Lunch Budget Vegetarian No reheat

Cold peanut noodle salad

Name: Cold peanut noodle salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Meal prep
Ingredients: 12 oz spaghetti; ⅓ cup peanut butter; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 1 lime, juiced; 1 tbsp sugar; 2 cloves garlic, grated; 2 carrots, shredded; 2 cups red cabbage, shredded; 1 cucumber, sliced; ¼ cup warm water

Spaghetti stands in for noodles. The sauce is five cupboard ingredients shaken in a jar.

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Ingredients

4 servings

About $4.08 for 4 servings.

Contains: peanut, soy, wheat. Packaged foods vary, so check the labels of what you buy.

How the cost and nutrition are worked out

Ingredient	Weight	Cost	kcal	Protein
spaghetti	340 g	$1.12	1,262	44.2 g
peanut butter	85 g	$0.52	501	21.3 g
soy sauce	48 g	$0.28	25	3.9 g
lime, juiced	44 g	$0.50	11	0.2 g
sugar	13 g	$0.02	48	0.0 g
garlic, grated	6 g	$0.12	9	0.4 g
carrots, shredded	122 g	$0.24	50	1.1 g
red cabbage, shredded	140 g	$0.38	43	2.0 g
cucumber, sliced	300 g	$0.89	45	2.1 g

Totals divided by 4 servings. Salt, pepper, water and a film of oil for the pan are not counted. Prices are estimated US supermarket prices (October 2026), charged for the amount used rather than the whole pack; nutrition is from USDA FoodData Central. Our method.

Method

Cook the spaghetti following the packet. Rinse under cold water and drain well.
Shake the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic and warm water in a jar until smooth.
Toss the noodles with two thirds of the sauce.
Divide between 4 containers and top with the carrot, cabbage and cucumber.
Pack the remaining sauce in small pots to add on the day.

Storing

Refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking, in shallow sealed containers. Keeps 4 days in the fridge by US guidance; UK guidance is stricter and says eat cooked leftovers within 2 days. Not suited to freezing.

Reheating

Eat cold. Add the reserved sauce and toss.

Worth knowing

Noodles drink sauce overnight, which is why you hold some back.

Food safety figures follow USDA leftovers guidance, the FoodSafety.gov storage chart and safe cooking temperatures, UK chilling and freezing guidance.

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