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Chicken Udon Noodle Soup Recipe

Chicken Udon Noodle Soup

Chicken Udon (鶏うどん) is Udon noodles and chicken thigh pieces cooked in hot soup.  It is an easy and light meal, but satisfying enough to stand alone.  Chicken Udon is a good food to eat at anytime, but this hot noodle soup is especially delicious in cold seasons.

People in Japan eat Udon usually in hot soup with some meat or vegetables.  At a nice Udon restaurant, an Udon dish could be a more proper meal with a substantial topping like Tempura.  When you prepare Udon at home, on the other hand, it is much lighter fare a lot of time.  You can use any meat or leftover vegetables in your refrigerator.  It’s a quick meal and perfect for lunch.  There are actually Udon restaurants at train stations where people in a hurry just eat and go without even sitting.  It is served literally in a minute, and it can be very tasty fast food.

Udon are noodles made with flour, salt and water.  The best Udon you could have may be home made; however, it might be hard to make it when you want to eat Udon in half an hour.  The next best thing is frozen Udon when it comes to home cooking Udon.  Frozen Udon is actually quite good.  It has the right kind of texture (not too soft) that we really like.  In our video and recipe, we used frozen Udon.  It can’t go wrong cooking frozen Udon.  It is pretty forgiving for overcooking.  Today we can find dried Udon at a lot of US local markets, and that’s fine too.  It is easy to stock up in your pantry and also very easy to prepare (just don’t overcook).  Dried Udon may not be the best tasting Udon, but it is a convenient choice.  If there are Asian markets nearby that sell frozen Udon though, we highly recommend using it.

Although you can use chicken breast, we used chicken thigh meat in the recipe because it is very flavorful from its fat.  If you like beef or pork, preferably thinly sliced, that also works very well.  Throw in your favorite vegetables such as spinach, carrots, and snow peas.  Using this basic Udon soup, you can make many variations of Udon dishes.  If you are tired of basic Udon soup, no problem!  Without changing the recipe you can simply add some flavorings.  Shichimi Japanese chili powder is a basic but popular spice for Udon.  Sudachi, a Japanese green citrus fruit that looks like lime or Yuzu citrus gives a nice fragrance to the dish as well as a sour taste.  For a bolder flavor, chopped ginger root or sesame oil can be added on top of the noodles.  There are unlimited flavor combinations for Udon noodle soup using different ingredients and add-on spices.

Not only is Chicken Udon tasty, but it is so easy to make.  If you have the ingredients for the recipe, your job is mostly done.  It is a one pot dish – put everything in the soup and cook.  When you don’t have time or don’t want to cook, this is the dish for you.  Have a nice bowl of Udon today!

This video and article is newly updated from April 2012.

Chicken Udon Noodle Soup
Print Recipe
4.75 from 8 votes

Chicken Udon Recipe

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: noodles, soup, udon
Servings: 2 servings

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Ingredients

  • 2 pkgs frozen Udon thawed
  • 4 cups Dashi
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 Tbsp Mirin
  • 2 Tbsp Sake
  • 2 chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
  • 4 green onions thinly and diagonally cut
  • shichimi hot pepper powder

Instructions

  • Cut green onions thinly and diagonally. Set aside some greener parts for garnish.
  • Heat Dashi to a boil. Add salt, soy sauce, Mirin, Sake to Dashi, then add chicken.
  • Skim fat and other particles from the surface of the soup if there are any. Add Udon to the soup and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.
  • Put in most of the green onions including white parts, then turn off heat right away.
  • Divide noodles and soup into bowls and sprinkle on the rest of the green onions and add shichimi if you like.

Video

Notes

If you like to change the flavor without changing the recipe, you can add some add-ons.  Lemon will give nice sour flavor to the soup.  Chopped ginger root is spicy but refreshing.  Sesame oil adds the distinctive and rich taste to the dish.  Experiment different flavorings to find your favorite!


Chicken Udon

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  • Ana
    April 17, 2012 at 10:11 am

    Hi!

    I’ve just found out your web and I love it! I like Japanese food very much and with your vídeos it looks so easy to prepare. Thank you for sharing!
    Regards from Spain 🙂

  • sara
    October 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    Hi,

    I love your page. Your cooking is easy and simple to follow. Not many steps 🙂

    Anyway, may I request for Tempura Recipe?
    I like those fried prawn

    thank you
    Singapore

    • Noriko
      October 12, 2012 at 1:12 pm

      Thanks for your comment. Yes, we’re going to do Tempura soon, so stay tuned!

  • John
    September 23, 2013 at 2:02 pm

    Today , I have made your, chicken Udon soup what a wonderful taste it has,.

