Enjoyed chilled or at room temperature, this Soba Noodle Salad tossed in a honey-soy dressing is exactly what you need for a quick, light meal.
What are some of your warmer weather lunches? When I am not developing or testing a recipe, I like my summer lunch to be light and fuss-free. Today I made an easy and refreshing Soba Noodle Salad (蕎麦サラダ) that can be done in less than 20 minutes.
In this recipe, earthy soba noodles are tossed in a simple honey-soy dressing and garnished with green onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds. Simple yet bright in flavors, this salad is a true favorite of mine.
Watch How To Make Soba Noodle Salad 蕎麦サラダの作り方
Refreshing and spicy soba noodle salad recipe. Nutty soba noodles are tossed in a honey soy dressing and garnished with green onion and cilantro. Perfect for summer lunch.
What are Soba Noodles?
Soba noodles are a type of Japanese noodles made of buckwheat. Low in fat, soba noodles are a great source of amino acids and fiber. The noodles are often served cold such as Zaru Soba, room temperature or in hot soup such as Soba Noodle Soup. In Japan, we have different kinds of soba noodles depending on the percentage of buckwheat used in making the noodles.
Ju-wari Soba (十割そば) is made of 100% buckwheat flour, hence it’s gluten-free. It has dry and rough texture so the noodles are easily broken compared to Hachi-wari Soba. Ju-wari soba has strong buckwheat aroma and flavor, and it is hard to make because of its dry and crumbly texture.
Hachi-wari Soba (八割そば) is made from 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour. Hachi-wari means 80% in Japanese. The noodle is much smoother with an al dente texture. Unlike Ju-wari Soba, it’s easy to swallow and chew. However, the buckwheat aroma is less than Ju-wari.
It’s hard to say which soba is tastier, it really is up to personal preferences.
Popular Soba Noodle Salad
This recipe was originally published in May 2013 and it’s been one of the most popular recipes on Just One Cookbook. This dish was inspired by my friend Tuyen’s Asian style spaghetti salad. Whenever she serves her spaghetti salad at parties, and it’s always a huge hit among our friends. I adapted her recipe by using less oil and substituted spaghetti noodles with soba noodles.
This Soba Noodle Salad recipe is the perfect blank slate for customization. If you like it spicy, add more crushed chili pepper. You can also add thin strips of cucumbers and carrots to make the salad into a main dish instead of a side dish. For extra protein and substance, a hard-boiled egg or leftover grilled tofu makes a great addition too.
A Few Tips for Soba Noodle Salad
Soba noodles cook much faster than spaghetti noodles so this noodle salad can be completed in a very short time. It’s important to drain the noodles well and run it under cold water. This helps to remove any starch from the noodles. You can prepare the dressing ahead of time but I don’t recommend tossing everything together until you are ready to serve, or else soba noodles will absorb the dressing and become soggy.
If you or your children don’t eat spicy food at all, you can omit the crushed red peppers. Mr. JOC who loves spicy food says he doesn’t taste the spice (what!?), so please adjust the spice level to your liking.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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- 7 oz dried soba noodles (buckwheat noodles) (7 oz = 200 g = 2-3 bundles)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 1 bunch cilantro (.7 oz = 20 g)
- 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- 3 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted)
- 1/2 tsp crushed red peppers (red pepper flakes)
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
-
Gather all the ingredients.
- To make the dressing, combine 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 3 Tbsp. sesame oil, and ½ tsp. crushed red peppers in a small saucepan.
- Whisk all together and infuse the oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Alternatively, you can put these ingredients in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 3 minutes. Set aside to let it cool a bit; be careful while handling as it'll get very hot.
- Add 3 Tbsp. honey and 3 Tbsp. soy sauce to the oil mixture.
- Whisk all together until honey is completely dissolved.
- Bring water to a boil (You do not need to salt the water for cooking soba.). Cook the soba noodles according to the package instructions, but make sure they are al dente. Drain into a colander and rinse the soba noodles under cold running water. This step is important to remove the starch from the soba noodles. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.
- Thinly slice the green onions and chop cilantro into small pieces.
- Combine the soba noodles, dressing, green onion, cilantro, and sesame seeds in the bowl.
- Toss everything together. Transfer to a serving bowl or plate. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 13, 2013. It is updated with new video and step-by-step pictures in August, 2016. The content updated in July 2017.
I’m ashamed to admit that despite living in Singapore, I have never tried soba before! I love this honey soy dressing, this looks like perfect worknight meal:-)
I am in love with simple soba dishes such as this one. I enjoy soba at least once a week!
I have been re-reading Molly Wizenburg’s *A Homemade Life.* There’s a bit in there where she talks about her husband making a soba noodle salad with the last of her peanut butter. Needless to say, I’ve been thinking about it for over a week now. And then here you are, sharing a soba noodle salad in my Facebook newsfeed. What perfect crazyness. I love it. AND – I like the idea of sesame way better than peanuts. It’s not that I have an issue with peanuts or anything and frankly if peanuts and peanut oil were what I had on hand, I’d use them. But somehow sesame seems like it goes better with whole wheat. You know what I mean?
On a different note – Congrats to your daughter! I hope you guys have tons of fun summer plans.
Hi Mikaela! I think it’s more common to see sesame seeds in Japanese dishes than peanuts (in fact I never thought of adding peanut butter!). Thank you so much for your kind words! 🙂
Oh I can’t believe that summer is almost here and that kids are going to be home…:/
Your Soba salad looks delicious, as well as dressing… although I would probably add 1 tablespoon of the crushed red peppers haha.
Yummy pictures, Nami! enjoy rest of the week
I made almost the identical thing today to eat for dinner (and was thinking about putting it on my blog). I love the simplicity of it. Are you able to find pure buckwheat noodles, Nami? Seems like yours is…all I can find are ones that’s been mixed with another type of flour (yam flour).
