Peanut Slaw with Soba Noodles
A healthy Asian slaw made with cabbage, carrots and soba noodles (optional), tossed in a bold peanut-sesame sauce.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
I’m re-introducing one of my all-time favorite recipes today! It’s a colorful slaw with tender soba noodles, tossed in sesame-ginger peanut sauce. Need I say more?
Ok, I’ll tell you more about it. It’s packed with nutritious vegetables, including carrots, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. This slaw is crunchy and satisfying, filling and full of flavor.
This recipe can satisfy your main-meal cravings (it packs great for lunch), or it can make a statement side dish. It’s easily made vegan and/or gluten free, making it an all-star potluck option.
This slaw is made with more vegetables than noodles, so it’s nice and light. I tend to get snacky when I’m feeling anxious or unsettled, so I’ve been taking a fork to this slaw in those moments. Chomp chomp chomp!
How to Make Peanut Slaw with Soba Noodles
Some tips before you get started:
This slaw is quite simple to make if you have the right tools. You can easily shred the vegetables in a food processor with the shredding and grating attachments. (Here’s my food processor/that’s an affiliate link.)
To make this slaw extra pretty for its photo shoot, I used my julienne peeler to shred the carrots into ribbons. Another option? I bet you could also use your spiralizer on the carrots and cabbage.
Shortcut option: This recipe is really easy to make if you want to buy pre-shredded vegetables and mix them in with the soba noodles. You’ll need about eight cups.
Watch How to Make Peanut Slaw with Soba Noodles
More Recipes to Enjoy
Craving more savory, peanutty recipes? Check out these recipes:
- Colorful Veggie Sesame Noodles
- Crunchy Thai Peanut & Quinoa Salad
- Mango “Burrito” Bowls with Crispy Tofu and Peanut Sauce
- Peanut Dipping Sauce
- Peanut Soba Noodle Bowl
Please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! I always love reading your feedback.
Peanut-Sesame Slaw with Soba Noodles
Healthy Asian slaw made with cabbage, carrots and soba noodles, tossed in a bold peanut-sesame sauce. This slaw recipe is very flexible—feel free to omit the noodles and/or brussels sprouts and buy pre-shredded slaw mix for easier preparation (you’ll need about 8 cups slaw mix). Recipe yields 4 generous servings or 8 side servings.
Ingredients
Slaw
- 4 ounces soba noodles or whole wheat spaghetti
- 1 very small purple or green cabbage, sliced into quarters and core removed (about 16 ounces/6 cups shredded)
- ½ pound (about 12) Brussels sprouts, nubby ends removed, or additional cabbage (about 2 cups shredded)
- 4 carrots, peeled
- 1 bunch of green onions, trimmed and sliced into thin rounds
Peanut-sesame dressing
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or other soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
Garnish
- Sprinkle of coarsely chopped peanuts
- Handful of cilantro, coarsely torn
- 1 lime, sliced into wedges
- Optional, for spice lovers: sriracha or chili-garlic sauce
Instructions
- Cook the soba noodles: Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water before returning to pot.
- Prepare the vegetables: This is easier in a food processor than by hand. If using a food processor, shred the cabbage and sprouts with the slicing disk, then grate the carrots using the grating disk. Or use a chef’s knife to chop the cabbage and sprouts into thin strips, then coarsely grate the carrots.
- Prepare the dressing: In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth. If the mixture should be thick but drizzly; if it’s too thick, whisk in water in 1 tablespoon increments until it is (at which point you might need to add a little salt, to taste, since the flavors have been diluted.)
- In a large serving bowl, combine the cooked soba noodles, shredded cabbage and sprouts, grated carrots, and chopped green onions. Pour dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat (you may or may not need all of the dressing). For best flavor, let the slaw marinate for 20 minutes before serving.
- Serve slaw with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts, torn cilantro and a lime wedge. Serve with sriracha on the side, if you’d like a spicy kick. This slaw keeps very well for a few days (covered and refrigerated). Before serving, wake up the flavors with a dash of lime juice or vinegar and more fresh cilantro.
