Cucumber & Sesame Noodle Salad

Cucumber & Sesame Noodle Salad is quick, easy, refreshing and utterly delicious.

Especially good during hot weather, the only cooking required is your choice of noodles. I’ve used egg noodles, but rice, soba or your own favourite will work too.

The noodles are tossed with shreds of cooling cucumber plus spring onions, whole coriander leaves and a sesame dressing.

Including nutty tahini, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds plus garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar and chilli flakes, the dressing really brings this simple salad to life.

An easy light meal, Cucumber & Sesame Noodle Salad will provide around three portions of vegetables per person. To make it more substantial, top with cooked chicken, pork or prawns, smoked mackerel or salmon, egg, peanuts, or fried tofu.

Jump to Recipe

I’ve been making Cucumber & Sesame Noodle Salad for a while now. Good from the start, I’ve been playing around with the proportions of ingredients to make it even better.

But boy, am I glad I’ve now got it just how I want it!

As I write, we’re in the middle of a fierce heatwave. Not (for me anyway) a ‘great, let’s go out and enjoy the sun!’ heatwave. More of a ‘stay inside, draw the blinds, get the fans going: we’re all going to die from climate change’ type of heatwave.

So, to have ready my recipe for a refreshing, cooling Cucumber & Sesame Noodle Salad that takes next to no time at the stove or in the kitchen is very timely indeed.

CUCUMBER & SESAME NOODLE SALAD

The only cooking involved in this salad is the noodles. And everyone knows how quick that is.

I’ve used egg noodles, but rice noodles, soba noodles, mung bean noodles or any other will work too.

You’ll find a detailed recipe card at the end of this post. But, briefly, here’s how making Cucumber & Sesame Noodle Salad goes.

1. Cook the noodles, drain and cool under a cold tap
2. Prep the cucumber, spring onions and coriander
3. Whisk up the dressing
4. Toss everything together and serve.

It couldn’t be any easier, could it?

CUCUMBER, SPRING ONION & CORIANDER

I seem to eat more and more cucumber these days. Particularly welcome right now are its properties that led to the saying, ‘as cool as a cucumber’.

Big ones, mini ones. Organic veg box ones, bog standard supermarket ones. Occasionally, a few mini homegrown ones.

In fact, such is my increasing love for this vegetable (that’s technically a fruit), I’ve already posted several cucumber recipes this year: Cucumber, Apple & Mint Smoothie, Smacked Cucumber with Chilli Oil, and Strawberry & Cucumber Salad with Mint.

For my Cucumber & Sesame Noodle Salad, I like my cucumber to be a similar shape to the noodles. That’s partly for aesthetic reasons, partly because it’s just nicer to have a forkful where they’re harmoniously combined.

If you have one, you could use a spiralizer. But I prefer the simpler, space saving julienne peeler which I can use just like a potato peeler. If you have neither, cut up the cucumber into matchsticks.

Once I get to the central, seed-filled section of the cucumber, I stop. If it’s still quite firm, I chop it into cubes and add to cucumber shreds. However, if it seems quite soft and wet then I’ll discard the centre in the direction of my dog who loves to eat it!

I sprinkle the shreds with salt and put to one side while I finish prepping. You could skip this step, but it does draw out some of the moisture from the cucumber which would otherwise make the salad too wet.

I like lots of spring onion in this salad. If you can get big ones, thinly slice two or three. If you only have the smaller ones, then I’d use the whole bunch.

Coriander is an integral part of this salad. I’ve included it more as a leafy green rather than a herb, so make sure you add plenty of it.

For this reason I don’t chop it, but use the whole leaves plucked from the stem. Don’t throw the stems away though: save them for another dish like a stir-fry.

If you’re one of those strange people who don’t like coriander, then mint would be a good substitute.

Whichever herb you use, you’ll need around three big handfuls of the leaves.

THE DRESSING

Although the ingredients for the dressing are similar to that for my Bang Bang Chicken Noodle Salad, the result is quite different.

Still full of flavour, I think it’s lighter and more delicate. Much more fitting for a simple cooling salad of cucumber and noodles.

To make the dressing, just whisk up all the ingredients:

• finely grated garlic and ginger
• sesame oil
• tahini
• rice vinegar
• light & dark soy sauce
• sugar or other sweetener
• chilli flakes
• black pepper
• toasted sesame seeds
• water to thin

The amount of water you’ll need to create a light pourable consistency will depend on your brand of tahini as some are much runnier than others.