Hi Monica! Try whole foods or Japanese grocery store. Hope you can find it! 🙂
Yummy, looks so silky and delicious Nami. Soba is my favourite noodle because I love buckwheat. Going to make this soon, after te move!
This soba looks very refreshing…I haven’t had soba for a while and now that the weather is getting warm I should try this out.
Hope you had a great Mother’s Day Nami 🙂
I had a soba noodle salad for lunch today but it had a thai chili sauce. It was wonderful. I love the sound of your honey soy dressing. I’ll have to try that with my box of noodles I have. Sounds delicious!
Hello Nami,
I can’t wait to try this, I have almost all the ingredients in my kitchen right now.
I just wanted to say thank you for all your great recipes and especially for all the extra information (including hiragana or kanji) about Japanese ingredients.
I’m British and currently living in Chiba prefecture, I love to cook but felt a bit overwhelmed when I first arrived in Japan. Now I have discovered your fantastic website I feel like I have a Japanese advisor in my kitchen. 🙂
Hi Claire! I hope you like this dish! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m happy to hear you enjoy my site and hope you enjoy your stay in Japan! 🙂
We have been experiencing such hot weather here in Singapore. This is just perfect for the weather. Thanks Nami.
I love pasta salads, though I confess I rarely use soba. I should – great flavor, and as you say it cooks so quickly. I didn’t actually know that you didn’t need to salt the water when you cook soba – thanks for that info. I love the flavors in this, and the spiciness. I’m with your husband – spicy, please! Good stuff – thanks.
Very beautiful and tempting pictures.. Great job !!
I can’t wait to try this. I have all the ingredients except the soba noodles.
Hope you like this recipe Candice! (sorry for my late response… =P)
The dressing sounds very tasty. A change from my usual tahini based ones.
The kind of dish I would love for summer!
I have also made similar pasta salad past few mths using angel hair as the pasta of choice. The very thin noodles blends with the peanut-sesame dressing really well
Hi Nami! I’m having soba now for lunch!
This looks like something that I would love to try for my next party! Easy and tasty! Do you serve them cold?
Hi Alvin! When you wash the soba under running colder, it gets pretty cold enough, so you don’t have to chill in the refrigerator. It’s more like cool/room temperature kinda dish. But of course you can serve cold too. 🙂
What a nice simple soba salad. I will bookmark this since I love all things soba.
What a refreshing and healthy soba salad Nami! I like using soba as well as buckwheat flour for that earthy nutty taste! Will be having this for dinner tonight 🙂
Oh, and have been making your black sesame cookies lately too…it is SO delicious!
Vivienne!!! Oh I missed you and your blog! Thanks so much for stopping by. 🙂 I’m so happy you like the black sesame cookies!! xoxo
Love soba noodles. I’m hungry looking at this. Can’t wait to try this for dinner soon!
I am loving how simple but effectively delicious this is 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
What a beautiful and simple recipe for a soba noodle salad very much dependent on the sesame oil and repeated sesame seeds for its wonderful flavour! Love the noodles and shall most decidedly make them by your recipe!!
Thank you so much Eha! 🙂
I love love love cold soba noodles. Everytime we go for Japanese, we would always have cha soba or zaru soba. I think we’ll love this very much. We’re having a little family gathering this Saturday. Might make this for a sort of appetizer!
PS: This can be made ahead and kept in the fridge until serving time, right?
Hi Jayne! When you keep the soba noodles in the fridge, they might be stick to each other. But when you pour the dressing, I think they will have enough oil to separate each noodle. I haven’t made ahead of time before, but I think it should work. 🙂
Yes, I think I will dress it first before keeping it in the fridge. More flavour absorption that way. 🙂 Tomorrow is the gathering so I’ll be prepping it in the morning for dinner. Thanks for the recipe, Nami.
Actually I’d recommend to dress it before you serve. The soba can be too salty if you soak it (it absorb fairly quickly) and the texture won’t be nice. If you pour the dressing before serving, it should be okay. Enjoy the gathering tomorrow! 🙂
Ooops. Okay. Will bear that in mind. Thanks for the tip! Will surely enjoy it. My little nephew is turning one. 🙂
Aww happy birthday to your nephew! 🙂
It’s incredible how quickly time passes Nami – I am sure you are looking forward to having your kids at home with you for the summer.
Lovely meal idea.
🙂 Mandy xo
This looks delicious, Nami! I’m bookmarking this and trying out next week!
なみさんは賢いですね。You’re so clever, Nami-san. Your soba salad looks so yummy. I love the combining the crunch of veggies and soft noodles.
I’d like to omit the crushed red peppers, but Tomasz loves spacy food and he wouldn’t like it 🙂 very nice recipe. Congrats for your boy, children grow so fast. And summer in San Francisco must be great, spring was.
I love soba noodles and I love how this can be cooked in just a few minutes. I bet you’re really looking forward to the holidays so you can all take a break xx
It’s the first time in my life that I see a spaghetti salad… and seems delicious!!
Great job and, don’t worry, I’ll send the pictures 🙂
lovely light dish, Nami. My husband also loves things too hot, so it’s always a fine balance.
Fine balance is right! 🙂 Or I usually tell him to add more spice as he like after I take out my (and kids’) portion. Hehee.
Hi, I just love soba salad! I have a friend who is half Japanese and she tought me to prepare soba salad, it is exactly how you do plus boiled prawn tails. Beautiful pictures!
Ciao.
I’ve only had soba noodles once and was surprised at how much I liked them. The dressing also looks fantastic. this is definitely my kind of summer salad! Congratulations to your daughter’s preschool graduation….along that line, my thoughts will be with you this fall as your little one heads off to grade school while you deal with the lump in your throat.
Perfect for summer. Simple things are the best.
so refreshing, perfect for our weather! we hit 30C (86F) today!
This is a delicious salad Nami! I am definitely keeping this to try as summer is coming here as well!
It’s crazy to think that the school year is coming to a close already! Now my tongue is craving these flavors!
