This easy coconut curry stir noodle dish is ready in 30 minutes. It makes a healthy gluten free and vegan meal for weeknights!
That curry laksa I shared last week really put me in the mood for more curried noodles. To be honest, I always have an appetite for curry and noodles. After the pie making extravaganza recently, I’ve gotten a bit lazy with cooking dinners. Thirty-minute meals are all I want, and stir-fry rice noodles are my go-to dish right now. So when I was stir frying some rice noodles last week, I got the sudden inspiration to toss in some coconut and red curry.
Love at first bite.
The coconut milk flavor shines through very well in the noodles and the red curry provides just the right flavor balance in these noodles.
COOKING NOTES FOR THE COCONUT CURRY STIR FRY
- Cooking Time for Noodles: DO NOT overcook the noodles. Leaving the noodles in hot water for too long will cause it to break down and turn to pieces with the slightest touch. Trust me on this—I’ve eaten too many goopy noodles over the last year, and I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did. Since we’re stir-frying these noodles, leaving them in hot water for 4 to 5 minutes should be long enough. If you prefer softer, gummier noodles, leave it in for 6 minutes. But let me warn you, the noodles may start to break down when you stir fry them.
- Use Tongs for Browning Tofu: There’s nothing wrong with using chopsticks or a spatula to help flip tofu cubes, but tongs are so much easier to work with.
- Cooked Red Cabbage Bleeds: You may know this already, but red cabbage, when cooked, tends to bleed into other food. For these photos, I cooked the noodles and vegetables separately to prevent the cabbage from releasing bluish hues on the noodles.
LOOKING FOR MORE NOODLE DISHES?
- Vegetable Mung Bean Stir Fry Noodles
- Sesame and Olive Soba Noodles
- Hot & Sour Coconut Noodle Soup
- You can also visit my complete noodles archives here.
Easy Coconut Curry Stir Fry Noodles with Glazed Tofu
This easy coconut curry stir fry noodle dish is incredibly flavorful and is ready in 30 minutes! Add whatever vegetables you have on had to this dish and you’ll be in for a feast!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Tofu
- 14-ounce (400g) package of extra-firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons tamari (use soy sauce if not gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (or any sweetener of choice)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
For the Noodles
- 8 ounces (225g) flat rice noodles
- 3 tablespoons coconut milk (full fat or light coconut milk works)
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 1/2 tablespoon tamari
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/3 cup sliced red onions (about 1 ounce/30g)
- 1 tablespoon chopped tender lemongrass stalk (optional)
- 4.5 ounces (130g) red cabbage, thinly sliced (about a heaping cup)
- 1 large carrot, peeled and cut to matchsticks or julienned (1/2 cup shredded carrots works also)
- salt, to taste
Optional garnish
- cilantro
- sesame seeds
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
Prepare the Tofu
- Slice tofu block into 6 slices, along the long side of the tofu. Press tofu slices into a paper towel to soak up some water. Chop each slice into 8 cubes. In a small bowl, mix tamari, brown sugar, cornstarch, and water. Set aside.
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.
- Add tofu cubes and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the cubes are well browned. Flip tofu cubes periodically so that you get browning on more than one side. Tongs work very well for this. Pour in tamari sauce and watch it sizzle. If the sauce turns thick immediately, add a splash of water. Stir for a minute and dish up the tofu to a plate.
Prepare the Noodles
- Bring 5 cups of water (just over a liter) of water to boil. Salt the water. When water has boiled, turn off the heat and throw in rice noodles. Let them sit in there for 5 minutes. The noodles should be al dente. Drain water and rinse noodles under cold water. Set aside.
- Mix coconut milk, curry paste, and tamari together and set aside.
- Wipe down sauté pan. Heat pan over medium heat and add another tablespoon of sesame oil. Add onions and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it softens. Add lemongrass, if using, and stir for about 30 seconds. Stir in red cabbage and cook for a minute. Toss in shredded carrots and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute. Add cooked rice noodles and coconut milk mixture. Stir everything for a minute, and mix in tofu cubes. Turn off heat and serve. Garnish with cilantro, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes if you like.
