My favorite weeknight dinners look very simple. It’s usually an easy chicken and noodle dish with cheese that I can make all in one pan. These yakisoba are no different! Cook the chicken, mix the sauce, toss with noodles, and
top with mozzarella cheese! It’s an amazing meal for a family or just yourself. Toss everything together and let the mozzarella melt all over the noodles.
Noodle dishes that are flavored with a simple sauce are the way to go. No need to spend a lot of time on a cheese sauce or long-simmered tomato sauce. These yakisoba noodles are already cooked, so once you add them to the pan with the sauce, they absorb the honey, soy, and sesame.
‘Yaki’ is a cooking term that means pan-fried, so these noodles end up being a great vessel for leftover fridge vegetables or seasonal produce. I like to keep in a sweet bell pepper for it’s flavor and crunch with some fresh herb. Pick your favorite vegetables, cook them properly, and don’t forget fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, or mint. The herbs make it!
The sauce is a common balance between sweet, salty, and flavorful fat. It’s an Asian blend for fried rice, marinades, and other noodle stir-fries. The flavor from the sauce is so intense that you don’t need a lot of it which is what is so brilliant. As an Italian, you can draw comparisons to the same formula with different ingredients. Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and honey.
My favorite part of these noodles is the cheese, of course. Mozzarella is neutral enough that it won’t effect flavor and just add visual appeal with an addicting texture. Don’t skip the mozzarella with this one. I think next time I might sprinkle the mozzarella in layers so the edges get crispier and the center is even CHEESIER!
Cheesy Yakisoba
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3-7oz. packages Yakisoba noodles
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 3 green onions, sliced thin
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1/2 fresh basil, chopped
- 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Soak the yakisoba noodles in hot water until they soften and unwind. Drain the noodles.
- Mix the ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, water, honey, and toasted sesame seeds. Set aside.
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
- Cook the chicken in a skillet for 2 - 4 minutes on each side until golden. Remove the chicken from the pan and let cool.
- Add the peppers, scallions, and garlic to the pan and reduce the heat to low, stirring occasionally.
- Add the noodles to the pan with the sauce mixture and bring the sauce to a boil. Toss together with chopsticks until combined.
- Sprinkle in chopped basil and grated mozzarella. Cover the pan with a lid and let cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!