Upon first forkful of these noodles, Husband declared, “these taste like takeout!”
Hedging any possible offense by comparing my home cooking to that of a takeout-style joint, he quickly added, “and I mean that as a compliment!”
But no disclaimer needed, Husband. Tasting like takeout is the gold standard of homemade Asian food to me. I was flattered: This was a compliment, and a darn good one.
He became an even bigger fan of these noodles when I informed him that they were a one-pan ordeal. Yes! Everything cooks in the same pan!
I’ve learned that minimizing dirty dishes makes the resident kitchen cleaner happy.
Things move quickly with these noodles once you start cooking, so while I’m usually a proponent of multitasking in the kitchen, you will want to give the recipe a read through and have all of the pieces of these bad boys in place before anything goes into the pan.
To kick these off, you’ll crisp up some spiced chicken thighs.
Once they’re all cooked and crispy, take them out of your pan and save them for later.
Then stir fry sliced onion and shredded carrot and chopped up garlic in the chicken fat.
Once everything’s all charred and your kitchen is adequately filled with all the good smells, add the spicy lime sauce and lots of chicken broth and let it all bubble up. Then add the rice noodles and turn off the heat.
Rice noodles cook perfectly by soaking in hot liquid. In this case, they’ll be slurping up all that chili lime sauce and getting really, REALLY flavorful.
Let them soak for 20-25 minutes, giving them a toss every few minutes to make sure they don’t stick together.
Slice up your crispy chicken thighs while you wait.
Once your noodles are cooked, stir in the chicken and lots of chopped green onions. If you feel so inclined, you can crank your heat back up and give everything a quick stir fry here.
Then dig into your spicy, limey, faux-takeout Asian noodles and feel like you’ve beaten the system by having a delicious homemade meal AND minimal dirty dishes.
One-Pan Asian Noodles
Spicy, chili-lime noodles that cook in one pan!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup chili garlic sauce (see note)
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 1 pound)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 cup shredded carrot (about 2 large carrots)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 14 ounces thin rice noodles
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
For serving: Lime wedges, more chopped green onion
Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, lime juice, and brown sugar.
Heat oil in a large skillet with high sides over medium-high. Meanwhile, season chicken with the salt, ginger, garlic powder, and pepper. Place chicken in the hot oil and cook 6 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 6 minutes. Remove to a plate and cover loosely with foil.
Add sliced onion to the pot and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly charred. Add shredded carrots and minced garlic and continue stir-frying for 1 minute more. Pour in the soy sauce mixture. Once mixture is bubbling, add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add rice noodles and turn off heat. Soak 20-25 minutes, stirring every few minutes to break up noodles. Meanwhile, slice chicken into 1/2-inch strips.
Once noodles are desired softness, stir in sliced chicken and chopped green onion. Serve with additional lime and chopped green onions.
Chili garlic sauce can be found in the Asian section of your supermarket. It is spicy and will give your noodles a kick! Feel free to adjust the amount used to your liking.
If you like your noodles to be more well-done, return pan to high heat after soaking and stir fry 2-4 minutes.
