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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I’m making this today, Jenn. How is it to be served……warm, room temperature, cold? I’m thinking of bringing it to a beach picnic.
Hi Yolanda, I typically eat it room temperature, but I think any of the three would work. Hope you enjoy!
It was wonderful, thank you! Just like all your recipes! 💝
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Tasty. I added some broccoli and radishes. Also added more peanut butter. I’ll make again with more veggies (celery).
No comment, just a question. Can this salad be made a day ahead and serve it chilled or at room temperature?
Hi Diane, I think this is best on the day it’s made, but I have munched on it over a few day period before.
This salad was delicious. My DH says “you can make this anytime”. I added celery, spinach.
What is the best way to reduce the sodium in this recipe? Using low sodium soy sauce still gives a whopping amount. Would you suggest using fewer TBSP’s than the stated amount, or perhaps going with the dressing on your asian slaw recipe instead? Just curious. Recent health diagnosis has me cutting out salt…but this salad looks so amazing, I was hoping to find a way to make it workable for me. Thanks.
Hi Lois, I don’t see a lot of ways to cut back on the sodium here without significantly changed the flavor of the dressing. If you want to use the dressing from the Asian slaw, I think it will nicely. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I love this recipe!!
Is there variety of noodles that could be used that won’t get soggy if you wanted to make this recipe in advance?
Hi Aimee, It will hold up for a few hours, but for best results I’d wait to toss the noodles with the dressing until before serving.
This was so good and easy enough for a busy weeknight! I kept the chicken on the side because I don’t eat meat, and it worked out perfectly.
Made the dressing only subbing in canola for peanut as I didn’t have that on hand and it was perfect for our tastes. I made the lotus brand gluten free brown rice and millet noodles, used leftover chicken, and did additional vegetables (carrot/cucumber). Complete winner in this household! Thank you, Jenn!
I found that 6 T of soy is too much as in too much salt and acid. I added more peanut oil and peanut butter to cut the salt and acidity of the dressing. I also added some coconut milk.