Asian Noodle Salad tossed with a wickedly delicious dressing that’s creamy, peanutty, with a hint of sesame, tang of lime and mild hit of chilli. I would die a happy girl if I drowned in this dressing (morbid but true). Great lunch idea for work because it’s super tasty served cold!
Noodle Salad – Lunch Idea for Work!
This noodle salad is the sort of thing I used to take into work for lunch back in my corporate days. I was never a sandwich gal. I mean, let’s face it. Sitting in an air conditioned cubicle in front of a computer all day isn’t exactly stimulating. Most days, lunch was the most exciting part of my day.
Hence – skip the sambos.
Enter – Asian Noodle Salad with creamy peanut dressing! 😂
Great COLD lunch – and lasts for days!
There’s not many dishes other than salads that are genuinely great cold – or intended to be eaten cold. There’s even less salady type things that last for days, given that the moment salads are dressed they start to wilt and lose freshness.
And therein lies the reason why this noodle salad was a regular in my work lunch rotation. Adaptable, no need to heat it up, and it’s truly just as good today as it is tomorrow and the next day – and the next!
What you need
In case I hadn’t already made it clear – this noodle salad really is all about the dressing.😂 I use commercial peanut butter spread here ie the type loaded with sugar and extra oil and salt because all these flavourings are part of what makes the dressing so tasty.
If you make this with natural peanut butter, refer to the recipe notes – we need to jack up the flavourings a bit. 😇
For the noodle salad itself, the idea here is to use vegetables that won’t wilt into a watery mess the minute it’s dressed. I’ve gone with: beans, capsicum (bell peppers), carrots and bean sprouts. Other ideas for vegetables include:
Cabbage (white, green, red)
Zucchini (yes, raw, it’s great!)
Snow peas
Thinly sliced raw broccoli
Red onion
Lightly blanched asparagus, snap peas, cauliflower
Avoid things like lettuce, spinach, cucumber and tomato unless you’re consuming it on the day.
Best noodles?
I like to use any fresh thin egg noodles (ie pale yellow noodles sold in the fridge section) such as thin Hokkien noodles because I am partial to the slightly chewy, slippery texture in this noodle salad. But I’ve made this plenty of times with just about every other noodle I use – rice noodles, ramen noodles (toss the seasoning packs), dried egg noodles and yes, I’ve even used pasta!
Also a great Asian side dish!
I know I’m talking this up as a lunch idea for work, but this Noodle Salad is also a terrific option as a side dish for an Asian meal (or Asiany, you know the sort I mean!). I see this alongside things like:
Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns (Shrimp) or even non Asian Garlic Prawns
Thai Marinated Chicken (Gai Yang) or Southern Thai Grilled Chicken
Also, it would be great to serve as a side to make a meal out of small-bite type Asian things such as:
Chinese Lettuce Wraps (San Choy Bow ) (also the Thai version would be great)
All this tasty food talk is torture. I need to sign off and get into the kitchen to make dinner! ~ Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Noodle Salad With Creamy Sesame Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/4 cup peanut butter , preferably smooth (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil , toasted (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp canola oil (or other neutral oil)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp sriracha (adjust spiciness to taste)
- 2 tbsp lime juice (sub rice or cider vinegar)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 2 to 4 tbsp water , if needed
Salad
- 350g / 12 oz fresh egg noodles (about 4 cups, packed)
- 1.5 cups carrot , julienned (1 large or 2 small carrots)
- 2 cups beansprouts
- 1.5 cups green beans , halved
- 1.5 cups red bell pepper/capsicum , finely sliced (1 large)
- 3 green onion stems , finely sliced on the diagonal
- 1 tbsp white sesame seeds (preferably toasted)
Instructions
- Prepare noodles according to packet directions (most just require soaking in hot water). Drain, rinse and set aside to cool.
- Dressing – Mix together Dressing ingredients, using water only if needed to loosen so it can be tossed through salad. If you reduce Sriracha, might need to add smidge more lime.
- Beans – Steam or boil green greens until just cooked, tender but still crisp. Drain under running water to cool.
- Toss – Place salad ingredients in a big bowl, toss with dressing.
- Garnish with sesame seeds then serve at room temp. Keeps 4 days in the fridge.
Recipe Notes:
- Shredded Cabbage (white, green, red)
- Zucchini batons (yes, raw, it’s great!)
- Snow peas, thinly sliced raw broccoli, red onion, corn
- Lightly blanched asparagus, snap peas, cauliflower
Nutrition Information:
Originally published July 2014, updated May 2019 with new photos, rewritten post, addition of recipe video and most important, added Life of Dozer! No change to recipe – it’s just as tasty as its been for the last decade I’ve been making it!
Life of Dozer
Dozer spent most of yesterday afternoon in the car with me as we travelled all over the north side of Sydney doing flower and foodie drop offs for Mother’s Day, to the various special mothers in our lives. ❤️
Love your recipes! Sooo glad I found your site! Thank you for such great recipes!
