27 Noodle Recipes to Put on Repeat

Like rice paper rolls and banh mi, rice-noodle salad bowls—often categorized at restaurants as rice vermicelli bowls or bun (the name of the noodles in Vietnamese)—can feature many wonderful things, like grilled lemongrass chicken skewers. To make Vietnamese rice-noodle salad bowls, simply layer the ingredients in a bowl and let diners dress and mix up their own at the table. The vegetables provide refreshing crunch and herbal pungency, the noodles carry flavor, and the main feature and toppings are up to you.

Making jap chae, a traditional Korean dish made with glossy sweet potato noodles, is a great way to use whatever protein or vegetables you have in your fridge: Swap in bell peppers, alliums, tofu or even thinly-sliced steak.

Why settle for just one type of soup when you can have two? Here, chicken noodle meets mushroom barley, coming together to form an incredibly delightful and soothing pot of soup.

Kuy teav, a rice noodle soup traditionally served for breakfast in Cambodia, takes on layers of flavor from shrimp, pork, and vegetables. In writer and restaurateur Deana Saukam's version, you ladle the rich stock over crisp lettuce leaves and rice noodles then top to your liking with herbs, sliced chiles, soy sauce, and lime.

These spicy, savory noodles are a must for Lucky Chow producer Danielle Chang at her Lunar New Year feast. Cutting the noodles is strictly forbidden because cutting is a metaphor for shortening a life, so twirl the long strands to serve and eat. A mix of torn and sliced mushrooms (also a symbol of health and longevity) adds a variety of textures and a bite of umami to this quick-cooking dish.

Chef Todd Richards is known for his personal, globally inspired take on Southern cuisine, and his Collard Greens Ramen is no exception. Riffing on a memorable bowl of yaka-mein he had as a child, Richards' soup begins with a pot of collards and a generous pour of bourbon, which cooks down into an intense potlikker. Shichimi togarashi, a Japanese spice blend of dried orange peel, ginger, sesame seeds, nori, and a mix of dried chiles, finishes off each bowl. As Richards puts it, each ham-hock-enriched, noodle-laced bowl is a hearty thank you to his past—with a strong Southern accent.

This warm and cheesy broccoli-and-chicken casserole is hard to beat. You'll need six ounces of dry egg noodles to make it, and the whole dish comes together in just under an hour.

Reshteh polo is a fragrant rice-and-noodle dish that's redolent with coriander, cardamom and saffron. It develops a wonderful crust (called tahdig) while cooking, which is served alongside the rice.

Slowly grilling head-on shrimp while basting with a garlic- and chile-infused nuoc cham yields tender, juicy shrimp in this recipe from chef Hong Tran. Served as a main course on a salad of rice noodles and herbs, they are also fun as an appetizer served with Salt-and-Pepper Limes for squeezing.

For Jing Gao, owner of the Sichuan food company Fly by Jing, making these fresh hand-pulled noodles, doused in garlic, ginger, chile, and cumin, is as natural as breathing. A final pour of sizzling-hot oil is all you need to bloom the flavor of the seasonings. Watch Jing make this dish —and more—in her episode of Chefs at Home.

Chef Sheldon Simeon makes these noodles extra flavorful by adding roast pork and shrimp that have been fried in garlic oil.

"Variations of cabbage noodles are served across Central and Eastern Europe from Poland to the Czech Republic," cookbook author Leah Koenig says. "Depending on where it's being made, the dish might be dressed up with a sprinkling of paprika or ground poppy seeds, studded with salty nibs of bacon, or folded with other sautéed vegetables or cottage cheese. I like to brighten it up with a hit of lemon zest and heaps of fresh dill, parsley, and chives. It's just enough sunshiny flavor to elevate the dish while sacrificing none of its deeply cozy and comforting soul."

The technique of tempering—heating spices gently in oil or ghee to release their essential oils—is commonly used in Indian cooking to build layers of flavor. Here, sweet and peppery mango teams up with pork for a gentle simmer in the spice-laden oil. The pork-and-mango mixture is served over thin rice noodles or vermicelli.

"There's good reason to believe that cold sesame noodles were first brought to New York 40 years ago by chef Shorty Tang at Hwa Yuan in Chinatown," 2021 Food & Wine Best New Chef Lucas Sin says. "Since then, chilled sesame noodles have been a ubiquitous part of Chinese takeout. At Junzi, sesame noodles have been one of our signature dishes since we opened, thanks to a deeply flavorful, carefully layered sesame sauce made of pure sesame paste, aromatics, and fermented tofu. Finish off the dish with chili oil and it's a classic—but not like one you've had before."

