Vietnamese garlic noodles are buttery, garlicky, cheesy, and packed with umami seasoning. This Asian fusion garlic noodle recipe is incredibly quick, easy, and absolutely delicious.
Vietnamese garlic noodles are the most delicious representation of Vietnamese and American fusion. If you love garlic, pasta, and bold rich umami flavors, this Asian garlic noodles dish was made for you.
This Vietnamese garlic noodles recipe pays homage to Chef Helen An’s original recipe she created at her restaurant Thanh Long in San Francisco. She is known to be one of the OG queens of Asian fusion cuisine. That title is fitting since these Asian garlic noodles are absolute fire.
These butter garlic noodles can be made in under 20 minutes or less and are perfect for those who want a quick bite without sacrificing any flavor. If you want some more weeknight easy recipe inspo, check out my chicken lo mein, chicken pad thai, and beef chow fun recipes!
Table of Contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Butter + Garlic + Cheese + Umami = HEAVEN.
- This is the easiest under 20-minute Asian garlic noodle recipe that is perfect for those busy weeknights.
- You can make these butter garlic noodles a full meal by pairing them with your favorite protein recipe. It is that versatile!
🍽 Kitchen Equipment
This easy butter garlic noodles recipe only needs a few basic kitchen equipments!
- Medium Pot: to cook the spaghetti pasta
- Large Skillet: make sure to use a large skillet that can hold 12 oz of pasta.
- Grater: you will need a cheese grater to freshly grate the parmesan cheese.
🛒 Ingredients
You can find all of the ingredients for these Asian garlic noodles at your local grocery store or online.
- Spaghetti: spaghetti noodles are the best noodles to use because they absorb the garlic flavor well and do not fall apart when tossed in the sauce.
- Unsalted Butter: garlic and butter are the ultimate flavor combination. Make sure to use unsalted butter to avoid making the dish overly salty.
- Garlic: freshly minced garlic is always the best choice for the richest and most fragrant flavor.
- Oyster Sauce adds an earthy, slightly sweet, and salty taste. You can find oyster sauce in the condiment aisle at your local Asian grocery store.
- Fish Sauce: adds an umami salty flavor to the noodles. I love using Three Crabs fish sauce or Red Boat fish sauce.
- Maggi Seasoning: Maggi smells and tastes like lovage, an herb that has the flavors of celery, parsley, and fennel. Maggi seasoning has umami, a kind of sweet, rich, fatty, salt and sharp flavor that is basically like soy sauce on crack.
- Toasted Sesame Oil: a dash of toasted sesame oils adds umami flavor and toasted nuttiness.
- MSG: obviously optional but msg adds that secret ingredient umami kick that makes these butter garlic noodles even better.
- Brown Sugar: adds a touch of sweetness and balance to the Vietnamese garlic noodles.
- Green Onion: adds additional aromatics to the noodles
- Parmesan Cheese: freshly grated parmesan cheese will require a little more prep but the final flavor is so much better than with pre-shredded cheese that has added preservatives to keep the cheese fresh.
✨ Substitutions and Additions
These are your Vietnamese garlic noodles. That means you can do whatever you want to these absolutely delicious butter garlic noodles.
Substitutions
- Soy sauce: if you do not have Maggi, you can alternatively use soy sauce.
- Chicken Bouillon Powder: instead of using MSG, you can use chicken bouillon powder for a similar umami flavor.
- Noodles: This Asian garlic noodle recipe also works with linguine, angel hair pasta, or even fresh egg noodles!
Additions
- Spice: if you want this to be a spicy garlic noodle recipe, you can add in your preferred spice such as adding chili oil, sriracha, and Korean red pepper flakes.
📝 How to Make Vietnamese Garlic Noodles
This Vietnamese garlic noodles recipe is probably the quickest and most satisfying recipe on the internet. Let’s begin!
- Boil spaghetti. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Boil the spaghetti al dente according to the package instructions. Save ¼ cup of pasta water.
- Saute the sauce. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add the minced garlic. Saute the garlic until golden brown and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Then stir in the oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, MSG and brown sugar. Stir until combined. Add the green onion and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add the pasta. Toss the pasta in the sauce and add the freshly grated parmesan cheese. Add 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water if the sauce is too thick. Remove from heat and serve. Enjoy!
⭐️ Tips for the Best Vietnamese Garlic Noodles
- Prep the ingredients before cooking. This butter garlic noodles recipe can be completed in under 20 minutes if you prepare all the ingredients to stir fry in advance.
- Remember to save some pasta water. Lightly salt your pasta water and remember to save about ¼ cup worth to think out your garlic butter sauce if it is too thick.
- If you LOVE garlic, add more! This Asian garlic noodles recipe already yields a very rich and garlicky recipe with about ¼ cup of garlic for only 12 oz of spaghetti. But if you are a garlic lover, feel free to add a few more cloves of garlic.
🥡 Storage Instructions
You can store these Asian garlic noodles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
💬 Frequently Asked Q’s & A’s
Vietnamese garlic noodles or Asian garlic noodles are believed to have been invented in the 1970s by Chef Helen An, one of the founders of Asian cuisine. She worked in Thanh Long a Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco.
You can serve this Asian garlic noodle recipe with basically any type of protein it is that versatile! You can serve it with shrimp, lobster, crab, chicken, or beef! I personally like to pair this recipe with my Vietnamese shaking beef recipe for the ultimate treat yourself meal.
Spaghetti is the best pasta for these butter garlic noodles. Alternatively, you can also use thin linguine or egg noodles if you’d like.
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👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Vietnamese Garlic Noodles
Equipment
- Medium pot
Ingredients
- 12 oz spaghetti
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 12 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon Maggi seasoning or soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon MSG optional
- ½ tablespoon brown sugar packed
- 2 stalks green onion chopped
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese freshly grated
Instructions
- Boil spaghetti. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Boil the spaghetti al dente according to the package instructions. Save ¼ cup of pasta water.
- Saute the sauce. In a large skillet over medium low heat, melt the butter and add the minced garlic. Saute the garlic until golden brown and fragrant about 3-4 minutes. Then stir in the oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, msg and brown sugar. Stir until combined. Add the green onion and saute for 30 seconds or until lightly wilted.
- Add the pasta. Toss the pasta in the sauce and add the freshly grated parmesan cheese. Add 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water if the sauce is too thick. Remove from heat and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- Prep the ingredients before cooking. This butter garlic noodles recipe can be completed in under 20 minutes if you prepare all the ingredients to stir fry in advance.
- Remember to save some pasta water. Lightly salt your pasta water and remember to save about ¼ cup worth to think out your garlic butter sauce if it is too thick.
- If you LOVE garlic, add more! This Asian garlic noodles recipe already yields a very rich and garlicky recipe with about ¼ cup of garlic for only 12 oz of spaghetti. But if you are a garlic lover, feel free to add a few more cloves of garlic.
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