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How To Make Chicken Stir Fry Vermicelli (Rice) Noodles

Delicious Chinese style chicken vermicelli! A rice noodle stir fry recipe that is easy to make and packed full of flavour. Find out how to make this quick and easy chicken dinner below.

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When it comes to making an easy mid-week dinner, one of my first thoughts is always chicken vermicelli or rice noodles (as I also call it). It’s such an amazing dish that tastes incredible and a dinner I know everyone will love. Chicken vermicelli noodles is one of those meals you can easily put together in minutes and requires minimal effort.

What Is Vermicelli Noodles Made From?

Rice vermicelli or rice noodles are a very fine type of noodle made from grounded rice. It is used primarily in Asian cooking and is sold in Asian food stores, online and in some supermarkets in the world foods section.

If you’re cooking with rice noodles for the first time, you’re not the only one who might be wondering so… how do you cook vermicelli noodles? Though it might seem complicated, it’s actually very easy; one of many reasons why I love cooking with it. As rice vermicelli are so thin in texture, they don’t need an intense cooking process. Simply boil the kettle and pour hot water over it in a bowl or tray until softened. This should take around 5 to 8 minutes depending on the temperature of the water.

You can also deep fry rice noodles which I find quite fun and exciting. When fried in hot oil the noodles expand and form a tangled crisp which is commonly used to garnish dishes or to eat as a quick snack. They puff up and are quite delicate in texture, the fried vermicelli can be eaten freshly fried or served sprinkled with salt or other seasonings.

Homemade vermicelli rice noodles stir fry with chicken

What’s the difference between vermicelli and noodles: The main differences between vermicelli and noodles are the size and what they’re made from. Rice vermicelli noodles are thin, made from rice flour and are almost always white in colour. Whereas noodles are thicker and mainly made from mung bean starch or wheat flour.

An example of a popular Chinese style noodle dish is king prawn chow mein and yaki udon noodles.

Why You’ll Love This Chicken Vermicelli Noodles Recipe

There are so many reasons why you’ll love this recipe, below are my top three:

It’s customisable: A vermicelli stir fry is perfect for whatever you have in your fridge, whether it’s left-over chicken or veggies that are getting old. Plus, it’s a super simple dish to make vegetarian. You can make a Chinese style chicken vermicelli with this recipe, replace the meat with any other type of protein or keep it simple with just vegetables.

You Can Prepare Ahead: All ingredients can be fully prepared ahead: the chicken, the veggies and even the rice noodles! This is one of my biggest tips, preparing by chopping your vegetables and pre-cooking your rice noodles will save you so much time.

Simple To Make: So straightforward, uncomplicated and effortless; this chicken stir fry with rice noodles is one of the easiest dishes you can make.

Ingredients

Vermicelli Rice Noodles: This recipe uses dried vermicelli noodles to make the chicken stir fry. I usually buy this in my local corner shop in the noodle section, you can also buy them here online. If you don’t have any vermicelli left in your pantry; you can easily substitute with flat rice noodles or egg noodles like in my chicken chow mien recipe.

Chicken Breast: I used chicken breast cut into long strips. You don’t have to use chicken breast, you can use diced chicken thighs, beef or prawns. Whatever type of protein you choose to make the vermicelli stir fry, add the marinade sauce which is sesame oil, dark soy sauce and black pepper. If you don’t use any protein, then you can avoid the marinating instructions in the recipe card.

Vegetables: The vegetables I used were carrots, onions, chillies, spring onions, garlic and ginger. You can take out vegetables you don’t like and add in your favourite veggies. Vegetables like bean sprouts, green beans, cabbages and bell peppers work well for stir fry dishes.

Stir Fry Sauce: To Make this chicken vermicelli stir fry recipe, you’ll need to make the Chinese style stir-fry sauce. This is made from dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and black pepper. This mixture is a popular basic stir-fry sauce amongst Chinese cuisine.

Watch How To Make It

How To Make Vermicelli Noodles

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make chicken vermicelli stir fry, starting with how to cook the vermicelli noodles. Full recipe instructions are on the recipe card at the bottom.

Step One:

Boil the kettle and put the dried vermicelli in a large bowl or roasting tray. Soak the vermicelli in hot water for 5 to 8 minutes, drain the water out and set aside for later.

Step Two:

Cut your chicken breast into strips and place in a mixing bowl. Add the marinade ingredients: dark soy sauce, sesame oil and black pepper into the bowl and mix together until evenly distributed.

Step Three:

Time to make the Chinese stir fry sauce. In a small bowl mix together dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and black pepper together and leave aside for later.

Step Four:

Heat a wok or frying pan on a medium to high heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the sliced garlic, ginger, onions, red chillies and stir fry for up to 2 minutes or until the onions have softened. Add the marinated chicken and stir fry for a further 2 minutes before adding the sliced carrots. Continue stir frying for a further 2 minutes or until chicken has fully cooked. Add the rice noodles to the mixture and pour over the stir fry sauce made in step three, stir fry for a further 1 minute. Sprinkle spring onions and serve!

And you’ve just made the best vermicelli recipe!

My Top Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks for this recipe to make it even easier for you to prepare at home.

Chuck the veggies in! If you have time, you can add the vegetables one by one and mix each for a minute or two. But as you can see from my recipe video, I added all the vegetables in, then stir-fried for up to 2 minutes after. If you like some vegetables really soft like carrots (I like a little crunch to mine), then you can add the harder veggies first and mix, then proceed to add the vegetables that soften quicker.

If you want to avoid the time buying so many different veg and cutting them into slices, you can use a ready-made stir fry vegetable mix packet sold in supermarkets. There are various different vegetable packets you can buy, with different types of vegetables in them. Using this really does save time!

If you know you’ll be making this Chinese style chicken stir fry with rice noodles more than once in the week, you can pre-mix the sauce in advance ready to use when you need it. Simply mix the ingredients together, place in an air-tight container and store in the fridge.

How Many Calories In This Chicken Vermicelli Recipe

A serving of chicken vermicelli has 638 calories, full nutritional information is on the recipe card at the bottom. Nutritional information is automatically calculated so should be used as an estimate.

How Long Can You Keep Cooked Vermicelli

Place the cooked vermicelli in an air-tight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. When reheating this dish, place in a microwave-safe container and loosely fit the lid and microwave until piping hot throughout.

More Delicious Recipes To Serve With

Roasted Tenderstem Broccoli

Honey Chilli Chicken

Salt And Pepper Chicken

Singapore Fried Rice