5 Vegetarian Noodle Dish Ideas
There’s something deeply satisfying about slurping oodles of noodles that are slathered in delicious sauce, and accompanied by a selection of veggies and a source of protein. Colourful, tasty and nutritious dishes like the classic pad Thai tofu are super easy to make at home, whenever you crave the guilty pleasure experience.
Here are five of the best vegetarian noodle dish ideas to inspire your cooking and feed your craving…
- Singapore Noodles
Devised by Chinese cooks in homage to the cultural diversity of Singapore, this flavour-packed dish features a subtle hint of curry and thin rice vermicelli noodles. Although it’s traditionally made with pork and prawns, you can easily adapt the recipe to feed hungry vegetarians. You can keep Singapore noodles totally vegetable based, or add extra firm tofu or your favourite meat-free alternative.
You’ll need: soy sauce, rice vinegar, Malaysian curry powder, garlic, ginger, and green chilli to make the sauce that clings to the noodles. In a wok, stir-fry the ingredients with shitake mushrooms, frozen peas, sliced green beans, and water chestnuts. Add an egg and scramble lightly, before tossing in the prepared noodles. Tip into a platter to serve, and garnish with a heap of chopped fresh coriander.
- Pad Thai Tofu
The most iconic of Thai dishes is a humble creation containing rice noodles, protein and veggies that are stir-fried. Pad Thai tofu is the modern day variation of the culinary meat based dish that was created during World War II in order to help preserve the nation’s stock of precious rice grain. Today, this simple stir-fry dish is highly revered and eaten all over the world, at home, and in street food markets and upscale restaurants.
Although many people enjoy tucking into a bowl of sweet and savoury Pad Thai noodles that are stir-fried with chicken or pork, eggs, tamarind paste, fish sauce, dried shrimps, garlic, red chilli pepper and palm sugar, it’s just as easy to make a vegetarian version. Simply omit the meat, use a vegetarian fish sauce, and add chunks of extra firm tofu. Garnish with sliced spring onions, bamboo shoots, shredded green papaya, lime wedges, and raw banana flowers. A sprinkling of crushed roasted peanuts will make this tasty dish even more Thai authentic.
- Hoisin Noodles
As its Chinese style sauce requires no cooking, Hoisin Noodles is the perfect fuss-free, midweek light supper dish. And if you cook the noodles and spinach in the same pan, you also cut down on the washing up.
To make this appetising dish, prepare your favourite noodles as directed. In a bowl, whisk the thick and pungent hoisin sauce with soy sauce and sesame oil. Once the noodles are soft, remove the pan from the heat and add the spinach leaves. Dry fry an egg in a non-stick frying pan, whilst the spinach wilts.
Drain the noodles and spinach and stir in the salty sweet sauce. Sprinkle with sliced spring onions and transfer to a bowl. Top the mountain of sauce coated noodles with the fried egg and some nutty sesame seeds.
- Vegetarian Yaki Udon
Veg packed, healthy and nutritious, Yaki Udon is a popular Japanese stir-fried noodle dish that is usually made with chicken, beef, pork or shrimp. However, it can be easily adapted to suit vegetarians, by using a selection of vitamin rich veggies. Tofu is entirely optional. As you only need five ingredients to make its punchy savoury sauce, dinner can be ready in just 20 minutes!
You need: thick, ramen-style Japanese udon noodles that are made with wheat flour, water, and salt, and your preferred vegetables. Broccoli, courgettes, carrots, mushrooms, sugar snap peas and bamboo shoots are a healthy combo to add to the soft, chewy noodles that are dressed in soy sauce, oyster sauce gluten free, mirin, honey and sriracha blended sauce.
Prepare the udon noodles whilst you stir-fry the vegetables in a wok. Add the cooked noodles to the wok, and pour on the 5-ingredient yaki udon sauce. Transfer to a bowl and enjoy slurping the slippery, smooth noodles!
- Vegan Dan Dan Noodles
If you’re a vegan who loves the taste, colour and texture of pad Thai tofu, but you want to experiment with a different type of meat-free topping for your noodles, here’s a dish that will get your taste buds tingling. Vegan dan dan noodles is a spicy, sweet, nutty and fragrant Asian dish, packed with nutritious ingredients.
The ‘meaty’ vegan-friendly topping is made by coarsely blending tofu, mushrooms and pecans and adding seasoning. The mixture is then cooked with Sui Mi Ya Cai (Asian fermented bean sprouts) until it becomes a thick paste. You can use fermented black beans, if you prefer. For the sauce, mix Chinese sesame paste with soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, chilli oil, ground Sichaun peppercorns and spring onions.
Combine the meat-free topping with the flavoursome sauce and pour into bowls. Pile on the prepared noodles, and garnish with crushed peanuts.