Sesame Noodle Salad

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Shake up your salad game with this quick and easy Sesame Noodle Salad recipe. This Asian-inspired dish is packed full of veggies, topped with a made from scratch sesame ginger dressing, making it delicious AND nutritious! It’s one of my most popular recipes from way back in 2010 with all 5-star reviews. Try it for yourself!

Why You’ll Love This Sesame Noodle Salad

This Sesame Noodle Salad has tender noodles tossed in a mouthwatering sesame dressing, mingling with crisp veggies and a sprinkle of sesame seeds for that extra oomph. Trust me, once you try this dish, you’ll never look at salads the same way again! There is a lot of chopping, but it’s totally worth the labor of love. Whether you’re craving a light lunch, a satisfying side dish, or a flavorful meal prep option, this salad has got you covered. Get ready to slurp those noodles and savor every delicious bite!

Ingredients Needed for Sesame Noodle Salad

As mentioned before, there is a lot of chopping involved with this recipe but it is going to be so worth it! You’ll have a healthy, tasty and filling dish for a main or side dish and I actually find it therapeutic! Whether you want to shop at Asian markets in your area, or your local grocery store, you should have no problem finding every ingredient listed. Here’s what you’ll need:

salad ingredients:

• Whole Wheat Spaghetti Noodles- these will be our noodles for the salad.
• Red Bell Pepper – you can use another color of pepper if you’d like, just know that they have slightly different tastes.
• Savoy Cabbage – this has a milder flavor compared to a regular napa cabbage. You can use either here.
• Green Onions – great subtle onion taste.
• Carrots – a great source of beta carotene and color in this dish.
• Cashews – this is for a crunchy, nutty flavor for a topping.
• Cilantro – for garnish and for taste.
• Ramen Noodles – another element of crunch, just use the plain kind here.

dressing ingredients:

• Garlic – oh delicious garlic flavor…
• Ginger – a super important flavor for any Asian dish. I used fresh ginger!
• Soy Sauce – to add umami and saltiness.
• Brown Sugar – to balance out acidity and salt.
• Sesame Oil – this is where that sesame flavor comes from.
• White Wine Vinegar – you can also use rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar or plain white vinegar.
• Pantry Staples: canola oil (or other light colored oil), salt + black pepper

Sesame Noodle Salad Variations

No Nuts? If you don’t have cashews, then use almonds or peanuts. The nuts are really quite an optional thing too, so if you don’t have them on hand, it’s not the end of the world.

Vegetables: Feel free to switch out the fresh veggies for ones your family will like/what you have in the fridge. Bell peppers, snow peas, green beans or broccoli slaw would be good options- if you like them. The dressing is pretty strong so it makes vegetables more palatable for picky eaters.

Noodles: Feel free to use a different type of noodles if you like- angel hair pasta, brown rice noodles or various Japanese noodles like lo mein noodles or buckwheat soba noodles.

How to Make Sesame Noodle Salad

One of the best things about this salad is it tastes great whether you enjoy it room temperature right after you make it or the next day as a cold noodle salad. The depth of flavor makes this salad a real crowd pleaser! For full recipe details, including ingredient measurements, see the printable recipe card down below.

1. Make the Sesame Dressing

In a small bowl, whisk garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, vinegar, canola oil, salt and black pepper together. Set aside. 

2. Cook Spaghetti to Al Dente

In a large pot of water, cook spaghetti until al dente- you want it to be chewy, not soft and mushy. Drain pasta and toss with half of the prepared dressing while it is still warm. Set aside. 

3. Combine Vegetables, Spaghetti and Dressing

In a large bowl, toss all chopped vegetables (red pepper, cabbage, green onions, and carrots) together. Add in cooked noodles and mix. Pour in remaining dressing and toss to coat. At this point, it all should be luke warmish. It’s really good like this, or you can refrigerate it until it’s cold. 

4. Serve

Once you’re ready to eat, top the salad with crushed ramen noodles, cashews and cilantro.

Storage + Make Ahead Directions for Sesame Noodle Salad

If you know your family won’t eat the whole dish in one sitting, don’t top the entire thing with the ramen and cashews. They will get soggy and mushy in the salad overnight and eating it the next day isn’t all that delectable…unless you like soggy and mushy things, in which case you can ignore this whole thing.

You can store this dish, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The longer it sits the better it tastes, just don’t wait too long!

What to Serve With Sesame Noodle Salad

• Orange Chicken
• Asian Baked Salmon
• Kung Pao Chicken
• Easy Pork Potstickers
• Beef and Broccoli
• Cauliflower Fried Rice
• Crab Rangoon

More Asian Inspired Recipes to Try!

• Pan Fried Sesame Butternut Squash Noodles
• Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe
• Asian Chicken & Orzo Salad
• 15 Minute Chow Mein Recipe
• Chinese Chop Salad

This Asian pasta salad is a great recipe to complete any meal. The printable recipe card is below! Have a great day, friends! 🙂

If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.