These Sweet and Spicy Noodles are an Asian-inspired, fast, easy weeknight dinner that can be ready and on the table in just 20 minutes!
I don't know what it is but I am all about sweet and spicy, lately! These 20 Minute Sweet and Spicy Noodles are so easy and so spicy with a lovely touch of sweetness. As my husband described it, they're damn delicious. After the success of our Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Chicken Thighs, I knew I wanted to use a similar sauce for some spicy noodles. And the hubby was right, damn did it turn out delicious!
Recipe Video
Ingredients Needed
These sweet and spicy noodles are a fast and easy dinner to make with simple, easy ingredients.
- Rice Noodles - We used a thicker cut rice noodle, but you could also use a thinner one, or a pasta noodle. If using pasta, be sure to cook it to al dente, first. Also, if you have a local Asian market nearby, check that out for rice noodles. You'll be able to find not only a greater variety, but they'll also be much more affordable than the brands you'll find at your big grocery store.
- Garlic - A staple in our cooking!
- The Sauce - Honey, Hoisen, Soy Sauce, Sriracha, Garlic chili paste, and Red Pepper Flakes.
- Sesame Oil - Or another oil or fat to add to the pan like butter or peanut oil.
- Garnishes - Peanuts, Shredded Carrots, Green Onions, and fresh Cilantro.
Tips: Add in some protein of choice or some other veggies!
By the way, if you haven't made your own Homemade Hoisin Sauce yet, try it. I promise you won't regret it!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Whisk together the ingredients for your sauce.
The sauce as I made it is definitely spicy. But you can tamper it down with less red pepper if you want just more of a hint of spice. My husband and I prefer more of a face punch of spice, especially to balance out the sweetness of the sauce is. M is definitely her father's daughter and she too loved how spicy these were. She even asked for more Sriracha on her plate! Talk about proud mama moment!
Step 2: Cook your noodles. This will depend on the noodles that you use. You can use a rice noodle or a regular pasta noodle, follow the instructions on the package of whatever noodles you use. Now if you're using a thinner rice noodle, then you won't cook them by just adding them to boiling water. Like how we make our 15 Minute Garlic Fried Noodles.
Step 3: Heat the oil in your pan and add your sauce.
Step 4: Add your noodles to the hot pan with the sauce and stir to coat the noodles.
Step 5: Add your garnishes.
Then enjoy! Winner winner 20 Minute Sweet and Spicy Noodles dinner!
I usually gauge how good a meal is by how long the leftovers last. When my husband said they don't last past breakfast the next day, I knew they were really freakin' good. These are right up there with our 15 minute Garlic Fried Noodles and now that I know M has a deep love for Sriracha like her parents, we'll definitely be making these spicy noodles on the regular.
More Noodle Recipes
- 15 Minute Garlic Fried Noodles
- 10 Minute Peanut Noodles
- Beef and Spinach Noodles
- Chicken and Broccoli Sesame Noodles
- Miso Spinach and Mushroom Soba Noodles
Asian Inspired Dishes
- Homemade Crispy Sesame Chicken
- Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Chicken Thighs
- Maple Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs
- Sweet Sesame Ginger Meatballs
FAQs
Whatever you have! Rice noodles or pasta, any work great with this dish. Rice noodles just require sitting in boiling water to cook, while pasta noodles will take longer - although Fresh Pasta from scratch will take much less time to cook. Follow the instructions on the package for the noodle of your choice.
Rice noodles are usually sold in the Asian section of your larger grocery store. Although you can also buy them online, or (and the best option) is to find a local Asian market. There they will have a ton of variety, all at a much better price!
Absolutely! We especially love this with shrimp and will cook the shrimp first in sesame oil, with the garlic. You could also use chicken or tofu, too.
Of COURSE. This dish is great with whatever veggies you have! You can give them a sauté in the sesame oil to cook them, or add them as a garnish like the carrots.
Make this or any of my other recipes? Be sure to let me know onon Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Happy Noodling, friends!
20 Minute Sweet and Spicy Noodles
Ingredients
- 16 oz linguine rice noodles or regular pasta
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
- 2 -3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste
- 1/4 cup sesame oil*
- 2 cups shredded carrots approximately 2 large
- 1 cup roasted, salted peanuts
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
- Sriracha to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook noodles until al dente, approximately 6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prep your veggies / garnishes. In a small bowl mix soy sauce, hoisin, honey, chili garlic paste, and red pepper flakes.
- A couple of minutes before the noodles are done, in a large saute pan, heat sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds. Be sure it doesn't burn! Add sauce and stir.
- When noodles are done, drain and add immediately to pan with sauce and stir until the noodles are well coated.
- Top with carrots, peanuts, cilantro, green onion, and Sriracha. Mix and serve!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I didn't have carrots so we used snow peas. It was a touch too sweet for me so I added a splash of rice vinegar. I realized 5 minutes after we ate that we forgot to put the peanuts on top which is sad but we will make it again for sure!
Very good recipe, have made it twice now. I also discovered I don't like rice noodles as much as wheat, but that's me. My question is whether adding a tablespoon or two (max) of fish sauce might improve the depth of sauce's flavor?
thanks.
Oooh that's a great idea, Tom! Will try that, soon!
I’m obsessed with this recipe! Definitely double the sauce, especially if you are going to have left overs, which are amazing as well. The best part of you can add whatever veggies you want! I add zucchini, carrots, snow peas, and sometimes cabbage if I have it on hand. Don’t skip the peanuts at the end!!