"Over the post-Thanksgiving weekend, serve up bowls of roast turkey–egg noodle soup, which I'd call 'mi ga tay,' which literally means egg noodle soup with Western chicken," cookbook author Andrea Nguyen says of this noodle soup.

Resting this enriched pasta dough for the full two hours is essential to the final texture. Too short of a rest results in puffy, thick noodles, while a well-rested dough rolls into thin, tender pasta. A simple sugo made with extra-virgin olive oil, yellow onion, butternut squash, salt, and tomatoes is the perfect complement.

Butter, egg yolk, and starch enrich the soy broth, dressing chewy udon noodles in a silky sauce inspired by cookbook author Hetty McKinnon's visit to Udon Shin, a restaurant in Tokyo's bustling Shinjuku ward. Sharp black pepper and scallions break up its deeply savory edge with light spice and fresh flavor.

This easy recipe by Basic Kitchen's Robin Hollis is endlessly riff-able: The lightly sweet, nutty sesame sauce makes a great starting point for additions such as salmon, grilled chicken, a fried or boiled egg, or extra veggies. Lightly toast sesame seeds before using to release their aromatic oils.

This Hawaiian-style cold ramen noodle salad recipe is topped with slices of savory, crispy pork shoulder, crunchy bean sprouts, tender ribbons of egg, shredded nori, and slices of Japanese pickled cucumber. A cooling dressing of dashi, rice wine vinegar, and sake brings it all together. It makes a refreshing lunch or a hearty side dish at a cookout.

"Growing up in Hong Kong, we wouldn't go on mall dates and eat at Auntie Anne's," 2021 Food & Wine Best New Chef Lucas Sin says. "Instead, we'd wander the streets of Mongkok with a palm-sized bag of noodles in hand, with two bamboo skewers stuck in them as makeshift chopsticks. In Hong Kong's many shopping districts, you'll find these stalls that sell chilled noodles in a bag with a slew of ingredients you can top them with: octopus, seaweed salad, ham, corn, bean sprouts, etc. The sauce is straightforward but what makes it so outstanding is the punch of the raw garlic and the endless possibilities of toppings."

In this recipe from pitmaster Griffin Bufkin, barbecued brisket is paired with tender egg noodles, okra, corn, and lima beans. Reserve the egg noodles until serving to maintain the best texture, and purchase smoked brisket from your favorite local barbecue joint or specialty grocery store. Splurge for your favorite here, as the smoked meat will flavor every bite of this hearty soup.

The combination of cold, chewy homemade soba noodles with steaming-hot crispy duck and dashi-enriched dipping sauce is an unparalleled delight. Timing is key when making this dish—cook the soba just before you serve. Work ahead by steeping the dashi and seasoning the duck the night before or the morning of cooking. For the purest flavor, seek out hon mirin ( which cooking teacher Sonoko Sakai calls "real mirin"), which has no added sweeteners or salt.

Tender but hearty handmade noodles, simply made with flour, eggs, and whole-milk yogurt, add texture to the stew and thicken the broth. Store the noodles and broth separately to prevent the noodles from dissolving. Read 2016 Food & Wine Best New Chef Iliana Regan's essay about this recipe, My Mom Daydreams About These Noodles.

"During the winter months, this bowl of noodle soup is like a hug," writer Hetty McKinnon says. "The garlic oil adds an extra layer of aromatic flavor, a great way to bring cohesiveness to this curative bowl of soup. It's bolstered by a robust ginger and turmeric base, which offers deep, earthy flavors along with anti-inflammatory prowess."

Tender wide rice noodles pick up color and peppery, meaty flavor when charred in a wok with thick slices of pastrami. This speedy, flavor-packed dish by chef Kris Yenbamroong of Night + Market cooks up quickly, so have all the ingredients at the ready before heating the wok.

"At the Filipino gatherings of my youth, you could always count on ample amounts of pancit, a noodle stir-fry seasoned with oyster sauce and fish sauce," chef Sheldon Simeon says. "Pancit recipes vary, but they tend to take shape based on whatever you toss in the wok. The goal is not to get a crazy hot sear, but simply to get everything warmed through and cooked. Without the savory crunch of fried garlic, my kitchen wouldn't be the same. Though labor-intensive, this cooking method produces a ridiculously crispy, garlicky fried garlic. Plus, you'll end up with a batch of garlic oil to use in other dishes."

In this one-skillet main course inspired by winemaker Mireia Taribó's homeland of Catalonia in northeastern Spain, slowly sautéed squid and shrimp nestle into a bed of short, thin noodles. The fideuà noodles soak up the seafood stock and onions as they cook, their flavor intensifying as they crisp on the bottom of the pan. Be careful not to overcook the seafood — especially the squid — during the initial sauté. Taribó loves to serve this at dinner parties at her California winery, Camins 2 Dreams.