Healthy Tofu Soba Noodles

We all know we need to eat more vegetables but sometimes finding tasty, veg-packed recipes can be hard. These healthy tofu soba noodles, however, make getting your 5-a-day delicious and easy. The dressing is a lime peanut dressing which coats the salad to ensure every bite is wonderfully flavourful.

Ingredients:

These healthy tofu soba noodles are packed with a variety of plant-based foods each loaded with nutrients, vitamins and minerals. In total this recipe comprises of 10 main elements:

• Tofu
• ginger
• garlic
• pepper 
• red cabbage 
• carrot 
• buckwheat soba noodles
• coriander 
• peanuts
• Peanut butter, lime and honey dressing

Nutrition:

Including a variety of different plant-based foods in your diet is best for good gut health. I have just bought Tim Spector’s new book ‘Food for Life’. I have a keen interest in nutrition and this book is very helpful at explaining which foods to eat and how to eat them.

Buckwheat soba noodles add in extra health benefits as they higher in manganese, thiamin and fibre that regular noodles. For the best benefits make sure you look for soba noodles made from 100% buckwheat.

Both the tofu and the peanuts in this recipe help to boost the salad’s protein content. Tofu is also a great protein source as it has a comparably low environmental impact when compared to meat. Peanuts are also high in oleic acid and are beneficial for heart health.

The vegetables in this recipe each bring their own individual benefits to the dish. Red cabbage has 3x the polyphenols of white cabbage and is an excellent source of fibre.

Bell peppers are high in vitamin C and eating them raw means the vitamin C is more readily available. Carrots contain beta-carotene. Coriander is high in many vitamins as well as being a great source of inflammatory polyphenols.

Substitutes and extras:

This is a versatile recipe and there are a range of additions and swaps you can make to tailor the recipe to your preferences.

Firstly, the sauce. If you do not like peanut butter you could try swapping the sauce for my sweet chilli and soy sauce dressing. To make this combine 4 tbsp of sweet chilli sauce with 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 tbsp of rice vinegar, the juice of half a lime and 2 tbsp of water. Alternatively, if you like spice, you can use the spicy peanut sauce from my crispy tofu rice bowl.

Secondly, you could swap out the noodles. As mentioned buckwheat soba noodles are a delicious source of protein and fibre. However, they are not always easy to buy. Feel free to replace these noodles with rice noodles, wholewheat noodles or even udon noodles if you like!

Finally, feel free to add in extra veg to boost the variety of ingredients in your salad. You could add in some beansprouts, cucumber, edamame beans or any extra veg you have in your fridge.

Vegan healthy tofu soba noodles:

Aside from the honey used in the peanut butter dressing this recipe is 100% plant-based. I love the flavour of the honey, however feel free to replace it with maple syrup or light brown sugar If you want to make vegan noodles.

Healthy tofu soba noodles: similar recipes

If you liked this recipe then check out my other noodle recipes and healthy salads. These are some of my favourites:

• Asian tofu noodle salad
• Speedy vegetarian japchae
• Couscous sweet potato salad
• Vegan Greek pasta salad
• Roasted broccoli and potato Caesar salad

Tofu, Soba Noodle and Veggie Salad

5 from 1 vote

Soba noodle salad with crisp, fresh veggies and a peanut, honey and lime sauce

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 27 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: Asian

Calories: 961

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 280g/10oz extra-firm tofu I use Tofoo
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1/2 a small red cabbage shredded
• 2 carrots thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler
• 200g/7oz buckwheat soba noodles
• 1 handful of fresh coriander roughly chopped
• Chopped peanuts

Sauce

• 5 tsbp natural peanut butter
• 1 lime juice
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp water

Method

 

1. Add all the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and combined. Keep adding more water until the sauce is still thick but pours easily.
2. Cook the noodles to packed instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Meanwhile, make the tofu. Slice the tofu into 1 inch cubes.
4. Combine the soy sauce, ginger and garlic in a shallow bowl. Add the tofu stir to coat with the sauce. If you have time, marinate for up 30 minutes.
5. Heat a large frying pan on a medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil.
6. Cook the tofu (with the residual marinade) for 10-12 minutes, flipping the cubes regularly so they are cooked evenly on each side. Leave to cool slightly.
7. Add all the vegetables and tofu in a large bowl and pour over the sauce. Stir to combine.
8. Serve sprinkled with the chopped peanuts!