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:
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Cabbage (white, green, red)
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Zucchini (yes, raw, it’s great!)
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Snow peas
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Thinly sliced raw broccoli
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Red onion
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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:
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Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns (Shrimp) or even non Asian Garlic Prawns
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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:
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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. ❤️
Your recipes are fabulous and you are a born teacher.
I used the dressing recipe, made half as I didn’t need much, I used even less. I made a noodle salad for my LO to have in her school lunch box for prep with chicken, cabbage and carrot. Tastes super yummy, not overly salty as I was expecting. Will definitely save to make again for more lunch boxes.
WOW! I made a big batch of this for my lunches at work, absolutely delicious, and that dressing. I added a few crushed cashew nuts on top too, divine!!!!
Nagi I think it’s even better on the 3rd day. Very yummy!
Really gorgeous!
I used spaghetti as I didn’t have noodles and almond butter as I didn’t have peanut butter.
Soooooo good! I used ramen noodles and added some pesto. Cooked my noodles, put them in a bowl with water in the fridge. Made the dressing and put that in the fridge. Then threw it all together once chopped the veggies. Next time will add fruit! Great late night meal!
What an explosion on the tastebutts. I never would have combined the ingredients of the dressing, but the outcome is just amazing ! Thank you !
Did not disappoint! Another hit in my house much like all the other recipes from this website. Can’t wait for the cookbook! Hope we can get it in Canada!
Loved it! I will be making this again.
This dressing is incredibly tasty. I made 3 servings of this sauce together with noodles for me and my parents, it was too yummy for us not to want seconds. So I whipped up another 1.5 servings of the sauce in no more than 3 minutes (I am an extremely slow when it comes to anything related to cooking), all thanks to the quick nature At the end we ran out of noodles, but my dad, in order to keep eating this sauce, even dipped leftover baozi in it. Thank you very much Ms. Nagi!!!
Hi Nagi, I hope you and Dozer are well!
Can I use tinned bean sprouts for this recipe?
I made honey prawns
Just so yummy!
Yum yum yum! Made this for dinner tonight with some chicken, was absolutely delicious! Will definitely be appearing on the menu again. So easy too, the 8yo boy was in charge of making the dressing and declared it AMAZING.
Yum! This is delicious!! Will def make again! Very tasty, thank you ☺
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.
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