Soba noodle stir fry is delicious and hearty when loaded with colorful vegetables. Just toss in some creamy vegan peanut sauce and enjoy this highly satisfying recipe!
It all comes together quickly and uses simple ingredients, so enjoy every bit of goodness it offers!
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Are Soba Noodles Vegan?
Soba means “buckwheat” in Japanese, so soba noodles are a type of buckwheat noodle. Typically, soba noodles should be vegan. They are commonly made with buckwheat flour, water and salt.
There are varieties of soba noodles, ranging from very dark brown to almost white in color. Regardless of variety, soba noodles should be vegan.
Soba noodles are also quick cooking, ready in just 3-5 minutes. This makes them a very convenient option if you’re short on time.
They are great in hot dishes, like this stir fry recipe, and in cold dishes too.
Despite the confusing name, buckwheat is gluten free. If the buckwheat noodles are processed in a gluten-free facility, they may be certified gluten free (but always double-check with the manufacturer if this is a concern for you).
Soba Noodle Stir Fry Ingredients
This stir fry recipe is quite flexible in terms of what ingredients you can use. As a base, you’ll need soba noodles and peanut sauce.
- Peanut sauce: Start by preparing a batch of peanut sauce. You can use a store-bought option if you prefer, or any recipe you like. My recipe for peanut sauce is provided in the recipe card below. Read the full post about my peanut sauce for substitution options.
- Soba noodles: Soba (buckwheat) noodles are the base for this recipe. Use whichever type of soba noodle you prefer or have access to. They’re often available at typical grocery stores, but you may need a specialty store or online purchase. I use a 360-gram package of soba noodles in the video shown below. This makes for a thick stir fry with little to no “sauciness”. If you want the stir fry to be saucy, just increase the amount of peanut sauce (up to a double batch) or reduce the amount of soba noodles (by up to half; as little at 180 grams). I recommend reducing the amount of noodles as this recipe makes quite a lot of food.
- Sesame oil: For a great depth of flavor, I stir fry my vegetables in toasted sesame oil.
- Garlic, ginger and onion: These aromatics are essential for boosting the flavor of this stir fry.
- Edamame: I love adding this tasty legume to any recipe for a boost of protein and healthy fats.
- Mixed vegetables: The best part about this, and most stir fry recipes, is you can use pretty much whatever vegetables you like or have on hand! This is the perfect recipe to use any veggies that may be getting older and sitting in the back of your fridge. You can also use frozen vegetables if you don’t have fresh on hand. I used carrots, bell pepper and snap peas for this recipe. Broccoli, snow peas, mushrooms, zucchini, baby corn, bok choy, cabbage, kale, or anything else you can think of should work well!
How to Make Soba Noodle Stir Fry
This is a simple and quick recipe to prepare. It should be ready in about 30 minutes, all thanks to the quick-cooking soba noodles and easy-to-make peanut sauce.
Step 1: Prepare Vegetables
Start by chopping all the vegetables you’ll use. This includes onion, garlic and ginger along with shelled edamame (I use a pre-shelled frozen variety that I can simply toss into the stir fry).
I like to finely mince or grate the garlic and ginger, then chop my onion.
You’ll also need about 3 cups of mixed vegetables. Depending on the types of vegetables you use, this works out to about 400 grams of veggies.
You can slice the vegetables however you like, and into any size. I prefer sliced vegetables in this recipe.
Set the prepped vegetables aside. This is a quick-cooking recipe, so it’s very important that you have all the vegetables ready to go before stir frying.
Step 2: Prepare Peanut Sauce
Next, prepare a batch of peanut sauce. You can check out my full post about peanut sauce for detailed directions and steps.
My peanut sauce recipe is also provided in the recipe card below for easy reference.
You can also use a store-bought sauce or use whichever peanut sauce recipe you prefer.
Step 3: Cook Soba Noodles
Cook your soba noodles according to package directions. Typically, you’ll add them to a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes and drain when done cooking.
If you cook these soba noodles before stir frying vegetables, to prevent multi-tasking, it’s best to strain them and add them to a large bowl filled with ice cold water. This stops the noodles from cooking further, preventing them from becoming soggy. It also prevents the noodles from clumping (like in the video shown below, oops!)
If you put the soba noodles into an ice water bath, strain the water away before adding your noodles to the stir fry.
If possible, time the soba noodles to be done when you’re ready to add them. This requires multi-tasking as you’ll stir fry and cook the noodles at the same time, but it saves the effort of putting the noodles into an ice water bath.
Step 4: Stir Fry
To make this stir fry, warm sesame oil over medium-high heat. Make sure the oil doesn’t start smoking at any point (if it does, lower the heat and remove the pan so it can cool quickly).
Start by stir frying the toughest vegetables. In my case, this was onions and carrots. These veggies take a while to cook so I like to give them a 5-minute head start.
Next, add vegetables that have a medium cook time. For me, this was garlic, ginger and bell pepper. Let these vegetables cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until they’re just about done to your liking.