This was lovely- had the noodle salad on my first day back at work would love more work lunch ideas
Hi Nagi,
We have peanut allergies in our home, do you think this would work with another nut butter?
Cashew nut butter or almond nut butter?? Or can we leave out the nut butter completely.
I would say try roasted cashew butter to mimic the depth of flavour of peanut butter
Hi Carly, you could use a different nut butter but it will have a different flavour – would love to know if you give it a try! N x
I make this often for my work lunch. I am a celery fan, so put plenty of celery in it. Delicious. Everything else as per recipe.
Any subs for sweet chilli sauce?
Hi Edwina, you can add 1 tbls of honey and just increase the sriracha to compensate 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, Do you think this would work with tahini (plus sugar/salt) instead of peanut butter to make it safe for kids to bring to (nut-free) school?
Hi Sally, yes that should work, slightly different flavour but it will still be delicious! N x
I just made (and ate) this for lunch using courgette and green pepper. It was great! – though red pepper would have been better. But yummy easy and filling! thanks Nagi!
I had mine with white cabbage, green beans ,red bell peppers and red onion, it is was tasty and refreshing, also so filling, thanks a lot Nagi 🥰
This was simple but tasty. For busy week night dinner, I did use a bag of coleslaw mix. And I looked up substitute for sweet chili sauce.
The Noodle Salad with the creamy Sesame peanut dressing was delicious, definitely a keeper
Hello, I have been really excited to try your recipes, and I love peanut sauce so I made this tonight, the first of your recipes, and I’m wondering what I did wrong. I followed the dressing instructions exactly (except I left out the sriracha sauce and didn’t replace it with anything) but unfortunately all we could taste and smell was the rice wine vinegar, couldn’t taste any peanut butter, is 1/4 cup right? and I can never seperate fresh noodles, they always fall apart into chunks, never long strands. It wasn’t even the same colour as yours. Don’t know what happened, very disappointed and nobody wants to finish it.
Hi Flea, sorry you had issues here – what brand of vinegar are you using (it should definitely not be overpowering as there is only 30ml in there). Did you use fresh egg noodles here? N x
Hi Nagi, love your website. I used Obento rice wine vinegar. I noticed you said should only be 30ml, your recipe says 2 tablespoons, an Australian tablespoon is 20ml, and as you’re in Australia I didn’t adjust any measurements. Are you using American measurements? It shouldn’t make a difference though because all the other ingredients were measured with the same tablespoon, so in proportion. Maybe I should have used lime juice. Yes, I used Fantastic fresh noodles, thin hokkien from the fridge section. I always thought I couldn’t seperate them because they have been vacuumed sealed into a solid block. I have no trouble separating dried noodles, maybe I should stick to those.
Definitely try it with lime juice. I’ve made this several times and the sauce is soooo good. I’ve always used fresh lime juice.
An Australian tablespoon is 15ml ☺️
Hi Nagi – Could you substitute rice for noodles in this recipe do you think? My lot hate noodles but are rice monsters!!
Hi Nagi, I’ve tried a few of your recipes and they have all been delicious. I want to try this recipe but my son has a peanut allergy. Anything you can recommend to substitute for the peanut butter and do you think it will taste as good ? Thanks
I’ve been dying to try this. I’ve got a bunch of wheat berries to use… do you think I could cook some wheat berries and use those instead of noodles?
Hi Megan, you could – just cook them as per the packet directions. N x
I love many of your recipes but this is my favourite so far. Reminds me of the one I always do takeaway from local deli while I was in Vancouver! Thanks Nagi, now I can have this again in UK!!
Nagi does it again…I have not made a recipe that I did not like of hers! This is another keeper! So delicious as either a main dish or a side. Thank you Nagi for all your inspiration!!! Keep the recipes coming…and the pics of Dozer! I have to admit I always scroll down to see his pic first! 🙂
He always steals my thunder 😂 I’m so glad you’re loving the recipes, thanks so much for letting me know Vicky ❤️
Made your chicken satay last night and I have a ton of extra peanut sauce left and going to make this tonight along with your Chinese chicken wings!!! Marinade already made and wings bought. Can’t wait for dinner tonight. Thanks again Nagi!!!
YUM! Sounds perfect Vanessa!
I figured this would be perfect for a 12 person family gathering since I knew there would be a bunch of boring Costco salads there as well. When you said how long it lasted, I figured it would be perfect as we had a three hour trip. It was a good thing that I doubled the recipe as I was the only one not bringing a lot home. Another hit (and it takes a lot to impress all the aunts). We also took some Potstickers and they made a good side dish for it that was all gone before we headed home.
Wahoo, that’s awesome Gordon!
I’ve tried a lot of Nagi recipes, and we haven’t found one yet that we didn’t like. But this one is particularly delicious and has quickly become a family favourite. Thanks Nagi – you’ve really ‘upped’ the competitive cooking stakes in our house! I’m winning!!! 🙂
Wahoo, that’s awesome to hear Robyn!
I have not made this recipe yet but it looks awesome! Thank you.
I hope you love it when you try it!