Let me first say that I’m sure this is probably not authentic Chicken Yakisoba. I’ve never actually eaten this classic Japanese street food on the streets of Japan, but I have seen Mark Bittman make this yakisoba on his show, The Minimalist, and I knew I had to make it myself. Those noodles looked so lip-licking good, were packed with vegetables, and it just looked so easy. In other words, it was just my style. ;)
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What is Yakisoba Sauce Made Of?
Yakisoba sauce is a sweet, savory, and tangy mix of soy sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings. Some yakisoba sauce recipes include oyster sauce, which has a more rich umami flavor. I also added sriracha to my yakisoba sauce because I like things a little spicy!
What Does Chicken Yakisoba Taste Like?
The addition of ketchup makes this sauce super tangy, and a splash of Worcestershire gives it a uniquely sweet-umami flavor. I used a whole tablespoon of sriracha in my sauce because I really like my food spicy, but feel free to reduce that to 1/2 tablespoon or even a teaspoon if you want the sauce a bit more tame.
Can I Use Different Noodles?
Yes. I used ramen noodles because they’re inexpensive and easy to find. If you can find actual “yaki-soba” noodles, those will be the best choice. You’ll get the best price for yaki-soba noodles at an Asian grocery store. If you can’t find yaki-soba noodles and prefer not to use inexpensive ramen noodles, udon noodles or any other straight Asian noodle will still taste great drenched in this sauce.
Can I Use Different Vegetables?
The wonderful thing about this recipe is that you can use just about any mix of vegetables that you have leftover in your fridge. Just stay away from very watery vegetables, like tomatoes. Also, to make life easier, you can replace the hand-shredded cabbage and carrots with a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots).
Homemade Chicken Yakisoba
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1/2 head green cabbage ($0.41)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.55)
- 2 carrots ($0.25)
- 1 crown broccoli ($0.70)
- 1 inch fresh ginger ($0.52)
- 1 large chicken breast ($1.66)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.08)
- 2 3oz. packages ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded ($0.50)
- 1 tsp sesame oil, optional ($0.19)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce ($0.20)
- 2 Tbsp ketchup ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp sriracha ($0.26)
- 1 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare the meat and vegetables for stir frying. Peel the ginger with either a vegetable peeler or the side of a spoon and then grate it with a cheese grater. Peel and grate the carrots with a large holed cheese grater. Remove the core from the cabbage and cut into thin strips. Slice the onion into thin strips. Cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Slice the chicken into thin strips.
- Begin boiling a medium pot full of water for the noodles. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the grated ginger, saute for about 30 seconds to one minute (its okay if it sticks to the pan but don’t let it burn). Add the chicken strips and cook until they are no longer pink (about five minutes).
- Once the chicken is cooked through, add all of the vegetables. Stir and cook until wilted (about 5-10 minutes). Meanwhile, once the water boils, add the noodles and cook just until tender (2-3 minutes). Drain, return to the pot (with the heat turned off) and toss with the sesame oil to keep from sticking.
- In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, ketchup, sriracha, and sugar. Use only 1/2 tsp of sriracha if you don’t want it spicy, use up to 1 Tbsp if you like it hot. Stir until the ketchup and sugar are dissolved. Pour the sauce into the skillet with the chicken and vegetables with the heat still on medium high. Add the noodles, stir to coat everything in the sauce, and heat through (just a few minutes).
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Equipment
- Color Cutting Boards
- Chef’s Knife
- Stainless Steel Pots and Pans
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Want more ways to dress up your ramen noodles? Check out 6 Ways to Upgrade Instant Ramen, Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles, Lime Shrimp Dragon Noodles, or Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles.
How to Make Homemade Chicken Yakisoba – Step By Step Photos
Prepare the Yakisoba sauce first, so that it’s ready to go when you need it. In a medium bowl, stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tbsp ketchup, 1 Tbsp sriracha, 1 Tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp toasted sesame oil.
This is the “toasted” sesame oil. It doesn’t always say “toasted on the bottle, but you can tell this is the toasted variety because of the deep brown color and because it’s sold in a tiny bottle. Toasted sesame oil has a much stronger nutty flavor and only a small amount is needed for a big impact.
Next, slice up your vegetables. Thinly slice one yellow onion and 1/2 a small head of green cabbage. Use a large-holed cheese grater to grate 1-2 carrots. Cut one crown of broccoli into small, bite-sized florets.
