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30 minute better than takeout Szechuan Noodles with Sesame Chili Oil. For those nights when you’re craving extra saucy Chinese inspired noodles, but don’t want to wait for take out. Szechuan style noodles with soy sauce, tangy rice vinegar, plenty of vegetables, and thick egg noodles…with the most addicting toasted sesame chili oil spooned over top. These quick and healthy vegetable-filled Chinese noodles can be made and ready in just about 30 minutes. Not only are they healthier, these Szechuan noodles taste so much better than your average take out!
When my oldest brother, Creighton is in town, my recipes tend to shift slightly. If it was just me eating, I’d probably be sharing roasted vegetable recipes, pizza, and pasta every other day. Because in my day-to-day life, those are my favorite foods. But the reason I love cooking so much is that I love cooking for others. I’ve said it many times, but I find the greatest joy in making others happy through food.
This means when friends and family are in town, I adjust. I make recipes that I know for a fact, they will find absolutely delicious.
Case in point, these noodles. My oldest brother is in town from Cleveland for a couple of weeks and staying with my parents. I’ve been getting multiple text messages throughout the day asking what I’m making…if he should stop by the studio and grab leftovers…what’s happening for dinner…did I make food…etc.
I mean, the messages are almost constant.
Clearly Creighton loves food. Actually, I think it might just be all he thinks about.
Anyway, I’ve been on a huge Chinese food kick lately, and Creigh LOVES any kind of saucy Chinese style noodle. So I had the idea to make some homemade spicy Szechuan noodles with a bit of ground chicken, vegetables, and sesame chili oil.
Turns out that my last-minute idea ended up being delicious. Plus, I love the fact that I actually got Creighton to willingly eat vegetables. Sure there are noodles and chicken involved, but if you know Creighton, then you know this is a step in the right direction!
Current goal in life? Get Creighton to eat and enjoy a completely vegetable filled meal with ZERO meat. Big goal.
I have been seeing multiple photos of thick-cut Chinese noodles all over Instagram recently from various restaurants. They look so good, but I have the hardest time finding anything like them here where I live in Colorado. Takeout options are very, very limited, so I often resort to making my own “fakeout” takeout.
It usually turns out pretty good. But you guys? These noodles? They are beyond good, and so simple too!
To start, you’ll have to make the chili oil. And while I know they sell chili oil in the store, this homemade chili oil is better. It’s full of peanut oil, garlic, ginger, chili flakes (use Sichuan or Korean chili flakes if you can find), and sesame seeds. It’s without a doubt my favorite sauce…at least of the moment.
Once you have the oil, the noodles come together in minutes. Brown up some ground chicken, which you can definitely omit if you prefer a vegetarian dish. Then add a little of the soy sauce mixture, red onion, baby bok choy, and thick-cut egg noodles. Toss it all up with some of that chili oil, and done! Simple, but SO flavorful and delicious.
If you wanted to omit the chicken and up the vegetable count, I would add chopped mushrooms and carrots along with the red onion. That will be so good.
And that’s kind of it.
These noodles will take you 30 minutes tops to make, and they’re truly a dinner everyone will love. The best part is that you can really adjust the recipe to your dietary needs. If you like eating vegetarian, opt out of the chicken. If you’re gluten-free, use rice noodles in place of the egg noodles.
Make the recipe work for you!
Love this Better than Takeout recipe and want to give another one a try? Try these 30 Minute Better Than Takeout Thai Drunken Noodles.
If you make these Better Than Takeout Szechuan Noodles with Sesame Chili Oil, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Better Than Takeout Szechuan Noodles with Sesame Chili oil.
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 353 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup peanut oil
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or smashed
- 1-2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds
- 8 ounces Chinese egg noodles
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1-2 tablespoons chili paste (sambal oelek)
- 1/2 pound ground chicken or pork (optional)
- 1 red onion thinly, sliced
- 4 green onions, chopped, plus more for serving
- 4 baby bok choy or green cabbage, chopped
Instructions
- 1. To make the chili oil. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the peanut oil, garlic, ginger, and chili flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally until the garlic is fragrant, 5 minutes. Stir in the sesame seeds, cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more. Remove from the heat and very carefully transfer the oil to a heat proof bowl or glass jar. 2. Meanwhile, cook the eggs noodles according to package directions. 3. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, chili paste, and 1/3 cup water in a bowl. 4. Place the skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken. Season with black pepper and brown all over, breaking it up as it cooks, about 5 minutes. Add the red and green onions, and cook another 2-3 minutes. Slowly pour in the soy sauce mixture and add the bok choy. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the sauce coats the chicken, about 3-5 minutes. 5. Stir in the noodles and 2 tablespoons chili oil. Remove from the heat. Serve the noodles warm, topped with additional chili oil and green onions. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on February 27, 2019
When you say “four baby bok Choy” do you mean 4 bunches or 4 leaves off one bunch?
4 bunches! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Definitely better than takeout! We followed it but omitted the meat and even meatless it had lots of flavor. This is a perfect mid-week quick meal.
So glad this turned out so well for you Sarah! Thank you! xTieghan
I made this tonight. They were perfection. Even the picky 10-year-old said it was delicious. And we have enough oil for another batch or two. So pleased!
