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I just made this today and it was absolutely delicious! I wouldn’t change a thing and will most definitely make it one of my go-to recipes.
Laura
Are noodles the best or are noodles the best?
They are the actual best. You can build almost any type of meal around almost any type of noodles. God bless them, every one.
Today I’m going to introduce you to an idea that is a Zero Thinking Required Dinner Situation. Spoiler: it includes noodles.
Meet: Chili garlic brown rice noodles in the Instant Pot (affiliate link). They are sticky, with an umami flavor and a little sweetness. They are gorgeous, because we get fancy with our toppings. They are laced with a little chili garlic and speckled with red peppers and scallions and peanuts and saucy bites of chicken for those who want it and tofu/other for those who don’t.
Yeah. Those are the ones.
How To Make Our Instant Pot Noodles (1 MIN):
You know how rice noodles (think Pad Thai) are usually slippery and silky and perfect for fork-twirling? I am going to tell you upfront that these are not those noodles. I mean, literally, they ARE the same noodles, but preparationally (go with it), they are not.
These noodles are STICKY.
Think Spaghetti Pie type sticky. Er, maybe not THAT sticky, but think sticky enough to where you’re probably not going to be able to twirl them up nice and silky-smooth. I do love a good fork-twirl of silky Pad Thai as much as the next hungry girl, but these noodles are a whole different animal.
These noodles are thick, and dense, almost, and very saucy and very chewy and they just beg to be tangled-into with a fork. You’re like, huh? What is she talking about?
And I’m like, here, just try it.
I have several favorite things about this recipe, but the two most notable are that:
- It uses the same sauce (or really similar) as what we used for the back pocket noodle stir fry. Tadahh! It’s just back-pocket-noodle-stir-fry in Instant Pot form. You’re already familiar with that magic, you already have all ingredients in your happy little pantry, you already know you’re gonna like it.
- Adaptability, baby! If you like chicken, use chicken. If you don’t like chicken… don’t use chicken. Veggies? Any kind can work. I wanted to try with broccoli but ran out of time – does someone want to report back on that? Play with the nuts on top. Cashews instead of peanuts? Extra hot sauce or chili pepps? Cilantro instead of green onion? Maybe a squeeze of lime, or maybe not. You are looking at a recipe for a Noodle Blank Canvas. I hereby declare you a Noodle Artist who can go forth and make it exactly what you want.
As I mentioned, these are not your normal silky-smooth rice noodles. They are sticky and delicious. And sticky. Because they get cooked in the instant pot, all the starch gets added to the sauce which contributes to the sticky-delicious-factor.
If you are finding yourself not super excited about the sticky-ness, I outlined an alternate method in the recipe notes. It’s a little more hands-on which I usually try to avoid when using the Instant Pot (what’s the point if you get just as many dishes dirty? says the lazy girl) but it is worth your while if you are seeking SILKY rice noodles.
For the rest of the sticky noodle / instant pot lovers? Green light! On to Noodle Greatness!
Note: a previous version of this recipe called for 3 cups water but that was a mistake – it should be 2 cups water, adding the additional water only as needed. Sorry for the mix up! My brain is forever on vacation. 😋
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Chili Garlic Instant Pot Noodles
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Chili Garlic Instant Pot Noodles – They are sticky, with an umami flavor and a little sweetness. They are gorgeous, because we get fancy with our toppings.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic paste (more to taste! yumms)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups water
- 8 oz. uncooked brown rice noodles
- 1 lb. raw chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
- 2 red bell peppers, sliced thinly
- peanuts, green onions, and/or sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Instant Pot: Place all ingredients except red peppers in the Instant Pot (affiliate link). Cook for 3 minutes (manual). Release steam immediately. If you get splatter, pause, or cover with a towel.
- After: Mix in the red bell peppers and toss very gently, adding a little more water or oil as needed (it will be very sticky). Serve with garnishes – add hot sauce for an extra kick. Says me on every recipe ever. ♡
Notes
Method for less sticky noodles: Reduce water amount to 1/2 cup. Soak rice noodles in a cold water in a separate bowl. Add all ingredients to Instant Pot except rice noodles and red peppers. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in a tablespoon of cornstarch slurry (to help the sauce thicken) and add the soaked noodles and raw peppers. Cover and “warm” until noodles and peppers are softened and sauce is coating the noodles.
Chicken needs to be cut into small, bite-sized pieces in order for it to cook in 3 minutes along with the rice noodles.
If you don’t have chili garlic paste, use fresh minced garlic and something for heat, such as ground cayenne pepper.
Do not let the noodles sit in the pot for a long time after the timer goes off. You want to release the steam right away, otherwise the noodles turn into straight mush.
These noodles are meant to be sticky. Even when you add water at the end to help them loosen up, they will still be sticky. Mushy? No, unless you overcook them. Sticky? Yes. That’s what happens when you cook them from start to finish in the Instant Pot. All their starch hangs on for dear life. As mentioned, I kind of loved it this way, which is why I kept the recipe to reflect that. If you don’t want them to be sticky, I would suggest a traditional stir fry method (like this!) OR the method outlined in the notes above!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 3 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: instant pot noodles, chili garlic noodles, instant pot asian noodles
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our simple slurapble noodles page. Check it out!
How can I make this recipe without an instant pot….? I have made it so many times but our instant pot broke and this is the only recipe I use it for! Thank you!
Another great instant pot recipe of yours! It took me a while to try this one because I couldn’t find brown rice noodles, but I just ended up using regular ones and it turned out perfectly. We added grated carrots in addition to the peppers. My toddler who has always rejected peppers and who often rejects chicken could not get enough of every part of this meal! Will definitely be adding this to our rotation , thank you!
