21 Easy 5-ingredient Recipes (Asian)

If you haven't had time to do the grocery run, here are some delicious easy Asian dishes that are 5-ingredient Recipes. Some require even fewer ingredients than 5- no long grocery list needed!

3 pieces of caramelised 12345 spare ribs on a plate. — 12345 Chinese ribs taste very similar to tang Chu pai gu (vinegar ribs) but are much easier to make!

Jump to:

🍲 Soup
🥩 Meat
🥬 Vegetables
🍤 Seafood
🍚 Carbs
🍯 Condiments
🍿 Snacks
🍨 Desserts
💬 Comments

These easy meals, snacks and sweet treats require no special equipment such as a slow cooker. Requiring 5 or fewer ingredients, these are the perfect weeknight meal for the whole family when you have no time to go to the grocery store!

P.S. If I've left out 1 of your favorite Asian 5-ingredient dinner recipes, feel free to let me know in the comments!

🍲 Soup

Chinese Chicken Soup

Easy Chinese Black Chicken Soup (Silkie Chicken)

This easy Chinese Black Chicken Soup, also known as Silkie Chicken, is a traditional Chinese soup recipe that is delicious, nutritious AND only calls for 5 ingredients! I've made this Black Chicken soup recipe non-herbal, as many younger Asians find it hard to accept the strong flavours of herbal soup, but it's still very good for you!

Click here for the traditional Chinese soup recipe.

A bowl of Chinese black chicken soup with red dates, goji berries, scallops and dried shiitake mushrooms.

Coconut Soup

If you want something more substantial, try this coconut noodle soup!

🥩 Meat

Many chicken wings covered with red sauce on a plate

Asian Wings

Soy, Garlic and Honey Wings

Soy-garlic-some kind of sweetener is a classic Chinese sauce. Make this 5-starred recipe and you'll have a new sauce in your repertoire that can be used for other dishes such as fish and tofu!

Click here for the garlicky wings recipe.

For more Asian wing recipes, such as crispy Vietnamese baked wings, click here!

Chinese Pork Ribs

This is my absolute favorite 5-ingredient recipe: it's so easy and makes for such a delicious meal, I honestly think it's life-changing!

The sauce is so savory and rich, it's the perfect comfort food served with a bowl of white rice.

The best pork ribs recipe: 12345 spare ribs

These Chinese Spare Ribs are delicious, finger-licking Asian-style pork spare ribs that are as simple to cook as 12345 (a mnemonic device that will also help you recall the recipe.) Using only the Asian pantry staples of wine, dark soy sauce, vinegar and sugar to braise the meat, with only a few minutes of active cooking, this is the best easy sticky Chinese Spare Ribs for a lazy food lover.

Click here for the braised pork ribs recipe.

Close-up of a pork rib with fingerlicking sticky sauce and caramelised bits.

🥬 Vegetables

Cabbage

Who says cabbage is only suitable for a side dish? This recipe turns it into a hearty vegan steak!

Napa Cabbage Steaks

Try this delicious and highly rated napa cabbage recipe by Cooktoria which only requires 5 ingredients to make!

Click here for the delicious cabbage recipe!

Gochujang Fries

Easy Gochujang Butternut Squash recipe

An easy 5-ingredient gochujang butternut squash recipe that is bursting with flavour. The hardest thing about this roasted Asian butternut squash recipe is cutting the squash!

Click here for the Korean-inspired squash recipe.

Close-up of gochujang butternut squash baked fries.

Umami-licious Eryngii Mushroom

Quick Eryngii Mushrooms (3-ingredients)

A 25-minute, easy to make and delicious eryngii mushroom recipe. These have a nice meaty texture which make them great meat substitutes for vegan meals.

Click here for the under 30 minute mushroom recipe!

A plate of seared mushrooms tossed in a butter soy sauce.

Simple Salads

Cold cucumber salad recipe

The easy Chinese cold cucumber salad recipe is delicious and full of spicy flavor. Best of all, it only requires 4-ingredients and takes 5-10 minutes to make.

Click here for the Chinese cucumber appetiser recipe!

