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Easy Sesame Chicken and Noodles in Spicy Broth…best for those nights when you’re craving spicy, warming, Vietnamese-inspired noodle soup, but want something made quickly at home. Crispy caramelized chicken in a sweet, spicy, tangy sesame chile sauce, atop noodles in a steaming, spicy broth. This quick chicken and noodle bowl can be made and ready in under an hour. Not only is this easy and healthy, but it’s also delicious and so full of winter color!
Hey, hi, and happy mid-week! You guys know those days when nothing else sounds good other than comfort food? That was 100% me on Monday. You see, I’ve had a lingering decision that needs to be made as soon as possible…and it’s hard. I’m not one for making big decisions and tend to overthink them. Anyone else the same way?
Thankfully I have cooking to help mend the stress a bit. It’s still my happy place, and what I turn to when I need to just zone out and not think about things. Enter this chicken noodle bowl or maybe more like a noodle soup. It’s kind of a cross between the two. The way I make this dish is heavy on the noodles, light on the broth. It’s a delicious bowl of healthy comfort food.
Definitely best for nights when you just need something easy to create that’s totally comforting.
The Inspiration.
As I mentioned above, I really wanted a cozy meal, but at the same time, I wanted something that was fresh and colorful.
A classic Vietnamese Pho is made with thin slices of beef, noodles, and a very steaming hot broth. The broth is poured over the raw slices of beef. The heat from the broth cooks the meat. If you’ve ever had Pho out at your favorite restaurant, you know how delicious it is. And just how warming and comforting it can be.
I love the idea of Pho at Home, but didn’t want to work with raw beef. I wanted something a bit lighter. So I tried to recreate a pho with crispy roasted chicken, noodles, and broth. It’s just as delicious, but slightly lighter, and simpler to make at home!
The details.
Start with roasting the chicken. I like to toss the chicken in a little soy sauce and honey to help it caramelize in the oven. When it comes out, it’s perfectly tender, sweet, sticky, and spicy.
While the chicken is roasting, make the broth. The key to the broth is all in the garlic, ginger, and spices. I use a mix of star anise, cinnamon, and chile peppers along with garlic and ginger. It’s incredibly flavorful but really easy to toss together.
When the chicken is done, simply assemble each bowl. I like to add the noodles first, then the chicken, and finish with the steaming broth so everything is warm throughout. As you’re putting the bowls together, and then pouring over the broth, you’ll quickly realize just how delicious everything is going to be all together.
The toppings.
The last things to add are all the toppings, which are KEY if you ask me. But then we all know how much I love my toppings. I go heavy on the fresh herbs, using a mix of Thai basil, mint, and cilantro. I add lots of fresh Fresno peppers, a drizzle of sesame oil, and then squeeze over a zest of lime.
You can’t skimp on the toppings! They bring this bowl to life.
This looks like a meal that took all day to prepare, right? But it’s the easiest! Perfect for crazy cold winter nights. Or even those dreary spring weeknights when it’s cold out and you just want a cozy but healthy dinner.
Hoping you guys love this one as much as I do! I’m already excited to make this again tonight. It’s snowing here today, so this is the perfect recipe!
Looking for healthy winter dinners? Here are a few to try:
Weeknight Thai Chicken Meatball Khao Soi
30 Minute Spicy Miso Chicken Katsu Ramen
30 Minute Creamy Thai Turmeric Chicken and Noodles
Lastly, if you make this Easy Sesame Chicken and Noodles in Spicy Broth 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 tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Easy Sesame Chicken and Noodles in Spicy Broth
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 710 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs, cut in half
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or additional soy sauce)
- 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 tablespoon chile sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, plus more for serving
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
- 6 slices fresh ginger
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 1-3 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 Fresno or jalapeño pepper, seeded if desired, and sliced
- 2 cups chopped kale, bok choy, or baby spinach
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- bean sprouts, mixed herbs, chiles, and limes, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. 2. On a baking sheet, toss the chicken with 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, the chile sauce, and sesame oil. Bake 15 minutes, then remove and add 2 tablespoons honey, toss the chicken. Bake another 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and shred it. Switch the oven to broil. Broil 1-3 minutes, until caramelized 3. Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, combine the broth, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 2 teaspoons honey, the onion, ginger, garlic, star anise, cinnamon, and Fresno pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer 15 minutes, or until ready to serve. Just before serving, stir in the greens. Taste, adding more soy, fish sauce, and or honey, if needed. 4. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain. 5. To serve, divide the noodles between bowls. Add the shredded chicken, then ladle the broth over top. Arrange the sprouts, herbs, and any desired toppings on top. Then squeeze over lots of lime juice and enjoy!