Ha! Ha! My husband is the opposite. Just a little hot sauce and he’s complaining about the heat! I am building up my tolerance for spicy food, but very slowly. I can’t wait to try this!
Hello my dear friend Nami,
I still cant believe that this year has passed so quickly, my son is finishing JK next month!
I love your dish, I think it;s a great idea for a warm summer day! Tangy and refreshing!
Hugs and Kisses <3
This is a perfect dish for the warmer weather we’ve been having. I always forget about cold soba on a hot day. Sounds delicious!
Oh I love this soba salad! This is perfect to pair with grilled foods. Thanks for sharing, Nami!
Your husband sounds like mine, I will be sweating from the heat and he can’t even taste it.
I love soba noodles, this salad looks fabulous! The honey soy dressing sounds so good!
You mean in 10 minutes we could be chowing down on something that looks this good!
I just found this website and subscribed to the email list and am very satisfied with this recipe and the others I have looked at!! Good job I’m hungry for more (: one thing that I think would be an amazing addition to the website is the ability to share it on Pinterest or Facebook and other social media sites so we can show our friends the wonderful food that is being made on this website!! Just a thought.
Hi Bree! Welcome to JOC and thanks for subscribing to my blog! I used to have those share icons but they didn’t look nice so I took it down (plus no one seems like using it – I might be wrong). However after your suggestion, I added back. I’m hoping to find something better than these icons I currently use. Thank you so much for your suggestion!
Looks so light and delicious!! Love!!
Did you get your bowls in Target? They have some almost identical!
Thank you! Both bowls are from Sur La Table. 🙂 I should check out Target too!
Nami:
I love noodles…Especially if it is spicy like this one. I wish I could have a great bowl of your noodles for lunch!!!
I have never made my own soba dressing. Back in the days, I boiled my soba and dipped in the pre-made soba sauce. That would be it. I love that your recipe is not too harder than that. From now on, I will just make my own dressing. 🙂
Dreamy, drool-inducing dish ! Lovely photography 🙂
That is a dish I absolutely love! So flavorful.
Cheers,
Rosa
いい感じ！ さっぱりでたくさん食べられそう！家の主人は辛いものだめなので、唐辛子はぬきで作ってみます。 楽しい母の日を送れましたか？ なみちゃんのブログを見てるとお腹すいてきます、マジで。
Light and refreshing dish…
i love to add cooled boiled seafood like blue crab and shrimp too to soba salad…..
I just wanna eat up your photos! NOM NOM NOM!!!
Gorgeous!!
I love soba noodles especially in salads and honey – soy could go on just about anything. By the way, have I mentioned how much I love those bowls of yours? So pretty 🙂
wow, seems like school year is ending sooner in SF. Both of my kids won’t be out of school until end of June. 🙂
This soba salad is so refreshing. I made cold soba all the time especially in the summer. It’s just the best way to enjoy noodles in the hot days.
Nami-san this is a beautiful soba salad. My boys are the same way about the heat…spice…they say what spice? I however am blowing my lips, drinking tons of water to try to lower the heat going on in my mouth. The good news is that you can make this dish to order. Wishing you a super day. Ja Mata, BAM
Oh my goodness Nami, this looks/sounds amazing. I can see why it’s so popular with your friends. I would probably eat the leftovers (if there were any) for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Thanks for sharing the honey soy dressing recipe. We eat soba often and this is a new sauce I could try.
This sounds so good, and I love the idea of adding some shredded cucumber and carrot. I will definitely be bringing this to the next barbeque!
I am in love with this noodle. It’s so easy to make, so quick and easy to whip with any kind of sauce. Healthy and delicious, all the time 🙂
Beautiful salad, Nami! This is truly a nice recipe and exactly the kind of dish we love to eat at our house. I found a great Asian store the other day and they carry a wonderful range of Asian noodles, including delicious soba noodles. So, I better get back there soon and buy some more and try out this recipe! What a very pretty serving bowl, it looks fantastic filled to the rim with your delicious soba salad.
Your soba salad looks so delicious. I have been eating lot of soba noodles but never have it this way. I want to try this soon, lucky I have everything in my pantry.
I love noodle salads especially ones with sesame dressing (I’m crazy about sesame flavouring!). And although it’s getting cold here, I think we’ve got another few days in which to enjoy this! 🙂
MMMM LOVELY post:) and thanks SO much for sweet words on my blog.
If you like IKEA …you can check out my new post:)
Have a wonderful day dear
LOVE Maria from inredningsvis.se
I have eaten this before in Japan and loved it but I’ve never been brave enough to try it myself. I think this is certainly doable. 🙂
I love soba noodles – i always have some in my pantry…I also make something smiliar but yours looks easier and definetly very yummy….Love the bowl in the picture…very beautiful!
You have now forced me to have to order Soba Salad take-out today for lunch! This looks incredible Nami!
For some reason the first picture does not load for me.
In any case, I love the looks and ingredients in this recipe. I have all of the ingredients, I will try it for lunch today. Thanks!
Hi Nami,
I am wondering if I can use vegetable oil or olive oil instead of canola or grapeseed oil for the dressing. Please advise.
Thank you.
Hi Cindy! Vegetable oil is good. You basically want to use some oil that doesn’t have flavor/flagrance which would not go well with sesame oil. Olive oil tends to have some flavor/fragrance so I’d avoid (but if you don’t mind, you can). Hope that helps! 🙂
This looks so good! I’ve never cooked soba noodles at home before, but I love buckwheat, and I can’t wait to try it!
Wow, Nami, this salad looks so wholesome and delicious. I enjoy this at restaurants once in a while, but never thought to make it at home. I would love to try your recipe!
I love the simple, yet flavorful dressing. Good information on rinsing the soba noodles in cold water…. I need to try that extra step. 🙂
I can’t wait until the school year is finished….. but we have a month still to go here. 🙂
What a scrumptious noodle salad, Nami! The dressing sounds perfect…I’d have to tone down the heat for Bill, though 🙂 Hope your kiddos have had a wonderful school year!
