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 flavor 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, finding the motivation to cook is hard. So I’m always looking for low-effort recipes that still pack an incredible flavor punch, and ideally have a few vegetables thrown in for good measure.
The recipe uses a shortcut flavor paste made from cupboard staples that does all the heavy lifting flavor-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 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, ginger and lemongrass 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, scallions (spring onions) 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.
- Flavor paste. Soy sauce, gochujang paste, fish sauce and chili oil form the base of the lovely soupy sauce. You could switch out gochujang for another chili sauce like sriracha, or red curry paste. 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 saucy broth. You could use chicken stock (or water) if you like.
- Noodles. Use your favorite 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
Add the aromatics to a large pot and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the coconut milk and stock.
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, then add the pak choi, stir and 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 chili sauce or paste. Sriracha or red curry paste 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 as the noodles will continue to absorb the sauce so will need a little loosening up.
Watch how to make it
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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
- 2 tablespoons gochujang paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce (or a vegan alternative/more soy sauce)
- 2 tablespoons chili oil (plus more to serve)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated (or use 2 teaspoons of ginger paste)
- 1 lemongrass stalk, crushed and chopped into 3 pieces (or use 1 tablespoon of lemongrass paste)
- 14oz/400ml can of coconut milk (look for a coconut extract level above 60%)
- 5 cups/1.2 litres vegetable or chicken stock
- 200g/7oz 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
- Cook the aromatic base. Set a large saucepan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of gochujang paste, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons fish sauce and 2 tablespoons of chili oil. Stir for a minute or two, then add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for another minute.
- Make the broth. Pour in the coconut milk, lemongrass pieces and stock. Stir to combine everything, then bring it to a simmer, lower the heat and leave it for five 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 – different noodles have slightly different cooking times. 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 saucy noodles and pak choi between bowls, spooning 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 chili oil, then serve with the more 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 beans in place of the pak choi (or add a load of different veggies!) 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 chili sauce like sriracha, or red curry paste.
MAKE IT VEGAN: Swap the fish sauce for a vegetarian fish sauce, or use more soy sauce.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: vegetarian
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 350g
- Calories: 398
- Sugar: 11.1g
- Sodium: 1814.7mg
- Fat: 14.5g
- Saturated Fat: 6.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 57.3g
- Fiber: 5.4g
- Protein: 14.7g
- Cholesterol: 0g
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
This was so good! I used red curry paste, sautéed the bok choy (couldn’t find pak choy) and some mushrooms in Szechuan chili oil, used ramen noodles, and made a couple ramen eggs in the broth. Easy, and seriously so good. Thanks for a great recipe!
This was gorgeous!! So warm, the soup with the noodles was so good, I will definitely be making again! I added grated raw carrot on top for another vegetable that added freshness. I didn’t have any chilli oil so I just used 2tbsp of chilli crisp (trying to use more oil than the actual crisp) which worked wonderfully and I think I’d use a little less fish sauce next time but I may have been heavy handed anyways. I could totally see myself adding red peppers and maybe chicken if I wanted to embellish more.
Hi! This looks delicious! What kind of noodles did you use and what are some more options?
Hi Trisha! I just used regular egg noodles – similar to ramen. Rice noodles or udon would work well too, or instant ramen x
Best. Ramen. Recipe. Ever. I’m a ramen lover, and have never been able to find a recipe that satisfied like restaurants did until now. AMAZING. Followed recipe exactly. Husband says it’s his new favorite dinner. 6 stars!
Ahhhhh Kayla this is THE best thing to hear!! So SO happy you guys loved it so much ☺️ It’s a serious fave in my house too xx Kate
This is amazing! The sauce is sooo good. I added chopped mushrooms and my oh my! Thank you!!