Notes
Recipe adapted from River Cottage Veg.
Make it gluten free: Either omit the noodles or buy certified gluten-free soba noodles. You might also have good results with a firm gluten-free spaghetti, like a corn and quinoa variety. Be sure to use tamari (check the label to make sure it’s gluten free) instead of regular soy sauce, which is not gluten free.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey.
Halve it: This makes a whole lot of slaw! Feel free to halve the recipe by buying about 4 cups prepared slaw mix and roughly halving the dressing ingredients.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Oh my Kate!!! this recipe is delicious. I omitted the brussel sprouts and doubled up on the dressing. This will be a staple in my home. Thanks for sharing :)
Thank you, Patty! I’m happy to hear you liked it.
Hello Kate, I found this recipe yesterday and on a whim decided to food shop for it. Made it last night and really loved it; made enough for office lunch, too, and am already looking forward to making it again. So glad I found your blog.
I’m so glad you decided to make it, Kiki!
Made this last night and it’s awesome! Only downside was preparing all the vegetables (peeling each of the carrots was a slightly tedious chore) but SO worth it. Light, healthy, and packed with flavor and crunch. I only used half the head of purple cabbage & I used natural peanut butter for the dressing and added a tbsp more of garlic and ginger since I’m a spice lover. Topped it with a few splashes of soy before eating. Next time, I’d like to try regular PB because it’s slightly creamier/less thick than natural – I think it would give the dressing a better consistency.
I’m glad you thought the work was worth it! Thanks for sharing, J.
Looks delicious! Do you think it would work with sunbutter insteas of peanut butter? I have a peanut allergy.
I haven’t tried it, but I believe others have with success.
Better the longer it sits in the fridge! Perfect meal prep because I never get tired of it and can eat it five days in a row.
Thanks for sharing, Kristen!
This was so delicious! So glad I found your website!
Super delicious, as all your recipes, but this is my all-time favorite without a doubt!! Thank you for making eating healthy so fun and yummy!
You’re welcome, AK! This is a good one. :)
Just saw this on your Instagram feed. I am trying to wait the 20 minutes while it all marinates before I eat anymore. It is delicious! I added a red pepper and 1/2 seeded cucumber that was in my fridge. I only had regular pasta but toasted it in a dry pan as I read somewhere it will keep it from becoming mushy, just in case we have leftovers. I may also garnish with some black sesame seeds for added interest. Quick and leftovers will make a great lunch. Thanks for another fabulous recipe.
You will be happy you waited! It’s so good. Thanks for sharing, Debbi.
This recipe was was delicious, the peanut sauce was to die for. Best recipe i’ve tried in a long time. It was very easy and quick too, perfect for a summer weeknight meal.
I’m glad you love it, Chantelle!
Really really delicious. This is going on the regular rotation for sure.
Great to hear, Corina! I appreciate your review.
I love this. It’s freakin GOOOD. I only had green cabbage and no brussel sprouts, so I simply omitted those. I doubled the amount of soba noodles (simply because the package I had was double) and put extra cabbage and green onion in to keep the crunch. The dressing, even WITH adding double the noodles is perfect. I also added edamame for another protein boost. I made my entire food prep with recipes from your website today, and every single one is delicious. My husband is devouring this one as I type.
Hooray, Courtney! Thank you for sharing what you did and why you loved this recipe.
Delicious and easy, even without a food processor! Seems to make a huge quantity of food. I have made it a few times, but might try topping it with some crispy baked tofu the next time I make it.
Wonderful, Rachel!
Just gobbled this up for dinner and am full and satisfied! What a delicious meal – my girlfriend and I love your ginger-sesame soba noodle and this was equally tasty. I used a shredded bag of cabbage/broccoli/brussels/kale from Trader Joes and probably 2x as many noodles as the dish called for. Definitely will be keeping it more veggie heavy next time because I loved the crunch and that this can be so healthy!
