Call upon traditional ingredients to power your next plant-based meal with potent flavor and health. Packed with a variety of flavors, textures, and colors, this easy, vegan Sesame Noodle Salad with Peas can be whipped up in mere minutes with a few staple ingredients and fresh produce items, including snow or snap peas, carrots, bell pepper, green onions, and cilantro. Just cook up your favorite Japanese noodles, such as soba or udon, whip up a flavorful sesame dressing, and toss it all with chopped veggies. Voila, a delicious, healthy, hearty salad! I love to tote along this cold sesame noodle salad to potlucks, picnics (I enjoyed it at the Hollywood Bowl this summer), or to the office in your lunch box, as it’s ideal for meal prep. Kids love it too! As the flavors meld together, this healthy salad is even better the next day and can hold up well in the fridge for a few days. This sesame noodles salad is a winner each time I prepare it.
Nutrition Notes
This vegan Sesame Noodle Salad is packed with nutrition, including vitamins like A, Bs, C, and E, minerals such as potassium and magnesium, a small dose of healthy fats, and phytochemicals linked with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power. Make the recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free noodles and soy sauce. Add protein to the recipe to make it a full meal by including diced tofu or tempeh, or canned beans.
Description
Call upon traditional flavors to create this delicious, vegan Sesame Noodle Salad with Peas, which is packed with veggies, noodles, and a flavorful sauce. Make it gluten free with two easy swaps.
Noodles:
- 9.5 ounces dried udon or soba noodles
- Water
Sesame Dressing:
Vegetables:
- 8 ounces fresh snow peas or snap peas, trimmed and halved
- 2 small (about 3 ounces each) carrots, sliced into small matchsticks (about 1–1/2 inches)
- 1 small bell pepper, sliced into 1–1/2 inch pieces
- 3 green onions, white and green parts, sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Garnish:
- To prepare noodles: Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the udon or soba noodles and cook, uncovered, over medium heat until tender yet firm, according to package directions (about 8-10 minutes). Place in a colander and rinse with cold water, draining off the liquid. Set aside.
- To make sesame dressing: In a small dish, make the dressing by whisking together the sesame oil, peanut butter, lemon juice, soy sauce, agave nectar, ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper.
- To prepare salad: Transfer the rinsed, cooled noodles to a large mixing bowl. Add the dressing and toss with the noodles. Add the peas, carrots, bell peppers, green onions, and cilantro, and toss again.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Chill until serving time.
Notes
Variations: Add 8 ounces of cubed tofu (pressed, for best results) or one 15-ounce can (1 ¾ cup) of drained and rinsed, no salt added beans, such as adzuki or kidney, in step 3.
To make this recipe gluten-free, swap out gluten-free rice noodles for udon noodles, and use gluten-free soy sauce.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 175
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 637 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
- Protein: 5 g
For more plant-based salad recipes, check out the following:
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