Noodles are a girls best friend and these easy garlic sesame noodles are without a doubt my favorite noodle recipe to date. They require just a few ingredients, are gluten free and can be eaten hot or cold!
Given the popularity of my sesame chickpeas, two things are very clear. One, you guys LOVE sesame flavored things. Those chickpeas, sesame tofu and teriyaki tofu, it’s hard to deny the deliciousness that is sesame.
Second, you guys love easy, 15 minute style meals. I mean, who doesn’t? Especially when they involve noodles.
So, I introduce you to (probably) your new favorite meal when you’re in a pinch: garlic sesame noodles. They’re gluten free, vegan, ready in 15 minutes, can be eaten hot or cold (like my teriyaki noodles), pair well with salmon, tofu, or just on their own!
Key Ingredients
The best thing about these sesame noodles is that they require ingredients you most likely already have in your pantry.
If you’re in a pinch for dinner and need something quick, this is the perfect recipe for you!
- Brown rice noodles: You can really use any type of noodle for this recipe. Ramen, soba, udon, regular spaghetti, brown rice spaghetti, whatever you have!
- Soy Sauce/Tamari: I highly suggest using low sodium soy sauce/tamari for this recipe. If you use regular, it will still be delicious, but quite salty!
- Honey: You can use maple syrup or even brown sugar or coconut sugar in place of the honey.
- Tahini: Most sesame noodles are not going to use tahini, but honestly, sesame noodles without the tahini are just not as good in my opinion! It helps make the noodles creamy and thickens the sauce a bit so you aren’t drowning them in pure soy sauce. You can safely sub the tahini for peanut butter for a sesame peanut noodle version!
- Garlic: If you’re a regular around here, you know that garlic is a staple in virtually all of my savory recipe. Plus, they’re garlic sesame noodles after all!
- Sesame oil: For this recipe, the sesame oil is where much of the flavor comes from. Be sure to use toasted sesame oil for the most flavor.
- Rice vinegar: To help round out the flavors of the sauce. I’m not a huge fan of vinegar, so there is no strong vinegar flavor to these noodles. It just acts to balance out the salty from the soy sauce, the sweet from the honey, and the spicy from the sriracha.
- Sriracha: For a little spice! Any hot sauce will do, and feel free to adjust to your spice preferences. As written, the recipe is not super spicy (and this is coming from someone very sensitive to spice).
How to make this recipe
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions.
While the pasta is cooking, prep the sauce. Start by mincing the garlic very finely or use a garlic press to get it super small since we won’t be blending up this sauce. You don’t want super large chunks!
Add the minced garlic to a pan with the neutral oil. This can be avocado, olive, or refined coconut oil. Avoid using virgin coconut oil since it has a stronger coconut flavor.
Saute until the edges of the garlic look golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together all of the remaining sauce ingredients in a bowl until there are no visible clumps of ginger and the tahini is spread throughout.
Pour the sauce into the pan with the garlic and mix well. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.
When the pasta is done cooking, combine with the sauce. Taste, and feel free to add any additional flavors you choose.
Garnish with scallions, red pepper flakes, crushed peanuts and enjoy! You can also view this recipe as a web story.
Serving suggestions and variations
There are SO many ways you can serve this recipe and so many ways to jazz it up. I love it fresh out of the pot with a side of chicken or salmon. Or as a salad with my peanut tofu or teriyaki tofu.
You can toss in some steamed broccoli, serve it alongside my General Tso’s chickpeas, or saute a bunch of veggies and make this a stir fry! You can use different noodles, sprinkle on peanuts, make it spicy, whatever you want!
It’s versatile and since it’s so great cold, it makes for the perfect on the go and work lunch.
Does they keep?
Once prepared, these sesame noodles will keep for 5 days in an air tight container in the fridge.
As written, these noodles are not super spicy on their own, you can add more sriracha or red pepper flakes for more spice if desired.
Tahini vs. Sesame paste
These sesame noodles call for tahini, which is similar to, but not the same as, sesame paste. Sesame paste has a stronger flavor but it’s not found in all grocery stores, so I opted for a version that everyone will have access to.
Sesame paste is made with toasted sesame seeds, whereas tahini is made with raw sesame seeds (usually). If you can find sesame paste near you, you can use that instead! You are also welcome to use peanut butter if you want a peanut flavor to these noodles.
Need more easy recipes? Try these!
- Easy Vegetable Lo Mein
- General Tso’s Chickpea Stir Fry
- Orange Chickpeas
- Chili Garlic Noodles
- Thai Peanut Sauce
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15 Minute Garlic Sesame Noodles
Ingredients
- 12 ounces uncooked brown rice noodles
- 1 tbsp olive or avocado oil
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1/4-1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce*
- 2 tbsp veggie broth
- 1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tsp sriracha
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions.
- Mince the garlic very finely or use a garlic press to get it super small since we won’t be blending up this sauce.
- Add the minced garlic to a pan with the neutral oil. This can be avocado, olive, or refined coconut oil.
- Saute until the edges of the garlic look golden brown.
- Meanwhile, whisk together all of the remaining sauce ingredients in a bowl until there are no visible clumps of ginger and the tahini is spread throughout.
- Pour the sauce into the pan with the garlic and mix well.
- Let simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.
- When the pasta is done cooking, combine with the sauce.
- Garnish with scallions, red pepper flakes, crushed peanuts and enjoy!
Amanda
These look so delicious, and easy to make! Totally going to make this tonight for dinner. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Janel
These are great! All ages love them. From my ten year old daughter to my fifty year old husband. It’s one of my favourite dinners. Nice and easy great way to eat vegetables. Love this!
Abbie
Is this fresh ground ginger or ginger powder?
Claire Cary
Just ground ginger powder!
Sharice
Loved this recipe! Making it again tonight but I’m adding broccoli and chicken. The first time I made it I only had 8 oz of quinoa pasta but it worked anyway So easy! Who knew you could use gluten free spaghetti noodles like this! Any told on adding things like chicken or broccoli? Does it require more sauce?
Claire Cary
So happy you enjoyed it!! If you’re going to be adding things to the dish, I would recommend more sauce! You probably won’t need too much more, but if you just double the sauce recipe and use what you need, you can store the rest in the fridge, which should keep for about 5 days and can be used in lots of other dishes!
Ingrid
I had these for lunch today and they were so good! I subbed the tahini for PB and still so good! This is my third recipe from your blog and I’ve loved them all! Thank you ☺️
Claire Cary
YUM! I’ll have to try it with the peanut butter, that sounds so good!
Ines Lombardi
This is so amazing and delish!!!! I shared with all my friends! Really easy and fast to make it! I didn’t have the rice vinegar or scallions, I used cilantro for a
Little color and I added black sesame seeds! I will make it again ! Thank you
Claire Cary
Yum! So glad it still worked without the vinegar! Thank you for the feedback!
Jamie
Claire is 3 for 3!!! This recipe is SO yummy. I used pad Thai noodles and added broccoli and a veggie slaw mix. SO yum. This will be a staple!
Claire Cary
Thank you Jamie!! Sounds so good with the veggies, thank you for the feedback 🙂
Kara Lee
My husband and I tried this tonight and it was so yummy! Very easy and quick to make with such great flavor. We served it with sliced grilled steak and I put a squeeze of lemon on top because I love lemon 🙂 This is a wonderful meal all on its own without anything as well! If you haven’t tried this one yet it is a MUST cook and will most definitely be in our meal plan from now on!
Claire Cary
Thank you so much for the feedback! That sounds delicious with the lemon on top, so glad you both enjoyed!