So amazing!! Thank you Kristi! xTieghan
I made this recipe last night and LOVED it. I dumped all of the oil into the noodles at the end and it was delicious. I didn’t have bok choy, but it still worked. Tastiest dinner I’ve had in a while!
Thank you so much Kate! So glad this turned out amazing! xTieghan
Another delicious recipe! I make one of your recipes at least twice a week and every time I think that I am going to take a pic of the finished meal to post for you. Inevitably it looks so good when I’m done that I’m too excited to eat and forget about the picture! This was a great week night meal! Will be making again soon.
Thank you so much Kelly! I cannot wait to see the photo that you took! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Just made this–it’s extremely delicious. I smashed the garlic and then gave it a rough chop, and the peanut oil sort of deep-fried the garlic into a nice crunchy treat you get every once in a while (which I love!). Also I didn’t have sambal oelek, but I had a couple of fresh red Fresno chilis laying around; I chopped them up real fine and they tasted really good. I The only thing is, for me, the soy/vinegar/honey sauce was a bit on the thin side, maybe because I left out the chili sauce, so I threw in a little corn starch to thicken it. I used broccoli rabe w/ florets instead of bok choy b/c it’s what I had around, and I really recommend this pairing! Tastes great with these ingredients. Last thing–I couldn’t find Chinese egg noodles so I used papardelle. Yes, pappardelle. And they seemed to work well. Anyway, it was a delicious recipe, one that will be in rotation. DON’T SKIMP on the chili oil at the end–it makes it! Nice recipe!
Hi Anna! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe and it turned out well for you! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
Hello Tiegan, Just wanted to let you know that I made this recipe yesterday and it was easy and so delicious!
Perfect weeknight meal. I used ground pork instead of chicken because that’s what I had and I think the recipe would be great with any ground meat. I also wanted to let you know that I really enjoy your posts on the weekend of nine favorite things.Lighthearted and informative too! Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much Linda! I am so glad you loved this recipe and you have been loving my blog posts! It is really so amazing to hear! xTieghan
Meh. Flavors weren’t great. The ratio of sesame seeds to peanut oil seems off. Way too much sesame seeds for the amount of oil. I used low sodium soy sauce but it was overwhelmingly salty.
Hi Molly! I am sorry this did not work well for you. Are there any questions I could help you with! Feel free to leave another comment or email me! Thank you! xTieghan
So yummy!!! The garlic oil really elevated this recipe. Easy to make Gluten-Free w GF soy and rice noodles. I used kale instead of book choy and black sesame seeds. I appreciate the fact that it’s easy to keep all these ingredients on hand for a quick weeknight meal. Another winner!
Thank you Elle! xTieghan
Made this for dinner tonight, loooove!!! I just dumped the entire bowl of chili oil on top of everything in the skillet. Not too spicy (but I love a lot of heat) and the flavor is amazing!!
Thank you so much Penny! xTieghan
I really liked this recipe. The flavours were amazing and the dish was perfectly spicy. I couldn’t get the sauce to thicken (even though I omitted the water & used less soy sauce) so I added a tad of cornstarch at the end. Not sure what happened… but it was still amazing.
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The garlic, ginger and chillies smell SO good when they’re sizzling in the oil. Warning: people will flock to your kitchen!
Thank you so much Becca! I am so glad you loved this recipe! xTieghan
Hi, I am so happy with your blog, since I discovered it, it is the only one I consult. I made this recipe and it was awesome, but now looking at the picture, I wonder… my oil was full of sesame seeds and your has some of them floating, I use the exact amount the recipe says. Could you tell me what do you think happened to me? maybe I needed more oil? But then I will have a very big amount of oil, more than this recipe requires.
Thanks for your lovely recipes!
Hey Carolina!! I’d recommend just decreasing the amount of sesame seeds to 2 tablespoons OR doubling the oil if you just want more oil. Either will be great and give you a saucy oil! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am so glad you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Tried this last night, It was delicious and hubby loved it too! (he is the fussy one)
That is so great! Thank you Rachel! xTieghan
I made this recipe using the same noodles and it’s REALLY good. Just finished off the batch cold from the fridge on day 3. I reduced the soy sauce to a quarter cup and added a squirt of oyster sauce and a little water to make up the liquid. This is going in the regular rotation.
I am so glad you loved this! Thank you so much Leeanne! xTieghan
I made this last night and wow! So good. The vinegar adds a nice subtle tang. You could really make this with any veggies you have on hand and like in Asian food. I didn’t do the chili paste because we really can’t take heat. My husband has celiacs so I used 8 oz. of rice noodles instead. We also added a sliced up bell pepper to up the veggies. So yummy. I noticed some people have mentioned trouble with the garlic oil being too thick or burned. I cooked ours on very low heat and it was fine for the 8 minutes. Also, the recipe mentions sliced or smashed garlic. I just smashed each clove enough to split it and it was enough oil to still be oily. I can see if you sliced it, it would take up all the oil and make it more of a thick sauce. Either would be great. Just depends on if you want to have the garlic flavor the oil or to be spooned in with the oil. If I sliced it, I’d probably cook it for less time. I think I’ll do the sliced garlic next time.
Hi Meredith! I am so happy that you all loved this recipe! Thank you so much! xTieghan