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I made this for dinner last night and it was SO GOOD. And so fast to make! Insane. It will definitely be on permanent rotation for us. Thanks so much!
Libby
I’m kind of having a moment with noodles.
Or, like, five million moments over the course of January 2015. The only reason I was compelled to make this in the first place was because it was time to move on from the Vietnamese Chicken Salad with Rice Noodles after making it for every meal for the last 30 days, and this seemed like a logical next step to, um, more noodles.
But these chopped chicken sesame noodle bowls are more than just delicious, fork-twirling noodles. This recipe is all about the homemade sesame-peanut sauce that’s super easy and ready to go with just your regular pantry ingredients. Plus there’s a parade of colorful shredded veggies and a handful of sautéed-in-sesame-sauce shredded chicken for good measure.
You’ll toss all those pretties up in the pan (hot or cold! whatchu like?), throw a handful of cilantro and red pepper flakes and sesame seeds on top because it looks awesome and it IS awesome, and boom.
You’ll be all googly-eyes over your winning meal of creamy, delicious, filling and mostly-healthy sesame noodle bowls.
How To Make Our SESAME NOODLE BOWLS (1 Min):
So Bjork and I have some good news to share.
About dogs. Totally fitting to share right now, yeah? I know. I’m just kinda good like that.
After coming to terms with the fact that we might never get a dog because of Bjork’s allergies to everything in the world, we found out a few days ago that Bjork, in fact, is not allergic to dogs. NOT ALLERGIC TO DOGS. N-O-T. And when I say we found out, what I really mean is that he got the official medieval-style doctor’s office test where they scratch you with little sticks and your skin turn all red and blotchy, so these results are legit. I’ll show you a pict– oh, right. Okay, that’s cool.
Post-allergy-test, our first order of business was launching on a shopping spree for dust-and-allergen-and-everything mattress and pillow protectors and other extremely protective allergy-related items that made me know for certain that I live in America. Like, wow. This is our normal life where we buy these things. Okay then.
But more importantly: after the results came in, we started up the conversation about finally getting a puppy. A real live ball-fetching, face-licking, fur-shedding, I-love-you puppy.
Maybe a pug, because we have laughed at every single video on YouTube that shows up under the “pug” search results which is basically the same thing as owning one.
Or maybe a golden retriever because I like the idea of myself as a golden retriever owner. Like, I’d eat granola every morning and then go for a long run with my golden retriever, and he probably wouldn’t even need a leash because he’d be so cute and awesome.
I can’t evennn right now.
But you’re not even going to believe this weird thing that happened in my brain once we found out that Bjork wasn’t allergic. It’s kind of like when you think you want something, and then you’re finally able to get it, and then you realize that maybe you don’t want it after all.
?!
WHO ARE WE.
We’re just so free right now, and we travel “for work” a lot, and we like being able to stay out late and not worry about getting home on time (for example, our wild late nights that involve driving over to Redbox for a movie and picking up a Papa Murphy’s pizza) – so all that to say, there is some question about whether or not the puppy is worth the loss of freedom.
I mean, wouldn’t it just make more sense to wait until we have kids when we’re already going to lose all freedom and THEN get a dog? PS. I hate myself right now.
And what about cleaning up dog hair? Cleaning – even just cleaning for people – isn’t one of our awesome-sauce skills. And now we’d have dog hair all over all my work clothes aka sweatpants. I just don’t know – those sweatpants are the ultimate. Priorities, you know?
Plus, is our house even big enough for a dog? It’s so teeny tiny. Are there small dogs that are really well behaved that have regular hair (NO HAIRLESS DOGS) that never-ever shed that are still actually, um, cute? WILL YOU TELL ME ALL OF THEM?
I don’t know, it’s like I just need to eat an XL chopped chicken sesame noodle bowl and get some clarity right now.
Be right back.
Keep The Noodle Salad Love Going
- Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad (all soba, all the time)
- Lemongrass Vermicelli Salad (a serious showstopper)
- Peanut Noodle Salad (our favorite way to combine veggies, protein, and noodles)
- Cashew Crunch Salad with Sesame Dressing (made with crunchy chow mein noodles…YUM)
Chopped Chicken Sesame Noodle Bowls
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Chopped Chicken Sesame Noodle Bowls – loaded with veggies, chicken, cilantro, and a homemade sesame-peanut sauce. So good!
