No time to cook? Use a few savvy shortcuts to get these chilli prawn noodles on the table in five minutes!
I don’t often use shortcuts when cooking. If anything I try to make it harder for myself by taking on complicated multi-step recipes, making my own pastry and so on.
But a challenge posed by Argos recently had me thinking… can you make a meal in only five minutes?
The answer is you can and it will be absolutely delicious but you will need to employ some cunning shortcuts.
After a bit of dithering I settled on chilli prawn noodles for my five minute meal – a favourite takeaway meal of mine (from our not-so-local Japanese restaurant).
My version is a little simplified but no less delicious and if you are looking for something a little bit spicy, filling and easy you can’t go wrong with this recipe.
You can view a video of me preparing it (try to ignore the kids making noise in the background. If you ask kids to be quiet they will do the exact opposite…)
Chilli Prawn Noodles – tips and tricks
- In order to keep the cooking time down to a mere five minutes I used: frozen chopped onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. You could also use garlic, chilli and ginger paste from a tube or jar.
- Canned cherry tomatoes in their juice
- Raw prawns (shrimp) cook very quickly but you could use pre cooked ones as well
- Straight to wok egg noodles. Udon noodles can also be used.
- To make this recipe suitable for Slimming World you use dried noodles (cooked per packet instructions) and replace the oil with low calorie cooking spray.
- Make this meal super-healthy and low carb by replacing the noodles with courgetti (zucchini noodles, a.k.a zoodles). Simply stir the courgetti in after the dish has cooked to coat them in the spicy sauce. One large courgette will probably be enough to serve two but you can always add more if you like.
Have you made my chilli prawn noodles?
Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes. I can’t wait to see your take on it!
More seafood recipes to try
- Quick and easy curried prawns
- One-pan Cod with Chorizo and Chickpeas
- Cottage cheese, kale and smoked salmon frittata
- Herby fish croquettes with easy tartar sauce
Chilli prawn noodles - ready in 5 minutes!
Ingredients
- 300 g | 10.5oz straight-to-wok egg noodles chilli flavoured if you prefer
- 200 g | 7oz raw king prawns or cooked ones to speed things up further!
- 200 g | 7oz 1/2 can cherry tomatoes in their juice (or use fresh cherry tomatoes, halved)
- 100 g | 3.5oz frozen chopped onions
- 2 tsp frozen chopped garlic
- 1-2 tsp frozen chopped red chillies more, or less to taste
- 1 tsp frozen chopped ginger
- 1 tbsp ketchup or sriracha if you like it spicy
- 1-2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Fresh basil preferably Thai basil if you can get hold of some
- Freshly ground pepper
- Optional extras: sliced red and green peppers sugar snap peas, thinly sliced carrot
Instructions
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok. Once the oil is hot, add the frozen onion, garlic, chilli and ginger. Fry, stirring continuously, for a minute.
- Add the raw prawns and stir in the ketchup and sugar. Add the soy sauce and cherry tomatoes, stirring them in and breaking them up with your spoon. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Once the prawns are mostly pink add the noodles and stir them in to coat in the sauce. Cook for another minute (or until the prawns are pink).
- Serve with a sprinkling of fresh basil and a little freshly ground pepper.
Jennifer Pache says
Wow. What a nice cheats way out. Looks delicious. I have never seen frozen onions, nor ginger, before. Have to chop my life (and fingernails), away! I live in Switzerland. We are very restricted here by our ingredients. Have to see if I can replicate this in 5 minutes. Don’t even know if I can find the ready noodles, Normally have to cook mine for at least 3 mins (instant noodles). Thanks.
Lucy Parissi says
I don’t think you can replicate this in 5 minutes without taking some shortcuts. However even if you don’t it will still be a very fast recipe
[email protected] says
Woohoo…well done, Lucy! I am not brave enough to go in front of a camera so I applaud you. Also, you just can't beat a 5 minute meal!!
Lucy Parissi says
I don't like being in front of a camera. In fact, I pretty much loathe it… but I am exploring the possibilities. That meal was delicious and eaten just as fast as it was made… I felt bad not doing all the prep though – like I was cheating!