Boil

Cold Sesame Noodle Salad

July 24, 2014
4
10 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Prep time 5 minutes
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • Makes 3 servings
Author Notes

A note on noodle choice: any long, thin pasta will do. Vermicelli or thin rice noodles (like those pictured here) are great gluten-free options, and hold up much better than brown rice noodles when cooked and then chilled. If it's what you have in your pantry or all you can find, plain ol' spaghetti works just as well. —Kendra Vaculin

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Ingredients
  • For the salad:
  • 1/2 pound noodles (see head note)
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup shredded or thinly sliced carrots
  • 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
  • 1 pinch Sesame seeds
  • For the dressing:
  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, finely grated
  • 1/2 teaspoon finely grated ginger
Directions
  1. Cook the noodles in salted water according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse well under cold water. Add a drizzle of sesame oil and toss, to keep them from sticking.
  2. While the pasta cooks, assemble the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk the tahini, honey, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic, and ginger together until smooth; season with salt and pepper.
  3. Add the cold noodles, pepper, carrots, and cabbage to the bowl of dressing. Top with sesame seeds before serving. Dressed salad will keep well covered, in the refrigerator, for 4 days.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

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6 Reviews

Yummy June 30, 2023
Was really looking forward to this and it was absolutely tasteless! I used vermicelli and even doubled the sauce. Disaster!
Shirley July 4, 2022
I doubled the dressing, this is a keeper!
Sylvia May 28, 2018
Nutritional info?
dennisbrennan July 29, 2016
I don't get your comment: "Regular spaghetti, in my opinion, is also a heroic move." Are you saying you don't recommend spaghetti and if not, please name a few alternates. Thanks.
robin L. June 5, 2017
I was just about to ask that very same question...!
May June 7, 2017
I grew up eating cold noodle salads... and the way I read this was that the use of regular spaghetti is just fine.