Remember that head of purple cabbage from week one of the SNAP Challenge? Well, to my surprise, it still hadn’t gone rotten. Sure, it was a little discolored on the open/cut surface, but I just sliced a thin 1/4 inch off the front, peeled off a couple outer leaves, and it was as good as new! Not wanting to let my precious vegetable to go to waste, I made that purple cabbage into a colorful, delicious, and super easy Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles.
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I bought a couple extra vegetables to add to the stir fry (carrots, green bell peppers, green onion, and cilantro) and used an onion that I already had on hand. In interest of making this stir fry as simple as possible, I made the most basic of basic sauces (just like the sauce on the famous Dragon Noodles) with just soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, and some corn starch for thickness. Cook everything up in a super hot skillet and you have an amazingly fast veggie-full meal.
If you’re not into ramen noodles (I know someone is about to leave me a comment about how ramen is the devil), you can spoon the sauced up stir fry vegetables over a bowl of warm rice. That would be just as awesome and just as cheap (maybe even more so)!
I wasn’t expecting this stir fry to hold well in the refrigerator all week, but I have to admit, I kind of like the refrigerated leftovers. The colors definitely aren’t as vibrant after a day or so and everything turns kind of violet from the purple cabbage, but the sauce gets all thick, the vegetables soften a bit more, and it almost tastes kind of rich. If you’re really put off by soft noodles, you may not like the leftovers as much, but I’ve totally been digging them!
For the entire month of September, I’ll be participating in the SNAP Challenge and attempting to eat on $4.50 per day. Read more here.
SNAP Challenge: Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles
Servings 6 about 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.04)
- 1/2 head purple cabbage ($0.91)
- 2 green bell peppers ($1.00)
- 2 carrots ($0.27)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.42)
- 2 -3 oz bricks ramen noodles ($0.54)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.40)
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.05)
- 2 Tbsp Sriracha or less ($0.18)
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.04)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.33)
- handful cilantro (optional) ($0.28)
Instructions
- Remove the core and any wilted outer leaves from the cabbage, then cut it into very fine strips. Cut the onion and green bell pepper into thin strips as well. Use a large holed cheese grater to shred the carrots.
- In a small bowl prepare the sauce by stirring together the soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, and corn starch.
- Begin to cook the noodles according to the package directions (boil for 3 minutes, or until tender). Drain the cooked noodles in a colander.
- Heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat in a large skillet until it is hot and shimmering. Add the vegetables and sauté for only a few minutes, or until the vegetables just begin to soften. Pour the prepared sauce into the skillet and continue to sauté for one to two minutes more, or until the sauce has thickened and coated all of the vegetables. Turn off the heat.
- Add the cooked and drained noodles to the stir fried vegetables and toss to combine. Top with sliced green onions and a handful of fresh cilantro, if desired.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Vegetable Stir Fry Noodles – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preparing your vegetables. The cooking process is fast, so you need to have it all prepped ahead of time and ready to go. I used 1/2 head of purple cabbage, 2 green bell peppers, 2 carrots, and one yellow onion.
Cut the cabbage, onion, and bell pepper all into thin strips and use a large holed cheese grater to shred the carrot.
Prepare the sauce ahead of time, too, so it’s ready to pour in when you need it. In a small bowl stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, and about 2 Tbsp sriracha (less if you’re not that into hot stuff, but you want at least some because it provides the acidic vinegar element to balance the sauce).
Cook two 3-oz. bricks of ramen noodles according to the package directions (boil for three minutes), then drain in a colander. I broke the bricks in half so that the noodle strings wouldn’t be quite so long. Long noodles are really hard to stir in and combine with chunky ingredients, like the vegetables. Shorter strands combine easier.
Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil and skillet are very hot (the oil should look shimmery or wavy on the surface, but not smoking), add the vegetables and sauté for a few minutes, or JUST until they begin to soften. They’ll continue to cook a little more in the next couple of steps, so you don’t want to over cook at this point.
Pour the sauce over the vegetables and sauté for one to two minutes more, or just until the sauce has thickened and coated all of the vegetables.
Finally, stir in the cooked ramen until it is well combined with the vegetables and coated in the sauce.
Top the stir fry with sliced green onions and a handful of cilantro (if desired). Enjoy!
