11 Summertime Cool Noodle Bowl to Unwind With

US: As the seasons change, you don’t have to give up the comforting taste of noodles. Your favorite noodle, such as soba or ramen, may be quickly rinsed with cold water to provide a chewy, refreshing basis for a salad or filling bowl. On warmer days, try these recipes for noodles topped with tasty sauces, dressings, toppings, and accompaniments. These dishes are our favorites for cold noodles on a hot day since they are tossed with cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini, as well as flavors like gochujang, sesame paste, yuzu, and more.

Salad of Cold Soba Noodles with Yuzu Dressing

During the summer months, Lucas Sin uses authentic East Asian ingredients like ponzu, yuzu honey concentrate, and yuzu kosho to create a vast array of sauces for chilled noodles that go well with a range of veggies. A 30-minute sample is provided here.

Green Tea Noodles with Tiger Salad

Hetty McKinnon creates a filling, slurpable salad in 20 minutes by tossing cold buckwheat noodles in an umami-forward vinaigrette with celery, cilantro, onions, and a Thai chile.

Cool Noodle Salad with Ginger-Carrot Dressing

In this 25-minute dish, Andrea Nguyen uses a zesty carrot-ginger sauce to wrap fresh veggies and earthy, nutty soba noodles.

Cold Bowl of Sesame Soba with Scallions and Cucumber

For a quick dinner, try Robin Hollis’s 15-minute chilled soba bowl with meat, veggies, or a boiled or fried egg.

Zucchini Noodle Salad with Soba

Ann Taylor Pittman’s simple make-ahead recipe is ideal for entertaining in the summer. Serve the crispy strands of zucchini “noodles” and soft buckwheat noodles chilled with a delightfully tart sauce infused with both gochugaru and gochujang for a double dose of fiery Korean peppers subdued by a little brown sugar.

Cold Saimin Salad with Grilled Pork and Soy Ginger

Sheldon Simeon garnishes his Hawaiian-style cold ramen noodle salad with Japanese pickled cucumber slices, soft egg ribbons, crunchy bean sprouts, shredded nori, and crispy pork shoulder pieces. It’s all brought together by a refreshing dressing of sake, rice wine vinegar, and dashi.

Sesame Noodles, chilled

For many years, Chinese takeout in New York City has included chilled sesame noodles. With a rich, intricately layered sesame sauce composed of fermented tofu, aromatics, and pure sesame paste, Lucas Sin turned this meal into a Junzi specialty. Finally, chili oil is added.

Tofu and Red Peppers with Cold Peanut Noodles

Inspired by Chinese takeout, Grace Parisi combines smooth sesame noodles with sweet, crispy pieces of red bell pepper and chunks of tofu.

Cold Sesame-Peanut Noodles

When Andrew Zimmern created this chilled egg noodle dish with spicy Ma La oil—made with chiles, Sichuan peppercorns, and a variety of spices—he was inspired by the cold noodles served in the Sichuan area of China.

Dan Dan Noodles

Joanne Chang’s rendition of the Sichuan noodle bowl involves tossing cold chow mein noodles with a spicy vinaigrette consisting of jalapeño, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha, sugar, peanut oil, and sesame oil.

Noodle Salad in Cambodia with Sweet Pepper Dressing

Sarah Bolla creates a light but powerful rice vermicelli noodle salad by combining spicy, sweet, sour, and salty tastes.