This Easy Teriyaki Noodles with Chicken recipe is one of my favorite recipes! It's a little sweet, a little tangy, and a little savory, which may sound weird for noodles, but the tang whets your appetite and makes you want to eat more. Plus, it's an easy dinner recipe on the table in under 15 minutes!
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🥘 Ingredients
You will need a few simple ingredients to make this Japanese udon recipe:
- 400g/ 14 oz of udon noodles: The texture of the udon noodles is essential for a good teriyaki noodles- it's so chewy and goes super well with the savory flavors of the sauce- so this is not a recipe where you can use your noodles of choice. You can substitute with spaghetti noodles or ramen noodles, but do NOT use rice vermicelli noodles. (Leftover udon can be used for Yaki Udon Stir Fry.)
- 200g/ 7 oz of chicken thigh: I recommend dark meat as it has more fat so won't dry out as easily as chicken breast, and remains juicy even if you slightly overcook it.
- neutral vegetable oil: preferably not olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic: do not use garlic powder
- 1 inch ginger: do not use ginger powder
- 1 sprig of spring onion: slicing a sprig of scallions as garnish gives the savory sauce some freshness
- sesame seeds: you can also use lightly toasted sesame seeds as a garnish
Note: Fresh vegetables such as snow peas, baby corn, and broccoli florets make a great addition to the recipe too, if you want a well-balanced meal.
Note: as we'll be stir-frying with vegetable oil, not butter, and adding acid, it's a lot lighter than this Teriyaki Pasta, and thus a great summer dish! To keep the dish nice and light for hot weather, I did not drizzle sesame oil on top.
For the homemade teriyaki sauce:
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 Tablespoons mirin
- 3 Tablespoons white sugar: If using spaghetti noodles instead of udon, start with 2.5 Tablespoons of sugar, taste (and increase to 3 if you wish.) I have not tried the recipe with brown sugar but it should work. On the fence about using maple syrup though
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar: I have substituted with apple cider vinegar. If doing so, use 2.5 Tablespoons of sugar instead.
- 1.5 teaspoon corn starch: this is to thicken the sauce and make it stick to the noodles better
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Note: you cannot just use teriyaki sauce substitutes/ from other recipes, such as teriyaki meatballs, teriyaki tofu, or teriyaki chicken thighs, as it may not taste right. (I have tried!)
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
1a. Add the teriyaki sauce ingredients to the chicken filet strips, making sure each is well-coated and leave to marinate whilst you cook the noodles.
This also gives the chicken time to return to room temperature, so that they're not cold when you cook and stay juicy and tender.
1b. Cook the noodles (see below if you're not familiar with cooking udon.)
1c. Heat vegetable oil in a pan, and when almost smoking, add the ginger, quickly stir-fry, then the minced garlic.
2. Add the chicken strips and all the marinade, stirring till the chicken is cooked.
3. When the chicken is cooked, it should turn white/ opaque, as shown above, and the juices of the thickest part should run clear. (Or use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature is 165F.)
There will still be sauce left in the pan, which we will need to coat the noodles later.
4. Add the cooked noodles and mix till everything is well-coated, plate, and garnish the tasty teriyaki noodles with sliced green onions.
Note: For the most tender chicken, add the noodles when the chicken is ALMOST cooked. (As it will continue cooking when you mix the noodles.) However, for food safety reasons, I do not recommend this as it can be hard to tell whether all the chicken is cooked through, once you add in the noodles.
Cooking the Udon
Follow the package instructions for cooking duration, but here are the basic steps:
a. Cook the udon noodles in a pot of boiling water, as per the instructions on the back. You will need to use a fork or chopsticks to gently separate the noodles, as they will stick together.
b. Once the udon noodles have cooked, carefully pour it into a colander, then rinse the noodles under the tap. (We want the cold water to stop the noodles from cooking any further- this gives you tender but not gummy noodles.)
Expert Tips
Expert Tip #1: Use medium or medium-high heat and keep an eye on the pot when cooking the udon noodles. It will go from not boiling to foaming over in seconds, as shown above! (Also make sure you use a large enough pot so that you're less likely to spill over and mess up your stove!)
Expert Tip #2: You can make this easy meal healthier- and prettier- by adding bok choy or bell peppers.
Expert Tip #3: Use a large skillet so you can mix the noodles easily.
🥡 How to Store
Store leftover teriyaki chicken noodles in the fridge in an airtight container for 1-2 days.
Reheating
I recommend separating and heating up the chicken and noodles separately (as they will heat up in different amounts of time.)
For both, use low to medium heat and heat till piping hot. For the noodles, you will need to add some water, a bit of oil, and keep stirring, to keep the noodles chewy and ensure they don't stick together!
🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
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Teriyaki Noodles with Chicken (15 minutes)
Equipment
- 1 Pot For boiling noodles
- 1 Colander
- 1 Pan/ Skillet
- 1 heat proof spatula
Ingredients
- 7 oz chicken thigh 200g, skinless and boneless, cut into 1 inch strips
- 14 oz udon noodles 400g. The texture of the udon noodles is essential for a good teriyaki noodles- it's so chewy and goes super well with the sauce! You MAY be able to substitute with spaghetti pasta or ramen noodles, but I've not tried that yet. Do NOT use rice vermicelli noodles.
- 1 Tablespoon neutral vegetable oil Do not use olive oil for a more authentic Asian flavor.
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch Fresh ginger peel and grate. If lazy, you can just slice.
- 1 sprig spring onion sliced
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds Optional garnish
For the teriyaki noodle sauce
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 Tablespoons mirin
- 3 Tablespoons white sugar I have not tried the recipe with brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar Substitute: white vinegar
- 1½ teaspoon corn starch this is to thicken the sauce and make it stick to the noodles better
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add the teriyaki sauce ingredients to the chicken filet strips, making sure each is well-coated and leave to marinate whilst you cook the noodles. Note: This also gives the chicken time to return to room temperature, so that they're not cold when you cook and stay juicy and tender.
- Cook the noodles, then drain, rinse and plate. (See the post for photos and steps, if you're not familiar with cooking udon.)
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan, and when almost smoking, add the ginger, quickly stir-fry, then the minced garlic.
- Add the chicken strips and all the marinade, stirring till the chicken is cooked.
- Add the cooked noodles and mix till everything is well-coated.Note: For the most tender chicken, add the noodles when the chicken is ALMOST cooked. (As it will continue cooking when you mix the noodles.) However, for food safety reasons, I do not recommend this as it can be hard to tell whether all the chicken is cooked through, once you add in the noodles. So make sure all the chicken is cooked 100% then add the noodles.
- Plate, and garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
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