Ready in 30 minutes, this quick and easy recipe for Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry is a crave-worthy addition to your weeknight menu. Full of fresh vegetables, luscious noodles, and oven roasted shrimp, it’s sure to be better than any last-minute take-out order (complete with Low FODMAP options)!
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Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry
I can never get enough stir-fried noodles. Pad Thai, Lo Mein, Udon noodles; with shrimp, tofu, or pork – I love it all. Maybe it’s that I’ve always found something comforting about noodles of all shapes and sizes.
This Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry hits all the bases I love in a crave-worthy take-out order. The shrimp are perfectly cooked using a simple oven roasting method; the sauce is thick and flavorful without being too heavy or overpowering; and the fresh vegetables give the dish an added dimension of flavors and textures to push it over the edge. Serve in bowls and top with some chopped chives and toasted sesames seeds, and you’ll feel like you’re treating yourself to something special.
The best part? This Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry recipe is super easy to make. With a little multi-tasking, it comes together in about 30 minutes – less time than it takes most places to deliver!
Jump to Recipe
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Oven Roasted Shrimp
One of the real tricks to keeping this Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry recipe easy and stress-free is the use of an oven roasting method. Most stir fry recipes call for proteins to be fried in the same pan as the rest of the dish. In many cases, that can be both helpful to developing flavors and in reducing the number of dishes to be washed. But the truth is, pan frying shrimp can be tricky. It’s easy to use too much oil or butter, or worse yet, over cook the seafood into something rubbery and inedible if you aren’t paying attention. On the contrary, roasting the shrimp in the oven at 400°F for about eight minutes consistently results in nicely cooked shrimp that aren’t weighed down by extra fat and oil. Even better, making your shrimp on a separate sheet pan allows you to focus on the rest of your dish.
Oh, and since you can just throw out the foil lining, no additional pan to clean. Win-win, right?
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Ordering Out on a FODMAP Friendly Diet
If you have any dietary sensitives or restrictions, you already know that ordering out can be a real pain. Now that I’ve found I have a sensitivity to onion and garlic, getting any sort of Chinese, Japanese, or Thai take-out isn’t something I can do very often. Both ingredients are in practically everything! Ordering delivery while following a strict low-FODMAP diet is nearly impossible, and the options that are available are usually boring, if not downright depressing.
So, what’s a girl to do when she’s craving an Asian noodle dish but can’t order something from the local restaurant? Make it at home of course!
Technically, this Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry dish isn’t strictly FODMAP friendly because traditional Udon noodles are made with wheat flour. You can of course swap those out for your favorite gluten-free rice noodle though if you need to. I’ve ditched traditional onion and garlic for fennel, which has a texture just like stir-fried onions and adds a nice base of flavor. If you are strictly low-FODMAP and gluten-free, make sure you also reduce the amount of celery to less than 5 cm (2 inches), as recommended.
This Better Than Take-Out Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry might not help when everyone at work is ordering out for lunch, but at least you can satisfy the craving once you get home to your own kitchen.
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Dietary issues aside, there are a lot of reasons why making your favorite take-out style dishes at home is a better solution than ordering out. Not only is it (usually) less expensive, fresh ingredients are just tastier, if not healthier. Don’t get me wrong – sometimes you need a break and ordering out for food is the best solution in the world. But I don’t think I need to go into the benefits of cooking your meals at home if you have the means and opportunity.
The next time you need the comfort of a delicious bowl of take-out noodles, put down your phone and make yourself this delicious Better Than Take-Out Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry instead. Your taste buds will thank you.
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Craving some more better-than-take-out options for your dinner table? Here are a few from my blogger friends:
- For a Gluten-Free and FODMAP friendly meal, check out these Chinese take-out inspired Chicken Lettuce Cups.
- Thai food cravings are covered with Cold Sesame Noodles with Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce and Vegan Thai Green Curry.
- Satisfy your need for fried food with Crispy Halibut Orange Ginger Bites.
- Comfort yourself on a budget with Chicken Soba Noodle Soup.
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As a final note, I have to point out that the beautiful speckled tan and blue bowl featured in these photos came to me as a gift courtesy of Maglyn’s Dream, a shop in New Paltz, New York that specializes in handmade artisan gifts from local and North American artists. This particular piece was made by Rachel with Deep Earth Pottery. Gorgeous, right? Perfect place to look for gifts with the holidays coming up!
Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 lb large shrimp
- 4 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 cup green cabbage, sliced thin
- 1 package (9.5 oz) Udon noodles (I like Habubaku Organic brand for stir fries, but substitute rice noodles for gluten-free)
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 cup celery, chopped fine (reduce to less than 5 cm stalk if on a strict Low FODMAP diet)
- ½ cup fennel, sliced
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup mirin
- 1/3 cup Tamari (or traditional soy sauce)
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp chives, chopped fine
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and prepare a baking sheet by covering it with a layer of foil.
- Rinse the shrimp, and clean and devein as needed. In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Spread the shrimp out on the baking sheet in an even layer and roast for 6-8 minutes. Once cooked through, set aside and keep warm.
- Once the shrimp is in the oven, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large wok (if you don’t have a wok, a non-stick skillet is just fine). Sauté the cabbage over medium-heat, until the edges are browned (about 4 minutes). Reduce the heat to medium low and cook the cabbage until tender (another 4 minutes). Remove the cabbage to a large bowl and carefully wipe down the skillet with a dry paper towel to remove any browned bits.
- While the cabbage is cooking, prepare the noodles as directed by the package instructions. Once ready, add the cooked noodles to the bowl of sauteed cabbage and toss with 2 teaspoons of sesame oil.
- Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the same wok (or skillet) you used for the cabbage over medium heat. Add the celery, fennel, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Toss together and sauté for 3 minutes.
- Pour the mirin, tamari (or soy sauce), and lime juice into the wok, and add back in the cabbage/noodle mixture. Cook everything for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the oven roasted shrimp, and sauté an additional 45 seconds to bring the whole dish together. Remove the pan from heat.
- Heap piles of Spicy Shrimp Udon Noodle Stir Fry into individual bowls, and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped chives. Serve!
Notes
