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!
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 sauce, 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!
K
Very good. We used fettuccini pasta. I already had blanched broccoli, so I added that along with sliced radishes. After the pasta cooked, I used the pasta pot to cook the sauce, garlic and sesame oil. You may think there is too little sauce for your pasta. But it's plenty because the sauce sticks to the noodles so well. I added a third of the pasta to the sauce mixture, a third of the toppings/additions, mixed; added another third and mixed; and kept going. After we served ourselves, I added the last bit of fettuccini to what was left in the pot. ... I will say, even with my husband helping at the food processor, it takes longer than 20 minutes.
GreenInOC
This is the first Asian dish I have ever made. I have always been intimidated to cook Asian cuisine because I love the layers of flavor but I don't understand how to get there. The picture looked yummy, the recipe was simple and called for easily sourced ingredients. I have some leftover shrimp for a dinner party test run that I could add to it so I figured I'd give it a shot.
I can't properly describe how AMAZING this is! The layers of flavor are like music for your tongue! I can't wait to make it again, but next time with regular linguini. The store bought rice noodles I got were nothing like what I've had in restaurants. I also like that it's an easy recipe to adjust to your tastes & preferences when it comes to what you want to mix in.
I'm planning on making the Maple Soy Chicken Thighs and I think the leftovers of that would be really good in this. I think I'll adding bok choy & water chestnuts.
I made 1/2 of the recipe last night for dinner and breakfast & lunch today. It was so addicting let's just say that I need to find something else to eat today!
Tracy
What an amazing review - THANK YOU!!! I love love love hearing feedback like this! I hope you love the Maple Soy Chicken Thighs, too!! Let me know! 😀
GreenInOC
I made it and used the leftover Maple Soy Chicken Thighs and it was good but I wouldn't do it again because the unique tase of the maple soy chicken is lost in the dish. Maybe if the chunks of chicken were bigger? For me it wouldn't be worth it I'd rather savor that flavor separately.
I have made this dish 4 times now. I've wanted to make it more but I'm trying to restrain myself!
The 2nd time I used some squid ink spaghettini. The third time was the best. I used linguini, left over chicken thighs and shrimp from a dinner party, snow peas instead of carrots, and water chestnuts. I made the full recipe on Tuesday night thinking that I would be savoring it every day through the weekend. Cut to lunch on Thursday and I was sad to be eating the last serving!
I made it again tonight but unable to sustain eating a pound of pasta every 48 hours or so, I used all veggies instead of noodles. I started by frying some chicken thighs and grass fed beef in sesame oil, removed the meat & cooked the sauce then added the 1# of sugar snap peas, after a few minutes added 1# of spiralized zucchini, then added the meat back in and added the water chestnuts. Delish! This time I made extra sauce and used that to cook the rest of the thighs and beef in to throw in salads.
I've shared your recipe with everyone at my dinner party and other friends who like to cook. If this recipe was a man, I'd marry it!!
Tracy
Oooh good to know about it with the maple soy chicken thighs. And THANK YOU for sharing it!! I'm so so so so glad you enjoy it as much as we do and amazzzinnggg tips about using veggies! It sounds amazing! And I agree - if I could, I'd put a ring on it too!! Hahaha! ;P
Becky
Love, love, love these noodles! Super easy to throw together and really steals the show. May try adding grilled shrimp next time.
Tracy
SO glad you enjoyed it, Becky!! Mmmm shrimp sounds like a delicious addition!!
Juliana
Oh. My. Gosh. This was amazing!!!! I haven’t found a noodle dish I loved until I tried this recipe!! Thank you!
Tracy
Ahh Juliana that makes me SO Happy to hear!! Thank you so much for letting me know!!
Holly
These were amazing! Perfect balance of sweet and spicy.
Tracy
So glad you enjoyed it, Holly!
Haley
Delicious and easy. This was the first recipe my boyfriend and I made in our new apartment! We added in pan-fried tofu for some protein, but followed all other directions otherwise. It is sure to become a part of our weekly rotation.
Tracy
Haley!! Congrats on co-habitation with your boyfriend! That’s a big step and I’m honored that thugs was your first recipe made together in it! Great idea for the tofu and thank you so much for sharing this with me!
Nancy O'Connor
This was delicious. Next time I will do one of the following: increase the sauce and cook all the noodles. Or, keep the sauce ingredients as is and make less noodles.
Other than that, We loved this.
Tracy
Great tips, Nancy! So glad you guys enjoyed it!
Lay
Do you have the nutritional facts for the recipe?
Matt Ivan
Such a fun recipe! Love the combination of flavors.
Natalie
I absolutely love the flavors in this. Sounds really delicious. It's a perfect easy dinner that my family will definitely like. I can't wait to give this recipe a try.