This recipe would be a favorite in our house. Especially with Mr. N and I. We used soba noodles for the first time last year. I should pick some of those up again. I’m guessing Mike, Mr. N and I would prefer this with the spicy kick. Miss A we’d have to tone it down for if we’d want her to eat it. 🙂 Congrats on the up-coming preschool graduation!!! Miss A had her final preschool picnic today. It’s hard to believe we’re off to Kindergarten next year!
Oh this looks so simple and delicious, I am sure it would be a hit at our place too 🙂
I really don’t eat soba salads enough! This one looks so refreshing and I’m totally in love with it!
Glad that school will be over soon, no more running after my son and checking his homework :0) … I love the clicks Nami, made me super hungry.
Have a great week dear.
These noodles and the whole deal is amazing. It looks delicious and I have only tried soba once before and love it so I must make these!
Great recipe. I have most of the ingredients for this. I’ll have to pick up what I’m missing so I can try this!
Oh I know I’ll enjoy this! I love the sweet, salty, and spicy combo. Makes this pregnant woman very happy 🙂 And isn’t it amazing how time flies? I can’t believe that it’s already May, that school is ending, and that soon our little Lucy will be here. Thank you for sharing, sweet friend!!
Simple and yummy soba salad. And your adorable kids are growing up way too fast, Nami 🙂
There is a local restaurant I frequent in which I always start my meal with their soba noodle salad. Just like yours, it’s so simple and so delicious. I love your salad and could easily see myself sitting on the front porch eating this for lunch. Definitely need to pick up some soba noodles! Like your hubby, I could see the crushed red peppers being increased to 1 tsp instead of 1/2 tsp. 🙂 Love this salad!6
This recipe will definitely try it as soon as possible. We love soba, and this is such an easy recipe. Glad you posted it.
I imagine it’d be great cold, and a good picnic dish that nobody would be expecting!
This is the last week for the schools here in Kansas too, the kids so excited for the summer adventures as well. I tried the soba before, it is really easy to do and a savor for quick lunch. Tried it with sautéed vegetables, but your dressing is so easy to make too, and looks delicious, will try it soon. Thanks Nami for the recipe.
This would be a great thing to bring to a gathering, especially with the extra veggies like you suggested. I don’t work with the soba noodles a lot, good to know they will get soggy. I can’t believe it’s the end of the school year myself, went way too fast.
-Gina-
I love soba and this soba is great for spring weather!
What a quick and delicious meal, especially for dinner time. I love how it can be served hot and cold with soba. Yum!
I can’t really have spicy either! Seems like a wonderful summer dish. =)
OMG school year is comming to end for you…!!! Wow, time really went so fast
Yum! I am making this tonight! So happy that I have all the ingredients! Thank you for sharing this!
Hi Donna! Thanks for tagging me on Instagram and your Soba Salad was so pretty! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed this dish. Thank you!!
Nami, I have made this soba salad about 5 times already! Despite the heat, it’s so refreshing and needless to say, it’s my favorite soba salad! I have the recipe memorized! Thank you again for sharing a wonderful recipe!
Donna, you made me SUPER happy!!!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe – already 5 times!! 😀 You totally made my day!
This sound wonderful Nami. Will be putting this on my to-make list. I’m always looking for meals for those hot days when you don’t want to put too much heat in the house. This is perfect for those days.
Most soba dishes I tried are light, this is different looks like it packs a lot of flavor.
Your Soba salad sound so refreshing !
Such a simple and delicious soba dish! We have this regularly, but I’ve never put peppers in before – will definitely be trying this soon! xxx
Your son will be finishing first grade in 3 weeks?!! Wow…that’s fast. Love this soba noodle dish. I make my noodles exactly the same way, with more heat and less honey:)
I’m a noodle lover so I better pick up soba noodles and give this recipe a try…thanks Nami for sharing;-)
What changes would you recommend to make this sesame-free? I’m deathly allergic and still learning how to cook things other than desserts, so I’m not that good at figuring out what can be replaced for what.
Hi Proto! This dressing has sesame flavor, so if you don’t add sesame oil/sesame, then the flavor will be different and it will be a little different dish. However, it will be still tasty with using regular oil and also using like rice vinegar to add some kick.
I just tried this recipe today. Not bad, but i had a few issues. First it seemed like it’s a bit too much sauce for 6 oz. i used an 8oz package and there was more than enough sauce. Plenty left in the bowl afterwards.
I used agave instead of honey, but the dish seemed overly sweet. (maybe it’s supposed to be very sweet? Or maybe the agave made it sweeter than it would be with honey) It also wasnt spicy at all, didnt really taste the red pepper.
Next time i try the dish im going to cut back on the amount of sauce a bit. Im also going to cut way back on the agave (1TBS should be more than enough. is 3 a typo maybe?), and im going to up the amount of red pepper a bit.
Hi Matt! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! As I mentioned, the heat was nothing to my husband while my kids and I thought it’s a bit spicy. If you like it spicy, you can even sprinkle crushed pepper instead of just using chili infused oil that we make with microwave. I don’t think 3 Tbsp. of honey wasn’t that sweet as I don’t like food with too sweet flavor. But honey will give a nice hint of sweetness, not like “sweet” food. I’ve never used agave before so I’m not too sure how that will turn out. Some people prefer the sauce to have extra rather than not having enough sauce, so I made the recipe plenty than just enough. I’ll update the recipe with that info. Thank you SO MUCH for your feedback. I really appreciate it. Thank you again for writing!
Hi Nami, thanks for the reply. Just wanted to post back and say that i had some of the leftover noodles that were stored in the fridge later on in the evening. The sauce had thickened a bit, and it was even better than before. It didnt seem as overly sweet as before and not as oily, so it was almost perfect. Like you said, i can always add more red pepper to suit my taste. I’ll definitely try the recipe again, maybe just cut back on the agave a little bit, and maybe chill it before eating. Thanks!
