If you love noodles as much as we do, also try our creamy coconut peanut noodles, soy ginger noodles, or ramen noodle salad. We love stir-frying because it’s a wonderful way to incorporate crisp, seasonal vegetables and experiment with some new ingredients, too. This spring recipe is loaded with our favorite springtime vegetables like asparagus, broccolini, carrot, and radishes, but you can easily make this noodle stir-fry year-round. Use what’s in your fridge or try a new vegetable you may not have tried before. You can easily make this vegetarian – omit the chicken and sub for an equal amount of cubed tofu. Pack the leftovers for a nutritious make-ahead lunch.
What you’ll need to make this noodle stir-fry recipe
Choose your vegetables and protein and the rest comes together using just a few simple ingredients:
Cornstarch – thickens up the sauce. Chicken stock – adds flavor. Lemon juice – this is the star ingredient, adding a fresh, bright, tart flavor. Honey – adds a warm sweetness. Sesame oil – adds a nutty, savory sesame flavor. Soy sauce – adds depth and saltiness.
Rice noodles – any variety can work but we love the rice vermicelli (shown in the pictures). Cooking oil – a neutral-tasting cooking oil like olive or avocado will work well. Vegetables – we love a mixture of fresh, colorful, seasonal vegetables. Ginger + garlic – add lots of flavor and a bit of kick. Chicken – tender white chicken breasts cut into chunks. Cornstarch – to coat the chicken and make it crispy. Sesame seeds – add a little nutty crunch and visual pop!
Switch up the protein – try using thinly sliced pork instead of chicken. Pork makes great stir-fry meat because it cooks quickly. You can see it in our pork chop stir-fry! Make it vegetarian – substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth and use cubes of firm tofu instead of chicken. You can cook the tofu in the same way by coating them in cornstarch before browning them in the pan. Make it gluten-free – use a gluten-free soy sauce or tamari in place of regular soy sauce to make it completely gluten-free!
Try different noodles – the noodles in the pictures are rice vermicelli which are very thin, snow-white noodles with a delicate appearance and texture. They are excellent in this recipe but you could also use other varieties of rice noodles like rice sticks or even buckwheat soba noodles, but you will need to adjust the cooking time. Make sure they are slightly underdone because they’ll finish cooking in the sauce at the end. Mix up the vegetables – you can use a mix of any quick-cooking vegetables like bell peppers. edamame, bean sprouts, zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, pineapple, green beans, snow peas, bok choy, or eggplant. While we love the flavor of fresh vegetables in this dish, canned ones add a nice texture too, like bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, or baby corn. Serving a larger group? Omit the chicken to make it a vegetarian stir-fry and serve it alongside slow-baked Asian salmon with sweet and spicy Asian eggplant and a side of favorite coconut rice.
Did you make this?
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