Creamy sesame noodles ready in just 15-minutes. It’s made with a handful of ingredients to make the most rich and savory sauce. Simply boil your noodles, prepare the sauce, and toss everything together!

Table of Contents

Ingredients and Substitutions

*The Recipe Card below includes all the full measurements for these ingredients!

Noodles: for this recipe, I used fresh Korean somyeon noodles. Sometime’s they’re labelled as “vermicelli” or “wheat” noodles (they’re usually found in the refrigerated section). Feel free to use any other noodles of your preference. Knife-cut noodles, udon, or ramen work amazing with the sesame sauce!

Sesame paste: the star of this dish. It tastes somewhat very similar to peanut butter, in that they’re both very rich and savory. For this recipe, we’ll be using Chinese sesame paste (more details below). Peanut butter is your next best option. Tahini could also work, the flavor is just lighter.

Chinese sesame paste — My favorite brand of sesame paste is “Wangzhihe”

Sesame oil: the toasty, nutty sesame oil will further enhance and concentrate the sesame flavor.

Peanut butter: we’ll be adding a small amount of peanut butter to our sauce, just enough to lend the sauce its richness, but not enough to overpower the main flavor of the sesame!

Soy sauce: this will boost those savory and umami flavors of our sauce. It will also add some slight saltiness.

Sugar: sugar will help to balance out the richness of the sesame/peanuts and the saltiness of the soy sauce. Feel free to adjust the amount more or less according to your preference.

Black vinegar: this type of vinegar is slightly more earthy and “smoky” than your typical white vinegar. Try to look for it in your local Asian groceries. This will help add some brightness and tang. Most standard white vinegars may work. You could also use rice vinegar or coconut vinegar.

Ginger, garlic: freshly grated ginger and garlic adds those delicious aromatic flavors to the dish. You could also substitute this with powdered/dried ginger and garlic!

Chili crisps: this ingredient is totally optional, but highly recommended! You could mix this directly into the sauce or just save it as a garnish on top. It adds a nice kick and mildness to the noodles.

Instructions

*The Recipe Card below includes all the full detailed instructions!

Cook the noodles according to packaged instructions. Reserve some noodle water.

Prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients together.

Add in the noodles and mix to combine. Top with sesame seeds and cucumbers.

Garnishing with sesame seeds and cucumber

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Can I add protein to this?

Yes! To make the dish even more filling, you can add anything from cooked shredded chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, tofu, tempeh, or even salmon.

Can I add veggies to this?

Some of my favorite vegetable additions to this include shaved carrots, red pepper, and fresh cucumbers. To make the noodles taste even more refreshing, feel free to throw in some mint, cilantro, or parsley.

How do I serve this?

Depending on your preference, you can serve these either cold or warm. Personally, cold is the way to go since these are super refreshing especially on warmer months. For a colder version, simply rinse the cooked noodles under cold water for about 30 seconds and drain. Mix it along with the sesame sauce as you normally would, and enjoy!

How do I store leftovers?

Leftover sesame noodles can be stored refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Do note that the noodles can dry up fairly quickly when chilled, so to reheat, I usually like to add a small splash of water prior to microwaving or gently heating it over stovetop. You can re-adjust with more sesame paste and/or other seasonings if you prefer afterwards.

Can I store the sauce?

Another thing I like to do when meal-prepping is simply keeping the sauce stored in my fridge. The sauce itself can last for 5 days in an airtight container, so whenever I get a craving for noodles (or simply want a sesame-based dip) I can just pull these out and mix them together straight away.

Here are some of my favorite mains to serve alongside these noodles!