5 Minute Sweet and Spicy Noodles

These sweet and spicy noodles come together in just 5 minutes making it the perfect quick and easy vegetarian weeknight meal.

It will come as no surprise that when in doubt about what to have for dinner, I make noodles. From satay chicken noodles to my favourite pork and peanut stir-fry, noodles are so quick and easy and packed full of flavour.

But while noodles are usually pretty easy to make anyway, I really wanted a version that basically eliminated all the time spent in the kitchen. So for those days when the last thing you want to do is cook, this is the recipe to pull out.

This recipe is a one pot situation and the veg can be added based on what you have in the fridge. Green veggies such as broccoli, kale, cabbage or snow peas would all work perfectly in place of the bok choy. But also, I have made this without any veggies when I really just needed saucy, spicy noodles and my fridge was pretty empty.

It’s flexible, it’s optional, it’s a make it how you feel situation.

For the noodles, you can literally use any type of noodles you have in your cupboard. I like to use the instant, 2 minute style ones as I can buy a HUGE pack of them for about $3 at the grocery store. Any dried or fresh noodles will work though so just go with what you like or have available.

For the sauce, I have based it on my spicy pork and peanut noodles. Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar and chilli and garlic sauce together and you have a flavour powerhouse.

Chilli and garlic sauce is something I always have in my fridge, and you can get it from most grocery stores, but if you don’t have it, any other chilli such as sambal oelek or sriracha will be a great substitute. You can play around with the amount of chilli you add depending on how spicy you want your noodles.

If you are not a fan of chilli, replace it with one clove of crushed garlic and you’ll still have a saucy, flavourful bowl of noodles.

This is my new favourite weeknight meal when I want something cheap and easy without feeling like I have regressed into my university diet of mi goreng noodles. It’s budget food, but elevated. It is also vegetarian/vegan, dairy-free and can be easily made gluten-free as well.

If you are anything like me, you will basically have everything you need already in your house to make these noodles, so next time you get home from work and start thinking about ordering takeaway instead of cooking, remember this recipe.

If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with #eightforestlane as I would love to see.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

5 Minute Sweet and Spicy Noodles

These sweet and spicy noodles come together in just 5 minutes making it the perfect quick and easy weeknight meal.

Prep Time1 min

Cook Time4 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: 2 serves

Author: Sally

Ingredients

• 2 x 70-85gram packets of dried instant noodles
• 1 cup bok choy chopped
• fried shallots and sesame seeds to serve

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic and chilli sauce

Instructions

• Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the noodles for 2-3 minutes until they start to come apart and are soft. Meanwhile, mix the sauce ingredients together.
• Drain the noodles and add the bok choy to the pan with a little of the sauce. Saute until just tender, before adding the noodles back into the pan with the sauce. Stir the sauce through the noodles and cook for 2 minutes until the sauce has thickened and completely coated the noodles.
• Serve the noodles immediately topped with fried shallots and sesame seeds.

Notes

Gluten Free Option: Use your favourite gluten free noodles and replace soy sauce with tamari. 

More quick dinner recipes:

Charlie Chan Pasta: A Filipino Spaghetti
Mushroom Tagliatelle with Olive Oil and Garlic
Crispy Tofu and Zoodles with Peanut Sauce
Chicken Satay Noodles
Golden Turmeric Sweet Potato Soup

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