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Vegan Yaki Udon Noodles with crunchy vegetables and the most delicious stir-fry sauce! A tasty 15-Minute Japanese Dinner Recipe!
Table of Contents
Yaki Udon is a popular Japanese stir-fry noodle dish! Made with thick, chewy, white Udon noodles. Similar to this Udon Stir Fry Recipe with Shiitake and Broccoli.
This vegetable yaki udon recipe is entirely plant-based, filled with crunchy vegetables, and chewy noodles! It comes with the most delicious stir-fry flavors and leaves you feeling satisfied and happy.
I am a huge fan of this quick stir-fry dish as it comes so easily together! Plus, it’s highly adjustable – prepare it with your favorite crunchy vegetables and add some tofu!
Hint: Serve it along with this Thai cucumber salad.
Yaki Udon vs Yakisoba
Yaki Udon is very similar to Yakisoba, another popular Japanese noodles dish. The main difference between yaki udon and yakisoba is the type of noodles and sauce used:
- Yaki Udon uses thick, chewy, white udon noodles made with wheat flour. The udon noodles are tossed with a classic Asian stir-fry sauce on the base of soy sauce and mushroom sauce.
- Yakisoba uses thin, yellow Chinese yakisoba noodles made with wheat flour and kansui. Ketchup is added to the stir-fry sauce.
Ingredients
See recipe card for quantities.
- Udon Noodles → Thick Asian Wheat Noodles! I highly recommend making your own according to this homemade udon noodles recipe! Dried, fresh, or frozen udon noodles are available in major grocery stores or in Asian markets.
- Vegetables: Garlic, Ginger, Carrot, Cabbage, Shiitake Mushrooms, Scallion → Make up for a lot of flavor and a crunchy bite! Add vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants!
- Yaki Udon Sauce → This asian stir-fry sauce turns those noodles into a flavor packed noodle dish!
- Soy Sauce, Brown Sugar, Rice Vinegar, Sesame Oil, Black Pepper
- Dark Soy Sauce → Often used for adding color and flavor to Chinese dishes such as this Vegetable Lo Mein! It’s made of soy sauce, caramel color, and sugar. It’s a tad thicker, darker, and slightly sweeter than regular soy sauce. Available at the Asian market! Can be substituted with soy sauce, although this won’t give your noodles such an intense color.
- Vegetarian Mushroom Stir-Fry Sauce → Mushroom Sauce is the vegetarian alternative to the oyster sauce and is very popular for seasoning any Asian meal. It consists mainly of soy sauce and mushroom extract, which makes for an exquisite flavor. You can buy it in every Asian grocery store. 😉
Step-by-Step Instructions
This visual step-by-step instruction will help you along the way – definitely recommended if you’re a cooking beginner!
- Prepare homemade udon noodles according to this recipe (equals 2 servings) or prepare store-bought udon noodles according to the package instructions.
- Heat one tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet. Add ginger, and garlic, fry for one minute.
- Add carrot, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and scallion, stir-fry for 3 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Mix all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and add it with the cooked udon noodles to the wok.
- Stir-fry for another minute and serve immediately!
Substitutions
- Dark Soy Sauce – substitute with regular soy sauce, although this won’t give your stir-fried udon noodles such an intense brown color as you can see on the pictures.
- Rice Vinegar – replace with mirin but reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe (mirin is sweeter than rice vinegar).
- Vegetables – substitute carrots and cabbage with vegetables of your choice such as broccoli, bok choy, zucchini, or red bell pepper. Shiitake mushrooms can be substituted with cremini mushrooms or enoki mushrooms.
Variations
- Gluten-Free – use gluten-free noodles!
- Spicy – add red chili oil or sriracha sauce!
- Deluxe – sprinkle with sesame seeds and freshly chopped scallions!
- Extra Protein – prepare tofu according to this tofu stir fry recipe and add it at the last step in the recipe!
Storage
Store noodles in an airtight container in the fridge. Good for 3 days. Reheat in a wok or microwave.
I don’t recommend freezing the noodles!
More Asian Noodle Recipes You’ll Love
- Udon Stir-Fry with Shiitake and Broccoli
- Vegetarian Pad Thai
- Vegetable Lo Mein
- Thai Drunken Noodles – Pad Kee Mao
- Vermicelli Noodle Salad
- Pho – Vietnamese Rice Noodle Soup
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📖 Recipe
Vegetable Yaki Udon
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Ingredients
Yaki Udon
- 2 servings udon noodles 450g fresh, or 200g dry udon noodles (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ inch (1 cm) piece ginger minced
- 1 carrot julienned
- 1 cup (60 g) cabbage finely sliced
- 5 shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 2 scallions finely sliced
Yaki Udon Sauce
- 2 tbsp mushroom sauce (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar or mirin
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare homemade udon noodles according to this recipe (equals 2 servings) or prepare store-bought udon noodles according to the package instructions.
- Heat one tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet. Add ginger, and garlic, fry for one minute.
- Add carrot, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and scallion, stir-fry for 3 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Mix all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and add it with the udon noodles to the wok.
- Stir-fry for another minute and serve immediately!
Notes
- Udon Noodles: I highly recommend preparing this homemade udon noodle recipe (equals 2 servings)! Homemade udon noodles are so much more delicious than any store-bought version!
- Mushroom sauce is the vegetarian pendant to oyster sauce and can be bought in any Asian grocery store (often called “Mushroom Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce, Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce, or Mushroom Soy Sauce“) Substitute with 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tbsp of sweet soy sauce. Or use 2 tbsp vegetable broth or 1 tbsp soy sauce instead.
- Dark Soy Sauce is made of soy sauce, caramel color, and sugar. It’s thicker, darker, and slightly sweeter than regular or light soy sauce and is often used for adding color and flavor to dishes. You can buy it at the Asian market. Substitute with sweet soy sauce or vegetable mushroom stir-fry sauce, although this won’t give your noodles such an intense color.
- Leftovers can be stored for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
