Soba Chicken Noodle Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing
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This Asian-inspired noodle salad is everything you want a summertime meal to be: flavorful, light, and totally satisfying.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
Years ago, I wrote a salad column for the popular food site, Serious Eats. Among my contributions, the most popular was this Asian-inspired noodle salad. It marries chicken and veggies with a punchy dressing flavored with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and peanut butter. The salad is perfect summer fare: full of fresh flavors, light on the palate, and totally satisfying. For the chicken, I’ve provided cooking instructions, but if you’re looking for a shortcut, this recipe is perfect for using up leftover chicken or a store-bought rotisserie. If you opt for the latter, you’ll need 2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken.
A heads-up about the dressing: it might seem a bit sharp and salty on its own, but that’s intentional. The noodles absorb a lot of flavor, so it’s important to over-season the dressing slightly. While you can prepare the dressing ahead of time, I’d suggest cooking and tossing the noodles just before serving to keep them from becoming soggy.
Soba noodles, similar in appearance to spaghetti, are made from buckwheat and hail from Japan (indeed, “soba” translates to “buckwheat” in Japanese). They are available at Asian markets and most grocery stores. However, if you can’t find them, spaghetti makes an excellent substitute.
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Soba Chicken Noodle Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing
This Asian-inspired noodle salad is everything you want a summertime meal to be: flavorful, light, and totally satisfying.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (see note)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Salad
- 10 ounces soba noodles (or spaghetti)
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 4 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- ½ cup chopped salted peanuts
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
For the Dressing
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 tablespoon Asian/toasted sesame oil
- 1½ tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 2 small garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (see note)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Cook the chicken: Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the chicken breasts on the prepared pan. Rub the skin with the vegetable oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
- Begin the salad: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, stirring occasionally so they don't stick. Drain and rinse well under cold water.
- Make the dressing: Meanwhile, in a small food processor or blender, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, peanut oil, sesame oil, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, and sugar; blend until smooth.
- Finish the salad: Remove the skin from the chicken breasts and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces. In a large bowl, toss the shredded chicken with the noodles, bell pepper, scallions, peanuts, cilantro, sesame seeds, and dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately.
- Note: If you'd like to use leftover chicken or a store-bought rotisserie, you'll need 2 cups of cooked, shredded meat.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 708
- Fat: 36g
- Saturated fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 67g
- Sugar: 7g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 37g
- Sodium: 2099mg
- Cholesterol: 56mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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We thought this was delicious – even better the second day after the flavors marinated together more. We added sugar snap peas and edamame. The one thing I may do differently is use another shaped pasta – with the spaghetti I was either getting a mouthful of noodles or just the goodies. Might try a bowtie.
I made this over the weekend for some friends and instead of chicken, I used tofu instead. It was very tasty! Everyone loved it! 🙂
My family loves this dish!
Congrats on your new column!
Where’s the recipe for this?
Congratulations on your new column. So look forward to reading it. You are off to an awesome start from the looks of this featured dish. Thank you.
Congrats on the new column. I saw it yesterday. The recipe looks good and the dressing is similar to your Asian ginger/peanut slaw recipe which I have made at least 4 times this summer for various parties. It’s always a hit.
That’s exciting! I love entree salads and will look forward to reading your ideas at Serious Eats. Congrats!
Congratulations on your new writing adventure! Is there anything as nice to eat as a salad?
I love love Asian. I love Chicken. I love Noodles. I love Ginger-Peanut Dressing. I guess I will have to try this recipe!
wow this looks yummy!