End with the quick-cooking vegetables. For me this was frozen, shelled edamame and snap peas. I like snap peas quite crunchy!
If needed, sauté these quick-cooking vegetables for 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, you can immediately add the peanut sauce and soba noodles.
When your sauce and soba noodles are in the pan, toss everything together until well combined. Then remove the pan from your stove and serve hot.
How to Create a Balanced Vegan Stir Fry
I consider a balanced meal one that contains a good source of plant-based protein, carbohydrates, fats and lots of vegetables or fruits.
This recipe contains plant-based protein from edamame. There’s also some protein in peanut sauce and buckwheat noodles.
There are also healthy carbohydrates in soba noodles, which are often made with whole grain buckwheat flour. In addition, there’s lots of colorful vegetables!
This recipe is very high in fat as the sauce contains peanut butter and coconut milk, along with the sesame oil for stir frying the vegetables. With this high fat content, you may find this to be an extremely rich, filling and satisfying meal.
I typically find this to be one of the most filling meals I make, and often don’t need a very large portion to be satisfied!
Since the recipe is so rich, you may find it helpful to serve alongside some extra steamed vegetables to lighten things up (or not).
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Refrigerate leftover stir fry in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
When ready to eat again, reheat in a microwave or on stovetop until warmed through.
If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!
Vegan Soba Noodle Stir Fry (with Peanut Sauce)
Equipment
- Large pan (or wok)
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk (or fork)
- Medium-sized pot (or large pot)
Ingredients
Stir Fry Noodles and Veggies
- 360 g buckwheat soba noodles ***
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil (30 mL)
- 4 cloves garlic , minced (15 g)
- 2 tablespoons ginger , finely minced or grated
- 1 cup onion , sliced (105 g)
- 1 cup edamame , shelled (150 g)
- 3 cups mixed vegetables (I use carrot, bell pepper and snap peas)****
Peanut Sauce
- ½ cup natural peanut butter , unsalted (145 g)
- 1 cup coconut milk (250 mL)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (30 mL)
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce (10 mL)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (15 mL)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (15 mL)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (15 mL)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil (15 mL)*
- 1 teaspoon garlic , crushed*
- 1 teaspoon ginger , grated*
- ½ teaspoon Sambal Oelek (optional) (2 mL)**
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare Vegetables
- Mince your garlic, then mince or finely grate some ginger.4 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons ginger
- Chop some onion and other mixed vegetables.1 cup onion, 3 cups mixed vegetables
- If needed, shell some edamame.1 cup edamame
- Set aside all prepared vegetables.
Step 2: Prepare Peanut Sauce
- Whisk all peanut sauce ingredients together until smooth, then set aside.½ cup natural peanut butter, 1 cup coconut milk, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 teaspoon ginger, ½ teaspoon Sambal Oelek
Step 3: Cook Soba Noodles
- Cook your soba noodles according to package directions. Typically, you’ll add them to a pot of boiling water for 3-5 minutes and then drain the water away.360 g buckwheat soba noodles
- Try to time this process so that when the noodles finish cooking you add them directly to the stir fry pan. Otherwise, add the drained noodles to a large bowl filled with ice water (then drain this water before adding to stir fry).
Step 4: Stir Fry
- Warm some sesame oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add vegetables that take longest to cook; for me this was onion and carrot. Stir fry these vegetables for 5 minutes.2 tablespoons sesame oil
- Then, add vegetables with a medium length cook time. For me, this was garlic, ginger and bell pepper. Stir fry for an additional 2-5 minutes, depending on how soft you like your vegetables.
- Finally, add the vegetables with a short cooking time. For me, this was snap peas and edamame. Cook these vegetables until they are almost done to your liking.
- When the vegetables are nearly cooked to your liking, add peanut sauce and soba noodles.
- Toss to mix everything together and coat all the soba noodles with sauce.
- Remove from heat and serve hot.
- Top this recipe with crushed peanuts, chili flakes, fresh cilantro or lime juice!
Video
Notes
**can substitute for sriracha or another hot sauce of choice.
***for a saucier stir fry, can reduce the amount of noodles used up to half (can reduce to as low as 180 grams).
****I used 130 grams carrot, 125 g bell pepper and 120 grams snap peas. Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.
Nutrition
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About Nicole Stevens
Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.
She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.
Mona
Delish! I’ve already made this twice. I used different veggies though. First time: carrots, broccoli, scallions. (Left out the edamame. I’m not a fan). Second time: broccoli, zucchini, scallion, and red onion (I love those alliums!). My ancient freezer won’t make ice, but I found that running the noodles under cold water several times prevented clumping. Reduced the amount of noodles. Used brown rice udon. I had no dark soy sauce, so used Bragg’s Aminos for both soy sauces. Very tasty and filling. One of my favorite stir fry recipes! And it’s vegan!
Nicole
Hi Mona, so happy you enjoyed the recipe! And great tip on running the noodles under cold water to prevent clumping; I often just add them straight to the stir fry from the pot but when filming the recipe, that wasn't possible.