Close-up of red spicy asian cucumber salad.

🍤 Seafood

If you're out of fresh ingredients, this Asian tuna recipe only requires things from the pantry!

4-ingredient spicy tuna dip

A spicy, creamy tuna dip with a Southeast Asian sauce- Asian pantry ingredients required only!

Check out this easy tuna appetiser recipe!

Someone dipping a cracker into a bowl of spicy coconut tuna curried dip.

Note: if you're looking for a dip with cream cheese, try this olive spread which only needs THREE ingredients!

🍚 Carbs

If you're talking about easy recipes for rice, this must be 1 of the top contenders!

Serve with some stir-fried bok choy (garlic and oyster sauce!) and a poached egg- voila, you have a complete healthy meal that doesn't take a lot of time!

Pandan Rice

2 easy Pandan Rice recipes: I show you how to cook a fragrant white rice or a pandan-flavored, olive-green, creamy rice using 2-3 simple ingredients.

Click here for the easy Asian rice recipe!

A Singporean meal with 2 types of pandan rice, fried egg, eggplant and sambal kangkong.

Savory Green Onion Pancakes

These pancakes can be batch made in advance as they freeze well and cook well from frozen, making it 1 of my favorite 5-ingredient meals for unexpected guests!

Taiwanese green onion pancake recipe (Cong you bing)

Taiwanese green onion pancake (Cong you bing), also known as Chinese scallion pancake, is a delicious savoury street snack that is easy to batch make and freeze.

Click here for the freezer-friendly recipe.

Crispy and flaky pan fried scallion pancakes on parchment paper.

Note: when we say 5-ingredients, that doesn't include the dipping sauce!

🍯 Condiments

Someone holding a jar of lime curd with a lime curd tart in the background.

Calamansi Curd

Homemade Lime Curd Recipe

This easy Homemade Lime Curd Recipe is thick, tangy, sweet and overflowing with fresh lime flavor. You only need 4 ingredients and under 30 minutes. It's so creamy, zesty and rich, you'll be happy to eat it on its own!

Click here for the creamy, citrusy curd recipe.

Homemade calamansi lime curd in a glass jar.

5-Spice Powder

Easy Chinese 5 Spice Powder Recipe

A quick and easy Chinese 5 Spice Powder Recipe, so you always have the freshest and most powerful spices on hand to make Chinese food!

Click here for the Chinese dry rub recipe.

Close-up of a spoonful of Chinese 5-spice powder with the whole spices in the background.

Sambal Aioli

Easy 3-ingredient Sambal Aioli (Sambal Mayo)

This spicy, tangy sauce goes well with french fries, grilled corn, hard boiled eggs, chicken salad and a whole host of other things.

Click here for the Spicy Mayo recipe.

Close-up of sweet potato fries topped with spicy sambal mayo.

🍿 Snacks

Crispy salted egg yolk cornflakes drying on parchment paper. — The cornflakes in the bowl were sauted but not baked- can you see the difference in colour with the ones on the sheet (which have been baked dry)?

Sweet & Savory Cornflakes

Salted Egg Yolk Cornflakes (CRISPY)

1 of the most popular Chinese New Year snacks in Singapore, it is also 1 of the easiest and quickest to make, requiring only 4-6 ingredients.

Check out this salted egg cornflakes recipe.

A wooden spoon full of crunchy salted egg yolk cereal.

Salted Ducks' Egg Popcorn

A white plate full of stovetop popcorn surrounded by flowers and leaves.

Salted Egg Yolk Popcorn Snack

Salted Egg is 1 of the most popular sauces in Singapore, a renown food lover's paradise- we use it in everything from ice-cream to chicken. Try this recipe to see what the fuss is all about!

Click here for the savory popcorn recipe.

Picking up a bunch of golden yellow salted ducks egg yolk popcorn.

Lao Gan Ma Popcorn

Easy Spicy Popcorn Recipe (3-ingredients)

A great way to use up the leftover oil in your jar of LaoGanMa or Lee Kum Kee chilli crisp, this easy spicy popcorn is also super tasty and addictive!

