Soba Noodles with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots
This vibrant soba noodle recipe is full of fresh springtime produce. You can substitute seasonal vegetables for the sugar snap peas!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
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I don’t think I could ever live in Seattle. Every time the sky goes gray, I want to curl up on the couch with this sweet thing and stare out the window. And daydream. Daydream about writing a book titled Rain: Killing Productivity Since the Beginning of Time. (A true story.) See, this is why I wouldn’t get anything done in rainy Seattle. The drips and drops hitting the roof always lull me into la-la land.
Let’s talk about this soba dish before I succumb to the couch. It is pretty fantastic and green, just like the fledgling leaves sprouting from the trees outside. It contains more produce than noodles, which keeps it fresh and light.
This dish is simple to make once you have the vegetables prepared and the dressing whisked up. Just bring two pots of water to boil: one for the noodles, and another for the edamame and snap peas, which you’ll cook briefly before draining. Then you just toss in the rest!
In an attempt to make this website a better resource to you all, I’ve decided to formalize my recipe notes. Check out the end of the recipe for details on how to store leftovers, how to make the recipe gluten free/vegan, and so forth.
Sugar Snap Pea and Carrot Soba Noodles
This healthy, vibrant soba noodle recipe is full of fresh springtime produce. Feel free to trade in other seasonal vegetables for the sugar snap peas, like thinly sliced bell pepper. This recipe yields about 6 servings and the leftovers keep well for just 2 days, but you can store the dressing and salad separately to keep them for up to 4 days.
Ingredients
Soba
- 6 ounces soba noodles or spaghetti noodles of choice
- 2 cups frozen shelled edamame
- 10 ounces (about 3 cups) sugar snap peas or snow peas
- 6 medium-sized carrots, peeled
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
Ginger-sesame sauce
- ¼ cup reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons quality peanut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 small lime)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon white miso*
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce or sriracha
Instructions
- To prepare the vegetables: Use a chef’s knife to slice the peas in half lengthwise (or just roughly chop them). Slice the carrots into long, thin strips with a julienne peeler, or slice them into ribbons with a vegetable peeler.
- To make the sauce: whisk together the ingredients in a small bowl until emulsified. Set aside.
- Bring two big pots of water to a boil. In the meantime, toast the sesame seeds: Pour the sesame seeds into a small pan. Toast for about 4 to 5 minutes over medium-low heat, shaking the pan frequently to prevent burning, until the seeds are turning golden and starting to make popping noises.
- Once the pots of water are boiling: In one pot, cook the soba noodles just until al dente, according to package directions (probably about 5 minutes), then drain and briefly rinse under cool water. Cook the frozen edamame in the other pot until warmed through (about 4 to 6 minutes) but before draining, toss the halved peas into the boiling edamame water and cook for an additional 20 seconds. Drain.
- Combine the soba noodles, edamame, snap peas and carrots in a large serving bowl. Pour in the dressing and toss with salad servers. Toss in the chopped cilantro and toasted sesame seeds, and serve in bowls. This salad keeps well for 2 days in the refrigerator, covered. Serve leftovers chilled or gently warmed—you might like to wake up the leftovers with a splash of tamari or lime juice.
Notes
*Miso note: I used Miso Master brand’s reduced-sodium sweet white miso. It’s in the refrigerated section near the tofu. Omit if you can’t find it, but it provides a nice boost of flavor (add salt to taste if you’re not using miso).
Make it vegan: Sub maple syrup for the honey.
Make it gluten free: Buy certified gluten-free, all buckwheat soba noodles (or gluten-free spaghetti) and use tamari instead of regular soy sauce. Make sure your miso is gluten free, if using.
Change it up: Substitute other seasonal produce for the sugar snap peas, or skip them altogether for less prep work. Very thinly sliced bell pepper strips would be a nice addition this summer.
Recommended equipment: This julienne peeler is a fun tool that turns carrots (and zucchini and cucumbers) into thin vegetable noodles.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Made this tonight- very delicious! To bulk it out a little more I added some seared tofu, and sauteed zucchini and red capsicum. Def keeping this recipe to make again!
Thank you, Christie for sharing! I appreciate the review.
This looks great! Any ideas for how I could prepare chicken to add to the dish? Ex: Marinate, spices, grill?
Thanks!
Hi Christy! I’m not the expert in chicken since I’m a vegetarian, but I say prepare your favorite way. Almost anything grilled is delicious!
Kate, My lady friends and I get together with a beautiful luncheon every month and I chose the Soba noodles, snap peas for my serve, but on the same day early in the AM I have an appointment with a doctor, but can make the lunch date. Can I prepare the dinner late the evening before and then refrigerate it, drop it off at the adresse and then mix and warm it up and serve. This dish looks so good
Please see the storage note below the recipe instructions! That should help answer your questions.
