Vietnamese Garlic Noodles Recipe

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Vietnamese Garlic noodles loaded with vegetables of the rainbow that will satisfy the pickiest of eaters. This recipe is an easy go to dish full of garlic deliciousness balanced with the sweet taste of noodles and crunchy vegetables. A favorite in our house!

Garlic noodles is straight up our jam. When we feel like a fancy asian meal at home, this is my go to recipe. Growing up, the only time my sisters and I would get to eat garlic noodles is if we went to a Vietnamese seafood restaurant. My parents would order garlic noodles with lobster….these were very rare moments and definitely a HUGE treat for us back then. 

My toddler has not tried lobster yet and probably won’t for a while, but he’s had plenty of garlic noodles at home and he absolutely loves them. It’s also been great for him to practice using his chopsticks on! 

This recipe is super easy. It takes about 30 minutes to prep, cook and put on the table! 

I make these noodles so the whole family can enjoy and use staple ingredients usually found in the majority of Asian households. These garlic noodles are a must-try if you have toddlers or kids because they’re loaded with veggies! Don’t worry, they won’t notice, because the noodles are THAT good! 

This recipe is also versatile, you can add in your protein of choice and as much vegetables as you’d like. I like to add steak or shrimp to these noodles. A tip to get your toddler or kids to try new food is to add them to a dish that they like. With Tyler, he thinks he doesn’t like shrimp, but when I add them to these noodles, it becomes his favorite thing!

Ingredients:

There are key ingredients that make this dish outstanding:

Garlic – Obviously! I use 7-8 cloves, which I think is a good balance. It’s not too overwhelming (where your pores will sweat garlic) but you can still taste the garlic deliciousness. 

Oyster sauce – This is a must. It enhances the dish and gives it the additional umami flavor that it needs. The brand I use is Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce. This brand of oyster sauce is very popular and is used in many Vietnamese dishes.  You can find this sauce at your local Asian store, Walmart and even Amazon! If you’re a vegetarian, you can replace the oyster sauce with a vegetarian mushroom sauce. 

Lo Mein Noodles – I like these fresh egg noodles. The texture is slightly softer than spaghetti noodles. In my opinion, it tastes better and my toddler likes them more. But if you don’t have any on hand, spaghetti noodles are fine, especially if you prefer an al dente texture. 

Vegetables – Load them up! Seriously. Green, red, purple, orange, leftovers … they’re all good with this dish! This is a great way to have your kids get their daily veggies in!

Tips on how to make Vietnamese Garlic Noodles: 

Aromatics – It is easy to burn the garlic, right when it turns a light golden color, add the noodles. 

Noodles – cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Once they are done, make sure to run it under cold water to stop the cooking process. This will avoid the noodles from over cooking. 

Noodle water – When draining your noodle or pasta, save some of the noodle cooking water. You will use this water to add to the stir fry. This will prevent clumpy noodles, help to thin out the sauce and coat evenly into the noodles.

Vegetables – I add the vegetables at the end and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes. I prefer to not over cook my vegetables because it gives the noodles some life with all the different textures, but if you like softer veggies, feel free to cook it longer. 

Protein – If you choose to add a protein like shrimp or beef, cook it first, then set it aside. All you need is to season it with a bit of salt and pepper.

There you have it! Hope you all give this a recipe a try and let me know how you like it!