Spicy Peanut Butter Soba

peanut butter soba noodles

Peanut butter soba noodles are great for days where you feel like having an asian-inspired meal at home. These noodles can be served chilled with a dipping sauce, in stir fries, with vegetables in a salad or in broth for days where you feel like having a nice warm bowl of noodle soup. If you have soy sauce, sesame oil, or in this case peanut butter to use as a base- you’re in for a treat!

What are Soba Noodles?

In Japanese, soba is the name for buckwheat. Buckwheat noodles are light brown in colour with an earthy, nut-like taste. You can buy these noodles from the international section of most supermarkets, at asian grocery stores or order them online.

Soba noodles in bowl

What are Buckwheat Noodles Made of?

Buckwheat noodles are made with buckwheat flour, or a combination of buckwheat and refined wheat flour. The healthiest option would be buckwheat noodles that are made with 100% buckwheat flour (and water). The back of the package should only have ‘buckwheat flour’ listed as the ingredient. 

Some packaged buckwheat noodles may contain more wheat flour than buckwheat flour as well as other additives to increase its shelf life. Wheat flour contains gluten which makes the noodles more durable when cooked and costs less for manufacturers to produce (1). Always check labels before you buy packaged noodles to make sure that they are actually good for your health.

Buckwheat Nutrition

Many studies show that 100% buckwheat may help regulate blood sugar, improve heart health, reduce inflammation and possibly aid in cancer prevention (2, 3). 

How to Cook Soba Noodles

Soba noodles are often purchased as dry noodles. Follow the directions on the packaging for detailed instructions.

preparing peanut sauce, soba noodles and veges

Soba noodles should generally be cooked in boiling water until they are al dente (described as “firm to the bite” but not soft). This takes around 7-8 minutes. Be sure to stir occasionally to prevent the noodles from sticking together. 

After cooking, strain and rinse the noodles in cold running water. You can skip this step if you wish to have them served right away. In my own experience, I noticed that running the noodles under cold water helps preserve it’s texture when reheated later. I find that cold water doesn’t make much of a difference if you are serving them right away.


spicy peanut butter soba noodles

Spicy Peanut Butter Soba Noodles Recipe

Servings: 4, Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • buckwheat soba noodles
  • 1lb lean ground beef
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • ⅓ cucumber, sliced
  • ½ carrot, sliced
  • ½ red pepper, sliced
  • optional toppings: sesame seeds

Peanut Sauce:

  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • less than ¼ cup soy sauce (low sodium)
  • ½ inch fresh ginger, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp sriracha
  • chili pepper flakes

Directions

  1. Mix ingredients for peanut sauce together in a bowl.
  2. Add oil to a saucepan on medium high heat. Fully cook the ground beef then add onion. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
  3. Add cucumber, carrot, red pepper (or vegetables of your choice) to the same saucepan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until soft.
  4. In a separate pot, cook the soba noodles by following the instructions on the package.
  5. Add the soba noodles, meat and vegetables to a bowl. Then add a few spoonfuls of peanut sauce on top. Enjoy!

Recipe notes

Substitute vegetables with any vegetables of your choice. Some suggestions would be asian leafy greens, zucchini, green onion, purple cabbage and broccoli. You can also skip the meat all together and add delicious pan fried tofu or tempeh.

peanut soba noodles in bowl

Conclusion

I’ve made many variations of this peanut butter sauce but this has to be my all-time favourite recipe! The freshly minced garlic and ginger bring out the flavour of the peanut sauce with a lot of added nutrients.

For more asian meal preps try this Healthy Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry !

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