These simple, bright, and light noodles get coated in a creamy tahini, sesame, and lime sauce. A whole head of cabbage gets cooked down until luscious and caramelized and mixed with sauce and noodles for an easy weeknight dinner. Leftover cold sesame noodles are delicious topped with a fried egg!
Ingredient Highlight
Cabbage! We have the Germans to thank for bringing this nutrient-dense crucifer to the U.S. It is well-known for possessing anti-cancer properties due to it’s high glucosinolate content. It’s also an excellent source of vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6, calcium, and magnesium to name a few.
Servings 4 People
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time 15 minutes Ingredients
- 12 oz whole wheat spaghetti or regular
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 napa cabbage, thinly sliced about 10 cups
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- ⅓ cup tahini
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
- ½ cup thinly sliced green parts of scallions
- Sesame seeds
- I like napa cabbage for this recipe because it gets super tender and it’s nice to mix it up. You could easily use regular green cabbage instead, but it may take longer to soften/break down.
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain your pasta and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil, cabbage, and ½ teaspoon salt. It will seem like a lot of cabbage at first, just let it cook, stirring every 2 minutes or so, until it wilts down and gets nice and browned, about 10-12 minutes total. Remove from heat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, lime, sesame, soy, and garlic until combined. The mixture should be thick but pourable. If too thick, stir in a splash of water (this really depends on how thick your tahini is).
- Add pasta and sesame sauce to the skillet and toss to combine. If after you toss it, the sauce seems too dry or you want it more saucy, just add in splashes of water until it’s your desired consistency. If it gets too runny, just simmer it until it reduces.
- Serve topped with lots of green scallions and sesame seeds.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Thinly slice 1 napa cabbage (10 cups).
- Thinly slice green parts of scallion.
- Make sesame sauce.
Substitutions:
- To make gluten-free, use GF noodles (Jovial Foods is the best) or rice noodles.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Enjoy leftovers cold straight out of the fridge topped with a fried egg OR warm them up in the microwave until just warm. Pasta really soaks up sauce, so to loosen the sauce up a bit, add in a splash of water before reheating and then mix it together once it’s warm.
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