When I’m doing my high-protein weekly meal prep, I like to make enough fresh salads for 5 or 6 lunches. I often make salads with quinoa, like my Lentils and Quinoa Salad, Quinoa Chickpea Salad, or Quinoa Spinach Salad. But sometimes, I want Japanese flavors in my high-protein salad. For this Soba Noodle Salad, I make a delicious spicy peanut dressing with the flavors of sesame oil and sweetness of maple syrup. It’s absolutely delicious and it’s crazy quick to put together. And making a lot of them in jars takes almost the same time as making just one, so why not meal prep many delicious lunches?
Ingredients and Substitutions
There are a few ingredients, but they’re all quite classic and easy to find!
Soba Noodles – Soba noodles are Japanese made from buckwheat flour, so it’s both healthy and rich in protein. If you don’t have soba noodles, you can instead use Udon noodles, or even spaghetti, especially if you can find high-protein spaghetti, like edamame spaghetti. Edamame – Edamame are soy beans, they are very rich in protein, great for bringing color and taste to any salad. You can swap it for black beans or broad beans if you don’t have any. Cucumber – I like English cucumber, but you can also use Lebanese cucumber. Red Cabbage – Shredded red cabbage is a classic in Japanese cuisine. You can replace it with regular cabbage, but I find red cabbage even better. Carrots – Carrots sliced in small sticks bring a terrific texture to the salad. Fresh Mint – For flavor. Fresh Cilantro – If you don’t like cilantro, like about 20% of the population that feel like it tastes like soap, you can use more mint or even Thai basil. Fresh Chili – For mild spiciness.
Spicy Peanut Dressing
Peanut Butter – Peanut is a classic in many Asian dressings, but you can also replace it with sesame paste or almond butter. Soy Sauce – Soy sauce, or Shoyu, brings the umami taste, it also salts the dressing. Lime Juice – Either fresh lime juice or bottled. Ginger – Fresh crushed ginger tastes amazing. Maple Syrup – to add sweetness to the dressing. You can replace it with coconut nectar or agave syrup. Sriracha – Sriracha adds spiciness fast. If you like your dressing mild, you can skip it! Sesame Oil – While you can swap sesame oil for another oil, it brings so much flavor to the dressing that I would never skip it! Chili Flakes – For even more spiciness.
How to Make Vegan Soba Noodle Salad
Making this salad is super easy. The way I make it to make my meal prep easier is to first prepare all the vegetable and then assemble the salad.
Meal Prep Tips
This salad is one of my favorite meal prep options for high-protein lunches. To make it easier for myself, I have the following tips:
Slice and shred all the vegetables and place them divided in as many ramekins. This ensures each salad is of the same size. Prepare the dressing and store it on the side. If you need to have the dressing with the salad, which is useful if you take them to work, place the dressing at the bottom. Then, when serving it, flip the jar upside-down on a plate. The dressing will then be on the top and the rest of the veggies will still be super-crunchy! Double the quantities if you want to meal prep for a whole week!