A healthy, vibrant and flavour packed Thai Chicken Noodle dish that is easy to adapt. Juicy chunks of chicken fried with ribbons of fresh vegetables and mixed with an easy homemade Thai paste and then tossed with noodles. A fresh and delicious comfort food dish. All ready in under 20 minutes.
Thai food is one of our favourite cuisines and this is one of our favourite Thai chicken recipes. So much flavour, but not too heavy either. Whilst we love a Thai curry, this is nice for when you want something a little lighter. It's packed with veggies too.
If you enjoy this, then take a look at our full section of Thai recipes.
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Why you will love it
- Ready in just 20 minutes
- An easy Thai dish
- Packed with veggies
- Easy to adapt
Ingredients needed
- Chicken - we used chicken breast for this recipe, but thighs would work just as well. Using chicken breast keeps the dish leaner, but there is a lot more flavour in thighs. If you are using thighs, then go for skinless and boneless, and chop them into chunks.
- Noodles - we used thin wholewheat noodles, however you could use thicker noodles like udon if you preferred. Keep it more traditional by using a flatter rice noodle.
- Courgette and carrots - we have used these to give the dish a veggie boost and ribboned them so we can use less noodles.
- Garlic - garlic is pretty much an essential in every dish, but especially this one. You could crush it fresh, or just use some from a jar of crushed lazy garlic.
- Ginger - freshly grated ginger is best, however you can get ready chopped jarred ginger too. Also, you can keep ginger in a zip lock bag in the freezer, and then just grate it in frozen when you need some.
- Lemongrass - a staple in Thai cuisine. It can usually be found with the ginger in a supermarket, or in an Asian supermarket.
- Limes - a great way to lighten up the whole dish.
- Sesame oil - you could use olive oil instead, but we love the flavour that sesame oil adds.
- Fish sauce - you could use soy sauce if you prefer (and use low salt), however we like the flavour that fish sauce adds.
- Coriander - this adds so much lovely freshness to the dish, however you could leave it out if you aren't a fan.
- Paprika - this adds a little smokiness to the dish, without any spice.
- Red chillies - we love the kick of heat that red chillies add. You could leave them out completely, or just use a little less.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
How to make Thai chicken noodles - Step by step
One (a): Put the paste ingredients into a food processor.
One (b): Blend into a paste. If you don't have a food processor, you can just chop everything very fine, or use a pestle and mortar.
Two: Heat a little oil in a large pan and add the chicken and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.
Three: Add the Thai paste and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Four: Meanwhile, put your noodles into a pan of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
Five: Add the vegetables to the chicken and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes.
Six: Serve the chicken and vegetables on top of the noodles and add the chopped spring onion (scallion) and of slices radish (optional)
What chicken to use?
We used chicken breast for this recipe, but thighs would work just as well. Using chicken breast keeps the dish leaner, but there is a lot more flavour in thighs. You could also use leftover chicken, like shredded leftovers of our Slow Cooker Whole Chicken.
If you are using thighs, then go for skinless and boneless, and chop them into chunks.
Thai curry paste
We have made our own super easy Thai green paste for this recipe, however you could use a few tablespoons of store bought if you wanted to save yourself some time. However, it really is easy.
You can do it all in a small food processor, or use a pestle and mortar if you prefer. The paste is made with a base of garlic, ginger and lemongrass and then some lime, chilli and plenty of coriander.
What vegetables to add
We have used carrot and courgette (zucchini) ribbons for these Thai chicken noodles, but you could add any vegetables you like. Try it with thinly sliced bell peppers, aubergine onions or sliced mushrooms. You could also add some baby corn or green beans.
Try to use quick cooking vegetables to save yourself some time.
What to serve this with
This is really a whole meal in itself, but if you wanted to add a side dish, then you could pair it with our Cucumber Salad, Crunchy Asian Slaw or our tasty Carrot and Coriander Side Salad.
FAQs
We used thin wholewheat noodles, however you could use thicker noodles like udon if you preferred. Keep it more traditional by using a flatter rice noodle. You don't have to use noodles at all, you could cook some rice and then add that to the pan just before serving.
This dish will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. We wouldn’t recommend freezing this dish though, as the noodles don’t defrost well after time in the freezer.
If you aren't a big fan of chicken, then you could make this with prawns (shrimp) or cooked marinated tofu pieces. Either of these may reduce the cooking time slightly. You could just go with lots of vegetables instead.
This dish uses a homemade Thai curry paste, so you can control exactly what goes into it and use less salt than a store bought one. It has plenty of protein packed chicken and it is a great opportunity to really bulk it out with lots of vegetables. It's healthy comfort food.
You can turn this into a comforting soup by adding a little chicken stock and coconut milk to form a looser sauce.
Extra tips
• You can swap the chicken breast for thighs. Use boneless and skinless chicken thighs.
• These Thai chicken noodles don't freeze very well as the texture of the noodles isn't great when defrosted and reheated.
• Add a sprinkling of crushed peanuts and sesame seeds before serving.
• You could swap the Thai paste for a satay sauce instead. Or, just stir in a big spoonful of peanut/almond butter at the same time as the paste.
• If you want these Thai chicken noodles extra spicy, finish it off with some slices of fresh red chilli, or a drizzle of sriracha.
More Thai recipes
If you’ve tried this Thai noodle recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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Recipe
Thai Chicken Noodles
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
- 200 g (7 oz) Chicken breast - cut into chunks
- 2 Carrot - cut into thin batons
- 2 Courgette (zucchini) - sliced length ways using a peeler
For the paste:
- 3 Garlic clove
- 30 g (1 oz) Fresh ginger - peeled
- 1 stalk Lemongrass - bruised and chopped
- 2 Limes - juice only
- 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon Fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon Paprika
- 30 g (0.25 cups) Fresh coriander (cilantro) - cilantro
- 1 Red chilli - sliced
To serve:
- 50 g (1.75 oz) Dried whole wheat noodles
- 1 Spring onion (Scallion) - sliced
- 1 Radish - thinly sliced
Instructions
- Put 3 Garlic clove, 30 g Fresh ginger, 1 stalk Lemongrass, juice of 2 Limes, 1 tablespoon Sesame oil, 1 tablespoon Fish sauce, 1 tablespoon Paprika, 30 g Fresh coriander (cilantro) and 1 Red chilli into a food processor and blend into a paste. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pestle and mortar or just chop everything very, very finely.
- Heat 1 tablespoon Sesame oil in a large pan and add 200 g Chicken breast and cook until browned all over, about 5 minutes.
- Add the Thai paste and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Put 50 g Dried whole wheat noodles into a pan of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add 2 Carrot and 2 Courgette (zucchini) to the chicken and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Serve the chicken and vegetables on top of the noodles and add slices of 1 Radish and 1 Spring onion (Scallion).
Notes
- You can swap the chicken breast for thighs. Use boneless and skinless chicken thighs.
- These Thai chicken noodles don't freeze very well as the texture of the noodles isn't great when defrosted and reheated.
- Add a sprinkling of crushed peanuts and sesame seeds before serving.
- You could swap the Thai paste for a satay sauce instead. Or, just stir in a big spoonful of peanut/almond butter at the same time as the paste.
- If you want these Thai chicken noodles extra spicy, finish it off with some slices of fresh red chilli, or a drizzle of sriracha.
J Henderson
A firm family favourite now! Flavours are fresh, full & zingy, delicious . This was without sesame oil (As forgot to buy) & spring onions as the shop had none!
Dannii
So glad that you all enjoyed it.