Vietnamese Stir-Fried Noodles

This ultra-simple Vietnamese stir-fried noodles recipe combines flat rice noodles, a light sweet and savory sauce and veggies, such as onion, carrot and cabbage. Makes for a delicious quick meal for busy nights and also a great base to add on more veggies or your protein of choice. Fully vegan and vegetarian.

These Vietnamese stir-fried noodles are the ultimate weeknight speedy meal that I am sure your whole family will love.

Almost every week I'll whip up a quick Asian-style noodle dish at the end of a busy day. This vegan garlic udon is a perfect super fast and tweakable dish to use up veggies that need to be cooked and my kids often request this vegan peanut butter satay noodles, so it also comes back often in our weekday meal rotation.

And now this super simple soy sauce Vietnamese flat rice noodle dish is the kind of meal everyone wants in their repertoire for a quick, easy and satisfying weeknight meal.

It is like a healthier takeout dish that comes together without much fuss. All you have to do is cook the veggies, then add cooked noodles and a super simple sweet soy sauce mixture. 

I used flat rice noodles, which only require a few minutes of soaking in hot water, and the flavorful sauce is surprisingly straightforward featuring light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar and brown sugar.

This dish actually is a vegan version of a "Mi Xao Dau", which is a simple dish of stir-fried rice noodles cooked with soy sauce and some veggies. The classic meal also often includes meat (beef) and sometimes oyster sauce and fish sauce. This adaptation is a meat-free recipe that you can serve as is or add on a plant-based protein (see below for ideas).

Let me know how it turned out! ❤️

Why you will love this recipe

• Makes for a quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe
• Very versatile and a perfect base to add on more veggies or your favorite proteins
• Only requires a few easy-to-find ingredients
• Delicious dish with an amazing fusion of sweet, savory and garlicky flavors
• Healthy version of takeout food!
• Vegan and vegetarian

What kind of noodles should I use?

This Vietnamese dish is usually served using rice noodles. I used dried flat rice noodles that I found at my local Asian market, but you might also be able to find some in regular groceries. 

Vermicelli rice noodles also would work, although these are pretty thin and will break more easily. Pad Thai rice noodles are somewhere in between the wide flat noodles and vermicelli and would be great too. And if you can find fresh rice noodles, then these would be the best choice (usually in Asian markets).

If you don't have rice noodles, then you can use other Asian-style noodles, such as chow mein noodles, glass noodles, Shanghai noodles or even ramen noodles. And in a pinch, simply use regular spaghetti noodles!

Usually, to cook rice noodles you only have to soak them in hot water until tender and for wheat noodles, you have to boil them until done. Check out the cooking instructions on your packaging.

Ingredients you will need

(you will find the full ingredient amounts below in the recipe card)

• Noodles: I used Vietnamese flat rice noodles, see above for other options.
• Onion: I used a yellow onion, but sweet onion is great too. If your onion is very large, then use only half of it.
• Carrot: you can use 1-2 carrots for this recipe.
• Cabbage: I love napa cabbage for stir-fries as it cooks quickly, but regular green cabbage would work too.
• Mushrooms: I used oyster mushrooms, which are great here for their meaty texture. If you cannot find them, then Shiitake mushrooms would be perfect too.
• Garlic: I added 2 cloves, use more if you want.
• Light soy sauce: or all-purpose soy sauce. This recipe is a soy sauce-focused simple sauce and I used ¼ cup for this dish, although you can add more if you want. You can use low-sodium soy sauce if you need.
• Dark soy sauce: you can also replace with more of the regular soy sauce. Dark soy sauce ferments for longer, which adds a stronger flavor and a darker golden brown color to the dish. If you cannot find it in your regular grocery store, then check out your local Asian grocery store.
• Brown sugar: add sweetness and a caramel-like flavor. Other granulated sugar will work too.
• Rice vinegar: can be swapped for lime juice. Adds some brightness to the sauce.

