11 cold noodle salads perfect for hot days

As the weather warms up, these cool noodle bowls from around the world make the perfect meals.

Noodle salad (khauk swe thoke)
A cold noodle salad is a wonderful combination of slippery noodles, tasty dressings and extra ingredients, and perfect fare for hot days and nights.

A popular Chinese street food dish, originally from Shaanxi province, is Liang pi, or cold skin noodles. Here noodles are tossed with cucumber, sesame seeds and a punchy sauce made with soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, rice wine, chilli and Chinese black vinegar (chinkiang). Or if you'd like to read more about this dish, and try making your own wheat noodles for your liang pi, head here).
Cold noodles with black vinegar sauce (liang pi)
Donal Skehan shares this healthy salad packed with crunchy veg, rice noodle and topped off with a fresh tahini dressing. It keeps well in the fridge for an easy lunchbox filler, too.
Tahini crunch noodle salad
Credit: Donal's Cook, Eat, Burn!
Looking for cool dinner for a hot night? This layered noodle dish from Justine Schofield – mix it just before you eat! – is perfect, with cooked chicken, cucumber and chilled noodles served on top of a punchy Sichuan sauce.
HKG_EP02_Chilled Sichuan and Sesame Noodles_1L0A8749 copy.jpg
Chilled chicken, sesame and Sichuan dressing noodles. Credit: Hong Kong Gourmet with Justine Schofield
This hearty egg noodle and cabbage salad, full of refreshing flavours and textures, is a favourite dish in Myanmar.
Noodle salad (khauk swe thoke)
Ready in just 10 minutes, this vegan bowl serves chilled udon noodles in this refreshing vegetarian and mushroom cucumber salad.
Chilled udon, mushroom and cucumber salad
Credit: Jiwon Kim
This vibrantly green bowl combines cooked and chilled soba noodles with broad beans, broccoli, asparagus, spinach and avocado, tossed with a dressing that brings together a delightful mix of flavours, including tahini, soy sauce, miso, honey and ginger.
Broad bean, asparagus and soba noodle salad
Broad bean, asparagus and soba noodle salad Credit: Kitti Gould
This recipe from Shane Delia is so simple – no oven or cook-top is required. Fresh salmon is sliced thin and marinated in a mix of complementary Asian flavours, then served on a bed of cold noodles.
Lime-cured salmon cold noodle salad
Lime-cured salmon cold noodle salad Credit: Shane Delia's Recipe For Life
Light, refreshing and colourful, this salad brings together cool soba noodles with an array of chopped vegetables. With a lime, soy and sesame oil dressing, it comes together quickly but delivers on looks, flavour and texture.
Rainbow soba salad
Credit: Adam Liaw
No cooking needed for this noodle salad: the glass noodles are simply soaked in hot water before before being tossed with cucumber, grapefruit segments, chilli, onion and a punchy coriander and lemongrass dressing.

Grapefruit salad
Credit: Danielle Abou Karam
Zaru soba is a popular Japanese summer salad. The cold noodles are traditionally served in a zaru (bamboo basket). Chopsticks are used to pick up a small amount of the noodles which are then dipped into the sauce, mixed with some wasabi and ginger. The carrot isn’t traditional but adds colour and texture.
soba-noodles.jpg
This Chinese noodle salad makes a perfect light lunch. All the different herbs add texture and flavour and are as important as the vegetables.
Hoisin noodle salad
Credit: Feast magazine

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