Sriracha Rainbow Noodle Salad
This is a noodle salad you'll crave every day. A radiant, color-flecked tangle of noodles, cabbage, shredded carrots, pickled sushi ginger, and an abundance of cilantro, basil, and scallions. It has tofu and peanuts, coconut, ginger, avocado, and hemp seeds. The dressing(!) - it's simple but strong, and steps in with an assertive spicy sriracha-lime punch.
This is a noodle salad you'll crave every day. A radiant, color-flecked tangle of noodles, cabbage, shredded carrots, pickled sushi ginger, and an abundance of cilantro, basil, and scallions. It has tofu and peanuts, coconut, ginger, avocado, and hemp seeds. The dressing(!) - it's simple but strong, and steps in with an assertive spicy sriracha-lime punch. This is one of those near-perfect one dish meals. You might not want to prep this many ingredients every day, but you'll forget about that detail the minute you take a bite. And you can see exactly how it comes together in the video below. xx! -h
Noodle Salad: Make Ahead Components
A couple of tips - you can make the dressing a few days in advance. You can also do much of the chopping and grating a day or two in advance. Cook the noodles to order, though.
Let me know if you try it, and please report back if you land on any seasonal adaptations that you are particularly excited about.
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Sriracha Rainbow Noodle Salad
Enjoy the salad! To make it gluten free, use rice noodles. You can make the tofu and the dressing ahead of time. Don't skimp on the cilantro!
- 2 medium cloves garlic, grated
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil
- a few drops of toasted sesame oil
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- sweetener to taste, liquid stevia / brown sugar / coconut nectar
- 1 - 2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
- 12 ounces firm tofu, sliced into bite-sized slabs
- toasted sesame oil
- fine grain sea salt
- 8 ounces fresh udon noodles, or 4 ounces dried
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2/3 cup sliced scallions / green onion
- 2 cups cilantro leaves and stems, lightly chopped
- a big handful of shredded basil
- 1 1/2 cups very finely shredded cabbage
- 1 cup chopped pineapple (or mango, or peaches!)
- 1/3 cup toasted unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup salted (organic) peanuts
- 3 tablespoons pickled sushi ginger, chopped
- 2/3 cup grated carrots
- 1 medium avocado, sliced
- 3 tablespoons hemp seeds
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Combine the garlic, sunflower oil, toasted sesame oil, and lime juice in a jar. Add your preferred sweetener to taste, a bit at a time, and then add the sriracha until it reaches the desired amount of spicy. Set aside.
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Rub the tofu with a bit of toasted sesame oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt and either grill or bake at 350F until nice and golden, ten minutes or so. Set aside. You can do this ahead of time a day ahead if you like.
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Cook the noodles in a medium saucepan of salted water. Drain, run under cold water, shaking off any excess, and transfer to a large serving bowl.
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Toss the noodles with the toasted sesame oil and then add the scallions, cilantro, basil, cabbage, pineapple, and most of the coconut and peanuts. Pour about 2/3 of the dressing over the top, and give it all a nice toss. Add the tofu, sushi ginger, carrots, and avocado, decide if you need anymore dressing (and, if so, add it), and gently toss again. Adding the carrots at this point keeps them from tinting the rest of the salad orange. Serve topped with the remaining peanuts and coconut, with a generous sprinkling of hemp seeds.
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Comments
so good. made with veggies on hand, dried pineapple instead of mango, and brown rice/millet ramen for the noodle. even better for lunch the next day, can’t wait to make again.
Thanks Bridget – I love the dried pineapple swap – I’m going to have to try that!
Made this for a potluck yesterday and it was a huge hit! I subbed roasted, shredded jackfruit for the tofu and added chopped jalapeno. We had some regular and Thai basil growing outside so added that. Several folks asked for the recipe so I sent them here for this and more goodies. Thanks Heidi!
It is really a healthy and delicious recipe with full of nutrients. As a Nutritionist i can say this nutritious food will enjoyable for anybody. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I will must try to home.
This is extremely delicious and versatile. Thanks for sharing. For those who eat fish, I find that adding a little fish sauce to the dressing adds a wonderful flavor.
Oh my. I made this three times this weekend for a total of sixty servings. One for church, one for a party, and one to share with coworkers. I tweaked each just a bit, but my favorite addition was diced jicama doused with lime juice and chili lime seasoning. Such an amazing recipe. I like it even better the second day.
HS: Hi Michelle! Love the jicama addition – brilliant!
I have made this twice now- this will be one of my regular meals this summer! So delicious!
Skimp on cilantro!! Increase basil. Otherwise, great!
What a perfect combination of tastes, textures and colors!! Delicious and beautiful. I will make it often
Love your videos so much. You make me smile. And this recipe is another winner. Can’t wait to try it! I think salads are lovely all year long — even for breakfast. Good food.
A leftover kale/apple salad got combined with pulverized cauliflower (instead of cabbage), rice noodles, peanuts, parsley, coconut, radishes, with your dressing, but it still came together in a very satisfying way, despite all the substitutions! I should have more carefully rinsed the rice noodles and dressed them with oil – not sure how leftovers will be…but while it was warm, it was great! Thanks for the inspiration to experiment and ‘make do.’
I put in fresh Washington state asparagus! Divine! And I added grilled shrimp.
Just made this to the letter of the recipe (which I NEVER do) and it. is. amazing. I can’t wait to eat it tomorrow for lunch once the flavors meld even more! Thank you for this one – it’s going to be one of my go-to’s when I feel like treating myself from now on!
