These fiery chili garlic noodles will blow you away! A delicious vegan dinner that's infinitely customizable, loaded with flavor, and on the table in under 30 minutes.
Do you love spicy food? I sure do! There was a time when hot and spicy meals were something I consumed pretty much on a daily basis. This girl loves flavor!
Over the years I've branched out and learned to love all kinds of flavor profiles in my cooking, but I still have days when I'm all about the heat.
These chili garlic noodles are the cure to my hot food cravings! They're delicious and I can make them as hot as I want, depending on how much chili paste I choose to add. Also, this spicy noodle recipes is super easy and made with ingredients that I tend to have on hand, so I can easily whip it up at a moment's notice.
These spicy noodles are one of my new favorite weeknight dinners.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Rice noodles. I used Thai Kitchen stir-fry rice noodles. Wider noodles, such as pad Thai noodles will also work, as will thinner noodles such as rice vermicelli. Other varieties of noodles (non-rice noodles), like soba noodles, ramen noodles, or udon noodles should work just fine as well.
- Sambal oelek. This spicy chili paste can be found in the international foods sections of most supermarkets. You can also buy it on Amazon.
- Soy sauce. We're using all-purpose soy sauce (the variety sold in most supermarkets), but you also have the option of including a bit of dark soy sauce, which will intensify the umami flavor and give your noodles that rich, dark color you see in the photos. All of the soy sauce can be replaced with gluten-free tamari or liquid aminos if needed.
- Brown sugar. Use organic brown sugar to keep the recipe vegan.
- Toasted sesame oil. This is another ingredient you can look for in the international aisle at the grocery store.
- Peanut oil. Feel free to substitute your favorite high-heat oil, such as canola oil, corn oil, or avocado oil.
- Garlic.
- Fresh ginger.
- Scallions. Also known as green onions.
- Frozen edamame. Look for the shelled variety.
- Fresh cilantro. You can obviously skip this if you're not a fan of cilantro.
- Toasted sesame seeds.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Start by cooking your noodles according to the package instructions. You'll either need to boil them or soak them in hot water, depending on the size and brand. Be sure to rinse them under cold water in order to stop the cooking when they're done.
- Stir the sauce ingredients together while the noodles boil: sambal oelek, soy sauce, brown sugar, and toasted sesame oil.
- Heat some peanut oil in a large wok or skillet, then add minced garlic, grated ginger, and just the white parts of your scallions (finely chopped). These are your aromatics.
- Sauté the aromatics for about 1 minute. Be sure to stir them constantly and keep a close eye on them to prevent burning.
- Add your cooked noodles to the skillet, along with the (thawed) frozen edamame, and the soy sauce mixture.
- Raise the heat to high and stir-fry everything for about 2 minutes, until the sauce dries up a bit.
Tip: A large fork or pair of kitchen tongs works great during this step.
- Take the skillet off of the burner. You can taste-test the noodles at this point to see if you'd like to make any adjustments, like more soy sauce or more sambal oelek.
- Garnish your chili garlic noodles with the green parts of your scallions and some chopped fresh cilantro.
- Dig in while they're hot!
Variations
This recipe is highly customizable. Try one of more of the suggestions below to make it your own:
- Spice it up or tone it down. Use more sambal oelek for more heat, less for milder noodles. You can also add other spicy seasonings, such as sriracha sauce or red pepper flakes. Get creative!
- Add veggies. Just about any type of stir fry veggies would work here. Add them after step 4 and stir-fry them for 1 to 5 minutes depending on how hard they are (harder veggies take longer to cook), then proceed with step 5 of the recipe on. Broccoli, carrots, snow peas, asparagus, celery, and cabbage would all be great choices.
- Add protein. The edamame contributes bit of protein, but for even more, add some fried tofu or seitan.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover chili garlic noodles will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for about 2 months.
More Noodle Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Chili Garlic Noodles
Ingredients
- 8 ounces stir-fry rice noodles (Note 1)
- 2 tablespoons sambal oelek (Note 2)
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce (Note 3)
- 2 teaspoons organic brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
- 2 scallions, white and green parts separated and chopped
- 1 ½ cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cook the noodles according to the package directions, until al dente. Drain them into a colander when done, then rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking process.8 ounces stir-fry rice noodles
- While the noodles cook, make the sauce by stirring the sambal oelek, soy sauce, brown sugar, and toasted sesame oil together in a small bowl.2 tablespoons sambal oelek, 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons organic brown sugar, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- Coat the bottom of a large wok or skillet with the peanut oil and place it over medium heat.2 tablespoons peanut oil
- Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, ginger, and white parts of your scallions. Sauté everything for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until very fragrant.4 garlic cloves,, 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger, 2 scallions,
- Add the cooked noodles, edamame, and sauce to the skillet. Raise the heat to high and stir-fry everything for about 2 minutes, until the sauce dries up a bit.1 ½ cups frozen shelled edamame,
- Remove the skillet from heat. Taste-test the noodles and make any adjustments needed to suit your taste, such as adding more soy sauce or sambal oelek.
- Top the noodles with chopped fresh cilantro, sesame seeds, and the green parts of your scallions.¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, 2 scallions,
- Divide onto plates and serve.
Notes
- I used Thai Kitchen stir-fry rice noodles (linked to in the recipe), but you could use thicker noodles such as pad Thai noodles, or thinner noodles like rice vermicelli if you'd like.
- Use less sambal oelek if you prefer a milder dish, or more for a hotter dish. When in doubt, start with less and add more to taste after cooking.
- Optionally, you can replace one tablespoon of the soy sauce with dark soy sauce, which will give the noodles a dark color and rich, intense flavor.
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Fantastic recipe.Just 30 minutes to make.Thank you
I’d been craving chili wontons and used this recipe to toss wontons in. It was exactly what I wanted! I added a few chili flakes to up the spice and a touch more sugar which probably wasn’t necessary. It may have been nice to switch some of the soy sauce for low sodium. It was a touch salty even for me!
Delicious!! Swapped baked tofu for the edamame and added some roasted broccoli. A definite keeper- easy too! Thanks!
Came together quickly and easily. Made it as written, using tamari to be completely gluten free. A nice level of spice, and quite filling.
Wow that’s SPICY!! I needed to add a lot more sweetness to balance it. Next time I’ll only use 2 Tab or less of the samabal olek.
Wow! They sound amazing! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you so much. Happy New Year❤️🐈⬛