Spicy Garlic Chili Ramen Noodles With Instant Ramen
With a perfect balance of crunchy, creamy, salty, and fiery, these Sesame Garlic Ramen Noodles are easily one of my favorite "clean-out-the-fridge" dinners. Made with your choice of noodles, a few pantry staples, and whatever veggies are kicking around in your drawer, these spicy sesame noodles are the ideal rent-week meal!
Ingredients
- 1 lb noodle of choice I used 5 packets of instant ramen noodles
- 1 drizzle hot sesame oil or regular toasted sesame oil, peanut oil, or olive oil
- ¼ C soy sauce or tamari, coconut aminos, or Bragg's liquid aminos
- 2-3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1-2 tablespoon fresh ginger grated or minced
- 3 tablespoon peanut butter, tahini or combination of both
- 2-5 cloves garlic, minced to taste
- 2 teaspoon sriracha optional, or use gochujang
- 2 teaspoon chili garlic (Sambal Oelek) optional
- 2 teaspoon agave nectar optional, or use the sweetener of your choice.
- crunchy vegetables of choice see notes
- toppings of choice see notes
Instructions
- Boil noodles of choice in salted water according to box directions and drain.1 lb noodle of choice
- Toss with oil. To keep the noodles from sticking together, toss them with a drizzle of hot sesame oil. NOTE: regular sesame oil, peanut oil, or even olive oil will achieve the same end. We just like foods nice and spicy over here.1 drizzle hot sesame oil
- Make Peanut Sauce by whisking together Soy Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Fresh Minced Ginger, Peanut Butter/Tahini, Fresh Chopped Garlic, Sriracha/Chili Garlic Sauce/Gochujang, and Agave Nectar. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.¼ C soy sauce, 2-3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1-2 Tbsp fresh ginger, 3 Tbsp peanut butter, tahini or combination of both, 2-5 cloves garlic, minced, 2 tsp sriracha, 2 tsp chili garlic (Sambal Oelek), 2 tsp agave nectar
- Toss the noodles in your delicious sauce. Stop here and eat, or, if you have more time, energy, and ingredients move on to step 5!
- Add the prepped veggies, tossing to combine. Add any toppings you like!crunchy vegetables of choice, toppings of choice
- Eat. Repeat. You know you want to.
Notes
Please note that nutrition facts are based solely on the noodles and sauce using 5 servings as the portion size. Any additions (e.g. veggies or toppings) will change the makeup (likely for the better), and will allow you to stretch the meal to feed more mouths!
- Crunchy Vegetables of Choice - If you have them on hand, add in as many crunchy vegetables as your heart desires so you can eat the full rainbow! Here are a few of our favorites to add:
- Scallions, a.k.a. green onions, sliced thinly
- Bell Pepper, any color, sliced thinly
- Cucumber, seeded and sliced into short matchsticks or cut into wedges
- Carrot, either shredded or spiralized
- Cabbage, red, green, Napa, savoy, or Bok Choy, shredded or sliced thinly
- Radishes, cut into matchsticks
- Sugar Snap Peas and/or Snow Peas, sliced thinly on the bias
- Toppings of Choice - Add as many toppings as you like for extra flavor and crunch. I like:
- Fresh Mint, Fresh Cilantro, and/or Fresh Basil, Thai if you’ve got it, regular if you don’t
- Chopped Peanuts or Cashews
- Toasted Sesame Seeds
- TJ’s Ghost Pepper Flakes or Red Pepper Flakes
- Extra Sriracha and/or Sambal Oelek
- Nori Komi Furikake - This is a flavor shaker that has nori, which is dried seaweed, and sesame seeds. It is also awesome on popcorn with some sriracha salt.
- Maruesu Tempura Crisps - This is another Costco find that’s a GEM. We eat these by the handful, as well as use them as a garnish any time we can. Get you some!
- Consider sautéing your veggies. I am perfectly happy throwing in all of the veggies completely raw, but Joe prefers his to be a little softer. On the occasions that he’s going to eat with me, I briefly sauté these additions (excluding the cucumber) in a bit of oil and a sprinkling of salt before adding them to the mix. If you want cold sesame noodles that are more like a salad and/or want one less dish to clean up, omit this step. Or, be lazy like me and use the pot you boiled your noodles in.
- Consider adding protein. Keep it vegan with pan-fried crispy tofu or soy curls, or add sliced chicken, steak, salmon, or shrimp.
- Swap in Italian-style noodles. Don't have ramen on hand? You can make sesame peanut butter noodles with spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccini, rotini, penne, or literally any shape of pasta you have on hand.
- Gluten-Free - Opt for gluten-free noodles and use either tamari (soy product) or coconut aminos (soy alternative) in place of the soy sauce.
- Soy-Free - Use coconut aminos (gluten-free) or Bragg's Liquid aminos (not gluten-free) in place of the soy sauce.
- Nut-Free - Use tahini or sunflower seed butter in place of peanut butter.
- Refrigerator: Store leftover noodles in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The flavors actually deepen overnight, so don't be surprised if they taste even better the next time you dig in.
- With or without veggies: If you plan on meal prepping, consider storing the sauce separately from any delicate veggies like cucumber, which can get watery over time. Toss everything together just before eating for the best texture.
- Reheating: These chili ramen noodles are delicious cold, at room temperature, or gently reheated. If reheating, add a splash of water or a touch more oil (avocado oil or canola oil both work well) to loosen the sauce back up, since it tends to thicken in the fridge.
- Freezing: This dish doesn't freeze particularly well due to the fresh vegetables and sauce consistency, so it's best enjoyed fresh within the week.
Nutrition
Calories: 481kcalCarbohydrates: 65gProtein: 13gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gSodium: 2488mgPotassium: 275mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 14IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!