So use your judgement when adding the water. What you’re after is a dressing that lightly cloaks the noodles and vegetables.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER & SERVING

Because the cucumber will still naturally contain a lot of water, I strongly recommend that you don’t toss the salad with the dressing until ready to serve. Otherwise, the dressing will draw out more of the moisture and things will get soggy.

I first toss the noodles with all the cucumber plus most of the spring onion and coriander, saving some for a garnish.

The dressing is then tossed in. Again, I save some for a final flourish when serving.

Divide the salad between two bowls, topped with the reserved spring onion, coriander and dressing.

An extra sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and chilli flakes is good too.

Eaten straight away, I think this is a wonderful salad. Light but satisfying. Full of fresh flavour but quick and easy to make.

ADVANCE PREP + EXTRAS

If you want to do some advance preparation, then the dressing will be fine in the fridge for a day. The noodles can be cooked in advance and left in the fridge too.

Just make sure you bring everything back to room temperature before tossing with the freshly prepped cucumber, spring onions and coriander.

To make the salad more substantial, try topping it with cooked chicken, pork or prawns, smoked mackerel, salmon, boiled or poached egg, roasted peanuts or fried tofu.

For the salad above, I simply pan-fried salmon fillets in a mix of groundnut and sesame oil. After cooling a little, it was lovely broken up over the salad with some of that great dressing drizzled over.

HAVE YOU MADE CUCUMBER & SESAME NOODLE SALAD?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT & DON’T FORGET TO RATE THE RECIPE!

5 from 2 votes

Print

Cucumber & Sesame Noodle Salad

Quick to make, this refreshing salad is perfect for summer with cucumber, spring onion, coriander leaf and noodles in a sesame and soy dressing flavoured with garlic and ginger.

For a larger meal, top with cooked chicken, pork or prawns, smoked mackerel or salmon, egg, peanuts or fried tofu.

Course Main Course, Salad, Lunch, Light Meal

Cuisine Chinese, Japanese, Vegetarian, Vegan, plant-based, World

Keyword quick

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 2

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 120-160 g dried noodles e.g. egg, rice, or soba noodles
• 2 tsp sesame or any other oil
• 1 large cucumber
• 1 large pinch salt
• 80 g spring onion approx 2-3 large
• 3 big handfuls coriander leaves stems removed, leaves left whole

For the dressing

• 2 cloves garlic peeled
• 5-8 g ginger root weight after peeling
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp sweetener e.g. sugar, honey, maple syrup
• 1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes hot or mild according to taste, plus extra for sprinkling
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 2 level tbsp toasted sesame seeds plus extra for sprinkling
• 1-2 tbsp cold water see Instructions

Instructions

1. Cook the noodles

   Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions then drain in a colander or sieve.

   Hold under a running cold tap, tossing the noodles around until completely cold. Shake well to dry off.

   Toss with the 2 tsp of sesame or other oil then transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

   Rinse out the colander or sieve.

   Noodles can be cooked up to a day in advance and stored in the fridge.

2. Prepare the cucumber and spring onions

   Top and tail the cucumber then cut it into long, thin shreds, ideally using a julienne peeler or spiralizer. Alternatively, use a knife to cut it into matchsticks.

   When you get to the seeds at the centre: stop and cut these into small cubes (if the centre is very soft and wet then discard it).

   Put the prepared cucumber into the rinsed-out colander or sieve then sprinkle with the salt. Briefly toss then set aside over a bowl or jug to drain.

   Slice the spring onions very finely and set aside.

3. Make the dressing

   Finely grate the garlic and ginger into a bowl or jug.

   Whisk in the rest of the dressing ingredients BUT only ONE tablespoon of the cold water.

   If the dressing if very thick (brands of tahini vary in stiffness) whisk in more cold water until you have a pourable consistency.

   Taste, then add more chilli, sweetener or a little salt if you think it needs it.

   Dressing can be made up to a day in advance and stored in the fridge.

4. Over the sink, gently squeeze the cucumber between your hands to release more of the water then add it to the noodles.

   Add to the bowl most of the spring onion and coriander leaf, reserving some for a garnish.

   Toss everything together well.

   Add most of the dressing and toss again.

5. Divide the noodle salad between two bowls or plates then garnish with the reserved spring onion and coriander.

   Drizzle over the remaining dressing, sprinkle over the extra toasted sesame seeds and chilli flakes, then serve immediately.