Yaki Udon is Japanese stir-fried udon noodles made with your choice of protein and vegetables seasoned with a savory sauce. Ready in 25 mins, and incredibly delicious!
One of the most popular recipe categories on Just One Cookbook is quick and easy meals. Within this category, Yaki Udon (焼きうどん) has been one of readers’ favorite dishes.
What’s Yaki Udon?
Yaki Udon (焼きうどん) is Japanese stir-fried udon noodles with meat and vegetables.
It’s very similar to another Japanese stir-fried noodle dish called Yakisoba (焼きそば) as they use almost the same ingredients except for the type of the noodles.
Here is the difference between Yaki Udon and Yakisoba:
- Yaki Udon – Yaki udon always uses udon noodles. Udon noodles are thick and chewy white noodles made with wheat flour and water. Udon noodles are very versatile – in hot noodle soup like Kitsune Udon and Nabeyaki Udon, in cold noodle dishes like Tanuki Udon, and lastly, in stir-fried dishes like Yaki Udon.
- Yakisoba – Yakisoba uses chukamen (中華麺), yellowish Chinese style noodles made with wheat flour and kansui (alkaline solution). These same noodles are used for Ramen and Yakisoba.
Watch How To Make Yaki Udon (Stir-Fried Udon Noodles)
Delicious Japanese stir-fried udon noodles with cabbage, onion, pork, shiitake mushrooms, flavored with a savory sauce.
What You Need to Make Yaki Udon
The best part about this dish is that you can pretty much use any protein and vegetables from your refrigerator to make this dish.
- Protein: For more traditional Yaki Udon (or Yakisoba), pork is typically used. I usually like to use thinly sliced pork belly for more flavors. However, it’s up to you if you prefer to use chicken, beef, or seafood such as shrimp and squid. With firm tofu cubes (or tofu puffs), you can easily make it vegan and vegetarian.
- Vegetables: Use scraps of vegetables that you have in your fridge. Got mushrooms, too? Add them in!
- Udon Noodles: I recommend using frozen udon noodles (the one package says “Sanuki Udon”) because they are chewy and delicious. The elastic texture of those frozen noodles is great for stir-fried noodles. However, I recommend avoiding most refrigerated udon noodles found in the Asian or American supermarkets because they break very easily and taste floury/doughy. Refrigerated udon noodles found in Japan have a good texture, but I haven’t seen them here in the US yet. Another option is dried udon noodles. These noodles are usually flat and the texture is less chewy, but the good news is that they won’t break into pieces like refrigerated udon noodles.
Perfect Weeknight Meal
Yaki Udon is a quick and easy home cooking dish to make for your family or for yourself, with typical ingredients you probably already have in the fridge.
Here is my last tip before you go: Always have frozen or dried udon packages in your kitchen, then you can make this dish instead of getting takeout or eating out. My daughter absolutely loves udon noodles so I always keep some in my freezer for a quick meal.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Yaki Udon is Japanese stir-fried udon noodles made with your choice of protein and vegetables seasoned with a savory sauce. Ready in 25 mins, and incredibly delicious!
- 2 servings udon noodles (180 g dry udon noodles; 500 g frozen/boiled udon noodles)
- ½ onion
- 2-3 leaves cabbage
- 1 carrot
- 2 shiitake mushrooms
- 2 green onions/scallions
- ½ lb sliced pork belly (227 g: or your choice of meat, seafood, or extra vegetables/mushrooms)
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp Mentsuyu/Tsuyu (noodle soup base) (Mentsuyu I use is 3-times concentrated. If you use non-concentrated Mentsuyu, you might need to add more to achieve the same flavor. Here's my homemade Mentsuyu recipe. You could skip Mentsuyu and increase the soy sauce to a total of 2-3 Tbsp (gradually increase, please), but the final dish will taste slightly different.)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) (or 1 small package of katsuobushi)
- 1 Tbsp pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga) (optional)
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Gather all the ingredients. I like using frozen Sanuki udon noodles, which require boiling for 1 minute before using. If you use refrigerated udon noodles, loosen them under running water and ready to use. If you use dried udon noodles, boil them according to the package instruction.
