This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for details. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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.
Sign up for the free Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
- 7 oz dried soba noodles (buckwheat noodles) (200 g or 2-3 bundles)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 1 bunch cilantro (.7 oz or 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 (for vegan, use other substitute)
- 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.
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! 🙂
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)
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! 🙂
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! 🙂
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!
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!
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. 🙂
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. 🙂
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.
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! 🙂
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. 🙂
Yumm. I really enjoy this website. You are the best!
Thank you for reading my blog, Aimee! 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!
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! 🙂
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.
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. 🙂
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!
This was a lovely dish! I used potato starch noodles instead of buckwheat noodles because I’m gluten-free (and couldn’t find G-F soba noodles at my local international market) and it was lovely! I made it for 1 serving and felt like I may have put a little too much cilantro–as I had more cilantro left in my bowl after all the noodles were gone–oops… Regardless, a very simple recipe, perfect for a mid-afternoon lunch.
The recipe was also extremely easy to follow, one of the best styles of online recipes I’ve seen. 10/10 would recommend.
Hi Marguerite! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed it with GF noodles! Only if you’re interested, this one is GF soba noodles (100% buckwheat): https://amzn.to/30GKvm4 Thank you again!!
Hello Nami!
What a great salad and loved the dressing!
I was looking for a sashimi salad recipe, but found this instead!
I added fresh maguro slices on top and it was delish!
Also added chunks of broccoli, grape tomatoes and red onion with the cilantro, and the flavors worked really with the dressing! Threw in some chopped peanuts, too!
I love your recipes…so authentic and reminds me of mom, grandma and aunties’ cooking…
Will need to buy your cookbook for myself, son+daughter-in-law as gifts!👍🏽
Hi Ren! Aww thank you so much for your kind feedback. So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Your salad sounds delicious!! 🙂
I have recently begun to make Japanese dishes and am a complete amateur
Having said that as a white 6 footer with a healthy appetite i am having trouble adjusting to portion sizes in your recipes. More 2 or four portions in lieu of 8v10v12 etc. When i attempt to reduce the recipe it does not work that well. Any suggestions?
Hi John! I don’t use typical Japanese portion as it will end up too little for majority of Americans. So for example, this recipe’s serving size is 4. This is categorized as “salad” which is not a main dish in a typical Japanese meal. Kind of like a small bowl on the size kinda thing. We do not eat just noodles only unless it’s a main dish noodle dish. Does this help?
THANK YOU, THANK YOU
Found this recipe about a month ago and have enjoyed it 5 times! So simple and yet so delicious.
How long can the dressing last in the fridge?
Hi Robin! So glad to hear you liked it! You can keep it for 1-2 weeks, but reheat in a pot again. 🙂
this is an amazingly simple and delicious recipe!! thank you!
Hi Jill! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
Hello Nami, this was my first venture into Japanese cooking. This dish is an easy, lovely, light recipe. 10 out of 10 would make again. I look forward to trying more of your recipes in the future. Thank you for posting.
Hi Ashlie! Thanks for trying my recipe and I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Delicious!!!! Thank you, Nami, for this recipe! So glad I found this because I’ve tried a few other soba noodle salad recipes online before and they were just okay.
I added julienned bell pepper, cucumber, and mushroom. Then topped it with slices of chicken. I also used white sugar instead of honey. That made the dish sweeter than I preferred, so next time I’m cutting down on that! FYI for anyone using regular sugar… maybe try just 2 Tbsp instead of 3. ☺
Hi EF! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Usually, the sugar is much sweeter than honey, so it’s best to use less (or if you want to replace sugar with honey, add more). Honey is more “subtle” sweetness. 🙂
Thank you for your kind feedback!
Nami,
I made this for lunch today just as written. On my first bite I thought it was interesting, by the last bite I was sorry it was gone. I call that sneaky good! And really easy. I love your recipes and I love your site. Where’s your app?
Bob
Hi Bob!
Hahahaha. We are so happy to hear you enjoyed this simple but tasty noodle salad!
Thank you very for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. We will make sure to note your request to Nami about the app.😁
Fab recipe, but just a quick note, this was tagged as a vegan recipe but the recipe contains honey which vegans don’t consume because commercial beekeeping is a form of animal exploitation. So the recipe isn’t vegan friendly unless you sub the honey with another syrup. I used date syup!
Hi Jasmine!
Thank you very much for your input.
We are not sure where you found this recipe under vegan. It’s tagged as “vegetarian” on this post, not “vegan.”
Using date syrup is a great idea!🙂
I miss Japanese food. I have been trying out some of your recipes. I didn’t have cilantro but this soba noodle salad was still so good! Thank you!
Hi Khonie!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are happy to hear you enjoyed it.
Happy Cooking!😉