This cold noodle salad is another great for road trips and picnics meal. It's next to no-cook as I love the crispness from the vegetables that are slightly marinated in rice vinegar and tamari. There's room for riffing on this recipe but I hope I can convince you to try somen noodles. They are fast and soak up all the good flavors from the sauce and vegetables.
PrintCold Noodle Salad with Cabbage
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 2 good-sized servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded savoy cabbage
- ½ cup shredded cherry radish
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ¼ cup minced scallions
- 3 tablespoons minced cilantro
- 6 ounces somen noodles
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon tamari, plus extra for serving
- 1 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon sambal oelek
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the cabbage, radish, carrots, scallions, and cilantro. Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and pour over the vegetable mixture. Allow to sit while making the noodles.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, add noodles, turn off heat and let noodles cook for 5 or so minutes, just until the noodles are tender. Drain and rinse until cold water.
- Add noodles and sesame seeds to the bowl with the vegetable mixture and toss until everything is well combined. Serve with extra sesame seeds, scallion greens, and extra tamari.
Cold Noodle Salad
variations
The vegetables are second to the sauce and noodles (because it could be a meal without the vegetables, but who would want that?) I like the bite from the radish and the heft from the cabbage but those could easily be swapped for seasonal equivalents. This cold noodle bowl is perfect to pack up for lunch when you might not have a cooler or refrigerator.
Greens: Depending on the time of year, kale or chard would work well in place of the cabbage- use a green that will still have a bit of crisp when dressed. Both of these options are great during the summer months.
Peppers/Chilis: I opted to skip the peppers since they are in season yet but thinly sliced red peppers or a type of red chili would be great in place of the sambal oelek. The cold salad is a nice balance to a bit of spiciness.
Gluten Free: While I think the somen noodles make this, try 100% buckwheat soba noodles or brown rice noodles if you're looking to make this dish gluten free.
Explore Somen Noodles
Somen noodles are great because they take just a small amount of time to cook and soak up whatever flavors they are paired with. They are the perfect companion for cold noodle bowls and stir-fried vegetables. All of the recipes below use different noodles but would work well with somen noodles.
Chili Spinach Pesto Noodles
Snap Peas and Soba Noodles
Cold Soba Noodle Bowl
Sarah | Well and Full says
I love how in each post you give us a little information about the ingredients in the recipe - it's such a great way to learn about new foods! 🙂
MB @ Bourbon and Brown Sugar says
I bought too much cabbage for a slaw last week... this looks to be the perfect way to use it! Yum!
Barbara (BarbB) says
This looks delicious.
Meet Mary says
Can't wait to try it out! It looks so delicious...thanks!
Laura says
This salad is totally my kinda scene. I always have all of those vegetables on hand and I cross the border to stock up that particular brand of somen. I also really dig the texture of cabbage when it's been slightly marinated. Making this soon!
Emily says
I made this today with kale from my garden instead of cabbage. Very satisfying after coming in from my sweaty summer walk. Also added some uncooked pressed tofu.
Nicole says
The "cold soba noodle bowl" link is broken, FYI. 🙂 Recipe looks delish and is going on my list!