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Bring a large pot of water to boil for udon noodles. My favorite udon is the frozen Sanuki Udon. Cook the frozen udon noodles in boiling water for 1 minute (no need to defrost). If you use dry noodles, follow the package instructions.
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Slice onion and cut cabbage into 1” (2.5 cm) square pieces. Julienne the carrot (cut into 2” (5 cm) matchsticks).
- Discard the tough shitake stems and slice the mushroom tops. Thinly slice the top 2” (5 cm) green part of scallions and set aside (for garnisih). Cut the rest of scallion into 2” (5 cm) pieces.
- Cut the pork belly slices into 1” (2.5 cm) pieces.
- In a frying pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the pork and cook until almost cooked through. Then add onion and cook until translucent and soft.
- Add cabbage and carrots and stir fry until coated with oil. Then add shiitake mushrooms and scallion. Stir fry until vegetables are lightly wilted.
- Add udon noodles and using tongs, combine well with all the ingredients.
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Add seasonings (Freshly ground black pepper, 3 Tbsp Mentsuyu, and 1 tsp soy sauce) and mix all together. Please adjust the amount of Mentsuyu based on the amount of the ingredients you have added.
- Serve on a plate and sprinkle bonito flakes and green onions on top. Garnish with red pickled ginger on the side if you like.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Other Popular Noodle Dishes:
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January 2011.
HI Nami, I made this for dinner yesterday. I love this quick and easy recipe. It was delicious, I will definitely make this again!
Thank you Megan! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Hi! Ma’am Nami,
aside from yaki udon for lunch what is other accompaniment side dish for yaki udon to complete lunch meal? thanks and more power!
Enrique..
Hi Enrique!
How about miso soup and salad with Japanese dressing?
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/basic-tofu-miso-soup/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/wafu-dressing-japanese-salad-dressing/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/seaweed-salad-recipe/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/sesame-dressing/
Hope that helps!
I always wanted to know how to prepare Yaki Udo, because it’s one of my favorite dishes… and just like magic I found your webpage. I have to tell you that you recipe it’s just amaizing!!!! I love my Yaki Udo. Thanks you very much !!!
Hi Hadena! I’m glad to hear you enjoy eatieng Yaki Udon! It’s my daughter’s favorite dish as well. 🙂 I hope you enjoy cooking and eating at home! 🙂
Hi there Nami!
It’s my first time cooking Udon, I only have chicken meat and Oyster sauce. Do you think this will work? I’m scared to mess this up for my husband. =_= Thanks!
Hi Kathens! I appologize for my late response due to my travel. Yes, you can make yaki udon with chicken and oyster sauce (but I’d also add soy sauce and a little bit of sugar). It will probably taste more like Chinese noodles (it’s oyster sauce after all) but it’ll be delicious! Or you can use just soy sauce. You won’t mess it up. 🙂 When you season, make sure you add slowly, because when you put a lot of sauce, you can’t undo. 🙂 Good luck!
One word…..yum!
Thank you Donna! 🙂
Hi Nami, I’ve made this for my family so many times and we all love it! I use bacon that isn’t too fatty and it’s awesome! I’ve stopped making this because the Mentsuyu sauce I use has MSG and I find that it makes me jittery. If I were to use your recipe for homemade Mentsuyu would I need to add more to the dish? I wish our local Japan Foods store would carry Mentsuyu without MSG.
