You don’t have to eat out to enjoy restaurant-quality Asian noodles! This easy, healthy Asian stir fry has all that noodle-y good flavor you crave and you can have it hot and fresh on the table in less time than it takes to get takeout (or worse yet, wait for delivery).
Right next to rice, noodles have long been a staple of Asian cuisine. Archeologists have found remains of noodles in China that may be up to 4,000 years old! Indeed, the Asians have definitely mastered the art of noodles, and they make different styles of noodles out of just about everything, from rice to wheat to kelp, eggs, mung bean, corn starch, cassava, potato, sweet potato, tapioca, yams, and more. People flock to Asian noodle restaurants in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and frankly, all over the world, especially in the US.
How this Recipe Came to Be
My youngest talked me into buying a big pack of brown rice ramen at Costco one day. I took a look at the ingredient list and was impressed because it was just brown rice flour … is she trying to eat healthier, I wondered to myself? As a mom, I gotta support that! She ate some of them, but then she decided she didn’t like them and the poor noodles sat on our shelf for WAY too long. I finally couldn’t take it any longer and decided I would give the rest of the pack to my parents (or my sister, whoever would take it)!
My sister thought her kids might like them. She suggested I make them for dinner. But THESE ramen noodles didn’t come with the little “flavoring” packets. My sis and her kids were heading out on the boat to go fishing. She said if the fish started biting not to wait for them for dinner, but my parents and I were starting to get hungry, so I started prepping our noodles. As I gathered up veggies to go in the noodle stir fry that I’d imagined, she said oh no, her kids wouldn’t eat THAT. I was a little frustrated … her kids eat all sorts of veggies and fruits at a normal meal, but they wouldn’t eat them in a stir fry with a tasty sauce, chicken and noodles? Too bad, then, they weren’t going to get any. I was already on a mission and not about to stop.
So mom and dad and I (and my sis, when she returned) all had noodle stir fry for dinner and we all agreed it was really really good. So good, in fact, that most of us had second helpings.
What’s Great about this Recipe
The BEST thing is you don’t have to go out or even order takeout to have fabulous Chinese noodles! Also, because noodles are inexpensive, they make a great option for eating on a budget: a satisfying, delicious meal on a shoestring.
Also this recipe super customizable … swap out the veggies for whatever you have on hand. Add chicken or thin sliced (cooked) steak or even fried tofu. If you like more noodles, then add more noodles and use fewer veggies. Or, if you’re going low-carb, use fewer noodles and more veggies or sub zucchini noodles (a.k.a., zoodles).
However you decide to make it, just don’t skip out on the sauce! Like SO many other great dishes, it’s the sauce that really adds the great Asian flavor. Sooo let’s get cooking!
Print
Sesame Garlic Noodle Stir Fry
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 min
- Yield: 4 – 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
For the Asian stir fry sauce: (double the sauce recipe if using lots of noodles)
- 2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 – 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
- 1-inch chunk of fresh ginger root, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 – 4 Tablespoons honey (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon sriracha (or to taste)
For the stir fry:
- 2 – 4 cakes (4 – 8 oz.) of brown rice ramen noodles (or other Asian noodles)
- 2 – 4 radishes with greens
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 – 4 teaspoons avocado oil (or other neutral tasting oil)
- 1/2 onion, peeled & chopped (or 2 –4 green onions, chopped)
- 1/2 – 1 cup fresh broccoli florets
- 1/2 – 1 cup zucchini, sliced into thin strips
- 2 – 4 mini sweet peppers, cut into thin strips
- 1 carrot, peeled & cut into thin strips
- Optional: 1 cup leftover or rotisserie chicken, shredded or cut into chunks
- For garnish/extra flavor: toasted black and/or white sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the stir fry sauce and set aside.
- Clean the radishes and greens, then cut off the tip and the tops of the radishes (saving the greens) and slice the radishes thin, then cut into little sticks. Roughly chop the greens and set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to boiling and add a tiny splash of oil. Set a colander in the sink for draining the noodles. Add the ramen noodles to the boiling water, fluffing and breaking apart with a fork once the noodles begin to soften. When done to your liking, pour the noodles and hot water into the colander to drain.
- Heat a wok or large saute pan over medium/medium high heat. When hot, add the sesame and avocado oils and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the onion and saute until softened and beginning to get translucent, then stir in the radish sticks, zucchini and carrot. Saute briefly, then add the broccoli and cook, stirring frequently, until the broccoli is crisp tender and bright green. Stir in the chicken (if using) and saute briefly until hot, then add the radish greens and noodles and stir just until the greens are wilted.
- Remove from heat and stir in some of the stir fry sauce. Taste and add more sauce if needed. The noodles will soak up the sauce so you may find you want more sauce after a couple minutes.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and enjoy hot … or refrigerate in an air proof container and eat as a cold salad the next day. Both ways are delightful!
Notes
If making 3 or 4 blocks of noodles, I recommend doubling the sauce recipe. If you have any leftover sauce, you can always use it for future stir fries or as a dressing on an Asian salad.
If you want your noodles to be long strands, try to cook them so they are done at about the same time as the stir fry, then gently fold them in. If you cook your noodles in advance and need to reheat them, they might break up as you toss with the veggies.
If you use zoodles for this recipe in place of the noodles, you might want to thicken the sauce with some cornstarch to make it cling to the zoodles. Since zucchini noodles have a lot of moisture in them, they will not soak up the sauce like brown rice ramen noodles do.
Vegetables in this dish are easily swapped for other favorites, but I do recommend keeping the sweet peppers and onion.
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Looking for more great Asian dishes?
Then take a look at these beauties … I think you’re definitely going to find something to love here!
Scroll down below the pictures for the links to all the recipes.
Soups, Salads, Appetizers
- Chinese Hot & Sour Soup – Did you know the classic hot and sour soup you love when you go out to eat is delightfully simple to make at home? It’s true.
- Spicy Asian Sriracha Green Beans – Green beans with a spicy Asian twist! I could eat these every day.
- Asian Sriracha Chicken Nachos – Who says nachos have to be Mexican? These Asian style nachos are cheesy, crunchy, and full of good Chinese flavor.
- Chicken, Shrimp & Kale Egg Rolls – Who doesn’t love egg rolls? You can fry or bake these lovely egg rolls.
- Orange Chicken Brussels Sprouts Salad – Juicy oranges with chicken, shredded brussels sprouts and crunchy carrots tossed in a marvelous Chinese style dressing and topped with almonds and sesame seeds.
- Mandarin Chicken Avocado Salad with Asian Peanut Dressing – need I say more?
Main Dishes & Fried Rice
- Instant Pot Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps – transform frozen chicken into tasty lettuce wraps in a flash!
- Pork Banh Mi Sandwich – the Vietnamese favorite, this Pork Banh Mi Sandwich takes a bit of prep, but it’s oh so worth it!
- Kung Pao Cauliflower – if you love spicy , you’re going to LOVE this dish, maybe even better than Kung Pao Chicken.
- Bacon Mushroom Zucchini Fried Rice – bacon makes everything better, right? Especially fried rice!
- Cashew Shrimp Cauliflower Fried Rice – if you’re looking for a low-carb option, look no further.
- Kid Fried Rice – a dish I created for my kids when they were young and now that they are grown, it’s STILL in the regular meal rotation, but it’s on them to make it
