Not only is vegan sesame garlic noodles simple and budget friendly, but this flavor packed saucy noodle bowl is a quick way to get dinner on the table ASAP!
Any type of pasta is usually a quick, budget-friendly meal idea. With the exception of lasagna of course. These vegan sesame garlic noodles are no exception. They are simple, delicious, quick, and won’t break your wallet.
While we prefer to use a ramen style noodle for this recipe, you can make it with any pasta. Longer noodles really do well with the sauce and it creates a more classic Asian take-out style meal, but you are welcome to switch it up!
This is a great way to do take-out at home or to elevate those cheap packages of ramen (instant-noodles) that you have sitting around in your pantry!
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Vegan Sesame Garlic Noodle Ingredients:
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make this easy vegan sesame garlic noodles recipe:
- Instant ramen noodles – You have two options. Pre-package vegan-friendly instant ramen packages and discard the seasoning packets for another use or you can buy packages of just instant ramen noodles.
- soy sauce – the start of building our sauce flavors, you can never go wrong with soy sauce
- maple syrup – a little sweetness to our dish and to balance out and give a more umami flavoring to everything
- rice wine vinegar – a classic Asian ingredient used to balance and heighten the other flavors
- sesame oil – you can use toasted or not sesame oil for this recipe, but the taste of sesame oil in this dish gives richness that you don’t get with out oils
- garlic powder and ground ginger – we are using dried, grounded versions in this recipe to easily mix into the sauce and make this recipe go faster
- red pepper flakes – for a little kick to this recipe, this is a simple and easy addition
- sesame seeds – for a balance of sesame taste and a texture difference, we love adding these at the end
- green onions – we love adding these at the end for the texture and taste to the overall dish, plus a bit of freshness that’s simple to add
Substitutions and Variations:
- Instant ramen noodles – while we are using ramen, other noodles and pasta varieties can be used as well. We recommend a long and skinny noodle for this recipe, but again, anything, even elbow noodles or penne would work!
- soy sauce -coconut aminos, tamari, no soy soy sauce, and other similar sauces will work as a replacement
- maple syrup – agave, date syrup or even granulated brown or coconut sugar would work
- sesame oil – other oils will work as well, but the flavor will alter
- garlic powder and ground ginger – you can also use fresh versions of these ingredients
- red pepper flakes – still want a kick, but no red pepper flakes, try sriracha or even just a hot sauce
Frequently Asked Questions:
This is a classic Asian-American take-out dish. It has roots in Sichuan cooking. Sesame noodles themselves are believed to be created in the 1970s by Shorty Tang, a New York restaurant owner who created a cold noodle dish at his Hwa Yuan restaurant.
Garlic noodles, are also believed to be created in the 1970s, but this time by Helene An, a founder of Asian fusion cuisine, making it a more Vietnamese dish. They were created in her family’s deli, then, Thanh Long restaurant, where she fused together Vietnamese, French, and Chinese flavors to make them more palatable for the American taste buds.
While it’s unclear exactly where the fusion of garlic noodles and sesame noodle happen, we have to save they are a match made in heaven and we welcome the idea with our own spin on the simple dish.
In the photos, we are using the organic Ramen wheat noodles from Wegman’s brand. In the past, we have also used Ocean’s Halo instant ramen noodle packages. These are more expensive than the packages with the seasoning, but they are less waste for a recipe like this.
Top Ramen makes a soy flavored noodle package that you can find much cheaper in stores and this particular package is vegan friendly. Discard or use the seasoning package for another recipe.
Ramen is made from wheat, so this is not gluten free. You could make a similar meal but use gluten free pasta instead.
If you do that, you will also want to make sure to swap the soy sauce for something similar that you can have with your allergens. You can easily swap with coconut aminos.  You can also use tamari sauce if you need something gluten free. Alternatively, you could use a no soy, soy sauce.
Lastly, this dish does contain sesame – both sesame seeds and sesame oil. You can swap the oil for any oil, but use a flavored one for more taste that you loose from not using sesame oil. For the sesame seeds, omit them and use something like sunflower seeds for a bit of that texture.
This is completely up to you! We have enjoyed these noodles both ways and you can enjoy them to your liking!
Yes. You can enjoy them right away or let cool and store them and heat back or eat cold within 3 days.
We just roasted sweet potato rounds (sliced sweet potatoes) and served them on the side of our dish for a complete meal option. Feel free to do this with any roasted vegetable to make the meal stretch further.
What other quick vegan dinners ideas could I make?
We have over 45 30-minute or less dinner ideas like the 20 minute vegan spinach and sundried tomato recipe photoed above.
Get all our 30 minute vegan dinner ideas here.
Let’s see your creations!
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Easy Vegan Sesame Garlic Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 packages instant ramen noodles (discard seasoning packet or save for another recipe)
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce (see post above for soy free alternatives)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup (sub with agave)
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or 2 tsp sriracha), OPTIONAL
- green onions and sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles, without seasoning, as directed on package. Drain once finished.
- While cooking, add all ingredients from soy sauce to red pepper flakes (if adding) to a bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
- Right before noodles are complete, add sauce ingredients to a skillet over medium low heat. Let heat through, then add drained noodles and toss until very well combined.
- Serve in bowls and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
- Note: This is not served with a broth, but if you like noodles with broth, then you can add a mushroom or vegetable stock when adding the sauce.
Super easy and delicious! Perfect weeknight meal!