Hi Vanessa! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m so glad to hear you and your family enjoy this dish! It’s hard to find mentsuyu without MSG, so you will need to make your own. You will most likely use the same amount of mentsuyu. Don’t forget to taste the flavor when you cook – when you have more ingredients you will need more seasonings (or vice versa). 🙂
Wegman’s sells their own Wegman’s Brand frozen Udon Noodles as well they have the perfect chewy texture and don’t break when cooking. 🙂
Hi Lily! So sorry, I didn’t realize your comment till now…. 🙁
Thank you so much for sharing your info!! So happy to hear it’s the chewy kind of udon! 🙂
Hi Namiko!
I tried this recipe over the weekend and it was amazing! At first I didn’t know what mentsuyu was but it actually made everything in this dish have so much flavour. Thank u for sharing this recipe with me. Have a great day! 🙂
Hi Matthew! So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Did you find the mentsuyu in a store, or you made it? It’s a very convenient condiment to keep in the fridge, and you can make noodles (hot/cold udon or soba) so easily! And yeas, with dashi in the mentsuyu, it tastes wonderful! 🙂
Just made this recipe for a quick lunch while my boyfriend and I are working from home. So delicious and easy!
EI used chicken thigh meat (super tasty) and substituted memmi sauce for the mentsuyu since I already had it in my pantry. We ate it with a touch of sesame oil and kimchi. Perfect!!
Thank you so much for the recipe. 🙂
Hi Esther! Yay! So happy to hear you two enjoyed this dish! Memmi is Mentsuyu, just a different name for that brand, so you’re good! 🙂 I love the sesame oil + kimchi addition! 😉 Thank you for your kind feedback, Esther!
I have tried this recipe, and cooked with salmon~^^
It’s nom nom nom nom~ >U<
Thank you for your sharing~ 🙂
Hi Olivia! That sounds delicious!!!! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Absolutely fantastic! Thank you for the wonderful recipe
Hi Jennifer! I’m glad you liked the recipe! 🙂
Yes, fair, but can it truly be called yakiudon without the kewpie mayo on top…?
Hi Niconikoru! Did you try your Yaki Udon in Osaka? Mayo and sauce sounds like very Osaka thing. 😉
Most Yaki Udon doesn’t have mayo on top. I’ve never encounter one actually. Here’s how typical Yaki Udon looks.
https://www.google.com/search?q=%E7%84%BC%E3%81%86%E3%81%A9%E3%82%93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiT8oOSlsDPAhVP0GMKHRA-DHwQ_AUICCgB&biw=1440&bih=715
I have come back years later, shook. It’s true, most places don’t use mayo! And I was in Kyoto… why did people keep giving me it with mayo! Is it because we were camping? Maybe it’s because our friend worked at a takoyaki stand and really loaded them up?
That aside, I remember this being a pretty good recipe. Sure enough, it is!
Hi Niconikoru! Haha thanks for coming back with your feedback. Honestly, if your friend is from Osaka, probably he’s used to mayo and so-su combination and he put mayo on everything… we have a word for people who love mayonnaise – マヨラー (mayo-ler). 🙂
Hi, just about to cook this but I have dry udon and wondering how much to use? I can’t find how many grams are in a package of the sanuki udon you have used. Thanks!
Hi Amanda! I apologize for my late response. This recipe is for 2-3 serving. I am not sure how your dry udon noodles are packaged but 100 grams (3.5 oz) are good amount. 🙂
I made this tonight super yummy!
So happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedkback! 🙂
Hi Nami san,
Just tried out this recipe tonight with homemade mentsuyu sauce. It was absolutely wonderful. We love the texture of stir-fried udon. I wonder why we have not tried this earlier. This is definitely a new family’s favourite. Will try it with yakisoba sauce as well. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Natcha! So happy to hear that. I think Yaki Udon is not as popular outside of Japan. I think some “refrigerated” udon noodles that you can get in grocery stores outside of Japan is horrible and they break into bits and pieces. This recipe works really well with those frozen Sanuki udon type but not other kinds… Hope you enjoy Yakisoba recipe too! 🙂
If I wanted to make curry yaki udon, can I just add curry powder, or would I need to adjust any of the seasonings?
