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. ;)
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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Nutrition
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.
Made this for my husband as he loves Yakisoba. He lived in Japan for 4 years and has missed having authentic Yakisoba. Unfortunately he says this tastes nothing like it and all he could taste was ketchup which Yakisoba does not. So I am still on the hunt for the perfect recipe!
1 inch seems like A LOT of ginger. Am I just overly sensitive to the taste of ginger?
I loved everything about this recipe except for the sauce…I think the ketchup was a little weird for me. Like others have said, this could barely fit in my largest skillet but it definitely does cook down as you slowly maneuver everything.
We just recently had this for dinner with a few changes. We omitted the ketchup, sugar and sriracha and added mushrooms. It was delicious. It will definitely be added to the meal plan rotation.
There are lots of food bloggers like this but the best food blog “CHICKEN YAKISOBA” is yours. Much thanks for giving me a smart blog.
This shit SLAPS. sooooooo good!!
This recipe came out great! Even my fiancée who doesn’t like cabbage or anything spicy loved it. I used the bagged coleslaw to save some time, purple sprouting broccoli I got at the local farmer’s market, and shredded cooked chicken right into the pot of veggies when adding the sauce mix. It was delicious!
Found out at the last minute that my cabbage was bad. Before following this website I would have just said oh well and walked away. I wouldn’t have had the confidence or basic know how to make substitutions for an edible dish. So many thanks Budget Bytes!
So I made an attempt and used frozen thin sliced green beans, frozen peas, 2 onions, 3 carrots, and ginger.
The chicken looked really sad and pale after mixing in the sauce so added extra soy sauce and some oyster sauce and let it cook and absorb until the chicken took on the sauce. I think turned out pretty good. Thanks!
Awesome!! That’s the type of success story I love to hear. Great job! :)
Does this freeze well?
Unfortunately, I haven’t tried freezing this one.
Hello when some of these recipes just say one serving for the nutrition facts is there like a standard for what 1 serving is?
For some recipes the serving size won’t be exact because it’s not something you can measure the volume of easily. In that case, like in this recipe, there are six servings per recipe (you can find that info at the top of the recipe card), so one serving will be about 1/6th of the total recipe. So if the nutrition info just says that it’s per “1 serving” check at the top of the recipe to see how many servings we estimate per recipe. :)
This is great! Are there any alternatives to the worcestershire sauce?
I don’t have any alternatives to the Worcestershire off hand, but I suppose it depends on your reason for needing to substitute it. The Worcestershire lends a really distinct taste to this sauce, so I wouldn’t sub it if I didn’t have to. If you’re looking for a vegetarian substitute, I would try to find a store-bought vegetarian Worcestershire (Amy’s brand makes one, I believe).
My daughter has celiac and W. sauce isn’t gluten-free, at least not the brand I could find, and we used a mix of HP sauce and some water. Of course, HP isn’t always gluten-free either (if that matters to you).
We really liked this! I didn’t think it would all fit in my skillet at first, but it did once things cooked down!
Finally tried this! My husband and I both loved it! It comes together quickly and is so tasty and satisfying. Next time I’ll add more broccoli and leave the sugar out of the sauce (just a personal preference). Thank you, I love your site and the concept of affordable and uncomplicated meals :)
Delicious. I sauteed fresh onion and garlic first, then added the beans. I added chili powder and black pepper along with the cumin. I threw in a can of drained corn which helped thicken too. I added a packet of sazon to the rice. I topped the rice and beans with cheese, salsa, lime crema, avocado chunks, fresh cilantro, and fresh green onions. Amazing and a delicious budget meal.
That’s literally an entirely different recipe tho.
Agreed! I’ve been seeing more of these lately on recipe comment boards. I suspect it’s high level trolling!
This was delicious! I used frozen broccoli florets in place of fresh broccoli, and just sautéed them quick before starting the recipe to get them to a usable state. I will definitely be doing this again! The slaw mix was a great touch as well. Next time, I’ll add more veggies and a little more sriracha. Thank you!
We tried this tonight, and it was a win for us! The sauce is flavorful without being too sweet, and the fresh ginger definitely brings a little punch to the party. We used udon noodles and slaw mix, and everything was super simple. In the future, I’d bump up the sesame oil a bit and play around with more vegetables, like more broccoli or water chestnuts or peppers. Thanks for the recipe!