How to make Vietnamese stir-fried noodles

(you will be able to find all the detailed recipe in the recipe card below)

Cook the noodles

Check the packaging for directions on how to cook the noodles. Most rice noodles require soaking in hot water and not boiling, so make sure to follow the directions. And make sure not to overcook the noodles (keep them very al dente) as they will keep cooking in the pan or wok.

Once they are done cooking, drain well and although this is optional, you can add a little oil to prevent them from sticking together. 

Whisk the sauce ingredients

In a small bowl, add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, brown sugar and rice vinegar. Whisk until the sugar dissolves in the sauce. Set aside.

Sauté the vegetables

Warm up a large wok with a little neutral-tasting oil that can handle a high smoke point (a large skillet works too). Then, add the onion and carrot and sauté/stir fry for about 5 minutes on medium heat stirring often.

Add the cabbage, mushrooms and garlic. Stir fry until the vegetables are almost done but still pretty crunchy.

Combine and stir-fry the noodles

Add the cooked noodles and sauce mixture to the wok and then stir to combine. Stir fry the noodles until done to your liking, then serve. 

Make sure to taste as you might want to add more soy sauce depending on your preference.  

Helpful tips

• Make sure to cook the noodles until just al dente, no more. If you cook them too much they might turn mushy in the wok. Plus, when al dente, they tend to soak up the sauce better than when overcooked.
• Use a neutral-tasting oil (like vegetable oil) when stir-frying the noodles if you want. Choose something that can handle frying temperature. I prefer to keep this dish lower in added oil, but sometimes I'll add a little sesame oil to help flavor the noodles.
• I highly recommend preparing all the vegetables before getting the cooking started. It goes pretty fast, so you might not have enough time to chop the veggies in between steps.
• Cook the tougher veggies first or the ones that need more time to cook, then add the more gentle ones. Here, I cooked the onion and carrots for a few minutes before adding the delicate mushrooms and napa cabbage. Keep this in mind if you include other veggies so everything is evenly cooked.

Serving suggestions

This classic Vietnamese dish is not that saucy and more on the dry side where the noodles absorb the sauce to become super flavorful. If you want, you can accompany with extra sauce soy in a small bowl when serving in case you want to add more.

Feel free to garnish with green onion and some sesame seeds and for a spicy dish, then add some sriracha or your favorite hot sauce. We also love this dish with fresh Thai basil and a side of kimchi.

This ultra-simple noodle meal is perfect to pair with other Asian dishes. You can add some more protein by including tofu, tempeh or edamame. Here are a few great pairing suggestions:

• Tofu egg rolls
• Thai Brussel sprouts
• Thai basil tofu stir fry
• Hoisin tofu
• Tofu rice paper rolls
• Sticky tempeh
• Miso soup
• Bok choy tofu stir fry

Variations

This makes for such a great base to add on more! Other than serving with extra protein as suggested above, you can also add extra vegetables. This meal is great if you have some veggies from the fridge that need to be used up! Here are more vegetables that would work well too:

• Bok choy
• Bean sprouts
• Chinese broccoli (gai lan)
• Red bell pepper
• Cauliflower or broccoli
• Kale 
• Baby corn
• Bamboo shoots
• Snap peas

As for the sauce, you can really change it the way you like, there is no going wrong. This recipe is a soy sauce-based recipe, but you can also include:

• Vegan oyster sauce
• Hoisin sauce
• Garlic powder
• Mushroom soy sauce
• Sriracha

Storage tips

This recipe is a little better when just prepared. But, it makes for great lunches the next day too. 

Keep the extra in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days. You might need to add extra moisture when reheating the leftovers, such as a splash of soy sauce.

Similar recipes you might like

• Spicy garlic noodles
• Creamy gochujang
• Vegan chow mein
• Teriyaki udon
• Creamy mushroom miso udon
• Vegan peanut noodles

I hope you like this Vietnamese stir-fried noodles recipe as much as we do! If you try it, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how it was. Your feedback is so helpful!

Let's stay in touch with Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. Also, don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter to be sure not to miss anything.

📖 Recipe