Chicken Yaki Udon

Chicken Yaki Udon is a vegetable stir fry recipe with succulent, tender chicken and chewy udon noodles. This quick and easy Japanese recipe is made from cooking chicken and vegetables and combining them with a simple sauce and udon noodles. Its a game changer for getting a quick noodle dish on the table without needing loads of time.

• More Noodle Recipes like the Beef Yaki Udon, Shrimp Yaki Udon, Pork Mince Noodles and Soy Sauce Noodles are all about noodle yum!

• More Asian style recipes: the Chicken Mince Stir Fry, Beef Yakisoba, Beef Udon Noodles and Chicken Noodle Stir Fry give us take out style recipes at home!

🤍 Chicken Yaki Udon

You will love this simply yaki udon recipe for many reasons and here are the top ones that will have you make it time and time again:

• Quick and easy: ready in just 15 minutes.
• Busy weeknights: perfect as an easy weeknight stir fry.
• Japanese flavors: comforting Japanese flavors.
• Make it yours: customize with your favorite veggies.
• Reheats well: there is a lot of robust textures in this dish and they reheat well. Hello next day leftovers!

🥗 Chicken Yaki Udon Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make this simple yaki udon recipe with juicy chicken pieces. For exact measurements and detailed instructions, please refer to the printable recipe card below.

As you can see, the recipe calls for:

• Chicken: I recommend using skinless, boneless chicken thighs. They stir fry very well and the meat is tender and juicy.
• Udon Noodles: these are white thick udon noodles that will be in the Asian foods aisle of the supermarket or fridge section. You will also be able to get them from Asian grocery stores. Read the instructions on the packet and follow those to cook as each brand will have slightly different instructions. They are thick chewy noodles that taste amazing when smothered in sauce and mixed with proteins and vegetables.
• Vegetables: I like to use a combination of carrot, green onions and cabbage. They all hold up well when being stir fried.

🫙 Umami Flavor Sauce

• Oyster sauce: this is thick, salty and unique to Asian cooking. You can use hoisin sauce as an alternative.
• Soy sauce: this is the regular, most common form of soy sauce, eaten with sushi.
• Dark soy sauce: we use this ingredient to get the fantastic orange brown colour on the noodles. A little of this goes a long way. If you don't use this ingredient, the dish will be a light tan colour as it is only through the use of this that the colour of the dish turns out as such.
• Rice wine vinegar: this adds flavour to the dish and can be found in the Asian foods section of the supermarket.
• Mirin seasoning: another ingredients that adds flavour and can found in the Asian foods section. It adds sweetness to the dish and is very common in Japanese recipes.
• Brown sugar: we only need a little bit of this, but it too adds a sweet flavour to the sauce and helps to balance out the saltyness from the soy and oyster sauces.
• Peanut oil: we use this to begin the cooking as we cook the chicken. It holds up well at a high temperature and is perfect in Japanese recipes.

Top Tip: The dark soy sauce will be in the same section of the store as the regular soy sauce. You may not have noticed it before. Look for the label 'dark soy sauce'.

😉 Variations

If you are wondering if you can switch anything in and out for this recipe, for sure you can:

• Chicken: you can use chicken breast in place of the chicken thighs if you wish too. Or if you have leftover chicken and want to use that and skip starting from scratch you can.
• Vegetables: add shiitake mushrooms, bell pepper or bok choy or switch them in for switching out one of the listed vegetables.
• Other proteins: try the dish with pork belly, beef strips, chicken mince or seafood (the choice of protein is really up to you!).
• Short on time? Use a store bought teriyaki sauce in place of making the stir-fry sauce from scratch. It won't be exactly the same, but will save time and a little effort on busy nights.
• Noodles: if you want to use different noodles you can. Ramen noodles, thick wheat noodles, soba noodles or lo mein noodles can be used. (Simply cook according to the package instructions.
• Finishing touch: top with your favorite Japanese garnishes such as pickled ginger or bonito flakes.
• Garnish: sprinkle some chopped green onions over the cooked dish or toasted sesame seeds to the top of the dish.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Chicken Yaki Udon

Here are the step by step instructions to make the udon noodles recipe. We start by whisking together the yaki udon savory sauce. You will need a small jug and mini whisk.