Kate:
Thank you very much for this delicious recipe. I tried it last week when I was making some food for my daughter-in-law who just gave birth to our first grandchild and is a vegan. Anyway, I had made that as part of a dinner for her and she loved it as did our son. Subsequently I made it for my sisters and brothers in law (non-vegan) last night for dinner. They have now asked for the recipe for this delicious “vegan” dish. It is definitely a keeper. Thank you! Paula
Congratulations, Paula! That’s exciting. I’m glad it is a hit with all. Thanks so much for the review!
In the beginning you said leftovets don’t keep well and at the end you said it keeps for a couple of days.????
Hi Kim – Recipe is best served right away and recommend to halve if you are serving less. But if you do have some leftovers, it will keep for a few days. Not ideal as it will get a little mushy. Hope that helps clarify! :)
Is the meal supposed to be hot, room temp or cold?
You can serve it right away, so it will still be warmed. Or, you can let it cool if you like!
All I have to say is…WOW. This is freakin’ so yummy! My boyfriend was head over heels for it. It has definitely been added to my saved recipe list.
Hooray! Thanks, Elena.
Thank you Kate for such a delicious recipe. My family loves it! I made other recipes that you shared and all of them are absolutely delicious. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Galina!
Delicious!! So fresh!!
Thank you, Judy!
Hello!
How many will this serve?
If brining it to a party, should I make double?
Hi Amber! The serving size is right before the ingredients. :) This one serves 6!
Made for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Family loved it
I kno this is supposed to be cold I made hot I used cooked snap peas shredded carrot And water chestnut I used pasta zero for pasta . Also made crispy tofu for the protein as well
Thanks for sharing, Jonna!
Just now exploring plant-based foods and one to two meals a week stepping away from animal-based meals. Is there a particular reason you couldn’t boil all of the ingredients in one pot? Seeing as they boil for similar amounts of time?
Hi Marissa! That’s a good question, and I’m wondering if I tried that when I made this recipe five years ago (I’m always trying to minimize pots). Adding frozen edamame to the pot will lower the temperature for a bit, and could impart some edamame flavor to the noodles. But, it might work well after all!
Just made it tonight, it’s easy (I spent probably twice as long in the grocery store searching for some of the ingredients as I did preparing it–and no miso since I’m in a small town) and that dressing is ridiculously good! I only gave it 4 stars because the “salad” part of it is a little bland for my tastes with just carrots, peas, edamame, and soba noodles. When I make it again (and I will) I am going to give it some extra zing by adding a little diced red onion, minced garlic, and diced jalapeno. Not too much because I don’t want to overpower that awesome dressing, but my palate craves something more snappy and I think those will complement dressing, but I may be wrong. I’ll try to remember to post back when I try it again–so many recipes so little time–so it may be awhile.
I really appreciate the feedback, Dave! Thanks for the review.
Can you freeze this recipe?
This one won’t freeze well, sorry!
Hi here, how long does the ginger sesame sauce keep in the fridge?
It should keep well for a few days!
I love your website so much! I am unable to become vegan at this moment but I am considering it for the future – I’m just not quite sure yet. I’ve saved a lot of your recipes on Word documents so I can try them when I get time over the summer. Can’t wait.
B.T.W. I am not releasing or publishing the recipes as my own. If I was to ever send a recipe to someone, I would link your website’s URL for sure!
Thank you!
Great recipe! The sauce has an awesome flavor and I love that you can bulk it up with so many veggies. My meat loving husband and father in law even really liked it.
Thank you, Lauren! I’m glad you loved it.
Super easy and delicious! We will delve adding this into our menu rotation! Whoop whoop!
Thank you, Donna!
This recipe is a hit in my house and even with my non-vegan friends! I add red bell pepper to it.
Wonderful to hear, Jillian!
Made this tasty, fairly easy dish last night. Honestly, as I was making it I said out loud that the prep work was just a tad fussy (I hate peeling vegetables) for a dish that was likely going to be palatable but boring, so I doubted I’d bother making it again. I was pleased to be so wrong–this was remarkably delicious! The flavors are so fresh and work together perfectly.
We did include the miso, and I threw some gochujang into my serving (hubby and daughter did not). I might toss some jalapeno in there if I have it on hand next time. But this is a superb dish that will make it into regular rotation here; thank you for sharing it!
I’m happy you thought it was worth the effort! I appreciate your review, Geneva.
Wow! Fantastic recipe! My family gobbled this up which surprised me. I changed a few things like I used spaghetti noodles, lightly fried the carrots & snap peas in sesame oil and doubled the dressing recipe. It was so good I plan on making this again in the next few days. Thank you for sharing.
I’m happy to hear it was a hit! Thank you for your review, Linda.
