It can be hard to find new vegan lunch recipes that are healthy and don’t take long to prepare the night before. Nobody wants to finish dinner only to make another meal for the next day! Keep things interesting at lunch time with this quick, easy and delicious Cucumber & Soba Noodles salad bowl from Amber Cardosi at A Toasted Crumb.

Cucumber and soba salad with a mini cucumber pack

In the middle of a workday, there’s nothing more energizing than a healthy and refreshing lunch full of fresh veggies.

Whether you follow a vegan diet or simply want to incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet, finding the time to actually prepare new recipes for tomorrow’s lunch can be a time-crunch!

Even if you work from home, you don’t always want to spend your precious lunchtime cooking. It’s so much more relaxing and enjoyable when lunch is prepared the night before.

If you’re looking for new vegan lunch recipes that make for super easy meal prep, this Cucumber & Soba Noodles salad bowl is going to hit the spot! Not only is it flavorful and guaranteed to give you a burst of energy that lasts all afternoon, but it is also very simple to prepare in advance.

This recipe only has two steps (yes, really!) and incorporates a variety of fresh vegetables that will give you a boost during the workday. Plus, it has a homemade sesame ginger tahini sauce that takes flavor to the next level!

Mini cucumbers

The main ingredient that brings that refreshing flavor is Pure Flavor® Mini Cucumbers, grown to perfection in sustainable greenhouses. These cukes are a great size for this salad and provide much needed hydration, which has been shown to improve focus.

One of the best tips to keep in mind if you’re trying to do more meal prep in advance is to always keep your fridge stocked with reliable, go-to ingredients that you love.

Mini Cucumbers fit that need perfectly. As long as you put your cukes in the fridge as soon as you get home from the grocery store, they can last up to two weeks. That means you can add them to salads or snack on them all week long.

Mini cucumbers being spiralized

These cucumbers are perfect for your go-to salad topping because you can take out a couple at a time as needed. Just make sure not to wash them until you’re ready to eat, otherwise they won’t last quite as long.

For this recipe, Amber spiralizes her Mini Cucumbers because she says the curly ribbon shape helps get everything coated in her amazing sesame ginger tahini sauce. Of course, if you don’t have a spiralizer, you can prepare the Mini Cucumbers however you prefer: chopped, diced or julienned. Either way, they’re going to taste great!

This salad bowl contains Asian soba noodles made of buckwheat, a whole grain. These noodles have several health benefits over regular pasta noodles or rice noodles. They’re low calorie, contain fewer carbs than most noodles and are a good source of protein, fiber, potassium, iron and thiamine.

To start making this recipe for Cucumber & Soba Noodles, prepare soba noodles according to pack instructions and mix together with spiralized Mini Cucumbers, lima beans, cilantro, green onions. As an option, you can also sprinkle with crushed red pepper and sesame seeds.

cucumber soba salad ready to eat

To make the sesame ginger tahini sauce, whisk together tahini with rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, minced garlic, green onion, chili garlic sauce, fresh ginger, molasses, sesame seeds and crushed red pepper.

Once you try this fresh and easy-to-make sesame ginger tahini sauce, you’re going to want to add it to every single meal – breakfast, lunch and dinner! You can use it in more salads throughout the week or you can include it as a tasty dip with fresh snacking veggies. Be sure to make extra so you can keep some in your fridge for when the craving hits you!

Serve your Cucumber & Soba Noodles with fresh lime wedges for a bit of fresh zest. If you want to really make lunch special, enjoy this fresh salad bowl with chop sticks – a simple change that can really make a difference by adding an authentic Asian flair.

For the full recipe, click here.

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