Hi Matt! Yeah, the oil thickens as it cools down. Some people may prefer that thick texture and it’s more refreshing when it’s cold too. Thank you again for your kind feedback! 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful day!
Nami, I love soba noodles and making a salad for summer with them is perfect! It will be terrific, too, to toss in whatever looks good at the farmer’s market. Thanks for sharing!
Nami, I just wanted to warn you: you will see this salad soon on my blog. I haven’t made it yet, but as a big fan of soba (and buckwheat groats) I’m sure I will love it.
I prepare pasta salads quite often, but never noodles (or spaghetti), i.e. I have never had the idea to make a cold dish with long pasta/noodles! It is an extraordinary idea I will explore.
PS Have you bought this bowl in Japan? You always have beautiful dishes, but this one is one of my favourite dishes from your blog.
I have just noticed both bowls are breathtakingly beautiful…
This recipe would be easy to travel with, and a healthy option! I love the simplicity of the recipe, and it really sounds delicious:-) Hugs, Terra
I love the simplicity of this dish!
This is my first time visiting your blog (although I’ve seen your posts shared on FB from other bloggers), and I think stumbling upon this recipe means we are off to a great start! 😉 Saving this for a meal soon!
I will definitely be trying this one Nami! This is a perfect dish for BBQ weather and I know we will all love it. I will let you know how it works out for us 🙂
I love honey soy noodles – such a simple and incredibly delicious meal to put together in minutes 🙂
This looks great Nami – I had something similar once at a Korean restaurant with some black sesame seeds on top. Really lovely and light – perfect for hot summer lunches! 🙂
oo this looks so pretty, nami! i love soba noodles. an excellent spring/summer side dish.
I could probably eat the entire bowl of these noodles. That dressing seems so tangy, sweet and delicious! I am sure to give this a try, may not with Soba since we don’t get them so easily, but certainly with the regular noodles.
I tried this out for lunch yesterday, and did as you suggested and added more things to make it a full meal. It was delicious. I ended up adding some crab sticks, cucumber (I sliced and quartered them), and shredded carrot (which was really very difficult to do with baby carrots). It looked beautiful with all that extra color and it it tasted amazing. I hope the leftovers have held up for today’s lunch! 🙂
Hi Angela! Happy to hear that you liked the recipe! Thank you so much for your feedback. Hope the leftovers were good too. 🙂
Oh Nami soba is my favourite 😀
You always have amazing recipes. Thanks for sharing with us, I want to try it.
It has been a while since I ordered soba in a restaurant but wow it is easy to make. Great for summer. A keeper!
I am going to try this tomorrow for breakfast and pair it with korroke.
What do you usually eat this with, Nami?
Thanks for another exciting dish!!!
Hi Cha! Sorry for my late response. I hope you enjoyed this recipe. It goes well with pretty much anything, but maybe Asian theme dishes might be nice. It’s refreshing flavor, so if you have some BBQ meat this will be a nice side. Hope that helps. 🙂
I follow you on twitter 🙂
Thanks Nami for sharing this recipe! It looks so yummy and looks easy to prepare, I hope to try this out soon :p
Soba salad is my favourite default work lunch dish as it’s so simple to make! Even though it’s winter in Australia, I’m definitely going to make this on a regular basis. Thanks for sharing your recipe, will give it a go soon!
This recipe looks so good and refreshing. I have all the ingredients and I am going for it.
Hello Nami,
I hope you are enjoying your summer! Thank you again for a wonderful recipe. I tried it today, with three soba bundles. Lucky I did that because some friends dropped by, and it was enough for everybody to have a taste. It was refreshing. The spring onion and cilantro was a great combination. At first, I was not really sure if that combination would work. Everybody, including myself was expecting something Japanese tasting, but it turned out to be a Thai-style dish, which was a surprise. I’ll definitely make this salad again. It is a simple, make ahead dish, perfect for a hot, sunny day. Thank you again for sharing the recipe.
Hi Kisa! Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Yeah it’s not typical Japanese, especially when cilantro is in it, and this is more Asian style (I usually put Japanese name after the dish if it’s Japanese food. :)). Thanks so much for your feedback!
Hi ,Nami . Thanks for this succulent Recipe ..But Can I use Olive oil instead of grapeseed oil or sesame oil?
Hi Rasel! I’m sorry for my late response (I’m traveling and don’t spend much time in front of PC lately). Olive oil is too thick and has fragrance so I don’t recommend; however, if you don’t mind that, you can use it. Canola or grapeseed oil is lighter in texture and no smell, so it’s more appropriate for sauce. Hope that helps! 🙂
can we replace microwave with oven ？ any advice？i dont have microwave
thanks for yr recipe.. its nice ！
Hi Tammy! For step 1, you can use a small saucepan instead of microwave. You heat the oil and infuse with the chili to get chili oil. Hope that helps. 🙂
Thanks, Nami!
I am getting really fond of your blog and I am so wanting to try all the recipe you are sharing here. Glad to have found your blog. Thumbs up!
Hi Julie! Awww thank you for your kind words! I hope you enjoy my recipes. xo 🙂
Just tried putting together seasoning/dressing and hmmm taste like I’m having a yummy soba dinner later, well not really soba coz I don’t have them right now so I might be experimenting with yellow dried noodle I have. Wish me luck. Thanks again for all your wonderful recipe here.
Hi Julie! Hope you enjoyed the noodles! It should work – my friend uses spaghetti noodles and it tastes delicious! 🙂
Hi Nami, I was wondering if you have any suggestions on what i can use to replace the honey because i’m diabetic. Thanks
Hi Joanne! I’m very sorry for my late response. How do you sweeten food normally? You can use diabetes-friendly sugar instead of honey. Hope that helps… 🙂
I am gluten free and have had difficulty finding soba noodles made just from buckwheat…I have heard that they exist….would happen to know what the brand names might be and/or the companies that make them.
