This Asian noodle salad is a fresh, crunchy dish made with rice noodles, cabbage, colorful vegetables, and a tangy sesame-ginger dressing. The perfect side dish for summer gatherings, BBQ’s, or meal prep. Vegan and GF.
I took this dish to a cookout last year to ensure that I would have something yummy to eat. Needless to say, all of my carnivore friends fell in love with this vegan dish. It is now requested at all gatherings and potlucks. Kudos!
This Asian Noodle Salad is 80% veggies and 20% rice noodles - the perfect balance of fresh, crunchy, and satisfying. It’s an older recipe that needed some fresh photos (formerly Asian Cabbage Noodle Salad).
Packed with colorful vegetables and tossed in a bright sesame ginger dressing, this is one of my favorite noodle salads, not only because it tastes amazing, but because it's nourishing, easy to make ahead, and keeps well in the fridge. Perfect for meal prep, weekday lunches, or meals on the go.
To turn this into a complete meal, add a little protein: crispy tofu is my favorite, but leftover rotisserie chicken works beautifully too. Either way, you'll love how light, refreshing, and flavorful this salad feels.
Why you’ll love this Asian Noodle Salad recipe!
Packed with nutritious vegetables! This recipe offers a great opportunity to get a variety of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals, since it is heavier on veggies than on noodles! Let the farmers’ market inspire you, or use up whatever extra veggies you have in the fridge.
Adaptable! Add tofu, chicken, or any other favorite protein to give the salad a little extra oomph! Mix and match your veggies as you’d like.
Perfect for meal prep and packable lunches. This cold Asian noodle salad keeps getting better in the fridge, making it a great recipe to prep in advance and enjoy throughout the week for grab-and-go lunches, picnics, or a potluck!
Asian Noodle Salad Recipe Ingredients
- Rice vermicelli noodles - The light, delicate base of the salad, soaking up the flavorful dressing while keeping the dish fresh and refreshing.
- Shredded cabbage - Adds crunch, color, and texture. A mix of purple, green, and Napa cabbage creates a beautiful balance and keeps the salad crisp.
- Fresh vegetables - A colorful combination of snow peas, bell peppers, edamame, bok choy, and carrots adds freshness, nutrients, and a satisfying crunch. Use whatever seasonal vegetables you have on hand.
- Scallions and red onion - Bring a fresh, savory bite and a little sharpness to balance the sweet and tangy dressing.
- Fresh cilantro - Adds bright herbal flavor and that fresh finish that makes this salad feel vibrant.
- Optional protein (crispy tofu or rotisserie chicken) - Makes the salad more filling while keeping it an easy, versatile meal. Crispy tofu adds great texture, while leftover chicken makes it extra convenient.
- Asian Dressing - Olive oil, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, maple syrup (or honey), soy sauce, fresh ginger, salt, and Sriracha - a bright, tangy dressing with layers of savory, sweet, and nutty flavor. Toasted sesame oil adds richness, ginger brings warmth, and Sriracha adds optional heat.
- Toasted sesame seeds and roasted peanuts - Add a final layer of crunch and nutty flavor that makes the salad extra satisfying.
Variations
- If short on time, use store-bought, pre-shredded cabbage to save time.
- Add other raw shredded veggies (like shredded carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, or snow peas).
- Add chicken instead of tofu. Use this Chinese chicken recipe!
How to Make The Best Asian Noodle Salad
1. Prep the noodles. Soak the noodles in a large pot or baking dish with boiling water poured over top. Once al dente, strain.
2. Cook the protein, if using. Make the crispy tofu or other protein of choice.
3. Whisk the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, maple syrup, soy sauce, ginger, salt, and Sriracha.
4. Assemble the salad. Add the veggies, rice noodles, scallions, red onion, and cilantro to a large bowl and toss.
5. Dress the salad and add protein. Add the dressing and protein (or serve on top) to the bowl and toss.
6. Taste and adjust. Taste the salad, adding more salt or Sriracha as needed.
7. Garnish and serve. Sprinkle sesame seeds, roasted peanuts, and sprouts (or more scallions and cilantro) over the top.
Chef’s Tips
- Achieve perfectly textured noodles. Rice vermicelli can go from perfectly tender to mushy very quickly. Check them frequently and rinse with cold water as soon as they are al dente.
- Drain the noodles thoroughly. Excess water can dilute the dressing and make the salad soggy. A good shake in the colander helps remove any lingering moisture.