    • Noriko
      September 24, 2013 at 8:56 pm

      Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it!

  • Ariana
    October 5, 2013 at 2:43 am

    If i don’t have a stock, what can I use?
    Could I make my own?
    (I dont have fish either, just chicken)

    -from India

    • Noriko
      October 6, 2013 at 9:17 pm

      Then just use chicken and water. Chicken may give enough flavor to your broth if you don’t have Dashi.

  • Natalia
    January 3, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    Hi !
    If i dont have sake can i replace it with other alcohol?
    For example white wine, etc.

    • Noriko
      January 7, 2014 at 10:39 pm

      Natalia,
      I would not substitute with white wine because it has totally different flavor. Omit it if you don’t have it.

  • Nate
    January 6, 2014 at 12:04 pm

    How important is the sake to the broth? Is a must?

    • Noriko
      January 7, 2014 at 10:36 pm

      Nate,
      it is an important flavor for Japanese cooking, but omit if you can’t find it.

  • Jacob
    January 25, 2014 at 10:24 am

    To date, this has probably been the best meal I have ever had.

    Thank you for the recipe, it’s marvelous 🙂

    • Noriko
      February 1, 2014 at 12:12 pm

      Jacob,
      thanks!

  • Chris
    January 25, 2014 at 6:58 pm

    I was wondering if i could get a recipe including how to make the actual noodles and also wondering if you know if id be able to get the sake from my local tesco (from the UK)

    • Noriko
      February 1, 2014 at 11:24 am

      Chris,
      we have a Udon (noodle making) recipe!

  • Ahmad Shiber
    January 28, 2014 at 4:39 am

    I love your website! I already tried the oyakodonburi, was great ! I want to ask you for this recipe , of I want to put vegetables in, fo I need to cool them before hand? And when to add them in the cooking process?
    Thanks a lot! Arigatou gozaimasu!

    • Noriko
      February 1, 2014 at 11:21 am

      Ahmad,
      you can do either way, but cook veges in broth is easier and quicker before you put Udon.

  • Karl
    January 31, 2014 at 8:19 pm

    Thank you for posting this recipe! I was in Japan a couple weeks ago, and loved the food, so I wanted to try making it myself.

    • Noriko
      February 1, 2014 at 11:06 am

      Karl,
      thanks!

  • adam
    February 13, 2014 at 5:12 am

    This is the best soup ever and its so easy to make. im a student in the uk, me and my girlfriend love this recipe

    • Noriko
      February 23, 2014 at 6:02 pm

      Adam,
      Glad you liked the recipe!

  • Tom
    March 1, 2014 at 2:49 pm

    The recipe doesn’t mention if the chicken should be cooked or raw, nor how long to cook after adding the chicken. I gather that it it’s pre-cooked, it doesn’t need to boil in the dashi for very long, but an alternative is cooking the chicken in the dashi, and in that case, you’d want to let it boil (or nearly so) for several minutes at least. Comments? You may wish to clarify this point in the recipe.

    • Noriko
      March 2, 2014 at 11:44 pm

      Tom,
      we use raw chicken. Please visit our website Japanesecooking101.com for exact measurements of ingredients and directions.

  • Joseph
    March 12, 2014 at 10:25 pm

    Hey,

    I got great feedback from people that tried udon I made using your recipe.

    Thanks,
    Joseph

    • Noriko
      March 15, 2014 at 4:40 pm

      Joseph,
      you’re welcome!

  • Frank
    March 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    Hello,
    Thank you for the recipe. We’ve tried many Japanese restaurants Udon soup around where we live here in Moreno Valley California and found only one so far that we really love. We’ve been trying to simulate it but have not found the right recipe. Yours appear to be the closest.
    Would it change the taste too much if I add Shitake mushrooms, sliced carrots, Napa Cabbage and possibly sliced fish balls?
    What do you think?
    Thanks

    • Noriko
      March 17, 2014 at 7:48 am

      Frank,
      I think that sounds great. However, the soup will get diluted as you put more veges in it, so season accordingly. Good luck!

  • Kevin
    March 18, 2014 at 1:58 am

    If you purchase pre-made dashi in a bottle from the grocery store, are soy sauce and mirin still recommended?

    • Noriko
      March 18, 2014 at 4:25 pm

      Kevin,
      I’ve never bought dashi in a bottle, so I don’t know… You can taste it, and add seasonings if you need.

  • Roman Rai
    June 6, 2014 at 10:58 am

    Hi i like your recipes. Ans also i request you for some japanese soup recipes. Thanks & regards Roman Rai

    • Noriko
      September 14, 2014 at 3:11 pm

      Roman,
      we have 3 kinds of Miso Soup and Ozoni recipes!