Thank you
Hi Diane! Soba is made of buckwheat flour but wheat flour is often added. Eden Foods make a 100% buckwheat soba noodles (which is GF). Here’s the link for Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Eden-Foods-Buckwheat-Wheat-packages/dp/B005P0WMJ2
I made this soba noodle salad last night to have with shrimp. We only had one bundle of noodles so I halved the dressing . I wish we would have had 3 bundles because there wasn’t much left for lunch today! It was so tasty and simple.
I love Japanese food and stumbled across your website when searching for how to make the wonderful Japanese broth that I get in the soups at my favorite restaraunts. So now I know what it is called and what to look for to make it! Thank you for such a wonderful, in depth website. I’ll be trying many more recipies from here in the future.
Hi Alexandra! So glad you liked it! Thank you so much for your feedback. I assume you’re talking about dashi. In Japanese cooking, dashi is everything and used in many of dishes. It’s light and flavorful (but not overwhelming other ingredients’ flavors), and it’s much quicker to cook than chicken/vegetable stock. 🙂 Hope you enjoy cooking Japanese food!
Hi Nami,
I chanced upon your website and I love it very much! It becomes a daily morning routine to visit your website and a great perk up in the morning when I browse through your site. By the way, may I check if I use manuka honey for the honey soy dressing, will it taste weird? As I only have manuka honey at home.
Looking forward to your reply:)
Thank you!
Hi Jocelyn! Honestly I’m not too sure as I’ve never tried this soba salad with that honey. I think that will work, especially if you’ve been using that to replace regular honey… but it has more distinct flavor, so the outcome should be a bit different. Hope this helps. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I made this to go with the tempura for dinner last night!
The whole family really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely make it again and again.
I think it would be a great pot luck dish to share.
So excited to have found your blog. Can’t wait to try more recipes!
Thank you!
Hi Tai! Agree! This is everyone’s favorite at the potluck! 🙂 Welcome to Just One Cookbook! I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying my recipes.
What a lovely presentation! I will try it this weekend.
If it taste as good as it looks, I will find nirvana;-)
Thanks for your posting and write up of the process and recipe.
This taste really good, I tried this too yesterday night for dinner, and it went well with onsen tamago 🙂 As I don’t have canolo/grapeseed oil, I substitude it with olive oil, and also I replaced crused red peppers with Shichimi Togarashi.. and all went well. Love it~
So glad you liked the soba salad! Thanks for sharing your substitute so others can also give it a try! I have to try with onsen tamago next time! 🙂
Today I tried this soba salad recipe.
Though I hadn t all the ingredients, it was very simple and very delicious.
Thank you for all those recipes. I will try one after another.
Hi Mary! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! So happy to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I have been looking for a recipe like this one. I love eating soba noodles and wanted a healthy and tasty dish. I can’t wait to pack it to take on a outing.
Hope you enjoy this recipe, Darlene! 🙂
Hello Nami!
Now I am confused…I don’t know whether I should have this for the weekend or your sukiyaki 😀 I was reading your recipe over the weekend and I had my mind set on it and then I see this!
The dressing for this sounds excellent. I am allergic to buckwheat, do you have any recommendations on which type of noodle I could substitute? I was thinking udon or a rice noodle.
Hi Bri! You can use spaghetti to make this. Initially I tried this with spaghetti, but I changed it to soba noodles. 🙂 For the texture, thin noodles (with al dente) works the best, so I’d suggest spaghetti as #1 choice. Hope you enjoy!
I’m having a moment of inspiration here… you’ll have to tell me if this is just a stupid idea…
I really want to use some lotus root, so here it is:
Slice up a lotus root, cut most of the slices in quarters (leave some whole for garnish)
Blanch 1-2 minutes
Marinate all pieces in the salad dressing, then pull the whole pieces out, mix the quarters and dressing with the noodles, and garnish with whole pieces.
If I can’t find any lotus root, I’ll probably just julienne some daikon instead.
Hi Jonathan! I love lotus root and the crunchy texture is a nice addition! I may not put too much of it as noodles are soft and it’s a mismatch texture inside your mouth. We tend to have similar texture WITH some bit of crunch for a good surprise and sensation. Not the equal amount of soft and hard. Hope this helps… Oh and you might need to blanch a little longer unless the slices of lotus root is super thin. 🙂
made it for lunch today and it was awesome! thankiew soooo much! <3
Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I’m glad this was re-posted because I hadn’t seen this when you first posted it years ago. Looks like a delicious recipe! I just have a quick question: Do we really microwave the sesame & grapeseed oil for 3 entire minutes? That seems like it’ll explode or boil for such a small amount. Thanks!
Hi Mai! I do, but it doesn’t “”explode” but it’s very hot, and you can do the same thing in a pot without using a microwave. The purpose is to infuse the oil with chilis. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
I love cooking with soba noodles especially in a salad!
Me too! It’s really delicious! 🙂
I made this last night for guests and it was delicious. I didn’t have crushed red pepper, so used 1/4 t cayenne pepper which added just the right amount of kick. I also added chilled cucumbers sliced elongated rangiri style. I didn’t use all of the dressing for the 2 bundles of soba. This dish was perfect as a side dish to our salmon. Thank you Nami!?
Hi Joanne! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and writing your kind feedback! I’m so happy to hear you and your guests enjoyed this dish! 🙂
Hi! At what temperature do we microwave the dressing at in step one? Thank you! And can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂
Hi Cherie! I think my microwave is 1100 or 1200 watt. Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
hi Nami, can i use olive oil instead ? thats the only oil I have in the kitchen. thank you.
Hi Star! Some reader above (search “olive oil” on this page) tried this recipe with olive oil. I think it’s good to use natural flavored oil since you’re infusing the oil with chilis. Olive oil is not neutral flavor. 🙂
Are you sure it’s 3 minutes for step 1? Won’t the oil explode in the microwave?