Colorful, delicious, easy, and INEXPENSIVE. :D
Thank you for this recipe. This is soooo good. I used the stir fry veggies I had prepped in the fridge (carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash and red onion). The sauce is easy and delicious. Good with whatever veggies you have on hand.
I’m excited to try this because it’s inexpensive and filled with vegetables (vs. starch)… BUT I want to know where you’re finding bell peppers at two for $1.00?!? I can’t find them anywhere in Seattle for less than $3.50 each!
I was living in Louisiana when I made this recipe and the local grocery store there often had green bell peppers 2/$1. Prices for ingredients do vary quite a bit from region to region, store to store, and season to season, so you have to take the price info with a grain of salt.
Cheap, easy and so delicious! Subbed out the green pepper for brussel sprouts….perfect for my family of 4 vegan/plant based eaters…thank you!
This is super delicious!! I shared with everyone i know! Thanks :)
This recipe was yummy, fun and easy to make. I used a green and red pepper, broccoli, onion, garlic and a bought a bag of a chopped rainbow salad which contained the red cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower. I used thin rice noodles since I had a box on hand. Looks so pretty in the dish and the sauce was amazing. I used one tablespoon of siracha which gave it just the right kick,. And yes, the leftovers were yummy. I am a Chinese food lover and this definitely satisfied my craving..
Delicious!
hi! just one quick question, did you just buy the extremely cheap ramen noodles that a lot of college kids buy and just omit the flavoring packet? it was so tough to find plain ramen noodles, but maybe the store you shop at has a better selection?
I just used the cheap kind and threw away the flavoring packet. The noodles are all the same flavor, the only thing that changes is what’s in the little silver packet. :)
WOW!!! The SNAP Challenge Vegetable Stir Fry Noodles was out-of-this world DELICIOUS!!!! I used a coleslaw mix that contained carrots, purple and green cabbage and used one large green bell pepper. I also used three bricks of Ramen Noodles, since my sister was kind enough to take me to the supermarket after getting off from work and was hungry, so I fed her. I added some chopped boneless, skinless chicken thighs to stretch out the stir fry. The sauce was so freaking good, which had a kick to it. My sister wants the recipe now, so she can make it for my mom. I’m going to make this recipe again very soon. Thank you, Beth!!! :-)
I recently discovered your blog and I’ve got to say I love it! This recipe is one of our favorites! I do have to make a few substitutions and adjustments particularly to make it less spicy as my 1 year old enjoys eating it as well.
We just moved to Japan (around the same time I found this site) and your recipes have been amazing to use as inspiration to try new things. Of course, sometimes I don’t know what I’m buying from the local stores, so we play mystery foods quite often, but they always turn out well in your recipes! Thank you!
What can we use as a substitute for corn starch? I do not really cook with corn starch so buying it for one recipe does not make sense for me.
Also did you find a replacement for Sriracha that is kid friendly?
Thank you for all your hard work!
Some people use arrow root powder in place of cornstarch, but I’m sure that’s far more expensive and I’m guessing you don’t keep that on hand either. :) You might be able to try hoisin sauce in place of the sriracha, but without trying it I’m not sure how it will affect the sweet and acid flavor balances.
That looks so good.
I’m always trying to eat healthier and save money on groceries, and I decided to try this. It’s delicious! So cheap and healthy. Sometimes I eat ramen plain, but this is just as filling and far healthier with all the tasty and satisfying vegetables mixed with just a small amount of noodles. I did make a few alterations but it’s still super affordable (at least for me). I cut the sugar at least by half and I used chili garlic sauce instead of sriracha, because I think it tastes better and it’s all I had in the fridge. I also added a small amount of ground ginger and minced garlic. When I reheated the leftovers, I added a tiny amount of crushed peanuts and a scrambled egg. I ate the leftovers two days later and I thought they kept fine, but I also kept the ramen noodles separate in the fridge.
SO GOOD! Even though I slightly overcooked the veggies, this was still the most bomb Asian food I’ve ever made. Thanks so much for giving thrifty cooks such great recipes and inspiration.
Note: I happened to have snap peas and rotisserie chicken on hand, so I threw those in- but the original recipe could most definitely stand alone.
Very tasty! I used a little less sriracha than written because I am a wimp. I like how flexible this is in the sense of “if you have veggies in the fridge to get rid of, you can use them here”. Will definitely remember this in the future! (Might try other noodles next time.)
I’ve made this recipe a few times now, and it’s awesome! Definitely a keeper!