Vermicelli Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce
This Vermicelli Noodle Salad is a fun and refreshing bowl of tofu, fresh vegetables and herbs mixed with a delicious and easy peanut sauce. Easy to make, uses simple ingredients and comes together in just 30 minutes.
Fresh Ingredients for a Fun Salad
This noodle salad reminds me of Vietnamese Summer Rolls. This recipe is not authentic to this cuisine, but I very much love the filling inside summer rolls and wanted to combine some of these fresh flavors into a fun summer bowl. Here are some of the reasons I love this bowl.
- Simple ingredients and customizable. Pick and choose the vegetables you like. Simplify things with some of the recommendations for replacements below.
- It’s bright, fun and so colorful. I admire this bowl because it’s such an easy way to get in so many vegetables.
- Simple preparation. The most complicated part about this recipe is chopping. Everything else is pretty simple. Just mix sauces together, bake tofu and add everything together in a bowl.
- This bowl is vegan, gluten-free and easy to make nut free with a simple modification.
Key Ingredients
- Marinated Tofu: We are simply marinating some tofu in a sweet hoisin marinade, which is totally optional, but I really like how it compliments the crunchy vegetables.
- Peanut Sauce: Using a slight variation of my favorite peanut sauce recipe here, but you can also use a commercially prepared peanut sauce and just thin it out to your preference to mix with the noodles. However, it’s so easy to make, so if you can spare a minute, make it fresh!
- Vermicelli Noodles: Love using these noodles because they are so fast to make. Just boil some water and pour over the noodles and they are done. No cooking on the stove top needed.
- Vegetables: You can choose an assortment of different fresh vegetables based on your preference for this salad. I chose red bell pepper, cucumber, red cabbage, and edamame.
- Herbs: Using fresh cilantro and mint to help keep this salad nice and bright.
How to Make this Vermicelli Noodle Salad Recipe
Start by pressing your tofu or using super firm tofu as a short cut and set aside. In an airtight container, mix together the remaining marinade ingredients and then place your tofu in the marinade. Seal the container, give it a shake to coat and then place the tofu on a lined baking sheet then bake.
As tofu is baking, prepare the peanut sauce. Add the peanut sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk together to combine until smooth.
Take the remaining time to chop your vegetables and herbs. Then you can soften your vermicelli noodles with boiling water and drain.
Add your noodles to a bowl and pour in half your sauce and toss to coat. Then top with your chopped vegetables, and herbs then give a final toss and serve with the baked tofu and extra peanut sauce and lime wedges if desired.
Tips for the Perfect Noodle Salad
- Since vermicelli noodles are thin, I highly recommend julienning your vegetables so that they mix really well with the noodles. If you want to make this step faster, feel free to use store bought shredded or julienned vegetables like cabbage and carrots.
- Adjust the spice to your preference. You can julienne some jalapeno peppers or add some extra red pepper flakes to your salad to serve with.
- Thin out your dressing to your preference. Stir in extra water to your sauce as needed in small amounts. I tend to work it in 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Make it fairly thin so it mixes well with the noodles, but you can also make it thicker.
- I find it is easier to mix your vegetables and noodles with chopsticks by sticking them in the middle of the bowl and carefully pulling the chopsticks apart to pull the noodles free. Definitely feel free to use tongs to pull and mix as well.
Vermicelli Noodle Salad Hacks
The thing I love the most about this salad is that it is very easy to customize and you can further simplify this recipe to help save some time.
- Replace the tofu with edamame or use roasted chickpeas for a little crunch.
- Use store bought shredded vegetables to help reduce the chopping involved in this recipe.
- Purchase a store bought peanut sauce (just make sure you read the ingredients to ensure it’s vegan).
- Not a fan of cilantro? Just leave it out or replace with some fresh sliced basil or diced scallions.
- Can’t do peanut butter? Opt for tahini to keep creamy or make this dressing.
Storing Your Vermicelli Noodles
This salad is best enjoyed fresh. However, if you’d like to meal prep this salad, I would recommend preparing the 3 components of this salad separately. Prepare your noodles and toss together with your vegetables then store in one container. Store your tofu in a different container and do the same for your peanut sauce.
When ready to enjoy, toss your noodles, tofu and peanut sauce together and enjoy. If stored separately as mentioned above, your salad should last in the fridge for up to 3 days.
More Noodle Recipes to Try
- Cherry Tomato and Basil Pasta
- Roasted Garlic Orzo Salad
- Baked Hummus Pasta
- Vegan Pasta Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing
Vermicelli Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Vermicelli Noodle Salad is a fun and refreshing bowl of tofu, fresh vegetables and herbs mixed with a delicious and easy peanut sauce.
Ingredients
Sweet Hoisin Tofu
- 1 block (450 g) of extra firm tofu, pressed, drained and cubed
- 1 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp gluten-free hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Peanut Sauce
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
- 3 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp (or more) garlic chili sauce or sriracha
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- Juice of one lime
- 1/4 cup water
Vermicelli Salad
- 4 oz (125 g) of vermicelli noodles
- 1 medium cucumber, julienned
- 1 red pepper, julienned
- 1 jalapeno, julienned
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup mint, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Prepare the tofu. Preheat oven to 400F. In a Tupperware container, combine the tofu marinade and whisk well. Place your cubed tofu in the marinade and seal the container with a lid. Give your tofu a few gentle shakes until fully coated. Take your tofu from the container and placed on a lined baking sheet, then place in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Prepare peanut sauce. Place all peanut sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Adjust consistency as desired by adding small amounts of additional water 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Soak vermicelli noodles. Boil some water in a tea kettle and then pour over half a package of vermicelli rice noodles in a large mixing bowl. With tongs or a fork, gently push down on the noodles to make sure they are submerged in the water and allow to sit and soften for about 5-10 minutes then drain and run under cold water to cool then and place back in your mixing bowl.
- Assemble salad. In the bowl with your drained noodles, pour in half your peanut sauce and with tongs, mix together to coat. Now top noodles with the peppers, cabbage, cucumber, mint, cilantro. Give your salad another good mix and then divide into serving bowls. Top your bowls with the baked tofu and extra peanut sauce as desired.
Notes
Since vermicelli noodles are thin, I highly recommend julienning your vegetables so that they mix really well with the noodles. If you want to make this step faster, feel free to use store bought shredded or julienned vegetables or dice/slice to preference.
Adjust the spice to your preference. You can julienne some jalapeno peppers or add some extra red pepper flakes to your salad to serve with.
Thin out your dressing to your preference. Stir in extra water to your sauce as needed in small amounts. I tend to work it in 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved. I make it fairly thin so it mixes well with the noodles, but you can also make it thicker.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
★ Catherine
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