Thank you for sharing, Hannah. I love the combination!
Could a person use Zoodles instead of the soba noodles or would that ruin it???
Soba noodles are delicious with this, but that would be a way to change it up.
My kids just became vegetarians and they loved this. Thank you. Will become a go-to.
Wonderful!
Loved it! Added red pepper thinly sliced and doubled the soba noodles to make it more filling. But otherwise left it as described. One of our new favorites!!
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing Laura.
I made this with whole wheat spaghetti and minimal garnishes. My fiance found the combination of things a little too odd for him.
Secretly, though, this is great news for me! I only did the spaghetti instead of soba because he doesn’t care for soba, and I left out green onions also for him. So when I made this for my meal prep in the future, it’s going to be even better than it was this time! I think I will invest in the lime, I bet that’d give it even more pizzazz. :) Thank you for this easy recipe that makes a ton!
This recipe was a home run. Fresh ginger always makes everything better. The only change was 2 table spoons of sesame oil instead of 3, but that’s mostly personal preference. Sesame oil can be very powerful. We don’t mind having a bunch of these leftovers!
I agree! I love fresh ginger. Thank you for your review, Kerri.
This is super delicious! Satisfying, filling, healthy…definitely taking leftovers for lunch. Soooo good!
Easy to make and takes care of veggie serving for the day
Thank you for your review!
This is so so so delicious, it has to be toasted sesame, so if you have regular, toast it. i’ve made it several times with store bought pre cut slaw . also, keep the sauce separate as it does not stay well overnight. Thanks Kate!
Made this salad with a couple changes to reduce sodium and increase savoriness: doubled the amount of soba noodles, substituted coco aminos for the soy sauce, omitted the honey and brussel sprouts, doubled the ginger. The coco aminos were sweet enough to offset the need for more sweetener. I used 2 T water to thin the dressing. Very flavorful salad and not labor intensive. I used red cabbage and red onion (since that’s what I had) which made a very colorful presentation. Next time, I will double the amount of soba noodles again. Recipe is a real keeper!
This turned out great!!!! I used olive oil instead of sesame. Yesterday we made the herb potato salad and that was great too!
I often make Asian cabbage salad, but hadn’t yet added soba noodles. No brussel sprouts available, but I just did green cabbage, carrots, a bit of cucumber and purple onion and tossed it all up. YUM!!
Delicious with a Capital D! I made this yesterday (scaling down a little to make a supper for two hungry adults). Couldn’t get sprouts (well our local farm shop doesn’t have them and weekly ‘essential journey shopping’ and all that means I’m not going hunting for them!). I did add a handful of dried cranberries and toasted some cashews (no peanuts). Enjoyed in the garden (beautiful weather in lockdown UK at the moment). I have so far tried a few of your salads and they’ve been wonderful. Also, thank you for introducing me to the foolproof way to cook Quinoa. Lots more of it being used now here! Take care there x
Thank you for sharing, Beverly!
Sounds amazing, can’t wait to make it. What kind of peanut butter shall I use? Just pure peanut, salted etc? There are that many on the market these days!
Hi Lisa! I always use “natural” unsweetened peanut butter. If it’s salted, you might need a little less tamari/soy sauce, you might not. You can always add more to taste. Hope you love it.
Delicious! Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you, Monica!
I made your recipe for my family tonight. I added tofu for my vegan kids and a piece of chicken for my husband. Everyone loved it!
Amazing! Didn’t have soba noodles so used brown rice noodles. Added some of your crispy baked tofu on top. Yum and super filling! Thank you!
I combined this with the crispy tofu recipe and tripled the dressing. I also added one juiced lime to the sauce. Sooo good! It was a hit!!! Even my picky eaters enjoyed it!
I combined this with the crispy tofu recipe and tripled the dressing. I also added one juiced lime to the sauce. Sooo good! It was a hit!!! Even my picky eaters enjoyed it!
