Garlic Sesame Noodles
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! If you love this recipe, try my spicy ramen noodles or a recipe from my roundup of the best asian noodle recipes next!
How to make sesame noodles
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! Try my gluten free ramen noodles next!
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.
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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).
What is tahini?
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). Tahini is essentially the peanut butter of sesame seeds!
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.
Make it a meal!
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 keep them vegan and add 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 hot or cold, it makes for the perfect on the go and work lunch.
Just a quick note: if you do plan on adding protein or vegetables to the mix, I’d suggest doubling the sauce recipe! Same with my vegetable noodle stir fry!
How to store
Once prepared, these sesame noodles will keep for 5 days in an air tight container in the fridge. You can eat these noodles cold or warm them up in the microwave or stove!
If you do plan on serving these cold, I suggest slightly overcooking the noodles because rice noodles tend to get a bit firm when they sit in the fridge. Overcooking by 1-2 minutes helps keep them soft!
Are they spicy?
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.
These are also delicious with a bit of chili paste! But if you’re looking for some really spicy noodles, try my chili noodles instead!
Need more easy recipes? Try these!
- Vegetable Lo Mein
- Chickpea Stir Fry
- Orange Chickpeas
- Korean Gochujang Noodles
- Chili Garlic Noodles
- Thai Peanut Sauce
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Garlic Sesame Noodles
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 12 ounces brown rice noodles
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1/4-1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 2 tablespoons veggie broth
- 1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 teaspoon sriracha
- ½ teaspoon 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!
Notes
Comments
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I loved these noodles! Its going on the weekly rotation! Thanks for the great recipes!
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Would your “perfect air fryer chicken” pair well with these noodles? Or do you have a recommendation for chicken to add?
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That one should be ok but I think it’s best with more Italian recipes, I’d maybe try my teriyaki chicken!
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This was absolutely delicious!! I will be adding this into my dinner rotation! I used spaghetti noodles and only a teaspoon of sriracha and my family loved it! Thank you so much!
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I made this last night and it is truly a keeper! So GOOD. I doubled the sauce recipe because I used Udon Noodles. Also because I could not find Tahini, I added roasted sesame seeds.
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Super easy… super tasty…
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Ok. Here’s the funny thing. I have always used Mark Bittman’s recipe for sesame noodles, and I love it. For whatever reason, I decided to look for a different recipe tonight for a potluck I was going to with some colleagues — and it was a COMPLETE hit! The complication though is that I found it way too soy-sauce-y rather than being more peanut butter or tahini-focused. But I gave it a go anyway — and made this as-is except with 8 times as much tahini — which cured the saltiness and was perfect. 🙂
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I had this as a side with asian broiled fish and cold cucumber salad. It was divine! It was also easy to make. I substituted japanese udon noodles for the brown rice noodles since I was having miso glazed fish (I also didn’t know where to find the brown rice noodles and the udon were handy. This would be a good side for many asian beef, chicken or fish meals.
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I found myself with few ingredients on hand and no idea what to make for dinner last night. My usual reaction in this situation is to order from a chain near us called HoneyGrow, which is stir fries and salads. In an attempt to save money and myself from having to go pick it up, I looked up some recipes instead. I happened to have all of these ingredients on hand, and this is surprisingly similar to what we usually order, minus the veggies/protein. My 10 year old LOVED these, as did my husband and I. She ate the leftovers for lunch today and proclaimed “I could eat these for dinner every day!” She said they were much better than what we usually order, and now wants to make them at home instead of ordering. WIN WIN!!!
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So happy to hear that!! Thanks, Amanda!
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❤️this!!
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Quick, easy and so amazingly delicious. I added extra noodles and peanut butter which stretched it out for lunch.
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Love it! Thanks, Wanda!
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Not a keeper for me… not a fan of the flavor combo and super sticky.. nothing to write home about… sorry but we’ll pass
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Loved this recipe and the seasonings were prefect but the rice noodles are just too sticky for our taste. Any chance you can offer suggestions for how I can adjust this recipe so as to use 16 oz of a flat pasta the next time around? Can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Thanks in advance.
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You can use any kind of noodles! Rice noodles are unfortunately just stickier, but I don’t usually have that problem with the Jovial brown rice spaghetti noodles. But regular whole wheat noodles will work just the same.
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I made this tonight and it was a little bland, but I think that’s because I didn’t have the roasted sesame oil. I’m giving it 5 stars cuz all the other flavors are there. XD I’ll have to make it again with the proper oil.
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Oh yes, the toasted sesame oil is the key ingredient!
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amazing sauce! I had ramen noodles on hand, and I`ve eaten these 4 days in a row! I think that I need to make another batch to have on hand! addicting! thank you for this recipe!
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Thank you, Nancy! So glad you loved it.
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Quick and tasty!!
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