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. 😋
Chili Garlic Instant Pot Noodles
Prep Time: 5 mins- Cook Time: 3 mins
- Total Time: 8 minutes
Yield: 4-6
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Pin RecipeDescription
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!
just bought an instant pot so i’m thrilled you guys are doing a series this month!!! bring on the recipes! <3
Does anyone know a conversion for Instant Pot Manual Mode to a electric pressure cooker? I have the Cuisinart Pressure Cooker which only has high and low cook settings so when recipes use the manual mode I am not sure how long to cook and on high or low?
I’m sorry but this was a bit gross. They were so salty we could barely eat them and our noodles were also not cooked at 3 minutes. Maybe swapping half the soy sauce with water would help.
★★
yeah, they weren’t very good. they were actually too wet with the 2 cups of liquid + soy sauce, and it turned out really salty.
★
Looks delicious! If I use tofu instead of chicken, how should i alter the instructions? Thank you!
Hmmm we really like our tofu to be crispy, so I’d probably opt for doing it using the saute setting to brown it and then remove before you cook everything else (then add it back at the end), or just cook it on the stove and add it in at the end.
I’ll try it that way, thank you!
I was wondering this very thing. Can’t wait to try this with tofu, it sounds amazing:)
I made this last night with peppers and broccoli and 4 chopped chicken thighs, it turned out pretty well! I also used brown rice & millet noodles because that’s what my grocery store had, I don’t know if the millet made a big difference but after 2 minutes on high pressure/quick release the noodles were perfectly cooked and actually silky not sticky. I browned the chicken in the IP first so it was partially cooked before the 2 minutes under pressure. No way this makes 6 servings though, my husband, 1.5-year old, and I killed the whole batch easily 🙂
★★★★
Hi Pamela, did you add the broccoli at the beginning or end? Thanks!
That happens for us a lot, too! We devour POY recipes and never wind up with the amt of leftovers we should have based on the servings she says. Maybe I need to work on portion control!
Loved this recipe. Love it as much as I love sticky noodles 🙂
★★★★★
Is garlic chili paste hard to find ?
is there a substitute ?
Want to try recipe…looks delicious !
We can find it in our local King Soopers/Kroger/Fry’s/City Market in the aisle with soy sauce, etc.
This was so good! I didn’t see the edit changing from 3 cups of water to 2, but 3 cups worked just fine for us! Used regular rice noodles, sesame oil instead of olive oil, jarred roasted red peppers (I dislike raw peppers), doubles the chili garlic sauce, and added steamed broccoli at the end. Seriously the best instant pot dish I’ve ever made!! My hubs said he’d take this over take out pad Thai any day! Will be adding this to our weekly meal list!
★★★★★
Really a mouth watering dish!!!!!I don’t like sticky noodles but after viewing photographs I couldn’t stop myself to cook this. Delicious dish!!!
Thanks a lottt!!! 🙂
★★★★★
We made this tonight and for our Ultra 60 pot it was a really messy quick release for steam. We added microwave steamed broccoli and really enjoyed it. I think we will also add grated carrot next time! Thanks for the great recipe!
★★★★★
This was delicious! I made it exactly as written for the “sticky” noodle version. Mine didn’t turn out sticky, but the sauce was thick and still tasted great! I think it’s because my store only had Tinkyada brand brown rice noodles and in other comments you mentioned using a different brand.
I didn’t have peanuts to top so I drizzled peanut butter instead and I have to say that made it!!
Thank you for the Instant Pot Recipe series!! I’ve made this, the minestrone, and the wild rice mushroom soup – they’re all FANTASTIC!
★★★★
This is my new favourite recipe that will definitely be in my weekly rotation! It is so incredibly easy and the flavour was amazing. It’s better and faster than ordering takeout.
We even had this as leftovers the next day and ate it cold. It was still so flavourful and made such a delicious lunch. Don’t skimp on the suggested toppings as they add a wonderful freshness to the noodles.
Glad you enjoyed it, Elissa!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Used regular rice noodles (as that was all they had at the grocery store) and cooked according to the sticky noodle directions.
