We’ve been getting tired of cooking every night, so we wanted to cheat a little bit this week and make a big meal that would last us a few days. We turned to one of our tried and true favorites, a simple udon noodle vegetable stir fry.
The first time Alex and I cooked a stir fry together, we were following some recipe we found online and went to the Boston Haymarket to stock up on fresh produce. We quickly learned that we bought way too much of everything (if you’ve ever been to Haymarket, you know what I’m talking about), but fortunately discovered that stir fry is one of the best recipes to make in bulk! We pretty much ate the leftovers every day for lunch and dinner that week, and it was glorious. It saved us so much time and effort, and it was a delicious healthy meal to look forward to each day.
Since that first batch a few years ago, we’ve worked on perfecting our own recipe using our favorite vegetables and a stir fry sauce catered to our tastes. We’ve even made a few variations on it, adding bites of chicken when we want some extra protein and sometimes using rice instead of noodles. Any way you make it, it’s delicious. If you want to modify our recipe and make it your own, experiment away and share with us in the comments below!
A few things we’ve learned after making udon noodle stir fry over and over again:
First, you can use all of the bok choy – not just the leaves! We had no clue how to cook with bok choy at first, but have since learned that the leaves and stems both taste great. Just cut the bulb off and discard it, then separate the leaves from the stems and chop them both up.
Second, different kinds of vegetables cook differently. The first time we made this, we threw everything in the wok at the same time and ended up with undercooked snap peas and overcooked bok choy. Since then, we’ve learned to start cooking the tougher veggies first, then add the softer veggies later. This paces the vegetables properly and you’ll end up with a perfect stir fry every time.
Third, we like our stir fry sauce to have some kick. Depending on your spice tolerance, you can vary the amount of chili garlic sauce used. We recommend using at least 2 tsp to introduce the flavor without creating noticeable heat.
And finally, one of my favorite things about this recipe is how great it is for meal prep. It reheats perfectly and is just as delicious from the microwave as it is fresh from the wok. Just store it in an air-tight container, and it’ll last you a good 4 or 5 days!
Try our spicy udon noodle stir fry with vegetables recipe below.
Spicy Udon Noodle Vegetable Stir Fry
Equipment
- Wok or large saute pan
Ingredients
Stir Fry
- 8 oz snap peas
- 2 bundles scallions
- 2 medium bell peppers
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 heads baby bok choy
- 16 oz Japanese udon noodles dry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
Sauce
- 5 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- 5 tsp rice vinegar
- 4 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 to 6 tsp chili garlic sauce adjust depending on your spice tolerance
Instructions
- Wash and prep the vegetables: wash and dry the snap peas, slice the scallions, cut the bell peppers and onion into thin strips, and chop the baby bok choy (separating out the leafy greens from the stems).
- Cook the udon noodles according to the package directions and prepare the sauce. Combine soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl and mix well until sugar is dissolved, then add rice vinegar, sesame oil, minced garlic, and chili garlic sauce (to taste). Stir well to combine and set aside.
- While the noodles are cooking, heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and snap peas, stirring occasionally until snap peas start to soften, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the bell pepper, onion, and bok choy stalks to the wok with an additional 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Cook until vegetables soften, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the scallions and bok choy leaves to the wok. Stir frequently and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Lower heat and add cooked udon noodles and sauce to the wok. Stir well to combine and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.
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We enjoyed this last week, and are anxious to try it again, perhaps playing with the vegetable selection to ensure nice, fresh ingredients. I think next time I might cook things in batches and combine them back together at the end – the snap peas got in the way of cooking the onion, for example.
Definitely a recipe we will go back to. Thanks for posting it!
Yum – so glad you enjoyed our recipe! We’d love to hear how it goes next time and what vegetables you end up using 🙂