Thai soba noodle salad is packed with a rainbow of fresh veggies, tender buckwheat soba noodles, juicy peanut grilled chicken, and a creamy peanut dressing. – healthy AND beautiful for any occasion!
Colorful, beautiful salads are just the name of the game around here as we move into the warmer months!
And this beauty here is loaded with ALL of the above! This salad is locked and loaded to be a staple at all our cookouts this summer.
Between all the fresh veggie goodness, the mess of soba noodles, and the savory peanut grilled chicken we’ve got going on in this noodle salad, it’s only a matter of time before this becomes your summer salad go-to as well.
There are just SO many things to love on in this salad, gee whiz. The textures are insane, the fresh Thai flavors are off the charts, and the peanut dressing is like something out of a dream.
Plus there’s pasta ala soba noodles. You can just call this salad the cool kid on the block cause it’s really just got it all.
This Thai Soba Noodle Salad features…
- Juicy, smoky peanut grilled chicken
- A rainbow of crisp fresh vegetables
- Tender buckwheat soba noodles
- A creamy peanut butter dressing (that serves as both the chicken marinade AND dressing!)
Making Thai Soba Noodle Salad
(scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe!)
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chicken (boneless chicken breasts work best, but thighs will also work!)
- Peanut Butter
- Soy Sauce
- Honey
- Rice Vinegar
- Sesame Oil
- Ginger (go for fresh if you can!)
- Sweet Pepper
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Cilantro
- Green Onion
- Peanuts
- Soba Noodles (any noodle will work in a pinch but you can’t beat the flavor of soba noodles!)
Tips for Making Salad
- Marinade chicken – I recommend marinating the chicken in the peanut butter marinade at least one hour, but we usually let it sit overnight for the best flavor.
- Pay attention to knife cuts – try to cut the pepper and carrot into uniform matchsticks and then finely shred the cabbage.
- Cook noodles until al dente – soba noodles cook fast and you don’t want to overcook them. Drain them when they are just al dente and rinse well with cold water.
- Dress salad just before serving – you can store many of the salad components in the fridge ahead of time, but do not dress the salad until just before you are ready to serve.
Make-Ahead Options
- Make dressing and store in fridge up to 6 days.
- Marinate the chicken overnight or up to 8 hours. Grill as directed and toss with salad when ready to serve.
- Cook the noodles and store in fridge with salad veggies up to 2 days in advance.
- Prep all the salad veggies (pepper, carrot, and cabbage) up to 2 days in advance.
- When ready to serve, combine chicken with salad and mix in cilantro, green onion, peanuts, and dressing.
How to Cook Chicken Without a Grill
If you don’t have access to a grill, you can still make this salad!
Stovetop Instructions: In a large nonstick skillet, over medium-high heat 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil until shimmery Remove chicken from marinade and pound out to 1/2-in thickness. Sear chicken on both sides 2-3 minutes until chicken registers 165F.
Oven Instructions: Preheat oven to 400F. Remove chicken from marinade and place in a 9×13 baking dish. Bake chicken at 400F 20-25 minutes until chicken registers 165F.
Customizing Salad
- Switch up the veggies – sugar snap peas, fresh broccoli, avocado, or a handful of fresh spinach are delicious additions or swap-outs!
- Change the pasta – if you can’t find soba noodles, any kind of pasta will work in this recipe! Lo mein noodles, spaghetti noodles, and penne are all delicious alternatives.
- Leave out the chicken – if you want to keep this salad meatless, just skip the chicken! You will want to cut the peanut butter marinade recipe in half as this also serves as the dressing for this salad.
The amount of flavors we’re able to pile into this gorgeous salad is a little insane. Each bite is literally BURSTING with insanely fresh flavors!
The fresh, crunchy vegetables, the tender noodles, the juicy chicken, a hint of cilantro, and soooo much creamy peanut butter dressing. It’s like a little summer salad party in your mouth.
Trust me, this soba noodle salad is going to be GOLD to have on hand for this summer. But definitely don’t be afraid to make it year round too! Thank me later.
More pasta salads I think you might love!
- Asian Chicken Pasta Salad
- Strawberry Poppyseed Spinach Pasta Salad
- Peanut Sesame Thai Noodle Crunch Salad
Thai Soba Noodle Salad with Peanut Grilled Chicken
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Ingredients
Peanut Grilled Chicken
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
Thai Soba Noodle Salad
- 1 package (9.5 oz) buckwheat soba noodles, cooked according to package instructions, rinsed well, and chilled
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-in matchsticks
- 1 large sweet pepper, cored and cut into 1-in matchsticks
- 2 cups shredded green or red cabbage
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
- 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts
Instructions
Peanut Grilled Chicken
- In a large bowl, whisk peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and ginger well about 1 minute until smooth. Season dressing with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide dressing in half and place 1/2 in a small jar (this will be the dressing for the salad later) Leave remaining dressing in the bowl and add chicken breasts to bowl, turning to evenly coat in dressing. Allow chicken to marinade in fridge 1 hour (or up to 8)
- When done marinating, remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade. Grill chicken over medium-high heat, turning once until chicken registers 165F (about 10 minutes cooking) Allow chicken to cool several minutes then slice into thin strips.
Thai Soba Noodle Salad
- In a large serving bowl, combine noodles, carrots, pepper, cabbage, green onion, cilantro, and grilled chicken strips. Store in fridge until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, drizzle reserved peanut dressing over top and add roasted peanuts. Toss salad to evenly coat in dressing. Serve salad immediately once dressed. Enjoy!
Nina says
Unbalanced sauce ratio wasted my ingredients
Sarah says
Hi Nina – are you able to give me more details as to what went wrong? Was there not enough dressing or too much?