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.
Beth, I cannot tell you how many times this meal has saved me from ordering take-out. I’ve made it with ramen noodles, I’ve made it with regular angel hair pasta, I’ve made it with white rice! I’ve made it with “cauliflower” rice. It never disappoints. I like it mildly spicy so I use 1 tsp of sriracha, and I add garlic to the ginger step, because EVERYTHING I cook has garlic!! Delicious!!!
This recipe looks divine. Although you need to correct the pin ingredients list. It says 4 cups soy and wirscheshire sauce instead of 1/4 cup. I’m making it this week and can’t wait! I love this type of food! Thanks for posting!
Unfortunately Pinterest pulls the ingredients automatically and they provide no way for me to edit them. They’re ALWAYS messed up. :(
Very interesting recipes
I was excited to give this recipe a try but I’m sorry I thought it was awful! The flavors of the sauce was just way too overpowering….I don’t know if t was the soy sauce with the Worcestershire together or what. Unfortunately no one in my family enjoyed it and we eat Asian style foods all the time so it’s not something new. I wanted to like it. :(
This is a FAV recipe that I make over and over and over! It freezes perfectly as well!
So coming back and came across this..someone took it and your original picture. Just thought
I would tattle! LOL! Cause I know its work to make and share!
https://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/2600965033/chicken-yakisoba-recipe/
Ooh how do you freeze it??
this is dinner tonight!!! but why throw away the seasoning packets? I keep them for use when I need “broth” but discover I am out. I just use saved seasoning from Ramen.
As I was preparing the veggies (and making a horrific mess of my kitchen in the process), I thought “I am never making this again it’s too much trouble.” Then I got the chicken in the ginger (and I added garlic because I needed to) and could just smell it all cooking and I was completely hooked. I did ditch the siracha altogether because I am naughty and because I do not like heat of any level, and the sauce was still excellent. The chicken tasted very, very gingery (which is a good thing) and the veggies were a nice mix. I may try with actual soba noodles, though, because the ramen tended to all clump together in a big mass in the middle and didn’t mix with the veggies well. Still, very, very good and I can’t wait until my lunch break to devour the rest!
I always add garlic to everything as well :-D
Yum, I am making this tonight!! In the recipe it says 2″ ginger, but in the instructions it says 1″? I love ginger so I did 2!
Thanks for catching that error! :)
One “trick” I began doing a couple years ago was buying tubes of garlic and ginger in the refrigerated veggie section at the store. At about $4/bottle it seemed extravagant but, like pre-grated parmesan cheese, it’s totally worth it to me. I can’t stand peeling and grating garlic and ginger and with the tube, I always have it on hand and it’s so much faster. Would it be worth the extra $$ to everyone? Probably not, but it works for me!
I feel ya. I went through a stretch for a couple of years where I just used the minced garlic from jars because it was SO much easier and it lasted a good while in the fridge. I’m back to using fresh garlic now, but I totally “get” why you’d use the tube stuff. :)
I do the exact same. :) But for $4 I can get a 20 ounce squeeze bottle of minced garlic ( sold with the jars) and that equalls 226 cloves of garlic. I think that is WELL worth the $4.
Tubes of ginger are my jam! It costs a little more but so worth it to me!
Made this dish tonight. It taste really good. I couldn’t believe how easy it was too make.
This recipe better be awesome. Prep time said 15 minutes and that is straight laughable. Can’t wait to try it after all my hard work!
I want to try the Chicken Yakisobe. It looks good. Have any of you tried?
Yes this is REALLY good. I used cabbage out of the bag otherwise followed the recipe with only 1 tsp sirachai. Enough for another meal for 2 IF I don’t eat anymore. Yes yes I will definitely make again. Thank you so much.
Yummy! First bite I thought nah this is too sweet for me but then I couldn’t stop eating it.
Greetings from Finland. I found you when I googled easy to store recipes. All of your recipes I have tried were a success.
I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious and quick. I do not like broccoli so I omitted. I have never cooked with cabbage before, but it was good in this recipe. I think I overcooked the noodles because I was distracted with the other stuff, so I will be more careful with that next time. I used 1T of Sriracha, and that was the perfect amount of heat and flavor for us. Will definitely make this again!