- Keep the vegetables thinly sliced. Finely shredded vegetables create the best texture and allow the dressing to coat every bite evenly.
- Dress the salad shortly before serving for maximum crunch. If serving at a gathering, toss with the dressing 15-30 minutes before serving so the flavors meld while the vegetables stay crisp.
- Save some dressing for later. The noodles absorb dressing as they sit, so an extra splash before serving leftovers helps refresh the salad.
- Add protein separately for meal prep. If preparing lunches for the week, store tofu or chicken separately and add just before serving to maintain the best texture.
- Let the salad rest briefly. Allowing it to sit for 10-15 minutes after tossing helps the noodles absorb the flavorful dressing.
Serving Suggestions
Top with sesame seeds, scallions, sprouts, and cilantro. Add crunchy roasted peanuts! Serve with Crispy Tofu, Sticky Glazed Tofu, Baked Miso Tofu, Chinese Chicken, or Shredded Chicken.
Storing Asian Cabbage Noodle Salad
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Before serving leftovers, toss with extra reserved dressing or a splash of rice vinegar, soy sauce, or sesame oil. Store tofu separately, but if using chicken, store it directly with the salad.
More Asian Noodle Salads
After you try this Asian Noodle Salad recipe, let us know how it turns out in the comments below. Your review will help other readers, too! Sign up here to join our community and receive our latest recipes and weekly newsletter! xoxo Sylvia
Asian Noodle Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Gluten Free, Main Salad- Vegan
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A healthy, delicious recipe for Asian Noodle Salad packed with veggies, vermicelli rice noodles, and crispy tofu ( or chicken) that can be made ahead- perfect for meals on the go or workweek lunches! Vegan and GF adaptable.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces vermicelli rice noodles
- 4 cups shredded cabbage (purple, green, napa, or a mix)
- 4 cups chopped veggies (snow peas, bell pepper, edamame, bok choy, shredded carrots)
- 4 scallions, sliced at a diagonal
- 1/8–1/4 cup finely sliced red onion
- 1 bunch cilantro (chopped)
- optional: 12–16 ounces crispy tofu, or leftover rotisserie chicken
Optional Garnishes: 2- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, ¼ cup roasted peanuts
Asian Dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce or gluten-free liquid aminos
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated (or ginger paste)
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha (optional, more to taste)
Instructions
- Soak noodles in boiling water until al dente. Strain.
- Make protein if using. Cook the crispy tofu and set it aside.
- Dressing. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Combine. Place the veggies, rice noodles, scallions, red onion, and cilantro in an extra large bowl and give a toss.
- Dress. Add the dressing and protein to the salad (or serve it on top) and toss well.
- Taste and adjust salt and Sriracha to taste.
- Garnish. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, roasted peanuts, and sprouts if using.
Notes
Tofu: If adding tofu, you can purchase pre-baked tofu or make our crispy tofu with salt and pepper, or this Sticky Glazed Tofu. Or make our baked miso tofu.
If baking, I use a marinade of equal parts soy sauce ( or GF liquid Amino) and either sesame oil or olive oil. Cut into cubes. Toss lightly with marinade. Bake on parchment in a 400F oven for 25-35 minutes, until a little crispy. Add a little sriracha or chili flakes to the marinade if you like, for heat.
If using chicken, leftover rotisserie would work great here, shredded into small bites-or this simple seared chicken breast.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 230
- Sugar: 7.1 g
- Sodium: 481.6 mg
- Fat: 13.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 22.6 g
- Fiber: 2.8 g
- Protein: 5.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
A friend recently made this salad, and it’s amazing. I went home with leftovers, but I am looking forward to making it myself.
Nice to hear Michelle!
This salad is easy to put together from ingredients we typically have on hand. I used a Cole slaw mix in lieu of the cabbage and added the other veggies. Delicious and filling. The edamame provides enough protein too.
Glad you enjoyed Nancy!
This salad is amazing. Perfect balance of flavors in the dressing. Just used whatever veggies I had in the garden. Will be making on repeat all summer! Thank you.
Excellent Pam! Appreciate you taking time to review.
Hello! This looks delicious! I have some kelp noodles I haven’t used yet, wondering if they would work here? Or if they might be too overwhelming? Thank you so much!
Are they the clear kelp noodles? Those would work great! I find rinsing in a little warm water helps soften them up.
I have Kikkoman original soy sauce and Healthy Boy light soy sauce at home. Which one would be better here?
I think the light soy sauce.