This slaw is amazing! I was searching for a way to use up some brussels sprouts that were accidentally added to my grocery pickup order and found this page. I’ve been making your yummy jalapeno relish for a long time and though, “Hey! I recognize this site!” After I whipped this peanut slaw up, me and the hubs spent the whole day eating it, lol. It is that good! I’ve never enjoyed cole slaw, but thought the Asian flavors here would be different enough that I should try it. So glad I did, your recipe is the best slaw ever! Thanks for another amazing recipe!
Hi! THIS WAS SO GOOD. The sauce melded together beautifully– truly a delicious, flavorful delight that made the whole recipe really pop. I love this recipe and now we have tons of leftovers! This recipe tricked my boyfriend into eating vegetables, and that is a compliment because he hates vegetables :) Thanks so much!
Loved this one! Ate it for lunch all week, lasts great in the fridge. A bit of sriracha is definitely a nice touch! I might make this again but add tofu for some protein (although it’s filling enough on its own with the peanut sauce).
this sauce is soooo good… such a lovely array of colours and delicious crunchy textures! i didn’t expect it to make so much but I’m not complaining – lots of leftovers is fine by me!
Just tried this recipe. The peanut-sesame dressing tasted amazing and was super easy to do. I can imagine it would work well as a sort of satay marinade too. Thank you Kate x
Perfect for a hot summer day . Love all ur recipes and this one is a winner too !
This dish is beyond amazing….I could eat this everyday of my life. All the flavors go together so well!
Ina n effort for my husband to eat less meat, I made this. He loves it! And my toddler likes it too (must be the peanut butter). Thanks for the great simple recipe.
Hi Kate
I just wanted to tell you that I tried a variation of your “Peanut slaw with Soba noodles” that was amazing. I cut all the vegetables you recommended with a food processor, steamed them for about 10 min, then mixed them with a whole box (16oz) of cooked spaghetti noodles and then mixed in the peanut-sesame dressing (doubled the dressing recipe). Topped with peanuts. It tasted like a dish from a fancy Thai restaurant – Thanks for your wonderful recipes, John from Chapel Hill
Thank you for sharing how you approach this recipe, John!
Awesome flavor! I used hot honey and some chili oil to kick up the spice. Great prep meal, easy to make and great days later.
Just the right recipe for the almost sad looking head of cabbage that sat in my fridge! My family LOVED the recipe!
Wonderful to hear, Marian! Thank you for your review.
Made this last night and damn- it was good. Bookmarking to the recipe folder for sure!
I thought this was pretty tasty after we added the lime, peanuts, Sriracha, and a little salt. I also added the Crispy Baked Tofu from this site to increase the protein content. The only problem for me was that the slaw was not very filling, even though I ate a lot! I really liked it but would probably use it as a side for something else in the future rather than a main. This would change it from vegetarian to not, but I think it would be yummy with some grilled chicken thrown in next time. But great flavor overall! I’m looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow!
Never thought I’d eat raw Brussels sprouts, but they are amazing in this recipe! The peanut dressing is perfect and makes the raw veggies so delicious.
Is it supposed to be served cold, hot, or room temp? Thanks! Can’t wait to make it!
Hi! It can be served how you like it! I like it right away so it’s still warm from the noodles.
Yum this was super tasty and makes for great leftovers for lunch. The dressing was really flavorful. I used purple cabbage, carrot, green onion, and cilantro and didn’t feel like I needed the brussels sprouts. I think snow peas would have also made a great addition. When there are potlucks again I’ll definitely bring this–quick and easy to make a big batch and tastes great at room temp.
Thank you for sharing, Olivia! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Made this today and loved it! Made it without any changes. Love all your recipes
I came across this recipe whilst looking for squash recipes. It has become a firm favourite, especially with Thai fish cakes. We even had it on Christmas Day with scallops.
Thank you for sharing, Ailsa!
the sauce was amazing!! couldn’t find soba noodles so used whole wheat spaghetti as suggested and turned out just great with the texture I wanted! awesome recipe!
I’m excited you loved it, Diva! Thank you for taking the time to review.