🍳 Instructions

• Gather the sauce ingredients (Photo 1)
• Whisk to combine (Photo 2)
• Add peanut oil and chicken to the pan (Photo 3)
• Add vegetables to the pan (Photo 4)

Use a mini whisk to combine the sauce ingredients. This will help the sugar to dissolve. Once it is combined, set it aside until needed.

Heat peanut oil in pan, add chopped chicken pieces and cook till the juices run clear and the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set side. Use paper towel to absorb excess moisture if there is any in the pan.

Add the cabbage, spring onion and carrots to the pan and cook for 2 to 3 mins. They will have a wet sweaty look when they are cooked.

• Add cooked noodles to the vegetables (Photo 5)
• Add cooked chicken back to the pan (Photo 6)
• Pour the sauce over the noodles (Photo 7)
• Stir and combine until the dish is heated through (Photo 8)

The noodles will need to either be cooked in boiling water or simply have boiling water poured over them. The packet directions will give you the specifics an often they only take 1-2 minutes. Drain and discard the water once done then add the noodles to the pan like the photo above.

🍜 Japanese Stir-Fried Udon Noodles

When you pour the sauce over the noodles you will see the magic that is dark soy sauce.

It will transform the bright white noodles into a yellow brown colour and make slurp worthy lip licking yum!

As you can see from the photos above, the sauce will cover the entire contents of the pan. Simply stir the noodles, veggies and meat so that the colour is consistent across the dish.

🍽 Chicken Yaki Udon Serving Ideas

This is a flavour packed all in one dish.

You won't likely have a need for salads or sides. With the bouncy udon noodles and juicy chicken veggie combo we tick a lot of boxes.

If however, you are looking for an appetizer, I can recommend the Air Fryer Frozen Spring Rolls or pan fried gyoza with soy sauce!

Grab your chopsticks to pick up the slippery noodles and you will soon be licking the soy based sauce off your chin!

Every mouthful is so delicious!

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Let the dish cool, then store in a sealed air tight container or portion and freeze for mid week meals.

How to Freeze

Individual portions will freeze the best. Place in plastic sealed containers in the freezer.

How to Reheat

Remove from the freezer and ensure the contents of the containers have fully thawed prior to reheating.

If you try and reheat from frozen, the noodles wil break apart.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips, tricks and techniques to help you master the recipe from the very 1st time you make it:

• Have everything prepped and ready before starting to cook.
• Use high heat and things will cook quickly!
• Cook the udon noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
• Use chopsticks when cooking the noodles to uncurl them.
• Keep things moving in the pan when cooking.
• If you love take away rice dishes, then you might like to try the Chorizo Fried Rice, Lamb Fried Rice, Shrimp And Chicken Fried Rice, Brown Fried Rice, Pork Mince Fried Rice or the Tuna Fried Rice 😉👌.

🤓 Chicken Yaki Udon FAQ's

😍 More Easy Takeout Style Recipes

Here are some more recipes that are like take out but can be easily whipped up in your kitchen:

• More noodles: Pork Udon, Beef Noodle Stir Fry, Seafood Yaki Udon, Prawn Stir Fry Noodles, Chilli Garlic Noodles, Salmon Noodle Stir Fry.
• More chicken: Oven Chicken Kabobs, Baked Chicken Drumsticks And Rice, Chicken And Rice Tray Bake, Slow Cooker French Onion Chicken.
• Other proteins: Minced Beef Stir Fry, Pork Mince Stir Fry, Mini Enchiladas, Beef And Bean Enchiladas, Pulled Pork Enchiladas.
• Easy family meals: Satay Lamb, Asian Chicken Pizza, Curry Beef Mince, Chorizo Pasta Bake, Beef Pesto Pasta, Minced Beef Stir Fry.

It is time to get our Chicken Yaki Udon and Japanese on my friends (Oishi!!). You can also find all of my chicken recipes or dinner recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne xx

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