Thanks for the recipe. It looks delicious 🙂
It tastes like soy sauce.
I love that recipes.
This is sooooo good!! I hesitate to say I made it because I made so many substitutions with what I had on hand, and it still turned out delish. I used red curry paste instead of chili garlic, I used toasted sesame oil instead of olive oil (had on hand because I’m a 100 weeks pregnant and have been making all POY freezer meals including the Korean beef) I had chow mein noodles instead of brown rice and I thought they’d completely turn to mush but they didn’t at all! And my toddler is allergic to peanuts so I used almonds and pistachios for garnish (again because I made POY pumpkin granola lol)
It was so tasty! Like takeout. This will be a new staple in our house.
So yummy and easy! My kids love it- it has quickly become a family favorite!
Hi! Is there a way to make this in the crock pot? It’s our favorite recipe and I brought it to a friends for the weekend but left the instapot behind! Hope you can save the weekend and we can still eat your delicious recipe!
Hi Sarah! We haven’t tested this recipe in the slow cooker, so it’s hard to say. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear back!
Hate to be *that*person that totally changes the recipe and then comments on how they didn’t like it lol but the first night we made this as written and it was FIRE, such good flavor, just the right amount of spice and the perfect level of sticky sauciness. It was so good we wanted it again tonight but had run out of rice noodles so used some soba noodles instead. Yeeeea. Don’t do that guys. BUT if you really want the dish less sticky, it’s a solid move. The soba noodles didn’t soak up the sauce like the rice noodles did so it was more pasta-like with noodles and sauce coating. The dish was totally different than the night before using rice noodles, as written. So, don’t change the recipe is the lesson here 🤣
If anyone asks me for a recipe or meal inspo, I immediately refer them to your site. I will admit, I was EXTREMELY skeptical that rice noodles in the pressure cooker would turn out (I can’t even cook them on the stove without them turning into 1 congealed mess), and here I am, making this recipe for the 2nd time this week… and it’s only Tuesday! it is fail proof AND easy to do with a very busy 8 month old running around!
(I also never, ever, write reviews – so that should be enough!). This time we’re adding a ginger/garlic beef!
I made this today but I doubled the recipe. I followed the recipe to a T and I’m unsure of what I did wrong. The flavor was great but the noodles were very mushy. I have a newer instant pot so “manual” wasn’t an option but I used the custom pressure cook setting which defaults to high and I set it for 3 minutes. I think it may take 10 to pressurize. After the cooking was done I instantly let the pressure release and mixed in the peppers. I served it right away. Is there something I should be doing?
Hi! It sounds like you did everything correctly! I would say the texture of these noodles falls more on the side of being really cooked vs. al dente.
Made this tonight and it was a hit. We didn’t find it too salty because we use low Na soy sauce. Used regular rice noodles and it was a bit glue-y but it is sticky noodles, right? Used two tblsp of the chili garlic paste which is pretty easy to find especially if you have an Asian market but I found it at Loblaw. Only complaint from the peanut gallery was it was a bit sticky so we’ll try non sticky method next time. Chicken was perfect and we used a mix of red and yellow peppers. Lots of tastiness. Just can’t understand why so many are having difficulties! It is important to sit on that InstaPot and release the pressure as soon as it’s finished. If it sits too long then it will be very mushy. BTW it makes four very good servings.
This was so fast and delicious! I only had sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) but it turned out delicious. This will be a great back pocket meal for busy days.
Solid meal. The noodles were a bit undercooked but I’ll make this again but cook it for 4 minutes. I’d like for it to be a bit sweeter as well. I’ll add another tablespoon of brown sugar or honey.
Made this tonight and it was delicious!! I added thinly sliced bok choy with the peppers, it was a nice pop of green. So easy to make and full of flavor. My family was impressed.
Oh my!! I made this and it’s absolutely delish! And the best thing is that it was so quick and simple to make yet so good! I added a little more chicken just because my husband likes more chicken, as well as broccoli and crushed red peppers. I love it!
This is one of our favorite family recipes! My girls request it. POY is hands down my go-to spot for great recipes. I make something from your website weekly! Thank you.
Love this recipe!! Is the cook time the same if I double the recipe??
Yes, it should be the same cook time, but hard to say since we haven’t tested it with double the amounts. You might need to add an extra minute or two for the chicken!
Your recipe is good. Wanna try this.
What is your advice if you want to use other kinds of noodles? Like spaghetti?
Hi! We haven’t tested the recipe with that kind of noodles, but it’s worth a try!
This recipe was the easiest thing in the world and my picky man said, “this is one of my new favorites.” THANK YOU!!!
It was easy, but it wasn’t edible. Chicken was really chewy, and the noodles weren’t flavorful. Threw it away.
Sorry to hear that, Anthony! We appreciate the feedback.
If I only have white rice noodles, I should go ahead and do the non-sticky version? I am skipping the chicken so not worried about that cooking through but thinking white rice noodles would dissolve in the IP at 3 min. Thoughts?
Hi! Yes, the white rice noodles would probably dissolve or become mushy at 3 minutes.
I’ve made this about 6 times in the last month since discovering it. It truly is a dump and go recipe that tastes so good!! I usually measure the sauce bits by heart and have even fucked up my seal and still had it cook deliciously.
Next time I make it I’m gonna try with sesame oil! 10/10 recipe.
I made this for my partner and 2 year old tonight and we loved it. I omitted chilli because we’ve had a lot of chilli lately but will definitely add it next time. I only had one bell pepper so I peeled an entire carrot and it was delicious. I think I’ll stir zoodles in next time as well. Yummy!