I just made this recipe for the first time tonight to go with some Chinese barbeque pork tenderloin. It was delicious. Next time I will make sure to have peanuts as you suggested; I think they would’ve been a great addition as well. Thank you so much.
Sounds like a delicious meal Eileen! Appreciate you taking time to review.
Delicious! My husband Frank said it was the perfect meal.
Great!
I made this delicious salad today using Napa cabbage from the garden rather than the red cabbage in the recipe. I marinated tofu slabs in soy sauce and sesame oil, then pan fried it without adding more oil. After cooling on paper towels, I sliced the tofu into bite sized pieces.We finished lunch a few hours ago and my husband just thanked me again for a delicious lunch. Luckily there are leftovers to enjoy tomorrow.
Sounds perfect Yafa! So happy you both enjoyed this!
I had a function on the weekend and thought to make this dish to share. What a hit. Everyone was asking who made the salad and I was able to share this website with everyone. Looking to make another recipe for tomorrows event.
Can’t wait
Awwww… thanks for sharing Sarah- very appreciated!
Dr just told me i need to eat tofu and fish. I’ve found so many great recipes from you! Doubled up on the recipe and it made a giant bowlful. Delicious!
Awesome!
This the best salad! Honestly you’re my favorite recipe site. Love the flavors, and everything is so easy to make.
I took this dish to a cookout last year to ensure that I would have something yummy to eat. Needless to say, all of my carnivore friends fell in love with this vegan dish. It is now requested at all gatherings and potlucks. In fact, my one friend refers to it as “Vegan Crack” since it is so addictive. Kudos!
Haha, love it Vernon!
SYLVIA, EVERY SINGLE RECIPE OF YOURS THAT I HAVE MADE IS A KEEPER!
Thanks so much Vernon!
One of my favorite FAH recipes. I add a bit of garlic to the dressing, and zucchini noodles for me (rice noodles for my kiddo). Love the Trader Joe’s sriracha tofu with this – so EASY. Great dinner, fab leftovers.
Love your adaptions Jaeden!
We love this, I’ve made it twice. I use a great baked tofu recipe with a marinade heavy on garlic and ginger. Delicious!
I like white cabbage, no tofu but kidney beans instead. I like spiralised courgette more than noodles.
Perfect! The recipe is very adaptable. 🙂
How’s it going, Chow for now.
I was harvesting a cabbage out of my garden found this recipe so I pulled a red onion and grabbed cilantro and found tofu in the fridge. Done More Times than not when I find a great recipe it’s Feasting at Home. Thank you for another delicious recipe.
I made this twice. First as listed and the second time I decreased the oils and in creased the pasta. Wrong! Make it as stated and chop the peanuts.
C’est excellent! Cette salade est la star des mes repas! Frais, goûteuse et appétissante! Merci !
thanks Annie, appreciate it!
I made a batch of this on a Sunday and used it for my lunch all week. It was as tasty on Friday as it was on Monday. I used the air fryer for the tofu and it was excellent! Thanks for another great recipe! .
Thanks Linda! I need to get one of those! Do you like it?
What are the other greens pictured, but not mentioned, in the recipe? Pea sprouts?
Those are the optional sunflower sprouts that are mentioned in the recipe
Sylvia, this is SO GOOD. I made some adaptations to use it as a one-bowl dish for workweek lunches, I added raw carrot noodles (fancy spiralized carrots – very pretty!), some steamed shelled edamame, and shredded chicken, and I doubled the noodles and halved the cabbage (I wasn’t sure I could handle whole meal’s worth of cabbage). I also added the zest and juice of a whole lime because, well . . . I really love lime. 🙂 It’s an easily adaptable recipe, the dressing is divine, and I will be making it again for lunches next week because it is just so darn tasty and filling. It is really beautiful and colorful as well!
I just made this for our weekly Friday night supper club and it is soooo easy plus beautiful and full of flavor!!! I made it with chicken as a main dish with a fresh herb frittata on the side and butternut squash curried coconut soup. A color-fest of wonderful flavors. thank you!
Yay!!! So happy you like this- yes so colorful and fresh looking! Sounds like such delicious meal- love the pairings!
Love that this noodle dish is more veggies than noodles- Looks perfect for these oppressively hot days we are experiencing.
Today I looked in the refridgerator and wondered what to do with a forgotten block of tofu and an elderly red cabbage. Now I find your cabbage salad recipe. Perfect timing!
It’s providence!
I love the colours of this salad Sylvia, and it sounds perfect for those on-the-go weekday lunches.