Cold Sesame Noodles Recipe
Nutty, tangy, crunchy, and slightly sweet, this refreshing cold sesame noodles recipe is easy to recreate at home for a night of take-out fake-out. This recipe explains how to make these noodles if you want to eat them “refrigerator cold,” but it also offers the option for eating them immediately.
Recipe Mood: Takeout at Home
Indulgence Level: Medium
Effort Level: Easy
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If you’re looking for more takeout recipes to make at home, try my bok choy fried rice and bacon and egg fried rice.
I love a good cold sesame noodles recipe. I remember eating these noodles as a kid, slurping cold strands of them coated in a creamy peanut butter dressing.
Wanting to recreate the ones I ate all those years ago, my focus was on using the best ingredients to make them even better and fresher than I remember. Thinly sliced cucumber is a typical garnish, but I prefer scallions for their more intense flavor. I also prefer using all-natural peanut butter.
The result is a nutty peanut butter dressing punctuated by the tang of soy sauce and rice vinegar, slight sweetness from some brown sugar, and just a pinch of heat from red pepper flakes.
Be warned, these cold sesame noodles are addictive. Even after they become leftovers—assuming you have any—and the noodles have absorbed much of the dressing, they’ll still taste delicious.
Why You’ll Love This Cold Sesame Noodles Recipe
Excellent summer dish: It’s great year-round, but it’s a lifesaver on those hot summer days when the only cooking involved is boiling the noodles.
Budget-friendly: This recipe relies mainly on pantry ingredients you’re likely to already have.
Kid-friendly: Noodles tossed with peanut butter? That alone should please kids.
Key Ingredients
- Sesame Oil: Essential for a bold sesame flavor.
- Peanut Butter: I recommend an all-natural peanut butter.
- Toasted Sesame Seeds: Toasting ensures an unmistakable flavor.
See the recipe card below for more information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make This Recipe
- Boil the noodles: Boil the noodles and drain them, reserving up to 1/2 cup of pasta water. Rinse the noodles under cold water and toss them in a bowl with the sesame oil. Store the noodles and reserved pasta water in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Make the dressing: Whisk together all remaining ingredients, except for the scallions and toasted sesame seeds, in a large bowl. Toss the noodles in the bowl with the dressing, adding some reserved pasta water to thin it out.
- Finish: Garnish the noodles with the toasted sesame seeds and scallions.
Pro Tips
Rinse the noodles after boiling them: This will wash away the starch and help prevent the noodles from sticking together, which is important because you’ll need to chill them first, coated only in sesame oil.
Assemble and add the peanut dressing to the noodles right before serving: If you toss the dressing with the cooked noodles and place them in the refrigerator to chill, they’ll absorb a lot of it and turn dry.
Thin out the dressing with reserved pasta water: Reserve 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pasta water and store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to dress the noodles with the peanut sauce, which will help thin them out.
Use all-natural peanut butter: I recommend Crazy Richard’s. It contains just one ingredient—100% peanuts—and its loose texture works well for this recipe because it’s easier to coat the noodles with it.
Variations & Substitutions
-Use any type of noodles you like. You can also use spaghetti or linguine.
-Garnish with carrots and cucumber, sliced into thin matchsticks.
-Toss in some chopped peanuts for added crunch.
-You can substitute the dark brown sugar with light brown sugar.
-Drizzle with chili oil for more heat.
Recipe FAQs
If you add the dressing to the hot noodles, they’ll absorb much of it as they cool in the refrigerator, and they’ll dry out. Adding sesame oil first helps prevent the noodles from sticking together as they chill.
Sort of, but not quite. They were created by a Chinese immigrant, Shorty Tang, but at his restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown for—mainly—American patrons. The noodles became hugely popular in the 1970s and a mainstay of Chinese restaurants throughout New York City.
Storage
Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3 days.
Freezer: I don’t recommend freezing these noodles.
Reheat: You can gently reheat to help loosen the peanut dressing, but it’s best to let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. The noodles will have absorbed much of the dressing, but they’ll still taste good.
More Asian-Inspired Recipes
- Ginger-scallion noodles with shrimp
- Bacon and egg fried rice
- Asian garlic sauce
- Shiitake mushroom noodles
If you love this recipe, please take a moment to review it below. You could also tag me on Instagram (@forcarbssake) with a picture of your finished dish!
Cold Sesame Noodles Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces noodles (Note 1)
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter (Note 2)
- 4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (Note 3)
- 4 scallions sliced, green parts only
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to the package's directions. Reserve about ¼ to ½ cup of pasta water. Drain and rinse the noodles under cold water. Toss them in a bowl with the sesame oil until it's evenly coated. Transfer the bowl and the reserved pasta water to the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour.
- When you're ready to serve the noodles, whisk the remaining ingredients, except for the sesame seeds and scallions, in a large bowl until smooth.
- Pour the sauce over the noodles and stir everything together thoroughly. The sauce will be thick, so add some reserved pasta water to loosen it.
- Sprinkle in some toasted sesame seeds and scallions and continue to stir until everything is well incorporated. Serve in bowls and garnish with more sesame seeds and scallions. Enjoy!
- *To eat these noodles right away, whisk together the sesame oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl.Rinse the cooked noodles and add them to the bowl with the dressing. Toss until fully incorporated, using the pasta water to loosen the dressing and make everything easier to stir.Garnish with the toasted sesame seeds and scallions, and serve.