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This noodle salad is made with rice noodles, cooked chicken, crispy veggies, and toasted nuts tossed in a sesame ginger dressing. It’s fresh, fast, and meal-prep friendly!
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: This salad is full of savory, nutty, and umami-inspired Asian flavors.
- Recommended Tools: A vegetable chopper will uniformly (and safely!) julienne veggies.
- Swaps: Instead of cooked chicken, top the salad with grilled shrimp.
- Time-Saving Tip: Ready-made coleslaw mix and a bottle of dressing save on prep time.
- Serving Suggestions: Make it a meal and serve with other Asian dishes like soy ginger steak bites or some crunchy fried wontons.
Ingredient Tips for Noodle Salad
- Noodles: Rice noodles can be swapped out for ramen noodles or, in a pinch, angel hair pasta.
- Chicken: Any cooked chicken works, even leftovers! This is a great way to use up extra rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken.
- Vegetables: Bok choy, peas, sliced cabbage, cucumbers, and peppers are perfectly crunchy and add vibrant color. Try adding water chestnuts, bean sprouts, edamame, or chopped mushrooms. A bag of broccoli slaw is a great option, too.
- Nuts: Slivered almonds, cashews, and peanuts are classic nuts in Thai recipes. For a nut-free noodle salad, use sunflower or pumpkin seeds, as well as a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top.
- Dressing: Buy or DIY? Homemade sesame ginger dressing also serves as a sauce for sautéed Brussels sprouts and a glaze for grilled pork chops.
Favorite Variations
- Stir in a spoonful of peanut butter for a creamier dressing.
- A squirt of sriracha or gochujang adds a kick of heat.
- Serve sesame ginger noodle salad in a lettuce cup similar to a chicken lettuce wrap as an appetizer.
How to Make Rice Noodle Salad
- Cook, drain, and rinse rice noodles in cold water.
- Toss noodles with remaining ingredients and stir in dressing (recipe below).
- Refrigerate 1 hour and garnish with nuts and cilantro before serving.
Storing Noodle Salad
Keep leftover noodle salad in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Stir and refresh the flavors with a splash of new dressing. Noodles don’t thaw well, so this recipe is best made fresh. If making in advance, assemble the salad and dressing separately.
Asian Inspired Salads
Did you make this Noodle Salad? Leave a comment and comment below!
Noodle Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces medium rice noodles
- 4 cups bok choy and or cabbage, thinly sliced, or coleslaw mix
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 cup snap peas sliced
- 1 cup thinly sliced cucumber cut into matchsticks
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 carrot julienned or shredded
- ¾ cup sesame ginger dressing or homemade dressing in the notes
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup cashews or almonds, toasted, for garnish
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
- Place noodles, bok choy, chicken, snap peas, cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, dressing, cilantro, green onions, and lime juice in a bowl. Toss well to combine.
- Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Garnish with nuts and additional cilantro if desired.
Notes
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
- For extra flavorful and crunchy nuts, toast them in a dry sauté pan until they are barely browned.
- To extract the most juice from the lime, soften it by rolling it across the counter a few times before cutting it.
- Rinse the noodles in cold water to stop them from cooking.
- Keep in mind that the noodles will absorb the dressing as it sits so add a bit of extra dressing.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Lunch, Pasta, Salad
Cuisine American, Asian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I would switch the rice noodles out for Udon noodles. The rice noodles are kind of a stiff texture in this. Otherwise, I made as written. U did double the dressing ingredients to have extra in case I needed it after the noodles soaked up some. I did end up using my double batch of dressing.
Great idea! Udon noodles would give it such a soft, chewy bite, and that extra dressing sounds perfect for keeping everything saucy and flavorful. Love how you made it your own!
I made this 3 times in the last week! Everyone loved it and wanted more!
I am so happy to hear this recipe is a hit Charlotte!
Delicious textures and flavors and perfectly satisfying! I’m glad I made the full recipe so we could have leftovers for lunch I made this with shrimp marinated in Maggi, fish sauce, and brown sugar, cooked and chilled, and also added a few more ingredients to the dressing to taste. (Some spicy tamarind sauce, a spoonful of peanut butter, and extra garlic…I think that’s it.)
It did take a looong time to make and the rice noodles, thin as the ones I have, just would not mix in correctly. They kept leaping to their deaths out of the bowl onto the counters and kept balling up in the salad. And that’s after cutting them up. Next time I will just serve the salad on top of the noodles I guess. I wouldn’t want to leave them out!
That shrimp sure sounds delicious Kelly! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
This was delicious! BUt instead of noodles which I did not have on hand I used quinoa and it worked really well. The recipe makes a lot and is as good on day 3 as day 1..