Every now and then, I have a little bit of an identity crisis about this blog.
As in, I sometimes struggle how to explain Gimme Some Oven’s identity when people ask, “So what’s your blog about?”
Business pros are always advising bloggers that they need to niche way (way) down in order to be successful. Which always makes me wonder whether I should have chosen to focus exclusively on a popular topic like slow cooking, or simple vegetarian dinners, or gluten-free desserts, or 5-ingredient meals. I mean, I get it — choosing to stick to one specific topic might make for a clear, well-focused blog. But the reality is that I cook all of these kinds of meals in any given month! And I really love that! Sure, I tend to go more for the quick and easy recipes in any category (and try to eat as healthy and seasonally and plant-based as possible), but the honest truth is that I love just cooking up a little bit of everything.
So when people ask what kind of recipes are shared on here, I generally just tend to shrug and say, “I just blog what I normally eat!” Sure, it might not be the most business-savvy answer, and may never be refined to the perfectly marketable elevator pitch. But I’ve never been the most well-spoken girl anyway, so a rambling answer about all of the random recipes I’ve been enjoying lately will probably always be my style. ;)
This month, for example, I’ve pulled my slow cooker back out, and I’m loving experimenting with ways to have it save us time and make the house smell freaking amazing when you come home from a long day at work. This month, I have fallen in love with healthier caramel sauces (recipes coming soon!) that I want to drizzle on every single dessert this fall. This month, I’m wrapping up the end of my CSA, and am making salads galore with all of those delicious end-of-summer veggies and greens. This month, I’m determined to master some of the traditional dishes I loved in France (and loved reading about in Julia’s delightful memoir), like classic coq au vin and boeuf bourguignion. This month, my calendar is super full, so I’m whipping up dinners in the amount of time it takes to watch The Daily Show on Hulu (28 minutes!).
And this month, this simple Sesame Chicken Noodle Stir-Fry absolutely made my night.
It’s quick and easy to make, as you might have guessed from the title. It’s made with a zillion veggies from my CSA, like broccoli, carrots, and bright bell peppers. It’s made extra-flavorful with a simple sesame-soy-ginger sauce. And to be honest, it is just the kind of simple dinner I normally eat. ;)
Sesame Chicken Noodle Stir Fry Recipe | 1-Minute Video
So of course, I wanted to share it with you. :)
It’s nothing super profound. Simply cook a pot of rice noodles, according to the package instructions. And while the water is heating, chop up whatever stir-fry-friendly veggies and greens you have on hand, and saute them up in some peanut oil (<– my favorite, or you can also use whatever cooking oil you have on hand.)
Then whip up a simple stir-fry sauce with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic powder, and some chili garlic sauce (<– if you’d like to spice things up). And if you’d like to make this gluten-free, just swap some tamari in place of the soy sauce.
Toss it all together…
…sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions…
…and then dive the heck in.
I mean, let’s be real, I’ll always be excited about any dish that involves noodles. :) But this particular stir-fry definitely hit the spot last week. It’s full of great flavor, easy to make with whatever veggies you have on hand, it’s ready to go in about half an hour, and it’s my total kind of comfort food.
So thanks for rollin’ with whatever sounds good to me, and I sincerely hope this one will hit the spot for you too!!
30-Minute Sesame Chicken Noodle Stir-Fry
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 -6 servings 1x
Description
This 30-Minute Sesame Chicken Noodle Stir-Fry recipe is quick and easy to make, easy to customize with whatever fresh veggies or greens you have on hand, and it’s tossed with the most delicious sesame-soy vinaigrette!
Ingredients
Chicken Noodle Stir-Fry Ingredients:
- 7 ounces rice noodles
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil (or olive oil), divided
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly-sliced
- salt and pepper
- 2 cups broccoli florets, chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 1 small head of broccoli)
- 2/3 cup shredded carrots
- 1 red bell pepper, cored and thinly-sliced
- 8 ounces baby bella* mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 cup roughly-chopped collard greens**, tough stems removed
- 1 batch stir-fry sauce (see below)
- toppings: thinly-sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds
Stir-Fry Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- optional: 1-3 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, to taste
Instructions
To Make The Chicken Noodle Stir-Fry:
- Cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and season evenly with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the chicken, stirring and flipping occasionally, for until it is just cooked through and no longer pink on the inside (about 3-5 minutes). Transfer chicken with a slotted spoon to a separate plate, and set aside.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the saute pan, and increase heat to high. Add broccoli, carrots, bell pepper and mushrooms, and saute for 5 minutes, or until they reach your desired level of softness.