Notes
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Makes 4 Servings. Amount Per Serving: Calories: 485, Total Fat 18.5g, Saturated Fat: 4.5g, Sodium: 851mg, Cholesterol: 0mg, Total Carbohydrate: 62g, Dietary Fiber: 4.7g, Sugar: 6.6g, Protein 21g
SUBSTITUTIONS: If you don’t have sesame oil on hand, olive oil works, too. Sesame oil just adds an additional nutty flavor to the dish. If you don’t have coconut aminos on hand, just add another tablespoon of tamari sauce.
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes says
Love the top photo on this post so much. Great job with the backlighting! And I love the recipe too. Sounds amazing. Have a great trip to England.
Lisa says
Thanks, Katie! That photo was definitely the trickiest for me to edit!!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen says
Yeah for a trip to England! So exciting – especially the food part. And I’m giggling thinking about National Lampoons European Vacation right now (I watched the Christmas one on TV last night, so I’ve got that series on the brain!). These noodles look amazing. I haven’t made stir fry in forever and I need to change that ASAP!
Lisa says
Hahaha, I remember that movie!!
Melissa Falk says
Happy Friday, Lisa! Great recipe and thanks for your cooking tips, too 🙂
Lisa says
Thank you, Melissa!!
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
So in love with this recipe! One of my favorite sorts of dishes, and this sounds full of flavor. Love your cooking notes — thanks for those, too! Enjoy your trip!
Lisa says
Thank you, Patricia!!
traci | vanilla and bean says
Hooray for traveling to England, Lisa! That is so exciting, and I know you’re going to have a grand adventure… stretchy pants in hand! No wonder you’re ready to go… It’s so fun to to have a non traditional holiday from time to time. Rob and I are taking off to Kauai, HI soon too for a bit of rest and relaxation, and snorkeling, hiking, birding, eating… exploring!! Traveling is so much fun! These noodles look amazing my dear. I crave rice noodles with Thai flavors. Love the noodles recipes you’re sharing! That tofu looks amazing! Keep em’ comin, Lisa! Delicious!
Lisa says
Traci, I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season! I’m just lazing around, trying to take my mind off blogging for a bit. It’s been quite wonderful. Hoping to get refreshed for when I get back to the US!
Tracy Zhu says
I loved this dish! It was so easy and it’s a cheap easy way to fulfill my incessant noodle cravings! I loved the sauce recipe. It was nice and light with a power punch of flavors that’s not too overwhelming. Next time, I’m going to try to add an additional table spoon of coconut milk to balance the spicy kick. Overall, this is a quick yummy filling dish. My only challenge was that after I poured in the tamari mixture into the skillet with the browning tofu, the sauce coagulated really quickly. Perhaps there was too much corn starch in my mixture? How can I prevent the sauce from coagulating or thickening up to the point to a chunky consistency? Overall, nothing a bit of water didn’t solve.
Lisa Lin says
Hey, Tracy! Your instincts are right, just add more water to thin it out. It could be that the heat that we used to cook the tofu was different. The hotter the pan, the easier it is for the sauce to thicken. I would add another 2 to 3 tablespoons of water the next time if you want a thinner sauce. I’ll also cook the tofu again to double check the proportions. I’m so glad you tried this!!!
Karen says
In the directions you talk about putting coconut aminos in but they’re not in the ingredient list.???
Karen says
I made this recipe without the coconut aminos or the extra soy auce in place of it. It wad delicious!! Best recipe I’ve made in a long time!
★★★★★
Lisa Lin says
Karen, I’m so glad you tried this! Thanks for catching the coconut aminos. It was in my old recipe, but I decided to change it by leaving it out. I just forgot to remove it in the directions. Thanks again!
Pete says
Too chewy on the noodles! I should have soaked another minute. Great dish overall!
Cristal Givens says
First time having tofu and these kind of rice noodles. Was surprised at how good it was. Noodles could have been a little softer. I like a lot of flavor but at least it wasn’t overpowering
★★★★