Ingredients
Sesame Sauce
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (I use a fresh paste)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 3–4 tablespoons water
- 2–3 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Other Ingredients
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 ounces soba noodles
- 1 cucumber (can swap for other veggies, too)
- 3 large carrots
- 1 handful cilantro
Instructions
- Sauce: In a food processor, combine all the ingredients for the sesame sauce except the sesame seeds and red pepper flakes. Pulse until mostly smooth; stir in sesame seeds and red pepper flakes.
- Noodles: Cook soba noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Chicken: Heat a large skillet with a little oil over medium heat. Cut the chicken breasts in half if they are large. Add the chicken; sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Saute until barely golden brown on the outside. Add about a third of the sesame sauce to the chicken with a little water to thin it out. It might splatter, so turn down the heat at this point and have a lid ready. Let the chicken finish cooking in the sauce for a few minutes. Remove the chicken from heat, let cool slightly, and shred.
- Veggies: Chop the veggies super-finely or put them in the food processor and get them all minced up. Drain out any excess moisture.
- Toss everything together and serve hot or cold.
Notes
For a completely sugar free version of this recipe, use white distilled vinegar.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Nutrition Facts
- Daily value: 16% Total Fat 10.2g
- Daily value: 18% Cholesterol 55.2mg
- Daily value: 17% Sodium 408.2mg
- Daily value: 7% Total Carbohydrate 21g
- Sugars 2.7g
- Daily value: 42% Protein 21g
- Daily value: 21% Vitamin A 315.5µg
- Daily value: 7% Vitamin C 4.2mg
Keywords: sesame noodle bowls, chicken sesame, bowl recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy gluten-free recipes. Check it out!
not great, not horrible. added some soy sauce and thai chili paste for spice
Absolutely LOVE this recipe. So tasty, fresh and healthy! Has become a weekly dinner. The soba noodles/chicken just taste so good together with the fresh veg and makes you feel so satisfied. I can’t rate this recipe highly enough. Thank you!!
Yay! So glad to hear you’ve been enjoying these bowls, Charlotte! 🙂
This was not good. It was dry and the portions were off. 4oz soba noodles is not sufficient for 4 servings. I went through a lot of comments about dogs to find the explanation that it is meant to be loaded with veggies. I also do not understand why commenters are allowed to rate a recipe before making. If I were a blogger I would not permit that out of honesty. Also, sorting the comments by date would be helpful so people actually interested in the recipe would quickly find helpful comments.
Hi, Veronica! Sorry to hear this didn’t turn out for you. Thanks for sharing this feedback with us!
YUM. I pinned this a LONG time ago and it somehow fell to the bottom of an unorganized board. Made it last night and I’m so excited that there are leftovers!! this one is a treat for a 100 degree day!! Thank you for always making food with this much flavor!!
Glad to hear that, Kristen! 🙂
YUM. Seriously you can do no wrong. I love your pallet and flavors that you put together! Only change that I made was to add a little lime squeeze and a dash of sriracha to the dressing and used a little cuisinart to blend it for ease. I LOVE the veggie combo and the marinade that you suggested worked perfectly. Thank YOU!! Didn’t feel guilty about eating a bit too much at dinner last night! 🙂
So glad to hear that, Kristen!
i can wait to try this recipe.. thats look so delicious. thankyou beb for sharing here. really like this site
Your measurements for the peanut sauce are way off. Doesn’t taste anything like peanuts, but more like sesame mush.
WOW! This noodles look so delicious and gorgeous very flavorful recipe!
Can you replace peanut butter with sunflower butter or tahini?
It will definitely have a difference taste, but I think another nut butter could work!
looks so great. i gonna make it for dinner tonight , thanks for the recipe 🙂
Gosh, can it get better than this? Pass the plate!! Looks great Bev
omg. I love your blog and your recipes. But I can’t believe that out of all of these comments only one person has actually tried the recipe. so the comments don’t really help me. I wish people would stop commenting how it looks lip smacking good or their mouth is watering, etc., just to get their blog name out their. This new trend is so annoying. why can’t people just review the recipe and give their opinions. That would be so much more helpful to everyone. Of course i just posted and i havent made the recipe yet. my bad!
This recipe sounds delish! I bookmarked it.