Click here for the chili oil popcorn recipe!

A bowl of spicy popcorn popped in LaoGanMa chill crisp oil.

Peanut Cookies

The Best Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies

I baked about 2000 cookies to come up with this peanut cookie recipe- someone once bought over 20 jars of it!

Click here for the Chinese Peanut Cookie recipe!

12 types of Chinese peanut cookies made from 12 different recipes on a plate

P.S: These are authentic Chinese cookies so no peanut butter involved!

Note: For other Asian Chinese New Year recipes, click here.

Brown Sugar Cookies

This simple recipe for brown sugar cookies take less than 30 minutes from start to end of baking!

Easy 3-ingredient Brown Sugar Cookies

Buttery, crisp but flaky and not-too-sweet, these deliciously easy 3-ingredient Brown Sugar Cookies are the perfect Holiday Bake for fall and winter! Lots of flavor for very little work, they're the perfect bake for when you're feeling lazy and don't have eggs.

Click here for the easy sugar cookie recipe!

Someone dipping a brown sugar cookie into a cup of tea.

🍨 Desserts

2 bowls of black sesame soup, 1 with glutinous rice flour and 1 without.

Delicious dinners aren't complete without dessert!

Chinese Black Sesame Tong Sui

Easy Black Sesame Soup Dessert

A sweet and creamy Chinese recipe, with nutty overtones giving this easy black sesame soup dessert a complex depth of flavour. Moreover, this 3-ingredient traditional Chinese Tong Sui is naturally vegan, gluten-free, delicious & very nutritious!

Click here for the black sesame dessert recipe.

2 bowls of Chinese black sesame tong sui next to pink flowers.

Japanese-inspired Ice Cream

You'll be surprised to hear that you only need a handful of ingredients to re-create this Japanese dessert!

I like vanilla ice cream or chocolate chips in mine!

Homemade Mochi Ice-Cream

Mochi is a very popular dessert at Japanese restaurants. However, you can actually make it yourself, using only a few ingredients- it's really easy too, so give this Inthekitch recipe a try!

Click here for the mochi ice cream recipe!

Japanese Yuzu Jelly

Yuzu konnyaku jelly

With an introduction to using this Japanese jelly, which is high in fibre and low-in calories (at least before adding sugar)!

Click here for the yuzu dessert recipe.

3 pieces of flowers shaped yuzu tea konnyaku jelly

Chinese Osmanthus Jelly

Gui Hua Gao/ Osmanthus Jelly with Goji Berries

Gui Hua Gao was a favourite amongst the women in the Chinese Royal Family because Osmanthus is said to beautify the skin!

Click here for the Gui Hua Jelly recipe.

3 osmanthus jellies with wolf berries on a white plate.

Easy Coconut Jelly

No sugar added agar agar jelly presented in a coconut husk — If you have the patience to dig the flesh out of other fruits, you cans serve agar agar in other fruit skins, such as orange or mangosteen.

No sugar agar agar recipe

Naturally sweet from coconut water, there's a detailed FAQ for people who are new to this vegan jelly! Great substitute for gelatine

Click here for the 2-ingredient recipe!

A bowl of cube-shaped agar aagr with edible flowers in them in a pink bowl.

Boozy Lychee Jellies

Champagne lychee jelly recipe

Lychee jellies are a delicious and easy recipe to use up leftover champagne and are the perfect crowd pleaser at parties!

Click here for the lychee recipe.

Champagne lychee konnyaku jellies on a serving board and in an ice mold.

Note: For more easy Asian jellies, click here.

Chinese Bird's Nest Soup

Easy Chinese Bird's Nest recipe

Making bird's nest - another Chinese dessert said to be good for the skin- has never been so easy!

Click here for the Chinese delicacy's recipe!

Close-up of a spoonful of steamed bird's nest sweet soup.

If you're more of a drinks person, most of the drink recipes on my website call for under 5 ingredients too!

When you make 1 of these five-ingredient recipes, do tag me on social media (@greedygirlgourmet) as I'd love to see what you make with these easy dinner recipes!