So good! My daughter has been pretty picky about food lately, so I set this up as a “build your own noodle salad” dinner: cooked rice vermicelli, shocked in ice water and tossed with a little bit of avocado oil. Chopped the cabbage and spread it on a platter, then arranged thinly sliced or grated veggies in a rainbow overtop: radish, red peppers, carrot, yellow pepper and cucumber. Put mango, avocado, tofu, cilantro, mint (instead of basil), green onions, toasted coconut, toasted cashews (instead of peanuts), toasted sesame seeds, and hemp hearts in separate bowls of varying sizes, and two dressing options: the Sriracha lime given here, and some leftover from having Otsu a few days ago. The kids went with the otsu dressing, because it has been a staple in our house now since before they were born, but I used the sriracha and it was great! This is going to become a regular summer meal around here, I’m sure. Thanks for the inspiration, and the the otsu recipe all those years ago.
Love this idea Alison! And it’s hard to go wrong with that Otsu dressing ;)…wish summer would hurry up and get here. xx!
Heidi,
this salad looks amazing but I cannot stand the taste of sriracha. Is there a substitute that you might recommend? I do have some hot chili paste or sweet chili sauce.
I don’t know why but sriracha tastes like dirt to me.
Thanks!!
HS: Hi Jana – just swap in one that you like a bit at a time 🙂
This salad is SOOOOO tasty! I made a few little changes based on what I had available and not wanting it too spicy. My only complaint is that it does take a long time to prep. On the plus side – I’ve got lunch for 4 days and when I tasted it, all the prep was worth it.
I made this on the weekend and OH WOW!!! so so good. will be making this again for sure.
This is delicious! I subbed peanut oil for sunflower, fried the tofu instead of baked, and left out the hemp seeds and coconut, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. I think when I make it again (which I will), I will do less grating and shredding and just chop into slightly bigger pieces (esp the cabbage and carrots). Yum!
hello heidi…my daughter and i have followed your site for years (and own your cookbooks) but have never posted. last night we tried the sriaracha noodle salad. SO good…and even better for lunch today. we did change it up a bit as we have TONS of mint growing and tuscan kale. we added a few handfuls of each. as to the noodle, i happened to have some black bean “spaghetti” on hand and thought it would be a nice contrast (color/texture) and it was. thank you for the inspiration for such a colorful/textural/healthy dish. cheers, elena
Hi Heidi,
This salad is amazing, thanks for sharing! I made it yesterday for dinner and had the leftovers for lunch today (to prevent the salad from going soggy overnight, I kept half of the dressing in a separate container). I used rice noodles instead of udon and parsley instead of cilantro. So, so good!
I made this for dinner last night except without hemp seeds and added some leftover roasted chicken. It was bright and fresh and delicious, and will definitely be in heavy rotation during the warmer months! Thanks!
This looks great – can’t wait to try. Do I need to press the tofu?
HS: Hi Andrew – not if you can find a good, firm / extra-firm tofu.
Very good. Substituted polack crab for tofu. I’m hooked.
My favorite stall at the Farmer’s Market had baby leeks, so I added those with some cherry tomatoes and purple asparagus. The leeks had little white and green blossoms, which I decorated the salad with. Amazing! I served this with the Miso-Broiled Scallops from NYT recipes.
HS: Yes! Love hearing your tweaks and adaptations – that’s completely the spirit. xx! -h
Hi Heidi, LOVE this recipe! Really really yummy. Thanks so much for this and doing the videos. What lipstick do you use? Gorgeous colors. xo
HS: Thanks Leah! – I wear a lot of Kosas – Thrillist is a fave xx!
This is amazing! I made it for dinner and am eating it as I type. Had ripe mangos, so used those instead of pineapple. I held the coconut, peanuts, and avocado for topping just before serving so they didn’t get soggy/brown. Thank you for a new favorite!
This looks delicious and is that a Tepco china bowl?
What a beautiful salad and a fun video, too! I love to watch the way you bring things together and am always inspired by your creative ideas and flavor pairings. Thank you!
This sounds so good! I can’t wait to make it! But I also wanted to say how much I LOVE your videos. I know videos are taking over the food world, but you’ve managed to do them while still being completely original and true to yourself. You’re incredible 🙂 Such an inspiration 🙂
HS: You’re the sweetest Christina! And I love _your_ Insta-stories (they always make me laugh/smile)…Much love for the sweet note, xx -h
Made this for dinner tonight just as written. The dish was Amazing! Flavor bursts in every bite. My husband does this adorable umm,umm happy dance in his chair when a dish is a real hit and he was definitely happy dancing tonight! Can’t wait to try subbing in variations as you suggest though he thought it was perfect as is 🙂
HS: Thanks Jeanne! Love that it made the jump to your kitchen :)!
Inspiring as always! What did you end up doing with those nettles you froze a few weeks back?
HS: Hi Pepper – Thanks! I think I made a nettle paste for soup with those….
This looks f_cking Awesome!!!!
This looks great! I usually like to prepare in advance a couple of days worth of lunches to take to work. Do you think soba noodles or rice noodles (I don’t care for udon) would last a couple of days in the fridge? Then I could just assemble the noodles + salad + dressing in the morning and go!
Hi Ophelia – I think in this scenario, the best approach would be too cook the soba or rice noodles, rinse them in cold water, shake off excess water, and toss with a splash of toasted sesame oil. That will help keep them from clumping a bit! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
this looks really good, I think im going to put it in a wrap.
Looks delicious. I will try this tonight for dinner. Thanks!
This looks great! I am going to make it using chicken instead of tofu, and rice or GF soba noodles.
Intriguing! What if you have coconut-haters in the family – any suggested crunch replacement? Or just leave it out?
HS: You can leave it out. I sometimes add crispy fried shallots and/or a drizzle of shallot oil…
Inspiring, thank you. And I love color palette for these photos, it feels like spring.
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