ALSO! I made some sauce and used it as a glaze on some salmon, and it was delicious! I said obsessed, right?
Thanks!!!
Based on other's reviews I doubled the sauce. This turned out well and I would recommend it. I used zucchini instead of carrots (I don't like carrots) and added sautéed onions. I love vegetables, so next time I will double them as well. Overall, I am pleased and will make again.
What type of sesame oil? I have the dark toasted type....?
That kind of sesame oil is really best used as a seasoning oil or a final drizzle on a dish. For heating and cooking the garlic in, you really want a "regular" sesame oil, which is one that's usually labeled just sesame oil. Otherwise, the dark toasted may add a burnt / bitter taste if it's heated too much.
Delicious recipe with a few tweaks! For just two people (wanting to get 4 total servings out of this), I halved the amount of rice noodles (8 oz) and added a pound of cooked shrimp, but left the sauce amount the same. Next time, I’ll do half the rice noodles (8 oz) and the pound of shrimp, but also halve the sauce. It was just too much sauce in my opinion (and that’s on me! I just thought with the added protein that the whole amount of sauce would be good but it was too much). Also, the garlic doesn’t “cook” when you add it to the sauce and then put the sauce in the pan with the sesame oil. If you really want to cook the garlic, I’d recommend not putting the garlic into the sauce when you mix it up, but rather, cook the garlic for 2 minutes or so in the sesame oil and then add the mixed up sauce and heat. And finally, 6 minutes was not nearly enough time to cook the rice noodles (although that is was the bag says to do!) They need a minimum of 8 minutes, probably more like 9–10. Mine were chewy and gluey and not cooked nearly through. I’ll definitely make it again with these adjustments because the flavor is great and the amount of spice was just right!
Great tweaks, Abby!! You're so right about the garlic, I've made it a couple of times by cooking the garlic first, too! So glad you liked it!
Question: Do yo(u think this would be better (it's already great!) made ahead and left to "marinate" (for lack of a better word) before serving?
You mean all cooked and then re-heated? Better, probably not. But I have been known to eat the leftovers cold... If you mean prepping everything with the noodles before and then cooking, no you wouldn't want to do that.
I mean pasta cooked, mixed with sauce ... then left in the fridge or on the counter for a bit so the noodles absorb the flavors, or the flavors "bloom."
Oh! Kind of like how you'd let a pasta salad marinate overnight - yes I'm sure you could do this and then toss it all in a pan, but you'd want to make sure your garlic cooked (unless you don't mind a little raw garlic). If you try it - let me know what you think!
BTW, we absolutely love this recipe. I use whatever veggies I have on hand. Thank you for posting this.
I made this recipe 3 times and every time it just gets better! Thank you for the recipe
LOVE to hear that!!
Would you recommend cooking shrimp with the sauce and then add the noodles? About to make it very shortly. Thanks
Hi Joe, sorry I didn't see this earlier but yes, you can give the shrimp a quick cook in the sauce (I'd recommend doubling the sauce) and then add the noodles.
I’m doing WW and tried this meal before I started and it’s a FAMILY FAVORITE! Do you have the break down of Nutrional facts by chance?
Hi Martha! So glad your family enjoys it! I just updated the recipe card to include nutritional information based on the entire recipe being 6 servings. I hope this helps!
Mmmh it is really delicious as I cooked it to my best friend Halloween
💞💞
What a great friend you are - and a delicious Halloween you had!
So tasty! Thank you for this delish recipe. I also doubled the sauce and added shiitake mushrooms.
For those that double the sauce, should I also double the sesame seed oil? I know it’s a strong flavor, so not sure if it would overpower?
Hi Jenna! It can be a strong flavor to some so if you're worried about it overpowering, I'd suggest cutting it down to 1/8 a cup. But if you love the sesame flavor, then it's not overpowering, it's a good balance with all of the other flavors. I hope you enjoy it - let me know what you think!
I just made these last night: my family LOVED them!! (That's a hubby and three grown boys) I posted a picture of them on FB and and my @cheerstothetoast Instagram account...can't tell you how many folks asked for the recipe!! Shared your link 😁 Thanks for a new family favorite!!
Dana!! Thank you so much for sharing!! Thanks so much for sharing the link and I'm so so happy to hear you all enjoyed it so much. 😀
I don't double the seasme oil but imagine you could
Yum! I added one more scoop of everything for the sauce and thought that was pretty good. I missed the note to double the sauce and will try that next time or will just use an 8 oz pkg of noodles.
Air fried some tofu and dinner was served! My carnivore partner ate seconds, so that always demonstrates success!
This dish is DELICIOUS! Love the sauce which we made extra spicy. We now have a new family favorite. Thanks for sharing!
Cindy!! Thank you SO much for letting me know! Extra spicy - delish!!
This recipe came out great. I've cooked it several times now and it just keeps getting better. I made a rookie mistake the first time and let the noodles sit for too long while I was making the sauce. They got VERY sticky and mushy. Make sure to let the noodles soak in cold water if you're still preparing the sauce. Also, I don't know how no one mentioned this, but the recipe measurements don't make nearly enough sauce. I double the sauce every time I make this now, and it perfectly covers the noodles.
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
These look so good! I love that the sauce is so sweet. I love to add lime too!
These were delicious!