Thanks for all your recipes. I love the site!
Hi Rachel! Yeah, sprinkle curry powder to your liking, you can add a bit of soy sauce if you like. 🙂 Thank you for reading my blog and trying out my recipes!
I cook Yaki Udon but I used shrimp. It’s delicious and healthy. Thank u❤️❤️❤️
That sounds wonderful! Thank you for your kind feedback, Genalene!
Thank you for a wonderful recipe! For dried udon, would you rinse after boiling?
Hi Robin! No, you don’t have to rinse/wash it, but make sure to drain well so your Yaki Udon doesn’t become soggy. 🙂
Hello Nami,
I saw in your picture that you used 2 pieces of Udon noodles. May I know what is the weight of 1 piece? The ones I managed to find at my local supermarkets are individually packed at 200 g each.
Just want to clarify so that I don’t end up with cooking too much yaki udon… I don’t think it can be kept overnight in the fridge, can it?
Thanks!
Hi Bernice! Each udon is 8.8 oz (250g). Hope you enjoy the recipe! Leftover can be kept in the fridge – you have to reheat it in the pan or microwave and gently toss before enjoying again. 🙂
This recipe is a lifesaver. I have everything to make this recipe. Thank you
Hi Karrie! I hope you enjoy(ed) the recipe! 🙂
We enjoyed it! We love all of your recipes that we try. They are very dependable.
Hi Karrie! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe (and others!). Thank you very much for your kind feedback! 🙂
Hi Nami,
This will sound kind of random but how big was that plate you used in the photo for the recipe? I’m just curious.
Hi there! I just measured it. It’s 9 inches (22.5 cm) in diameter. 🙂
Thank you Nami! It gives me an idea of how much to expect the recipe will make. 😀
Oh, I see! Please note that for my food photography purpose, I have to consider how the dish will look on a plate and it’s sometimes not a realistic plating. This plate, for example, is bigger than how I would serve for one person, but I make more than one person in this recipe. I have to pick the right color, pattern, material, and size of the plate for how I want to present this dish. So unlike a restaurant menu picture, this is not a real-life portion. Hope that helps!
Love all your japanese recipes,
Tried most of them, they are good.
Thanks.
Hi Mel! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! So happy to hear you enjoy my recipes!
Absolutely delicious! I doubled the recipe, and half the recipe of the Homemade Mentsuyu was plenty to add a little more in cooking, then adding a few teaspoons more on the leftovers to refresh the flavor (since most of it gets sucked into the noodles as it sits). Will be making this time and time again, I’m sure!
Hello Kate! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, and you made homemade Mentsuyu too! Thank you for trying this recipe and your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami, how would you adjust this recipe to go with shrimp? Thanks very much, I love your recipes. Your blog is my go-to for Japanese food at home and it never disappoints!
Hi May! Thank you so much for your kind words! Shrimp – you don’t want to overcook it (texture will change). So at step 6, you cook shrimp until it changes its color (pink/red). Then remove from the pan and put the cooked shrimp on a plate. You can continue to cook the veggies, then at the end of step 7, add the shrimp back in. Then continue to cook as the recipe said. Hope this helps!
Hi, im from the Philippines and its hard to find Jap. Ingredients here if theres any its too expensive😪 is there any alternative to Mentsuyu? Thanks.
Hi Christine! You can use soy sauce instead. 🙂
Domo arigatou gozaimashita😊
I did not have any mentsuyu so I mixed one part fish sauce and one part rice vinegar to two parts soy sauce – umami goodness! It really tasted like I’ve had it in Japanese restaurants here in the US. I doubled the recipe and quadrupled the vegetables. AMAZING!
Hi Maki! Wonderful! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
If using homemade udon do I need to boil udon for shorter period of time before using it for this recipe?