  • Aila
    July 1, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    Cant wait to try out your recipe…
    Will the taste be any different if i dont add in any sake?

    • Noriko
      September 13, 2014 at 10:15 pm

      Aila,
      sake would add its flavor to the broth, but you can omit it if you don’t want to use it.

  • Jack murphy
    July 14, 2014 at 3:43 am

    Have tried a few of your recipes and they are all great. Just a quick question about this. How many tbsp of HonDashi would you use in this?

    • Noriko
      September 13, 2014 at 5:26 pm

      Jack,
      we don’t use instant dashi, so don’t know exactly. Please follow the instruction on the box.

  • Jules
    August 4, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    Hello Noriko,
    I enjoy just about any Asian cooking including Japanese food. I have made mochi, dorayaki and miso soup before but I have never made udon. (yesterday i had kimchi soup with tuna in it) I am a mixed child but mostly I eat Korean food. I unfortunately do not have access to sake since I am 17 however I do have access to 3 Korean stores. I noticed that Dashi is made from bonito flakes but I do not have any of that. I do have fish cakes though. would it be good if I boiled the fish cakes with garlic and used the broth from that instead and top it with the fish cakes? I also have a kind of soy sauce but it is used for soups instead. I don’t know what its called but I use it when I make seaweed soup.

    • Noriko
      September 13, 2014 at 11:28 am

      Jules,
      brave 17 year-old! Korean stores usually carry bonito flakes too, so look around! We don’t use garlic in traditional Japanese food, and there is no need to use it in Udon soup. Good luck and have fun making Chicken Udon!

  • Joe
    August 23, 2014 at 8:52 am

    This recipe looks amazing!
    If I was to make this in bulk, what would be the best way to reheat and store it?
    Thanks!

    • Noriko
      September 8, 2014 at 9:51 pm

      Joe,
      you can’t really make ahead… Udon absorb water too much and mushy.

  • Panjita
    September 4, 2014 at 2:21 am

    Hay,
    Can I substitude sake with the korean cooking wine?
    Thx 🙂

    • Noriko
      September 8, 2014 at 8:33 pm

      Panjita,
      never used Korean wine, so I can’t say. You can just omit it.

  • Taylor
    September 16, 2014 at 9:29 pm

    How would I make this if I was to use mentsuyu instead of sake, dashi, and/or mirin?

    • Noriko
      September 17, 2014 at 9:26 pm

      Taylor,
      you can make soup using one part Mentsuyu and 4 parts water (or so but you can adjust to your preference).

  • Stephanie
    September 30, 2014 at 8:09 pm

    Hi, I am excited to give this recipe a try and from the looks of it, I won’t be disappointed! One question, the recipe calls for dashi and I bought this box of ‘dashinomoto’ to make the broth but I don’t know how much water to use and how much of this course mix to use. Please help.

    • Noriko
      October 24, 2014 at 5:05 pm

      Stephanie,
      there is always an instruction on the box. I don’t use that so not sure the amount, but probably you need a couple of teaspoon of the powder for a pot.

  • wal
    October 4, 2014 at 3:28 am

    Hi Noriko, trying the recipe now. Wish me luck 🙂

    • Noriko
      October 11, 2014 at 4:41 pm

      wal,
      hope you like our Chicken Udon recipe!

  • Vanessa
    October 21, 2014 at 5:22 pm

    Hi Noriko,

    I don’t have sake but I do have cooking sake. I know it’s not the same thing and it has salt added to it. Would you use cooking sake or omit it all together?
    If I were to use it, I probably wouldn’t add the salt in the begining but after, if it should need it.

    Thank u,
    Vanessa

    • Noriko
      October 24, 2014 at 6:28 pm

      Vanessa,
      cooking sake is perfect!

  • Yayoi
    January 2, 2016 at 1:34 am

    Hi – for those that can’t get dashi (dried bonito flakes) I have used about 1 teaspoon measure or less of fish sauce (the kind used in south-East Asian cooking) – use sparingly as it is quite strong in flavour . I would also omit the salt if using fish sauce.

  • Ursula
    February 9, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    I’ve never made Dashi or Udon before, much less soup in general but this was super easy and very good. I didn’t have sake but substituted it with more mirin but added a pinch of sugar to make up for the sweetness. It still tasted delicious and my food-snob of a boyfriend liked it a lot.

    Thanks:)

  • Silvie
    March 22, 2016 at 8:07 pm

    Looks like a tasty yet simple recipe. But in my cooking I tend to add lots of veggies. Any recommendations what would go well with this?

  • Saraj
    April 6, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    The recipe doesnt even tell you how much water to use for the soup…..