Vermicelli Noodle Salad With Nutty Sesame Dressing
This tasty vermicelli noodle salad is full of crunchy veg, dressed with a simple sesame dressing & finished with peanuts & sriracha hot sauce.
This salad only contains a few ingredients, is quick & easy to make and is incredibly delicious! To prepare this vermicelli noodle salad, we make a simple sesame dressing then mix with noodles, chopped veg & fresh mint. To finish, we’re drizzling over sriracha hot sauce & adding a sprinkling of salted peanuts, for extra crunch.
This salad may be simple yet is absolutely packed full of flavour. This salad is surprisingly filling so is great served on its’ own or used as a side with grilled meat or pan fried fish. It’s proper tasty!
For some more lunchtime inspiration, take a look at our ever growing collection of lunch recipes! There’s something for everyone here, from tasty salads, scotch eggs, pies & next level sandwiches.
Components Of This Salad
Vermicelli Noodles
Vermicelli are a type of thin noodle, made from rice flour (which is why they’re sometimes called rice noodles). As vermicelli noodles are so thin, they don’t tend to be cooked. Instead, they are simply soaked in hot water until soft. After soaking them, it’s important that the noodles are drained well, to avoid making our salad watery, which will dilute the flavours.
Fresh Veg
In my salad I used shredded carrot, sliced red pepper & chunks of cucumber, along with plenty of torn mint leaves. Feel free to use whatever veg you like in your salad. Thinly sliced red cabbage, bean sprouts & spring onions would also work nicely.
Sesame Dressing
The dressing for our vermicelli noodle salad is super quick & easy to make and is packed full of flavour! To make this, we mix toasted sesame seeds with lime juice & zest, sesame oil, grated garlic, honey & light soy sauce.
Salted Peanuts
A generous sprinkling of salted peanuts adds extra crunch to our noodle salad. I like to use ready salted nuts, as they season our salad nicely but unsalted ones would work as well. Just make sure to use roasted nuts, for the best flavour! If you don’t like peanuts, cashews would be another good choice. Shop bought, salted peanuts work great for this salad or you could roast them yourself. The salad will be tasty either way.
Sriracha
Originating from Thailand, Sriracha is a mildly spicy, pepper based hot sauce. We’re drizzling sriracha on top of our salad, so feel free to add as little or as much as you like!
What To Serve With Vermicelli Noodle Salad
This noodle salad is great served on its’ own (it’s surprisingly filling!) but would also make a great accompaniment to some pan fried fish (with crispy skin!), barbecued chicken or fried tofu.
More Lunch Recipes To Try!
- Watermelon, Honey Glazed Halloumi & Za’atar Salad
- Butter Bean Hummus Bowls
- Panzanella Salad With Burrata
- Hazelnut Pesto Pasta Salad
- Smoked Lamb Shawarma & Za’atar Halloumi Sandwich
- Leftover Beef Wellington Sandwich
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Vermicelli Noodle Salad With Nutty Sesame Dressing
Equipment
- Large Saucepan
- Mixing Bowls
- Microplane/Grater
Ingredients
Sesame Dressing
- 2 tsp Sesame Seeds
- 2 Limes Zest & Juice
- 1 Garlic Clove Grated
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
Noodle Salad
- 200 g Vermicelli Noodles
- 1 Large Carrot
- 1 Red Pepper
- ½ A Large Cucumber (Or A Whole Small One)
- A Handful Of Fresh Mint Leaves
- Sriracha
- 50 g Salted Peanuts Roughly Chopped/Crushed
Instructions
Sesame Dressing
- Place the sesame seeds into a small frying pan then set over a medium heat. Toast until golden brown then tip into a mixing bowl & leave to cool slightly.
- To the sesame seeds, add the lime zest & juice, grated garlic, honey, sesame oil & soy sauce. Whisk to combine then set aside.
Noodle Salad
- Soak/cook the vermicelli noodles following the packet instructions then rinse under cold water and leave to drain well.
- Next, peel the carrot then finely shred. Cut the cucumber in half down the length, in half again then into chunks. Remove the seeds from the pepper then cut into thin slices.
- Add the drained noodles, prepped veg & a good handful of torn mint leaves to the dressing. Mix well to combine then divide between four bowls.
- Drizzle sriracha over the top of each salad then finish with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts. Serve immediately.
