Name: Peanut Noodle Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Ingredients: 3 cups noodles (I've used wholewheat); 2 cup green beans (trimmed and cut in to half); 1 cup carrots (Juliane); 1 cup roasted peanuts; 1/2 cup spring onion (finely chopped ); 1 cup cucumber (cubed ); 1/4 cup fresh herbs (basil, coriander and mint); 3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar; 3 tablespoon sesame oil; 3 tablespoon soy sauce; 1 tablespoon lime zest; 3 tablespoon lime juice; 3 cloves garlic (minced); 3 tablespoon brown sugar; 1 tablespoon red chilli flakes; 1 teaspoon black pepper powder; 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

This Vegan Peanut Noodle Salad recipe is bursting with vegetables and textures. It is so quick to make with a total prep time of 15 minutes.

Perfect for meal prep or for a quick lunch.

Female hands are holding a bowl of peanut noodle salad.

In this Asian cold noodle salad, crunchy vegetables and noodles are tossed in a soy garlic dressing.

This recipe is a little different in that it doesn't use a peanut sauce but rather dried roasted peanuts. And as the salad is cold, I find that peanut sauce that is made with peanut butter can cause the noodles to clump up.

You can try this Vegan Thai Peanut Noodles Recipe if you are looking for a peanut butter based dressing.

You may also like my Instant Pot Vegetable Chow Mein.

Peanut noodle salad bowl placed on a grey backdrop next to soy sauce dressing bowl

Ingredients

Noodles - I have used thick wholewheat noodles. Sometimes I use wholewheat spaghetti. You can use soba noodles, ramen noodles, udon noodles or rice noodles.

Brown noodles have a bit more fiber.

Green beans - trimmed and cut

Carrots grated julienne or in thin strips

Spring onion (green onion) - sliced

Cucumber - cut into quarters

Fresh herbs - finely chopped basil, coriander (cilantro) and mint

Roasted peanuts - you can roast peanuts at home or buy them ready made

Rice vinegar

Sesame oil

Soy sauce - use either light or a combination of light and dark soy sauce

Lime zest and lime juice

Garlic - finely chopped or grated

Red chilli - either fresh chopped red chili or use red chilli flakes

Brown sugar alternatively use maple syrup or agave

Black pepper powder

Salt - check salt levels before adding as soy sauce is high in sodium (salt)

Optionally add a little grated fresh ginger for zing

You can use other veggies like bell pepper, red cabbage or bean sprouts also.

You can add an extra drizzle of sriracha if you want to add spicy flavors to the dish.

Gluten-free noodle salad

Use gluten-free noodles or spaghetti

Instead of soy sauce, use tamari.

Peanut noodle salad ingredients on a backdrop in small bowls and plate

How to make Cold Peanut Noodle Salad

The first step is to prepare the dressing:

Place rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, lime zest and lime juice, finely chopped cloves garlic, red chili flakes, brown sugar, pepper powder and salt in a bowl and whisk until well combined.

Leave it aside.

Boil noodles according to package instructions.

noodles are cooking in boiling water in a pan

Rinse under cold water to prevent the noodles from cooking further.

Add the green beans and carrots in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, then drain once the vegetables have softened but still have bite.

carrots are cooking in boiling water in a pan

green beans are cooking in boiling water in a pan

In a large bowl, toss the noodles, peanuts, cooked vegetables cucumber, spring onion and chopped herbs with the dressing.

Mix well and sprinkle with roasted peanuts, herbs and chopped spring onions.

Serve warm immediately or cold at room temperature.

cooked noodles added to the salad ingredients

Cold peanut noodle salad in a white serving bowl placed on a grey napkin

Asian peanut noodle salad served in a white bowl with two serving spoons

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Dressed salad will keep overnight but will loose freshness if left for longer.

For meal prep purposes, I suggest storing the prepared vegetables separately and adding the dressing just before serving. This keeps the vegetables crunchy for longer.

You may want to store the noodles tossed in a bit of sesame oil to prevent them clumping together.

Do not heat the salad as the cucumbers will loose texture.

Other Vegetarian Salad Recipes

Indian Chickpea Salad

Tuscan Tomato and Bread Salad (White Bean Panzanella)

Mango, Avocado and Black Bean Salad

Pesto Potato Salad

Chickpea Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

Vegan Greek Potato Salad

Orzo Pasta Mediterranean Salad

Watermelon Carpaccio Salad with Tahini

cold peanut noodle salad served with a fork

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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