One-Pan Yakisoba Noodles That Come Together Before You Know It

We’re just loving these long summer days, where meal times seem to stretch one into the next, conversations take on a more languid pace, and the food centers around how much fresh produce we can squeeze in with minimal time near the stove.

But man cannot live on salads alone, and I’ve found just the weeknight-friendly meal to get you in and out of the kitchen as quickly as possible―in order to get you back into that all-important matter of determining whether it’s going to be ice cream or sorbet tonight.

If you’ve never had stir-fried Japanese yakisoba noodles before, I urge you to invite them into your work week rotation. They are fast, highly-adaptable, and couldn’t love summer’s bounty any more. In Candice Kumai’s Kintsugi Wellness, the cookbook author and wellness writer shares her nostalgic recipe for Light Yakisoba Noodles.

“Mom used to make this dish as a quick, filling meal for the family on busy days,” Candice explains. “When she didn’t have enough time to do a full-fledged meal, she would do a one-pan yakisoba. It’s a simple, flavorful stir-fry noodle, and it’s a favorite from childhood. Feel free to toss in your own leftover proteins and veggies to mix it up and make it your own.”

Here, we used a mixture of shiitake mushroom, kale, onion, and garlic to befriend the fresh yakisoba noodles, but you could easily swap in any number of vegetables to suit your taste (cabbage, carrot, scallions, and bean sprouts are traditionally used), as well as adding in some cut-up chicken, pork, shrimp, or tofu if you fancy a protein.

This easy-to-make (and easier-to-love!) yakisoba hits all the right notes, and scales up readily for a larger group. Throw it together on any given busy weeknight, with plenty of time to let you sit back and soak up the last of the evening's pinky orange-hued sunset.

Have you tried stir-fried yakisoba noodles before? Let us know below!