Bouncy udon noodles stir fried in a sweet, savory sauce with crisp vegetables and protein. My easy yaki udon is the perfect meal for a busy weeknight in 15 minutes! Made with simple ingredients in one pan!
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What is Yaki Udon?
Yaki Udon features udon noodles stir fried in a sweet, tangy, and savory sauce with mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, onions, green onions, with protein.
These Japanese noodles are served at Izakaya’s, Japanese restaurants or at konbinis and a favorite among locals!
These noodles serve well as one of those easy meal ideas. It's one of my favourite noodle dishes thanks to the flavorful sauce and the bouncy texture of the udon!
The best part is you can make this with any protein or vegetables you enjoy! It's also a great way to use up any leftover ingredients in the fridge.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Please scroll down to below full recipe card for exact measurements.
- Udon Noodles: I highly recommend frozen udon noodles or fresh udon noodles, instead of the shelf-stable kind. These are less chewy and break apart easily. You can locate frozen udon noodles at the Asian market in the freezer section. If you're using fresh noodles, please follow package directions to prepare them.
- If you can't find udon noodles, substitute with thick wheat noodles, ramen noodles, or egg noodles.
- Pork Belly: Or substitute chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, scallops, extra-firm tofu, or scrambled eggs.
- Green Cabbage: or substitute with napa cabbage, bok choy, yu choy sum, or baby gai lan.
- Button Mushrooms: or substitute with shiitake mushrooms or cremini mushrooms
- Carrots: Or substitute with bell peppers.
- Onions: don't skip on this unless you're allergic!
- Green onions: garnish
- Garlic cloves
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils.
Noodle Sauce
- Dark soy sauce: this is thicker and darker than regular soy sauce and not the same as regular soy sauce. If you don't have this, substitute with the regular kind.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce.
- Oyster sauce: Or substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce if you don't like oysters. Do not confuse this with Hoisin sauce.
- Mirin: a popular sweet rice cooking wine used in Japanese cuisine. It’s sweeter than cooking sake and has a very low alcoholic taste. For a non-alcoholic version: substitute with non-alcoholic mirin or 1 tablespoon cold water + 1 drops of rice vinegar + a pinch of white sugar.
- Rice vinegar: or substitute with apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
- White granulated sugar: or substitute with honey
Variations
- For a gluten-free version: substitute the noodles for a gluten-free noodle like wide rice noodles or a gluten-free udon made of rice. Replace both soy sauces with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce. Substitute the oyster sauce with a gluten-free version.
- For a vegetarian-version: substitute the pork belly with extra-firm tofu or scrambled eggs. Substitute the oyster sauce with vegetarian-stir fry sauce.
Note: The Asian grocery store is likely to carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Don't over soak the udon. Once it's loosened, that's suffice as we are stir frying these later.
- Prepare ingredients ahead of time as the cooking process is fast!
- Evenly slice the protein so it can cook evenly.
- Don't overcook the noodles! Once the sauce envelops the noodles it's ready to eat.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make yaki udon:
Make Sauce and Soak Udon
In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients as listed above. Set aside.
In a large bowl, soak udon noodles in hot boiling water for 30-45 seconds or until loosened.
Strain Noodles and Fry Protein
Strain udon noodles immediately and do not rinse off with cold water.
In a large pan, heat vegetable oil or any neutral oil over medium-high heat. Then fry pork belly until golden brown and most of the fat has rendered out. Remove pork belly and set aside.
Stir Fry Aromatics and Vegetables
Reduce to medium heat. Stir fry garlic and onions until translucent, about 30 seconds.
Add cabbage, mushrooms, and carrots and fry until softened, a few minutes. Feel free to add ¼ cup water to the pan to help cook the veggies. Allow the water to fully evaporate before moving onto next step.
Toss in remaining ingredients
Toss in noodles, sauce, and pork belly. Mix until noodles are coated in sauce.
Finally garnish with green onions and enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? I wouldn't recommend freezing this dish as it can make the vegetable mushy.
Pairing Suggestions
This Japanese dish serves well with miso soup, Japanese crab corn salad, shrimp tempura, ramen eggs, or chicken katsu.
FAQ
This can be made in advance and you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge and it'll last up to 4 days. When ready to enjoy, reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat.
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📖 Recipe
Easy 15-min. Yaki Udon Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 lb udon frozen kind recommended
- ½ lb pork belly sliced or sub with chicken, shrimp, pork or steak
- 1 cup cabbage thinly sliced
- ¾ cup mushrooms sliced
- ½ cup carrots julienned
- ½ onion julienned
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon white granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients as listed above. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, soak udon noodles in hot boiling water for 30-60 seconds or until loosened. Strain immediately.
- In a large skillet or large wok, heat vegetable oil or any neutral oil over medium-high heat.
- Fry pork belly until golden brown and most of the fat has rendered out, about 2-3 minutes. Remove pork belly from frying pan and set aside.
- Reduce to medium heat. Stir fry garlic and onions until translucent, about 30 seconds. Add cabbage, mushrooms, and carrots and fry until softened, a few minutes. Feel free to add ¼ cup of water to help cook the veggies and allow the water to fully evaporate before moving onto the next step.
- Toss in noodles, sauce, and pork belly. Mix until noodles are coated in sauce. Remove off heat.
- Garnish with green onions and enjoy!
Joanna Ella
Thank you for sharing your recipes- delicious, simple and easy to make especially for busy moms. Also, the ingredients are easy to find in the grocery stores.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for your kind and positive review, Joanna! So happy to hear that it worked out well and glad everything was easy to find at the grocery store 🙂
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
This is such a fun dinner idea for summer with all the fresh veggies and the tasty fun sauce. I hope you have an amazing week!
Katerina
I am always up for a delicious udon meal! I love the addition of all the lovely veggies and pork belly here - yum! I imagine this would be such a treat for a Friday night dinner, after a long busy week! Heaven!
christieathome
Thanks so much Katerina!! It's so good and fast to make! A great weeknight meal.
Alex
One of my all time favourite Japanese dishes - I can't wait to recreate at home!
christieathome
Thanks Alex!! I hope you enjoy it!
Never Ending Journeys
What a yummy noodle dish! Udon noodles are my favorite, and I love how this recipe also has pork belly!
christieathome
Thank you so much! It's so good with the pork belly.