This delicious udon noodle salad makes a perfect lunch or side dish, and it’s completely gluten free and soy free! Our recipe combines gluten free udon noodles, veggies, and a sesame dressing for a cool noodle dish that’s great in the summer.
When you’re looking for a fresh and satisfying meal for summer, our udon noodle salad is flavorful and delicious, all without gluten or soy.
Our Asian noodle salad is made with chewy gluten-free udon noodles, tender crisp veggies, and a tangy sesame dressing. It’s a comforting noodle dish that’s light and pairs great with foods you probably already have in your fridge.
Why we love this recipe
This noodle salad is a versatile dish that works great as a lunch, a side dish, or a main dish/entree, topped with added protein, like shrimp, chicken, or soy-free tofu.
While the julienned vegetables and blanching take a little bit of extra time for this salad, it’s well worth it for this recipe to get a tender crisp veggie that works better with the soft noodles.
How to make our soy-free Asian noodle salad
Here are the steps to make our udon salad. This is just an overview of the steps with photos, the full recipe card is at the end of the post.
- Fill two 2-quart saucepans 2/3 to 3/4 full with water and cook over medium heat. One pot will be for blanching the veggies, the other pot will be for cooking the noodles.
- Add 1-2 teaspoons salt to the pot that the noodles will cook in.
- While the water is heating up, wash and julienne your carrots and snow peas lengthwise and measure 1 cup of each after cutting. We used rainbow carrots for some extra color, but regular carrots will work fine, too!
- When the pots of water come to a boil, add the noodles to the salted pasta water and cook according to the package directions (the Lotus Foods rice udon cooks for 10 minutes).
- While the noodles are cooking, blanch the vegetables by placing them in the boiling water for 1 minute, then immediately removing them and placing them into an ice water bath. Blanching the veggies softens them just a bit so they have a better texture with the noodles (they will still be tender-crisp), and it preserves some of the color as well.
- When the noodles are done cooking, drain them and rinse them in cold water. Let them drain thoroughly.
- While the noodles are draining, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.
- Drain the blanched veggies and put them into a large bowl. Add the drained noodles, the dressing, sliced green onions, sesame seeds, and any additional salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
- You can serve this immediately, or you can let this rest for 10-15 minutes, and the noodles will soak up some of the dressing. You can also chill this in the fridge for an hour or so. If you make this for later, toss this salad again to mix the dressing over the noodles before serving, then sprinkle with some more sesame seeds.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days (this is due to the texture of the noodles after 1 day in the fridge).
I have found that the Lotus Foods rice udon noodles still tend to absorb more liquid as they sit in the fridge, so they will continue to soften in the fridge. I’d recommend eating this salad the same day it’s made for the best texture.
Ramen noodle salad variation
If you want to use this noodle salad recipe with a different type of noodle, such as gluten-free ramen or maifun, you can just follow the package directions to cook your favorite noodles and toss them with the prepared blanched vegetables and dressing.
If you can have wheat, the Simply Asia Japanese-style ramen noodles are a great option. For gluten free ramen, Lotus Foods makes several kinds of rice ramen, and the Real Naturals brand of gluten free ramen has good reviews on Amazon.
The Lotus Foods rice udon noodles have a nice texture, soft with a bit of chew in the middle. They tend to have mini “cracks” in the noodles, but they still hold together pretty well and don’t completely fall apart. They will continue to absorb moisture even after they have been cooked and cooled.
Can I make this recipe without sesame?
Yep, this recipe can absolutely be made without sesame!
If you have a sesame allergy or don’t like the taste of it, you can easily swap the sesame oil with a different oil, such as olive oil or rice bran oil, and skip the sesame seed garnish to make this without sesame.
Check out our other allergy-friendly salad recipes!
Gluten Free Sesame Udon Salad (Soy Free)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Lotus Foods udon rice noodles*
- Salt for noodle cooking water
- 1 cup julienned snow peas
- 1 cup julienned rainbow carrots (or regular carrots)
Dressing
- 2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 2 Tablespoons San-J no-soy tamari (OR coconut aminos)
- 1-2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha optional
- Fish sauce, to taste optional, leave out for vegan
Finishing touches
- 1-2 Tablespoons green onions, sliced thin
- Any additional salt and pepper (or white pepper), to taste
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds or black sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Fill two 2-quart saucepans 2/3 to 3/4 the way with water and cook over medium heat. One pot will be for blanching the veggies, the other pot will be for cooking the noodles.
- Add 1-2 teaspoons salt to the pot that the noodles will cook in.
- While the water is heating up, wash and jullienne your carrots and snow peas and measure 1 cup of each after cutting.
- When the pots of water come to a boil, add the noodles to the salted pasta water and cook according to the package directions (the Lotus Foods rice udon cooks for 10 minutes).
- While the noodles are cooking, blanch the vegetables for 1 minute by placing them in the boiling water for 1 minute, then immediately putting them into an ice water bath. Blanching these veggies softens them just a bit so they have a better texture with the noodles.
- When the noodles are done cooking, drain them and rinse them in cold water. Let them drain thoroughly.
- While the noodles are draining, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.
- Drain the blanched veggies and put them into a large bowl, add the drained noodles, the dressing, sliced green onions, sesame seeds, and any additional salt and pepper and toss to coat.
- You can serve this immediately, or you can let this rest for 10-15 minutes and the noodles will soak up some of the dressing. You can also chill this in the fridge for later. If you make this for later, toss this salad again to mix the dressing over the noodles before serving, then sprinkle with some more sesame seeds.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days. These noodles continue to absorb moisture in the fridge, so they will continue to soften, so the texture of the noodles will change after 1 day in the fridge. I recommend eating this recipe the same day it's made for the best texture.
Notes
Nutrition
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Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie which she founded in 2011. Sarah is based in Wyoming and has been managing food allergies for herself and her 2 children for over 20 years. Sarah was also a certified personal trainer for 12 years, as well as a group fitness instructor, health coach, running coach, and fitness nutrition specialist.