One pot, 20 minutes and a seriously nourishing bowl of spicy coconut noodles. Part ramen, part noodle soup, part saucy noodle bowls, they’re easy, PACKED with flavour and perfect for busy weeknights.
What do you cook when you really can’t be bothered cooking? These saucy coconut noodles hit the spot for me every time. Whenever I’ve had a long day and get home a little late, it can be hard to find the motivation to cook. So I’m always looking for low-effort recipes that still pack an incredible flavour punch, and ideally have a few vegetables thrown in for good measure.
The recipe uses a shortcut flavour paste made from cupboard staples that does all the heavy lifting flavour-wise. It’s as simple as:
- Mixing the paste
- Adding coconut milk and vegetable broth
- Adding the noodles and veg to cook straight in the broth.
20 minutes max, and you’ll be enjoying this deliciously slurpy bowl of noodle-y joy.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Made in one pot – saving time and washing up.
- Super adaptable based on what you have to hand – a great way to clear out your veg drawer.
- Quick and easy – it takes just 20 minutes and has minimal hands-on time.
Ingredients
The great part about this recipe is that you can really use any vegetables you have hanging around in your fridge, so it’s a fab way to use up odds and ends. It also uses a couple of cupboard staples to make the base of the sauce so you won’t need to go out and get anything special.
- Aromatics. We’ll use garlic and ginger to bring a lovely fragrance to the sauce. Try to use fresh, but you could use dried or a paste if that’s what you have.
- Veggies. Pak choi, spring onion and cilantro (coriander) are the stars here, but you can use any other green vegetables you have in your fridge. Broccoli, green beans, peas or edamame beans would be great here – use fresh or frozen.
- Flavour paste. Soy sauce, gochujang paste, fish sauce and chilli oil form the base of the flavour paste we’ll make. You could switch out gochujang for another chilli sauce like sriracha, or use lime juice or a vegan fish sauce to make this vegan. Gochujang paste might be the only ingredient that’s trickier to find, though large grocery stores are stocking it more and more. You’ll find it with the East Asian food, or you can pick it up from Amazon.
- Broth. Coconut milk and vegetable stock form the liquid of the broth. You could use chicken stock (or water) if you like.
- Noodles. Use your favourite noodles – I’m using ramen noodles but any will do. I love this with rice noodles as well. You could even use spaghetti if that’s all you have.
You could also throw in leftover cooked chicken, or I’ll often toss in some frozen shrimp to up the protein content.
How to make it
Start by making the flavour paste, then add it to a large pot over medium heat, along with the garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.
Pour in your coconut milk and stock, then bring to a simmer and lower the heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the noodles straight into the broth and cook for about 4 minutes. After this, add the pak choi and stir for another minute, then remove from the heat.
Divide between plates, give it a squeeze of lime juice and serve with more lime wedges on the side.
Got a question?
You can really use whatever noodles you have in your cupboard! I’m using ramen noodles here, but you could use rice vermicelli, udon noodles, flat rice noodles or even spaghetti.
If you can’t find gochujang, you can use another chilli sauce. Sriracha would work well.
You can! You can either make the broth in advance (it’ll last for 5 days in the fridge in a covered container), then just cook the noodles and veggies when you’re ready, or you can make the whole thing and then just reheat in the microwave when you’re ready to serve. Just add a little more water when you do this (2 tablespoons) as the noodles will continue to absorb the sauce so will need a little loosening up.
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Quick Spicy Coconut Noodles
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
What do you cook when you really can’t be bothered cooking? These one-pot, quick spicy coconut noodles hit the spot for me every time. Part ramen, part noodle soup, part saucy noodle bowls, they’re creamy, delicious, nourishing comfort food. Bonus: they take just 20 minutes to make!
Ingredients
For the flavour paste –
- 2 tablespoons gochujang paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce (or vegan alternative)
- 2 tablespoons chilli oil
For the coconut noodles –
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated (or use paste)
- 1 lemongrass stalk, crushed and chopped into 3 pieces
- 400ml/14oz coconut milk (look for a coconut extract level above 60%)
- 1 litre/4 cups vegetable stock
- 300g/10.5oz noodles of your choice
- 2 heads of pak choi, sliced
- 4 scallions (spring onions), finely sliced
- Handful of cilantro (coriander) leaves
- 1 lime, sliced into wedges
Instructions
- Make the flavour paste. In a small bowl, add the 2 tablespoons of gochujang paste, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons fish sauce and 2 tablespoons of chilli oil. Give it a good mix so it forms a uniform paste and set it aside.
- Make the broth. Get a saucepan over medium heat and add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for two minutes until they start to soften. Add the flavour paste and stir for 3 more minutes. Add the coconut milk, lemongrass pieces and the stock. Give it a stir to combine everything, then bring it to a simmer, lower the heat and leave it for 10 minutes.
- Add the noodles and pak choi. Add your noodles directly into the broth, stir, then let them cook for about 4 minutes. Use your packet to guide you on the cooking time here – as different noodles have slightly different preparation. Once they’re cooked, add the sliced pak choi and stir through the broth for a minute, until they look bright green. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Garnish and serve. Divide the noodles and pak choi between bowls, making sure to spoon out lots of the lovely sauce into each bowl. Squeeze a wedge of lime over each bowl, then top with the scallions and cilantro leaves. Finish with another drizzle of chilli oil if you like, then serve with the rest of the lime wedges on the side.
Notes
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The noodles will continue to absorb liquid as they sit, so you’ll need to add a splash of water (or stock), when you reheat them, just to loosen them up again. They’ll keep for 3 days, stored in the fridge and can be easily reheated, either on the stovetop, or in the microwave.
INGREDIENT NOTES: This recipe is super adaptable based on what you have in your house. You could use green beans, spinach, peas or edamame in place of the pak choi. You could also add cooked chicken, or throw in some raw shrimp to cook in the broth (add them into the broth when you add the noodles). If you don’t have gochujang paste, you could use another chilli sauce like sriracha.
MAKE IT VEGAN: Swap the fish sauce for a vegetarian fish sauce, or use lime juice.
SHOP THROUGH LOLLIPOP AND SAINSBURY’S: If you’re in the UK, you can use the all-in-one meal planning app, Lollipop, to order all the ingredients you need for this recipe and Sainsbury’s will deliver them straight to your door.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: vegetarian
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 350
Keywords: quick noodles, coconut ramen, ramen broth, spicy ramen, easy noodles
wow this was so yummy! we used spinach as well and it was so good
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed! Yesss it’s a great one for throwing in different veggies 🙂
There isn’t a more comforting dinner on a cold weekday evening <3 we loved it
★★★★★
Totally agree! Can’t go wrong with a warming bowl of noodles 🙂
Great recipe Kate! I added some baked tofu and some extra veg (sugar snap peas, baby corn etc) and it worked an absolute treat! Perfect weeknight supper.
★★★★★
Yummmm they sound like wonderful additions Anna-Marie, so pleased you enjoyed xx