This Vietnamese Noodle Salad is made with thin vermicelli rice noodles, crunchy vegetables and fresh herbs, tossed in a refreshing chili lime dressing!

These noodles are the most refreshing summer staple!

This Vietnamese Noodle Salad is light, tangy and refreshing, making it the perfect summer salad. The fresh crunchy vegetables paired with cold noodles and crispy fried tofu is delectable. This is often eaten as the main course but if you want to prepare it for sharing, do this – chop the tofu into tiny cubes and shred any vegetables you’re using before tossing them together.

Extra firm tofu sliced into squares

This salad is best when served at room temperature (we don’t want the tofu to be cold!). If you plan on reheating this, simply heat up the tofu separately but the salad can be eaten cold.

What You Need to Make This

  • thin rice vermicelli noodles – this can easily be prepared by soaking in hot water for a few minutes. Read the package instructions for the exact steps.
  • vegetables – cucumber, carrot are the best! Daikon works too.
  • garnish – chili, lime, dry roasted peanuts.
  • a good dressing – my chili lime dressing will literally blow your mind!
  • protein – we’ll be making a spicy lemongrass tofu for this salad.

This recipe heavily uses Vietnamese Sate Sauce that you can find how to make here.

It can also be easily made gluten free by substituting your soy sauce with gluten free soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Tofu

This Vietnamese Noodle Salad is made with thin vermicelli rice noodles, crunchy vegetables and fresh herbs, tossed in a refreshing chili lime dressing!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Main Course, Salad
Cuisine: Fusion, Vietnamese
Keyword: noodle salad, salad
Servings: 2

Ingredients

Chili Lime Dressing

  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp vegan fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sweetener
  • 3 tsp sate sauce (link for the recipe above)
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Spicy Lemongrass Tofu

  • 350 g extra firm tofu
  • 1/4 cup corn starch
  • 2 tbsp sate
  • 1/2 tbsp soy sauce (to taste)
  • 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp sweetener

Noodle Salad

  • 2 servings rice vermicelli noodles
  • cucumber roll ups
  • shredded carrots
  • 2 tbsp dry roasted peanuts
  • lime garnish
  • chili garnish
  • coriander garnish

Instructions

  • Chop tofu into even squares and coat them in corn starch.
  • Panfry them in some olive oil or bake/air fry until crispy.
  • Pour sate sauce and soy sauce onto pan and add in your crispy fried tofu. Give them a good toss until evenly coated.
  • Mix all the ingredients for your chili lime dressing and give them a good mix.
  • Slice your cucumber down until you get long, thin strips. Then roll them up. Do the same for your carrots.
  • Boil your noodles according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
  • It's time to assemble! Place your rice noodle in a bowl, followed by cucumber rollups and shredded carrot. Place 3-4 slices of lemongrass tofu.
  • Garnish with lime, coriander, dry roasted peanuts and chili padi. When ready to eat, drizzle with chili lime dressing and serve!