Although it was fabulous and we all licked our plates clean, my noodles were… interesting. By the end of the cook time, they had congealed into an impenetrable mass–a towering mountain of noodles that resisted all attempts to gently toss. Each person carved out their own portion and then added the goodies (chicken, pepper, etc.) on top.
Even though I loved ease of cooking and the way that the sauce soaked into everything, next time I’m going to try it the non-sticky way. I was a big fan of InstantPot month and am looking forward to whatever you have up your sleeve next, Lindsay!
★★★★★
Thanks for never failing to inspire the cook in me. I love noodles and I so look forward to having this go down my throat!
I do not own an instant pot and do not plan on getting one… I was wondering how could I make this without the instant pot? This looks AMAZING and I would love to make this!! Suggestions??
Hi Marissa! Here’s the recipe for stovetop: https://pinchofyum.com/back-pocket-stir-fry
This recipe looks sooo yummy!
Have you try to make it with brown rice vermicelli? (It’s the only brown rice “noodles” I found at my grocery store.)
Because vermicelli are smaller than noodles, I wonder if it will turn to mush..?
Hi Catherine! We aren’t sure if that will work – our guess is that it will be pretty mushy. There have been a few readers who have used regular pad thai-style rice noodles and it’s worked fine.
If I wanted to double this recipe, how would I go about adjusting the time, or would I not need to??
This was so delicious! I’ve been a devoted follower for years but had to comment on this one — so delicious, easy, and SO QUICK. Weeknight feels revolutionized. I hit a snag and wanted to share how I figured out a workaround: I couldn’t find the brown rice noodles at the market so I ended up going to the gluten free section for some brown rice “fettucini” (Pasta Joy brand). The package came in 14 oz so I added another cup of water and it worked out great! There was a bit of liquid at the end so I set the pot to saute while I mixed in the peppers and voila! Everything was cooked perfectly with no mushy noodles. Deliciousness, per usual. Thank you!
★★★★★
If I wanted to double the recipe because we all love noodles, would I change the cooking time? Should I adjust water amount, too?
I really wanted to love this because the method is so quick and hands-off, but it was just too entirely salty, even using low sodium soy sauce.
★
This really didn’t turn out for me. It was a bit ‘vinegary’, which I normally like, but overpowered the dish. The noodles clumped together in bundles and the chicken was far over cooked. I cut mine into small chunks, but they were so overdone, I ended up tossing it. Mine also sprayed some nasty stuff all over when I released the spout, so definitely do the towel thing over the spout, which she suggested, or you will be cleaning up every appliance, wall and countertop in your kitchen.
I normally love Lindsay’s recipes, but this one was a miss, for me. Maybe I did something wrong, but I actually followed the directions closely (and I usually alter something!)
Sorry Linds.
Sorry to hear that, Melissa. Thanks for the feedback!
Made this but I think it’s too much soy sauce 🙁 it came out salty
★★★
Even my 3yo slurped these up! I love that you can put just about anything in these and it still taste good 🙂 I need to remember this recipe for quick delicious meals
★★★★★
Made this last week and it was delish! I used regular rice noodles because the brown rice variety proved impossible to find at the stores I checked. I have to say though, this isn’t the most reheatable dish. I tried to eat some for lunch the next day and the noodles had fused to an unappealing mass. More water seemed to make it more mushy. I’d recommend making this only when it’s going to be consumed right away.
★★★★
This recipe sounds amazing delicious! I can’t wait to try it! I love recipes with lots of flavor and not too many ingredients.
I only just purchased an Instant Pot. I love one-pot meals and was tired of browning stuff in one pan then transferring to a slow-cooker. What I have learned though is the BEST part is the pressure cooker function. Suddenly I can make home-cooked meals for my kids in no time (less ordering of pizza). I am always looking for recipes now to use it.
Also, on Thanksgiving I discovered my brother had purchased one some time before me. He is an amazing chef, so I was totally shocked! Long story short, he too loves the ability to use one pot but more importantly, the pressure cooker function provides flavor and moistness quickly and makes it easy for those of us who have never used a pressure cooker before.
Please keep posting tasty meals for the Instant Pot. I love such a wide variety of food, and I love to cook. As a single mom, working full-time, these kinds of recipes are a perfect! Flavor and fast (and not too many ingredients)!