Slice one chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.) into very thin strips. I like to do about 1/4-1/2 inch wide and about 2 inches long.
Grate about one inch of fresh ginger. Heat a very large skillet (at least 12″ diameter) over medium heat, then add 2 Tbsp vegetable oil. Tilt the skillet to distribute the oil, then add the grated ginger. Sauté briefly (about 30 seconds), then add the sliced chicken and continue to cook until the chicken pieces are cooked through.
Add the sliced vegetables and continue to sauté until they are slightly wilted, but still bright in color.
Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and cook two 3oz. bricks of ramen noodles until tender, then drain in a colander.
Finally, pour the prepared yakisoba sauce onto the vegetables and stir to combine.
Then add your cooked and drained ramen and stir until everything is combined and coated in the sauce. THE END. Easy, right?
<3 Chicken Yakisoba!
Sweet, tangy, and a little spicy.
Hi Beth! You make me so happy with your recipes and you’ve got great food photography skills! I am compiling healthy recipes for my fiance because he is very picky with food. What you do is amazing. I love it! Thank you for sharing! Hopefully, more Asian food dishes to come! :)
Great recipe! Easier to find and follow than Marc Bittman’s. I liked the fact that you used chicken, regular cabbage, and Sriracha! I did use chuka soba noodles i/o ramen, which may make it just a tad healthier? So glad to have found your site!
Can you replace the Ramen with some other noodles? I’m not a fan of packaged Ramen.
Yes, it won’t be quite the same, but you could. :)
I tried it with Egg noodles and a couple of other vegetables and it still turned out great. Only thing to keep in mind with egg noodles is to wash the noodles after they boil because mine were too sticky. But over all, awesome recipe!
I use orchids tomoshiraga somen noodles. Not sure about normal grocery stores but commissaries carry them.
This. Was. Amazing.
My SO and I had this the other night for dinner – it was easy to make, even though I’d never sliced cabbage before. Didn’t take long, and was *absolutely* delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
looks so good!
GREAT recipe! The whole family loved it and that is tough to pull off.
This recipe looks great! Will definitely give it a try. But where are you finding a large chicken breast for $1.66???
My grocery store runs sales on chicken breast for $1.99/lb. on a fairly regular basis. They’re previously frozen, but I don’t care! :D I stock up when they’re on sale so that I never have to pay the usual $4.50 or so per pound.
I would like to know what a serving consists of – a cup or 11\2 cups ? Would this be a satisfying portion for an adult male. ?
It did make a lot, but I usually base my serving sizes on servings for me (small female). So, for adult males it might feed about four.
This was delicious! I loved the ginger-gave it just enough kick. I didn’t use the sriracha as my kids don’t like anything too spicy. At the suggestion of someone else I used the packaged cole slaw mix in place of the cabbage and carrots, which made prep very easy. I doubled the sauce as I like to be sure there is enough-it was perfect. Will definitely make this again!
My family and I all loved this recipe! I did not use all the sriracha because I don’t love a lot of spice but it was absolutely delicious. I will be definitely making it again, thank you so much!
This looks so good! Thank you so much for the inspiration. My husband and I are working hard to pay down our debt and this blog was the motivation I needed to look at this as an opportunity and not a limitation. I made my first trip to Aldi and was inspired to really get creative with what I had. Excited to put this on my next grocery list!
I love yakisoba, used to have it back in the U.S. There is no ramen where we live now, but I did find some rice noodles, they look transparent… Would they work? And btw I love your pic with the Sriracha in your hand. I brought 5 bottles with us and we are down to 3 we put it on everything.
I say if you like the clear rice noodles, why not? :) It won’t be the same, of course, but you might still like it.
Made this tonight for dinner. It was yummy with just the right amount of heat (I used the suggested half teaspoon of sriracha sauce). I doubled the chicken and used two breasts and marinated them in soy sauce. I also used the ramen flavor packs in the pasta water to give the pasta some flavor. My husband liked it even more than I did.
Made this the other night with slightly less veggies. Once I poured the sauce over the pan of veggies I knew I was going to eat something good! I’ll probably add more veggies next time but still came out really good.
Made this more or less as stated but upped the veg, used vermicelli instead of the ramen noodles (none on hand), used low-sodium soy sauce, and used leftover turkey (frozen post-Thanksgiving). Awesome!
In case you’re extra lazy: Cole slaw mix in the bagged salad section of the grocery store is a good shortcut/cheat for the cabbage and carrots.