to this salad. You can add 2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds or even 2 tablespoons of chili crisp.
How to Make Asian Noodle Salad
There are three steps to the salad: 1) prepare the noddles, 2) prepare the vegetables 3) prepare the dressing. Each step will take you about 5 minutes. So it all comes together pretty effortlessly and quickly.
My Best Asian Noodle Salad Tips
- Don’t rinse the rice noodles. That’s because the warm pasta will better absorb the dressing much better than cold rinsed pasta will.
- Use a blender for the thai peanut dressing. You can whisk everything together. But I prefer using a tiny blender to crush the garlic and ginger and get all their flavors really incorporated. You can also double up the dressing to use it as a marinade or make extra salad a week later.
- Allow the salad time to settle for best flavor. The cool thing about the noodles is that they don’t get soggy but continue to absorb the flavor of the dressing and taste better after settling. That makes this salad perfect for lunches, picnics or potlucks. No need to take dressing with you!
- Add moisture back into the salad after 3-4 days. Save some of the dressing for later if you know you’ll be eating this over a few days. Or you can whisk together rice vinegar and soy sauce to add moisture back into the salad if it gets dry.
Serving Ideas
Try the Asian Noodle Salad as a fuller meal with one of these proteins. You can have them hot or cold.
- Sesame Shrimp
- Garlic Cilantro Baked Salmon
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Cashew Chicken
- Air Fryer Tofu
- Steamed Edamame
- Salmon Lettuce Wraps
Recipe Help & FAQs
Store any leftovers in an airtight container and they will last about 3-4 days in the fridge. And you’ll find that the rice noodles actually hold their structure well for a few days even after tossed in the dressing.
You can, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I think that the texture and taste will really change after frozen. The dressing will separate and the noodles may become mushy.
More Salad Recipes:
- Asian Chicken Salad
- Fall Harvest Salad
- Shrimp Avocado Salad
- Vegan Macaroni Salad
- Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Vegetarian Cobb Salad Jars
- Pickle Salad
- Crispy Rice Salad
- Chickpea Salad
If you try this Asian Noodle Salad recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Asian Noodle Salad
Video
Ingredients
- 7 ounces rice noodles
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup julienned red bell peppers
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 4 green onions chopped
- Roasted peanuts for serving
- Lime wedges for serving
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha or to taste
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 inch fresh ginger peeled
- 2 garlic cloves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the noodles according to package instructions, stirring occasionally. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the carrots, bell peppers, cilantro and green onions on top and set aside.
- To make the dressing, place the soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut butter, sesame oil, sriracha, sugar, ginger and garlic in a small blender or food processor and blend until well combined and smooth.
- Pour the dressing over the rice noodles and vegetables, and toss to combine.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled with roasted peanuts and lime wedges, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
I made this but “cheated” with the dressing. I started with a bottle of sesame ginger salad dressing and whisked in some crunchy peanut butter.
Smart! Cheating with dressing is a necessary shortcut now and then.
This was really good. We had it for dinner, total hit! Thank you for your recipes
Aww, so glad it was a hit!! Thanks, Michelle!
Such an easy recipe and delicious. I will definitely make this again. I added tofu for protein. Thank you!
Thank you so much!
We make this often! We add edamame, and throw your air fried salmon on top to make a meal! Kids love it too!
So happy to hear!