Hi Ben! It’ll get hot, so please be careful. My microwave (old one) was 1100 W. It doesn’t explode, but you can also use a pot, instead of microwave. 🙂
Great looking cold dish. I like a tahini based dressing to tie in with the sesame seeds. Chicken or shrimp for added protein for the meat eaters. 🙂
Yumm. I really enjoy this website. You are the best!
Thank you for reading my blog, Aimee! 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!
So good for these hot days!
You make everything so easy Nami <3
Hi Nami!! I bet your summer was as crazy as mine… I am looking forward to getting back to a routine again and spending a little more time on my blog when school starts for my two kids. I have been hanging out with the kids all summer and I just let my blog go to the wayside. It was a great summer though… hope your summer was great too. 🙂
This soba salad looks like a refreshing and light dish …. I know my family will enjoy it. 🙂
Nice recipe – over the Summer I really have been more keen on making cool recipes a few more times than usual. I like the use of honey in dressings – made recently That Peanut Dressing (by Jenn on @onceuponachef) where the sweetness really brings a unique flavour to the dish.
To your lifestyle post that came with this recipe: I always preferred waking up early, usually just before 6am (for me work doesn’t start until 9am officially, but I’m there early anyway 😉 ). Immediately when awake I start doing my morning fitness programme which takes a bit over an hour to do. To refresh further after that a good shower with a moderate temperature that’s neither hot or cold. I find that personally more refreshing than caffeine ;-). Also instead of caffeine I drink a good amount of water as, after waking up, a good amount of water helps feeling awake – I drink water stepwise during exercise so I gradually hydrate.
Towards the last 30 minutes before going to bed I try to avoid doing anything active, which doesn’t work out every day because of a new creative idea. When I got it noted down though I feel much happier and my brain feels cleared of that thought so I can sleep well (strangely enough). I also start reducing any liquid consumption 1-2 hours before bed time – I find that drinking a lot of water or anything else that late keeps me more awake and proactive mentally, which reduces the chances of sleeping on time. I usually only need 6 hours sleep or a little bit less so I keep that amount of sleep in mind so I plan a set time frame when I should consider going to sleep to wake up at my usual and preferred morning time.
This is just my lifestyle habit. Everybody’s different so it’s important for an individual to realise what is healthier and preferential to them in terms of sleep and exercise. The good thing about your new lifestyle plan is, once you have gotten used to doing it like that, you feel more energised in the morning to deal with all that has to happen for the day from breakfast onward! I personally like that sort of lifestyle, which sounds like mine with early waking up, jumping straight to exercise and taking a suitable time to go to sleep for a good amount of sleep, so I can recommend that you and Mr JOC pursue it!
If your kids are early awake as well (don’t know if they are – my mum described me as an early daily waker ever since I was born), you and Mr JOC might have them join as fitness buddies: I’ve seen other mums buddying with their kids with their exercise, which they both seem to enjoy!
(I just realised the length of this message – I should consider sharing it with others as well! Feel free to share this post with others 😀 ).
Hi Leo! Thanks so much for sharing your story! I loved it! So far so good. I really like that big part of morning activity (workout + shower) is BEFORE everything starts. I used to drop off the kids, go home, and start my exercise. By the time shower is done, it’s 10:30 am. Some days I have to go pick up kids at 2 pm. I struggle for not having a big chunk of time. I think waking up early solved this issue, as I’m available at my desk at 8:30 am WORKING. It’s great.
Only issue I have is that after cleaning up the dinner, around 8 pm, I’m so close to my sleeping time that I can’t barely have time to work… I have to squeeze in work time here and there and often I work till 10 minutes before I go to sleep. LOL. I think I wasn’t sleeping enough hours that I actually pass out quickly (no trouble falling asleep. HAHAHA).
I like your quiet time before bed time. I usually don’t have that time but I love the sound of it and want to try. Thanks for sharing the tip!
My kids wake up early enough since I study Japanese with them for 30 minutes before going to school (we have homework and activities after school so I have to squeeze in Japanese in the morning!). In the summer my daughter and I did some exercise together (fitness blender youtube) and that was fun. 🙂
Oh, and drinking water… I really need to work on that. I just don’t like plain water… (drinking tea and coffee all day) 😀 Thank you for inspiring me and us (including JOC readers)!!! I love that you responded to my newsletter story! Thank you!
Sounds like a great turnaround in your life thus far – hope that it’ll work out with the evening that you get the chance to make a turn on that as well and get your sleep. Exhaust does help with falling asleep too LOL! But I hope you get the chance of the 30-minute quiet time before bed – like I said, I don’t get that every evening, particularly if there is something that needs doing (either personally or work-related) or a sudden creative spark emerges! But getting to bed with that time at hand is unwinding for my proactive mind and, personally, feels rewarding somehow 🙂
Yes, the water drinking I can recommend. A lot of people find water boring and therefore prefer drinking something more tasteful – I can speak of many examples particular my dad! I became big on water drinking as I found that hydration keeps me more active and awake, as well as avoiding headaches and lack of concentration! I do drink a lot though, and that mostly fairly fast, without any thought of the taste – I daily exceed 2 litres! I also wanted to reduce my coffee and tea consumption because I found myself not liking the drinks as much as I just felt like I didn’t take time to enjoy that great flavour – now I drink either one cup of coffee or tea every second day to do that! My family think I’m crazy for drinking too little coffee LOL! I do drink other things with taste much slower, like milk, juice, smoothie or an alcoholic beverage, which does allow me to take more time enjoying the taste (if I like it)!
Just as a note: As a result of focussing much on water drinking I actually can’t drink any soft/soda drinks like cola, fanta, etc. without getting unwell. Energy drinks are particularly bad for me!
Thank you for saying that it’s inspiring! I do hope it helps cuz it does on me! 😉
Hi Leo! I’m super motivated now thanks to you. I have been moving around with a bottle water reminding myself that you drink 2L. LOL. I don’t like soda or juice much (I’m more of tea and coffee person) but water is something I need to learn to enjoy. I’ll keep it up! Thanks for all of your encouraging words and advice. I appreciate it!