I made this but my grocery store ran out of soba noodles and nowhere close to me sells edamame so I used rice noodles and chickpeas instead and this was amazing!
Thank you for your review, Olivia!
Some Japanese students who stayed with us for a week gave us some soba noodles and I am trying this week to use ingredients we already have in the house. So I made this. It was delicious! I didn’t have enough edamame (about 3/4 cup) and I had to take it out of the shell, but it was still great and there are a lot of vegetables that I think would be good in it.
I’m glad you loved it, Aline! Thanks for your review.
Thanks for another fantastic recipe. We loved this salad. It was very satisfying, and so fresh and healthy.
My partner & I have made this a couple of times now-delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Excellent recipe! It was very filling as a main dish. I’ll try it again with tofu. Thanks for a dish that will be in regular rotation! It keeps very well as left overs if the dressing is stored separate from the dressing.
I’m happy you loved it, Keri!
I was looking for a vegan recipe for snap peas and came across your recipe. It is delicious. Thank you so much. And yes, I think I’ll add some tofu to it.
FYI I now make this dish once a week for my family. Excellent dinner!
I made this last night and it was delicious!!!! I used black sesame seeds because that’s all I had, but it was sooo good. I added grilled shrimp to my husband’s plate. I wish I could post photos!!! Definitely making this again!!!
Wonderful to hear, Monica! Thank you for your review.
We are trying to go meatless on weekdays and I came across this recipe. Wow! So good. We can’t get enough of the sauce! Thank you for the tip on where to find the miso. We would have never of found it.
Super good! Didn’t have edamame so subbed reg peas. Added a little cashew butter to the dressing for indulgent creaminess. This was really good! Thank you!!
love this recipe!! i’ve made this several times with other veggies added. i also shared this with other freindsmywife n i been wanting to cut carbs and i found these black bean noodles with only 19g per serving half of all noodles ,well tried them in this recipe what a nice substitute for soba noodle
We made this to utilize the sugar snap peas and carrots from our CSA. We didn’t have edamame but we added tofu and then to “cook” the peas and carrots we poured the pasta water over them for a couple of minutes. We also added spiralized zucchini (since we had some of that in our CSA, too). The sauce is excellent and we loved the vegetable flavors and crunch. This is a great spring / early summer meal using the vegetables of the season, keeping the kitchen cool on hot days (with only pasta noodles to cook) and the perfect temperature to eat inside or outside. Leftovers are great cold and make for a yummy lunch – easy to take on a picnic (as we found out the next day). Thanks so much for posting!
WooHoo! This was A-Mazing! Yum! Yum!
We really enjoyed this. I substituted sliced red peppers for the snap peas, and it was great. I just steamed the edamame in a little water with the peas. I did add some garlic prior to adding the carrots and cooked soba noodles and sauce. We enjoyed the cilantro and toasted sesame seeds. We added some leftover zucchini corn fritters revived in the air fryer. A satisfying vegan dinner…even for my spouse, an omnivore.
Hi! I’m in KC, too! What store did you find the sweet Miso paste at?
Hi Ashley! You should be able to find some at Whole Foods.
Your recipes are just so delicious, fresh, and quick to make. Thanks for helping me learn how to cook, C&K! Also, wishing Cookie improved health with her treatment. I know how hard it is having a sick fur boo. Wishing you patience and that you take in all the happy times and snuggles your heart can hold.
This recipe looks delicious – is there a way to make it without oil? I just don’t enjoy things made with oil at all. Thanks!
Hi Ellyna, sorry I don’t have an oil free option and wouldn’t be able to say for sure if it would work with something else without trying.
So I never ate edamame before. I guess i needed to take the peas out and just eat them?
Hi! You can eat the sugar snap peas shell and all. I hope that helps!
My child is sitting across from me eating vegetables! Thank you for this recipe! We made it together.
Was looking for a recipe to use up some of the fresh sugar snap peas we just picked. This hit the spot. Made it tonight to rave reviews from two soba noodle skeptics. Added chicken sauteed with seasame oil and salt and pepper.
How fun to use fresh garden produce, Jamie! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Hi Kate!
I love your website and have made several of your recipes. So much so that your website is my go-to when I am researching recipes or need inspiration. I have made this salad a couple of times; once with soba noodles and once with thin spaghetti. I added red bell pepper and scallions but otherwise followed your recipe as written. Delicious!
You’re welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe.
Absolutely delicious! I subbed rice noodles since I had no soba, turned out great! Thank you, love everything I’ve tried from your site and your Love Real Food cookbook.
I’m glad it turned out great, Terri!
Very tasty! Used cucumber, snap peas and red pepper. Served with bok choy and tofu.,
This is excellent. If I keep the noodles, vegetables, and dressing separately in the refrigerator, it keeps very well. I just assemble one serving each day for a delicious lunch!