This post was originally published on February 10, 2021
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/half-baked-harvest-pho-criticism
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/half-baked-harvest-pho-criticism
Please do not call this Vietnamese Pho, you will never find sesame oil in “pho topping” or garlic in the broth. You may call this “noodle soup” but please not Vietnamese Pho. I am Vietnamese and I find this quite offensive.
It’s hilarious that there’s a comment highlighting how this is no big deal because the vietnamese didn’t invent baguettes for banh mi. That was a byproduct of a PAINFUL period of colonialism during which natural resources weee exploited, people were impoverished, and a small mostly French upper class reaped all the benefits. The fact that Half Baked Harvest responded to that comment with gratitude is highly cringey and illustrates how she reallly doesn’t get it!
This recipe looks fantastic, can’t wait to try it!
Hey Eric,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xTieghan
The flavors just taste off.
Hey Anna,
So sorry about this! Let me know if I can help in anyway! xTieghan
I love your recipes and I don’t want you “cancelled” or for you to stop doing what you’re doing but for the love of god, proofread your canned apology before copying and pasting it in response to every comment calling out your racially insensitive actions. It makes you look like you didn’t care enough to actually put time/effort/care into your apology, which doubles down on the crappiness of the situation.
This was great. Would make the chicken again and have that as the main protein for a different meal. It was that good!
Hey Rachel,
Thank you so much for giving the recipe a go! I am thrilled it was enjoyed. xTieghan
I mean if you are going to apologize for cultural appropriation, can you at least use spell check? It’s like disrespect on disrespect on disrespect. You could have easily taken this down. Or offered to donate 50% of whatever you made to an organization who is helping the racism in the community you are making money off of for your cute blog. Couldn’t you have simply posted something about soup? To you, this might be a recipe but that alone shows your privilege. Take this down and show you are actually an ally and not just one when it is convenient.
Delicious soup! Love all your recipes but soups especially
Hey Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for giving the recipe a go! I am thrilled it was enjoyed. xTieghan
“Cultural appropriation” lol. Listen to yourselves. Where do you think the baguette for Bahn Mi came from? Hint: not originally vietnam. Food is boundless. No race or culture owns it because it is art.
Some of you are generating pho outrage over nothing and should be ashamed.
Stay strong, Tieghan! Don’t let them bring you down over this.
Hey there,
Thanks so much for your positive feedback and kind message:) xTieghan
This is an abomination. This is not pho at all. You don’t even realize that pho ga is already a dish; you seem to think pho tai is the only version of pho. Pathetic. Food bloggers like you are a disgrace and an embarrassment to chefs who actually care to learn about other culture’s cuisine. You should be ashamed of yourself for this blatant appropriation.
A classic Vietnamese pho is also made from chicken, it’s called pho ga. There are more types of Pho than the Pho you’re describing made of beef. Pho is never made with soy sauce or honey. This completely changed the dish and is more of a Chinese inspired dish rather than a Vietnamese dish. At this rate you might as well have bought a routisserie chicken from your local supermarket to save time on roasting chicken, then used the bones from that to make the broth, would’ve been a little bit more authentic than your version. I’m sure your recipe is delicious but please do more research before you post recipes inspired by another person’s culture. It is insulting and you’re spreading misinformation. Especially with such a large platform such that you carry, one would expect you to have a little bit more integrity.
Hi, I think it’s great that Vietnamese food & culture inspired you to come up with this recipe, but it is misleading and inaccurate to say you made chicken pho because you wanted something lighter than beef pho. Pho is also traditionally made with chicken, which you do not describe. This is harmful because people who do not know what Pho is will think your recipe is Pho or similar to traditional Pho and posting a recipe inspired by another culture without doing enough research is damaging to the history of the dish. Your reply to commenters “I will make sure do be much more conscious when deciding on recipe tittles in the future and be sure to do more research“ … changing the title does not solve the problem. Writing accurately about the cultural origins of the recipe & saying that your final recipe was an Asian noodle soup dish inspired by multiple Asian cultures would be more respectful. You could also link to recipes you drew inspiration from like maybe Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen. I hope you will consider editing this post to be more accurate for any future readers.
This is delicious!
Thanks so much!!