I’m definitely more familiar with Hachi-wari, I love it. I just tried making this with a black bean noodle – the texture was a bit rough, but the flavor was not bad. I still very much prefer a buckwheat soba though.
Hi Damie! Yeah, I’ve been told by JOC readers that it’s hard to find 100% buckwheat (they are looking for GF option). I think mostly Japanese packages and imported from Japan. Oh I never thought of making this with a black bean noodle kind! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Thank you Nami! We love noodles and this is such a perfect little noodle dish that I can throw together for a lunch.
I will make this over the weekend…..Since my husband is allergic to cilantro…should I just leave out or garnish with Italian Parsley….your thoughts???
Thanks
Hi Lyn! You can totally omit it. If you like parsley you can add, but I recommend keeping it “Asian herbs”. You can add julienned cucumbers etc if you feel like you want to add more green. Otherwise, chopped green onion should give enough kick. 🙂
Hmm in a pinch, can I used udon for this salad? I still have a serving of udon made using your JOC recipe in the freezer.
Hi Christina! The texture will be different, it will be more like a meal than salad (as it’s thick and when you eat, it’ll be more mouthful of udon haha). But I think it’ll work. 🙂
Ah thank you Nami for the explanation. I forgot about the texture. Will definite get soba noddles before trying the recipe to do justice.
I’ve had soba noodles on the brain for the last 2 weeks and just brought home a package of noodles. I had never made soba salad before, only enjoyed it while dining out.
I was tickled to come across your recipe and to find that I had all the ingredients in my pantry. The result was delicious!
Thanks for an easy & delectable addition to my recipe collection.
Hi Mary! Thanks for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you liked it! Thank you for leaving your kind feedback too! xo 🙂
We love the Soba salad and have it once a week now. Thank you 🙂
Hi Sandy! So happy to hear that you like this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Love your recipes! Where did you buy your whisker?
Thank you Wendy! Amazon: http://amzn.to/23Xyfq1 I use it all the time! 🙂
Thank you for the wonderful Soba salad recipe. I made it for Japanese style dinner together with some other salads from your website and me and my partner really enjoyed it. Deliciously easy dish. Will certainly try more recipes as I really love Japanese food.
Thanks a lot. Mara
Hi Mara! Thank you for trying this recipe and other recipes too! I’m so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed my recipes. Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
I like soba noodle salad as it has a lot of health benefits.
Hi Amy! Yes indeed! Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Hey Nami! Wonderful recipe and I love your blog! Just wanted to say that some vegans would not consume honey (since it’s a product that comes from an animal), do you have any good plant-based substitutions instead? Cheers!
Hi Hannah! Thank you for your kind words! I just doubled check and this recipe was under Vegan category. I apologize it was in the wrong category.
I cannot read your recipes without the distraction of 3 SNS option icons JUMPING UP AND DOWN at the bottom of the page! (They are Pin, Facebook and Twitter). Is there any way to prevent this? If not, I must unsubscribe as it is tormenting. Also, in your Japanese Pickled Cucumber recipe, is the sugar essential to the pickling process or can we omit it at will?
Hi Christina! I am sorry the social media buttons are distracting you. Unfortunately there is no option for each reader to disable it with this plugin. I have it for a while, but if others claimed to be distracting, I’ll consider removing it. There are many ways to make Asazuke, and you can omit sugar if you like – but please adjust other ingredients.
If this is not rude, I propose you change “WHAT IS SOBA NOODLES?” to “WHAT ARE SOBA NOODLES?” As you did correctly above, because the noodles are plural, we must use a plural verb.
Thank you for letting me know, it’s been fixed. 🙂
Wow, Nami, this looks so amazing!
Hi Nami! My family and I really enjoyed this recipe. The sweet/salty dressing is a perfect balance to the cilantro and green onions. Thank you for sharing this great dish!
Hi Anita! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I tripled the sauce so I’d have some in the fridge for other salads. I also did NOT triple the crushed red pepper flakes. I added some raw red pepper strips, thinly sliced green cabbage, blanched snow peas and baby spinach…dreamy! Next time I”ll add some cooked chicken breast. This is a wonderful recipe.
Hi Diana! Oh that sounds yummy! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
The sauce in this recipe is to DIE for. I literally liked the pan clean after I mixed the rest with the noodles. I didn’t have red pepper flakes, so I used cayenne pepper to taste (maybe 1/4 tsp?). Turned out awesome. This is a new staple for me!
Hi Rachel! Aww thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this sauce! Thanks for sharing a good sub for pepper flakes with us too. 🙂
Do you think it would be okay to make this recipe a day in advance? Like I make it at night, pop it in the fridge and bring to work for lunch the next day.
Hi Joey! Yeah you can do that, or mix the sauce next day (but prep ahead). It depends on how you like the texture of the noodles and sauce with the noodles. 🙂
Made this for work lunches and it went down a treat! Will definitely be on repeat.
I also added edamame beans for some extra texture and protein 😁.
Hi Rachael! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Tried this on a hot night in Canada. I was skepitcal of the sauce until I mixed it all together. Added in some julienned cucumber and corn since I had it in the fridge. Will be making this again!
Hi Sam! Thank you for your kind feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and thanks for trying it! 🙂
You mention that you can cook the noodles ahead of time, but “don’t toss them in dressing till ready to serve.” If you simply rinse them well in cold water, and set aside for a couple of hours, won’t they stick together if left alone with no oil? I understand the best way is to make them right before you eat, but, sometimes life happens, and things need to be prepped earlier.
Hi Chris! If you dress the noodles with sauce ahead of time, they soak up all the sauce. So if we need to make ahead of time, Once you add the sauce, I think the noodle will separate even though it’s stick together. 🙂
This tasted AMAZING!!!!!!!!
1000/10 stars!!!!!!
Hi Alex! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
#1 Soba Noodle recipe I love it
Thank you Kyle! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!