Hi Diana! It should be cooked al-dente – almost done stage. We need to stir fry udon a little bit as we have to season and mix with other ingredients. We won’t be “cooking” the udon in the yaki udon process. The remaining cooking process will keep it warm but not enough heat to cook the raw udon. So make sure to almost cook, but don’t overcook the udon before adding to the stir fry process. 🙂
I am gradually working my way through your “15 Easy Recipes” series and I made this today. It’s amazing! So much umami flavor in a simple and easy dish. It was a great excuse to use my carbon steel wok, which always needs love, so it can develop a nice patina over time and impart delicious char flavors to dishes. I used tea seed oil to cook this, an oil used in Chinese cooking that has a very high smoke point. The one I have is infused with green tea leaves and gives a rich green tea umami flavor. It was perfect!
Hi Lion! Wow, thank you for working on the 15 easy recipe series! I’m happy to hear you tried this recipe! And I can imagine how delicious it must have been with the wok and tea seed oil! 🙂
Major HIT with my family! Thank you so much!!!
Everyone loved it and it was ‘easy’ to do! I made my own broth following your directions.
Excellent
Hi Colleen! I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I love this recipe! So far my favorite yakiudon. Do you have any modified steps for chicken? I think my dish was missing a bit of flavor because I used chicken instead of pork belly so would love some suggestions to make up for it!
Hi Aura! Thanks for trying this recipe! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Since chicken won’t absorb enough flavor by stir-frying and seasoning with the sauce, I would season with salt and pepper before cooking it. 🙂
I just tried this today and it’s marvellous!
Couldn’t find anything labelled mentsuyu at my supermarket so bought this Mizkan Oigatsuo Tsuyu Bonito Soup Base that seems to be similar. Reduced the udon portion ‘cos wanted less carbs, used Shabu Pork and purple cabbage.
What a gem! Even a novice cook like me couldn’t mess it up. Definitely going to be a regular meal at home. Thanks so much for this!
Hi Jace! I just changed the ingredient name from Mentsuyu to “Mentsuyu/Tsuyu (noodle soup base)” as we say both and it might have helped if you knew. What you got was correct! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! With Mentsuyu/Tsuyu (noodle soup base), you can make all kinds of noodle soup easily! 🙂 Thank you for trying my recipe.
Excellent and thank you. Only thing I changed was the protein ( I used shrimp). Thanks for the supporting notes- I was able to find the noodle base soup concentrate.
Hi Phoebe! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Your recipes are amazing and so delicious.! I am presently working through all 15 in the “15 Easy Japanese Recipes”. I was not really familiar with Japanese cooking before except for sushi.
I was planning a trip to Japan for 2021, but will postpone it until after the world has recovered from the coronoviris.
To prepare for this, I wanted to find out as much as possible about Japanese people, culture, food and language. I was attending a Japanese Language School until it was forced to close because of the quarantine.
Part of our class was devoted to culture and food, so it was fun to eat homemade Japanese recipes.
Your recipes are very easy to follow and very helpful. Your suggestions about various kitchen items, where to purchase certain ingredients and how to make the different sauces have made my cooking so much better and flavorful. (I didn’t think I liked teriyaki until I made it from scratch!) Domo Arigato!
Hi Julie! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you enjoy cooking Japanese foods from that recipe roundup. Thank you for sharing your story! Hope you and I will get to visit Japan soon. Till then, have fun cooking Japanese food at home. xoxo
Easy lunch idea that I just did and it was delicious: if you have leftover vegetable/meat stir fry, boiling some udon noodles and stir frying it into the leftovers is an easy way to add carbs and heat up the leftovers all at once. I still drained and rinsed the noodles, of course. I made the stir fry vegetables with thinly sliced pork the other day and used that as the base for this yaki udon, and it came out great. Just leaving this here to give an idea to others. ^^
Oh, and since the stir fry vegetables/pork already had seasoning, I only put 1/2 teaspoon of gomen tsuyu into the noodles (I believe this is the 5x concentrated kind but not sure). I like my food less salty, so I am more conservative with seasoning.