- Add in the collard greens, sauce, cooked chicken, noodles, and immediately toss to combine. Continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the greens have wilted a bit.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately, garnished with your desired toppings.
To Make The Stir-Fry Sauce:
- Whisk all ingredients together until combined. Then whisk in as much chili garlic sauce as you’d like.
Notes
*You could really use just about any mushrooms here — baby bella, white button, shiitakes, or a combination!
**Feel free to sub in whatever greens you have on hand here — fresh spinach, kale, chard, or mustard greens.
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This was amazing!!! I did use spinach instead of collard greens.
Thanks, Nikky, we’re so happy you loved it!
I love your blog style! You’re the number one blog I come to get dinner ideas. For someone that doesn’t look at a lot of blogs it’s earlier for me to have one source. If you had a niche I probably wouldn’t be interested- maybe that’s just me. But I love what you’re doing- it feels authentic! Keep it up!
Thanks for your sweet words about the blog, Sarah — we’re so glad you’re here! :)
It’s boeuf bourguignon not bouef bourguignion just so you know. I’m french canadian so it catch my eye. But i love the fact that your blog is so diversified, i always go back to it. Keep up the good work!!
Oops! Thanks for catching that, we just fixed it! :)
Hi there!
I made your dish…it was amazing. In my rendition I doubled the recipe and made these tweeks:
1. I tripled the sauce.
2. Used a bit less soy sauce (2/3 c).
3. 4 tablespoons chili garlic sauce.
4. Used 3.5 tablespoons fresh minced ginger instead of ground.
5. Added a can of water chestnuts (should have used 2).
6. Halved the oyster sauce and substituted the other half with hoisin.
7. After the noodles soaked in hot water, I stir fried them (per packaging) separately, adding about 2/3 the sauce toward the end.
Because I doubled the recipe and the packages were 16oz each, I guesstimated 20oz…I think I overshot. I wished I’d had more veggies for the amount of noodles, but the amount of sauce for the dish was perfect.
8. Stir fried the veggies in 2 batches since it was so much to cook, adding several tablespoons of sauce toward the end.
9. Topped with your suggestions.
Amazing!!!!
*In your recipe I couldn’t find when to add the sauce to the dish. Do you add it in the end?
I love the versatility of this dish and the sauce is excellent! Thank you so much.
Hi Jamie! Thanks for sharing with us — we’re so glad you enjoyed this! :)
Can you make this dish without using the oyster sauce? Is there any substitution for it? I am allergic to shellfish and seafood. Would like to try this but cannot with the oyster sauce.
Hi Christina! Yes, definitely. You can use hoisin instead, if you like. We hope you enjoy!
I just made this dish and it is amazing!! I’ve never made stir fry before. I will definitely make this again.
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed it!
How many calories in this dish?
Hi Erica! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
I LOVE your blog because it matches my cooking/eating style– which is just like yours: veggie filled and not too fussy!
I find that whenever I make stir frys and slice the chicken thinly before I cook it, the chicken becomes tough and dry. Have you ever had this issue and if so do you have any advice?
Thanks for your sweet words, Sarah — we’re glad to hear that! As for the chicken — we haven’t had any issues with it being dry that way, but if you’ve had better luck with cooking it whole and then cutting it, we say go for it! :)
I just started following and love the diversity of recipes! I made this recipe tonight and my husband said it is a keeper. Please keep making recipes of food you eat. We try to mix up our meals and keep it interesting.
Thanks for sharing, Janessa – we’re so glad you and your husband enjoyed this!
The colours and freshness of this look amazing – will definitely be giving this one a try!
Thank you, Natasha — we hope you love it!