What do you cook when you really can’t be bothered cooking? These quick spicy coconut noodles hit the spot for me every time. They’re creamy, delicious, nourishing comfort food. Bonus: they take less than 20 minutes to make!
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. These delicious noodles are perfect for those days – I know you’ll love them as much as I do!
The recipe uses a flavour bomb paste made from pantry ingredients that does all the heavy lifting flavour wise. It’s as simple as mixing the paste, simmering it with coconut milk and water to make the broth, then cooking some noodles and prepping whatever veggies you have lying around. 20 minutes max, and you’ll be enjoying this deliciously slurpy bowl of noodle-y joy. You could also throw in leftover cooked chicken, or I’ll often toss in some frozen prawns.
MAKE IT VEGAN: Swap out the soy sauce for tamari, and use a vegan fish sauce or lime juice.
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 and 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 coriander are the stars here, but you can use any other green vegetables you have in your fridge. Broccoli, beans or peas would also be great here – use fresh or frozen.
- Seasoning. Soy sauce, gochujang paste, tahini, fish sauce and chilli oil form the base of the flavour bomb paste we’ll make. You could switch out gochujang for another chilli sauce like sriracha or sweet chilli, or use tamari or lime juice for a plant based alternative to soy and fish sauce. We’ll also use a squeeze of fresh lime at the end for some added freshness and zing.
- Broth. Coconut milk and water form the liquid of the broth. You could also use chicken or vegetable stock to pump the flavour up even more.
- Noodles. Use whichever noodles you like here! I’m using a thin ramen noodle but any will do. I love this with rice noodles as well. You could even use spaghetti if that’s all you have.
How to make it
Start by making the flavour bomb paste. You’re going to mix the tahini, gochujang paste, soy sauce, fish sauce and chilli oil in a small bowl, then set it aside.
Next cook the aromatics. Add a little olive oil to a large pot over medium heat, then add the ginger and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, until they look like they’re softening and it’s smelling fragrant. Now you’ll go in with the flavour bomb paste. Cook for another few minutes, stirring as you go. Finish the broth by adding in the coconut milk and water, give everything a stir and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
While the broth is simmering, prepare your veggies. Chop the spring onion finely, and the pak choi into about 8 slices, then half fill a large pot with water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the pak choi and blanch for a minute then drain it and set aside. Get your noodles cooking, according to the packet instructions. Taste your broth and season with more salt if you think it needs it.
PRO TIP: An even easier way to cook the pak choi for these noodles is to add them to a large heatproof bowl, then boil your kettle and pour the boiling water over to cover the pak choi. Leave them for 2 minutes, drain and you’re done!
Now everything’s ready, we can assemble! Divide the noodles between two bowls, then add a couple of ladles of broth into each bowl. Top with the blanched pak choi, spring onion, coriander leaves and drizzle over a little more chilli oil. Done!
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, or even a sweet chilli sauce.
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.
Like this recipe? Here are some more quick ideas you might enjoy
If you make this recipe let me know in the comments below! I love hearing how you get on with my creations.
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Quick Spicy Coconut Noodles
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
What do you cook when you really can’t be bothered cooking? These quick spicy coconut noodles hit the spot for me every time. They’re creamy, delicious, nourishing comfort food. Bonus: they take less than 20 minutes to make!
Ingredients
For the flavour bomb paste –
- 2 tablespoons gochujang paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (use tamari for a vegan alternative)
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- 2 teaspoon fish sauce (or vegan alternative)
- 2 tablespoon chilli oil
For the coconut noodles –
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, grated or crushed
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated (or use paste)
- 1 lemongrass stalk, crushed and chopped into 3 pieces
- 400ml tin of good quality coconut milk (look for a coconut extract level above 60%)
- 300ml water
- 2 heads of pak choi
- 2 spring onions, chopped finely
- Handful coriander leaves, chopped
- 100g ramen noodles
- 1 lime, halved, to serve
Instructions
- Make the flavour bomb paste. In a small bowl, add the 2 tablespoons of gochujang, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons tahini, 2 teaspoons fish sauce and 1 tablespoon of chilli oil. Give it a good mix so it forms a uniform paste and set aside.
- Make the ramen broth. Get a saucepan over a medium heat and add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for two minutes until the start to soften. Add all the flavour bomb paste and stir for 3 more minutes. Now you’ll add the coconut milk, lemongrass pieces and the water. Give it a stir to combine everything, then bring it to a simmer and leave for 10 minutes while you prepare the vegetables and noodles.
- Prepare the vegetables. Slice each pak choi into eight strips, then add to a large heat proof bowl along with 1 teaspoon of salt. Fill your kettle and boil the water. Pour the boiling water over the pak choi in the bowl, so each piece is covered. Leave for 1 minute, then drain the water and set the pak choi aside.
- Cook your noodles according to packet instructions. Now we’re ready to assemble!
- Garnish and serve. Transfer the noodles to two bowls, then pour over half the broth into each bowl. Top with the pak choi, spring onion and coriander, then drizzle the remaining tablespoon of chilli oil over the top. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Dig in!
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 prawns to cook in the broth (add them into the simmering broth for 5 minutes, before assembling).
If you don’t have gochujang paste, you could use another chilli sauce like sriracha. If you don’t have tahini, you could use a natural peanut butter.
If you want to make the ramen in advance, separate the broth from the noodles until you’re ready to serve as they can get a little waterlogged if you leave them sitting in the broth for a long time.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: vegetarian
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
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