Chinese Wheat Noodles with Chicken and Peanuts Recipe
These noodles with chicken and peanuts are a homemade, simplified version of popular Chinese wok dishes. They’re a bit like a cross between stir-fried noodles and a salad – lots of vegetables, crunchy peanuts and an aromatic sauce. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner when you want something different from classic pasta with tomato sauce.
This dish is inspired by simple stir-fries from northern China, where wheat noodles often replace rice. In terms of flavor, it’s close to gong bao style, but in a milder, less oily version.
A quick, one-pan noodle dish that combines the comfort of stir-fried noodles with the freshness and crunch of a salad. It uses simple ingredients but delivers a distinctly Asian-style flavor thanks to soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and chili.
Why this version works
- The noodles are slightly undercooked and finish in the sauce, so they stay bouncy instead of turning mushy.
- Chicken cut into thin strips browns quickly and doesn’t dry out inside, even in a regular frying pan.
- The peanuts are toasted separately, so they keep their aroma and a distinct crunch.
- A sauce made from a few easy-to-find ingredients delivers a clearly Asian flavor without hard-to-get extras.
Chef's tips
Prepare all the ingredients before you start frying – stir-fries cook quickly, so having everything chopped and measured out makes the process smoother and prevents overcooking. Don’t overcook the noodles or vegetables; a slightly firm texture keeps the dish light and satisfying.
How to serve
Serve the noodles straight from the pan, topped with extra peanuts and, if you like, sliced spring onions or fresh coriander. They pair well with green tea or lightly sparkling water with lime. For a larger meal, add a simple cucumber salad or Asian-style coleslaw on the side.
Watch out for
- Don’t overcrowd the pan with chicken – if the pieces overlap, fry in two batches or they’ll start to steam instead of brown.
- The noodles overcook easily, so take them off the heat while the center is still slightly firm.
- Don’t pour the sauce with garlic and ginger onto a completely dry, smoking-hot pan, or the garlic will burn quickly and turn bitter.
Substitutions
- You can replace Asian wheat noodles with thick spaghetti cooked al dente.
- Chicken breast can be swapped for boneless thighs, cut into thin strips.
- You can substitute peanuts with cashews or slivered almonds.
- You can replace napa or pak choi cabbage with a mix of kale and white cabbage, thinly sliced.
Ingredients
- Asian wheat noodles e.g. ramen or Chinese noodles; can be replaced with spaghetti - 200 g
- chicken breast boneless, skinless - 250 g
- bell pepper medium - 1 piece
- carrot medium - 1 piece
- cabbage chopped - 120 g
- unsalted peanuts lightly chopped - 40 g
- soy sauce - 3 tablespoon
- rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar - 1 tablespoon
- oil for frying - 2 tablespoon
- sesame oil for aroma - 1 teaspoon
- garlic finely chopped - 2 clove
- fresh ginger piece about 2 cm, grated - 10 g
- chili paste or chili flakes or less, to taste - 0.5 teaspoon
- sugar - 1 teaspoon
- water for the sauce - 3 tablespoon
Preparation
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, shortening the time by about 1 minute, until the center is still slightly springy. Drain, briefly rinse under cold water and toss with a little oil so the strands are slick and don’t stick together.
- Trim the chicken breast of any sinew and cut into thin strips about 1 cm wide so they cook quickly. Slice the bell pepper into thin strips, the carrot into matchsticks or very thin half-moons, and the cabbage into thin shreds – the pieces should be a similar thickness so they soften at the same rate.
- Toast the peanuts in a dry pan over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, until they turn lightly golden and smell nutty; immediately transfer them to a bowl so they don’t darken too much. Finely chop the garlic and ginger or grate them on a fine grater.
- In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, water, chili paste or flakes, garlic and ginger. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the sauce is smooth, glossy and distinctly salty-sweet-sour with a gentle heat.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, wide frying pan over high heat until it just begins to shimmer. Add the chicken in a single layer and fry for 4–5 minutes, stirring often, until the pieces are no longer pink inside and are browned in spots; if they overlap, fry in two batches.
- Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate. In the same pan, heat the second tablespoon of oil, add the carrot and bell pepper and fry for 3–4 minutes over fairly high heat, until they soften but still have a slight crunch and a glossy coating of oil, without dark burnt spots.
- Add the cabbage and fry for 1–2 minutes, until the leaves noticeably wilt and the pale parts turn translucent and slightly glossy. If the vegetables start to brown too much on a dry surface, add 1–2 tablespoons of water – it should just hiss and evaporate quickly.
- Add the noodles and chicken to the vegetables. Pour in the prepared sauce, turn the heat up and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, tossing frequently with tongs, until the noodles are evenly colored, slick, and there is almost no pale, watery liquid left on the bottom of the pan.
- Finally, add most of the peanuts and give everything a quick stir. Serve immediately, sprinkling the remaining peanuts over each portion and, if you like, some fresh cilantro or scallions – the dish should smell intensely of garlic, ginger and toasted nuts.
Storage
No storage information available for this dish.
This is one of those dishes I reach for when I’m craving takeaway-style Chinese food but want to keep things lighter and use what I already have at home. The recipe is very forgiving – you can swap in almost any crunchy vegetables you like, and adjust the chili to suit everyone at the table.
