Tofu Soba Noodles
This quick and easy vegetarian noodle dish comes together in just 20 minutes – perfect for those busy weeknights!
I wish I was one of those people who scheduled blog posts before traveling. But being who I am and procrastinating until the very last minute, I’m actually writing this post on my iPhone on a bus in Iowa on my way to a corn farm.
I really have my priorities in order, right?
No, but really, I’m having a huge blast in Iowa right now and I absolutely cannot wait to share all of my photos with you once I’m back. From wine glasses over a cozy fire to beer tastings, there’s a part of me that wants to stay in Iowa forever! Although I think I’m in need of some boots first because apparently I’m the only LA girl in flip flops here.
But before I run around the corn fields taking pictures like a mad man, I really need to share one of my favorite weeknight meals. It’s a super easy and simple soba noodle dish that comes together in just 20 minutes! And with a tangy, refreshing dressing, crisp tofu cubes and crushed peanuts for that added crunch, you won’t be missing the meat in this protein-packed dish at all!
Tofu Soba Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 pound soba
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 14-ounce package firm tofu, cubed
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- 1 clove garlic, pressed
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Crushed peanuts, for serving
- Sriracha, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water and drain; set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar and sesame seeds; set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add tofu and cook until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes; set aside. Add cabbage, garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 1-2 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine noodles, rice wine vinegar mixture, tofu, cabbage and green onions.
- Serve immediately, garnished with peanuts and Sriracha, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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This was delicious! I added in some cilantro and a little fish sauce to the vinegar mixture. Also, I scrambled a few eggs and mixed it in to make it more filling. The only thing is that my husband found it a little too sour frozen the vinegar, so he added a little more brown sugar and then he liked it.
Overall, we really liked it including the 10 month old!
Did this recipe change? I was obsessed with the original recipe but don’t remember it having these ingredients.
This turned out pretty tasty but I definitely doubled the sauce and used two bundles of noodles. Also, I’ve never had tofu ready after cooking for such a short amount of time so I airfried mine first (family preference) then added it to the cabbage. Added some shelled edamame too. Might seem like that’s a lot of tweaks, but the core flavors of the recipe were a hit.
Very nice recipe! I used half a pound of Soba and a zucchini that I spiralized. Everyone loved it.
I tried this tonight and it was very good – I tried to cut the recipe to serve 2 and got a few too many noodles and not enough cabbage. I did take others’ advice and doubled the sauce. I also dredged the tofu in cornstarch before frying to make a crisp outside. I will definitely make this again and again!
An excellent and truly easy dish! Being a firm believer in mise en place, it all came together nearly effortlessly when mealtime came. I made a couple of changes: dusted the drained and pressed (yes, I do have a press!) tofu for added crispness. Added chili garlic sauce to taste for a bit of zing in the sauce. I guess I’m a bit saucy as I will double the sauce in the future despite only using 6.6 oz. of soba. Upped the veggies with thin sliced red pepper and shredded carrot. I placed it in our dinner rotation. Perfect one bowl meal!
I loved this. Found it so satisfying and tasty! I love tofu, so I cut it in big meaty chunks. Unfortunately, no one else in the family would eat it. Husband found it bland and added some commercial sauce to doctor it up.
Delicious!
I used a 10.58 oz package of soba noodles and found that I either had too much noodles / not enough sauce. I would use lessen the amount of noodles or double the sauce in this recipe. Also, I doctored it up with Thai sweet chili sauce for a bit of a kick. Another alternative to making the sauce would be to use a ready made Asian dressing. I’ve used Feast from the East Sesame Dressing (found at Costco) for other soba salad recipes.
Delicious! Only used a half pound of noodles, doubled the cabbage and poured a little sauce over it and no nuts. Will definitely make this again.
GREAT JOB !!! These noodles are delish!!! MMMMM!!!! I love it! #Wantmore!!!! Cookie monsters craving for cookies is nothing compared to my craving for these delicious noodles!!!! SOOOO YUMMMY!!!!!!!!!!
r u ok mahina
Just made this for dinner tonight and amazingly my 5 year old and 2 year old ate it and even took seconds. I used bag coleslaw like others suggested but didn’t have enough rice vinegar to double the sauce. I will definitely be making this again and since I don’t like coleslaw I will turn the rest of it into a slaw for taco night
Overall a good recipe. I mostly followed the directions and I think the ratios are a little off. It was a little bland for our tastes and very noodle centric/heavy. Admittedly, I did leave off the Siracha for the more sensitive mouths in the house.
For that quantity of noodles, I would double or triple the sauce and double or triple the vegetables, adding something to the cabbage, like broccoli or snow peas or something else green. I ‘doctored’ our leftovers with extra vegetables and sauce and they were AWESOME!
Before I made it, I had the idea to add peanut butter (as I see Rachel suggested) but I don’t like to change a recipe much the first time I make it. I will try that in the future.
This recipe is on a bi-weekly rotation in my house! I love this dish! It made my boyfriend into a tofu-lover as well. I usually buy a bag of coleslaw mix for a time-saver. We have added peanut butter to the sauce a few times to bring out more nutty flavours too. And it is so good as leftovers!
I made this and it was delicious! I added some peanut butter to the sauce but otherwise followed the recipe exactly! Next time I’ll crank up the heat to fry the tofu quicker and maybe even add more. The flavors were refreshing and wholesome. Thanks for a great go-to recipe!
I just made this tonight and since we are only 2, I halved the recipe. I honestly don’t see how 1 pound of Soba noodles is right… That would drown the other ingredients… Did I miss something? Is it supposed to be 1lb cooked Soba noodles or something? I ended up using about 9oz of dried noodles and still have 1/2 of them left over.
I’m currently waiting for my medium high heat and oil to brown my tofu. It’s been about ten mins since I put it in the pan and it’s still as white as can be. Did I miss something?
I’m not entirely sure – did you drain the tofu completely?
Hi this recipe looks delicious! Do you have the nutritional information per serving?!
Great recipe, it makes cooking with soba noodles very approachable. Just made this a 2nd time with snowpeas and carrots to sub for the cabbage.
This is amazing! Just got back from Tokyo and Hong Kong and really loved the healthy meals in Japan. There’s tons of asian supermarkets in Vancouver so the ingredients weren’t hard to track down.