About the dogs. I AM allergic to most dogs…and I have had 4 dogs. Mine are small – under 16 pounds. They are all shedless. They need to be groomed about every 5 weeks, which I do myself. They are the best thing ever! I got my first one 7 years ago – he will be 8 in August. He is a Maltese. My 2nd came 3 weeks later…a male Havanese. My 3rd came a year later. She is a Toy Poodle. My 4th is a 2 year old female Coton deTulear. The hair that comes off of them, whether they have their hair long or short, is like ours [humans]. No short hair all over the place…and no fur balls of long hair. Just stray hairs here and there. They go everywhere with me – even 8 1/2 hour drives to Wisconsin for vacation. And when they do have to stay at home, they all fit into a 36″x24″x28″ crate with a cover over it. They think it’s the neatest thing ever. They have a nice mattress and access to water when they’re in it. And if it’s thundering and lightening, they can’t hear it or see it, because their crate is in my walk-in closet! If I know I’ll be gone longer than 5 hours, I have a neighbor who comes over and takes them out in the courtyard to go potty, she plays with them and sits with them a while and then they go back to bed and she leaves. I also have a Pet Sitting service on speed dial, if the neighbor isn’t available. My dogs can’t be boarded, since they can’t have rabies shots – they’ve all gone into anaphylactic shock and ended up needing ER services afterward. But the neighbor and the pet sitters are great!!! Stop by my blog, I have pictures of my pups and they’re linked to posts about them.
This looks AMAZING. I love the colours and it just looks like it would be an explosion of delicious flavour. Thank-you for sharing this recipe I have to try it.
Hope you enjoy it, Sandy!
We made these last night and they were delicious!
Glad to hear it, Jennifer!
Dogs are like a life changers…
I think you should get a dog! My husband is not a dog person. Or he wasn’t. He got one for me after we got married. He researched and researched and researched! We needed a small dog. Minimum shedding. Quiet! Cute, of course. Something not “in your face and demanding and needing excess exercise”. We live in a condo. Pretty small. We have a patio in the back that we planted a really small strip of grass for puppy. We chose a Brussels Griffon. He is 8 months old now, and literally, one of the best dogs I’ve met. He is sensitive, and listens. He is sturdy-not fragile. He only weighs 7 1/2 lbs. He is a smooth coated Brussels with a beard, which I like to trim up. (The rough coats don’t shed-smooth coats shed minimally) He literally has had a “bark”, which was more of a squeek, two times, which we said no to, and then he went and pouted like we really punished him 😉 I would have been so happy with a rescue for a pup, but because my husband wanted certain characteristics in a dog, we went this route, and I couldn’t be happier! I can give you pictures if you want! He’s my bandaid 🙂 I love him. Perfect apartment dog. And my knitting partner 😉
And this recipe is getting made as soon as our fridge is void of leftovers!
They did, Gina! Lindsay and Bjork ended up adopting a sweet beagle mix named Sage. You can read about her here: https://pinchofyum.com/introducing-sage.
Stumbled upon this post through Buzzfeed and even though it was months ago I had to comment… get a Havanese! They’re adorable, they have hair instead of fur so they don’t shed, they’re energetic and smart, kind of like a big dog trapped in a small dog’s body. They’re great. Also, it’s so worth coming home early and things like that because a dog makes your life 5000x better, and you WANT to come home to them. It doesn’t feel at all like a chore.
They actually got a sweet beagle mix named Sage! They love her to pieces. 🙂
This one is definitely being added to the recipe rotation! It was great both hot and cold. I also added some spinach that was hanging out in my fridge. 🙂
That’s awesome, Whit! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Yum yum YUM – this was such a great meal. I just added a tiny bit of honey to the sauce, and a squeeze of fresh lime after serving. Delicious. This is definitely going to be making a repeat appearance in our house.
So glad you enjoyed this, Esther! Your little modifications sound yummy!
Made this last night for dinner, we loved it ! I swapped chopped broccoli for the cucumber because I did not feel like cucumber, and it worked very well. The sauce is great, it tastes just as good, although different, tossed with the salad and cooked with the chicken. I’ll be making it again, thanks for the recipe !
We love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Soba noodles arent available at our grocery store. Would spaghetti noodles work?
Yep!
Doxins do not shed — they would be an option!
I also took the silly allergy test and was allergic to cats and dust mites. The zipping of the pillows and mattress, as well as having no carpet helps SO much. Totally worth it.
This is EXACTLY the recipe I’m looking for tonight … thank you! 🙂 Oh, and P.S. … definitely get a dog ;-).
I just want to say that you absolutely crack me up. Please move to St. Louis so that we can be friends coolthanks. Also, your recipes are awesome too. Can’t wait to try this one out!