These Instant Pot Garlic Noodles are a quick, flavorful meal made with simple pantry ingredients and loaded with bold garlic flavor. Everything cooks in one pot, making cleanup a breeze and dinner ready in under 20 minutes. Perfect for a cozy weeknight meal or an easy side dish with Asian-inspired mains.
I love noodles. I will take noodles for lunch, dinner, and even as a snack. Give me any kind – Hakka noodles, Lo Mein, Spaghetti, any of them!
Since I discovered that I can make noodles as an easy one-pot meal in the Instant Pot, I have been on a roll with making them weekly. I love that I don’t have to boil the noodles separately, drain the liquid, and then stir-fry them. There are so many dishes to clean with this method. I will take the one-pot option, please!
So, let’s get started on making these garlic noodles in the Instant Pot. Pair these noodles with sweet corn soup, garlic green beans, and garlic chili potatoes for an excellent meal!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
Oil: I used some regular oil (I used avocado oil) and a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, which gives a punch of flavor to these noodles. You can also use butter in place of oil in these noodles.
Noodles: You can use thin spaghetti in this recipe. Canton noodles can also be used; they hold their shape well when cooked under pressure.
Garlic: Don’t shy away from garlic when making these noodles. They are the star ingredient.
Green Onions: Separate the white and green parts and chop them.
Sauces: Use light soy sauce, oyster sauce (can use vegan), and red chili sauce (I used Sambal Oelek)
Brown Sugar: Helps to balance the flavors.
Broth: Adds more flavor; use vegetable or chicken broth. But you can also use water to cook the noodles.
Sesame Seeds: I used white sesame seeds as a garnish.
Which Noodles Work Best in the Instant Pot?
My favorite to use in the Instant Pot is thin spaghetti to make these noodles. But you also can use angel hair pasta, linguine, or fettuccine. The cooking time will be half the time on the package minus one.
If you want to use Asian-style noodles, I highly recommend these thick Canton noodles. Cook them for 4 minutes on high pressure.
Some people have had great success with rice noodles (Thai Kitchen stir-fry rice noodles). Pressure cook for just 3 minutes.
In all of the noodle recipes, I recommend quick releasing the pressure, so they do not overcook.
Pro-Tips
Add veggies: I have not added many veggies and kept this recipe very basic. However, you can add your choice of vegetables, such as bell peppers, onions, shallots, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, or snap peas.
Add chicken: You can also add some chicken if you like. Cut chicken thighs or breast into small cubes. Add after the garlic and onions, and saute for 2 minutes until the outside turns white. Then follow the recipe.
Do not overcook: Make sure to quick release the pressure, so the noodles don’t overcook.
Top with Parmesan: Add some grated Parmesan on top while serving to make garlic Parmesan noodles.
Make it vegan: Ensure you use a vegan oyster sauce. You can also replace it with hoisin sauce.
Double the recipe: You can easily double this recipe. The pressure cooking time will remain the same.
These noodles are great for family gatherings; kids love them. Enjoy these noodles as a main dish or have them as a side with panang curry or green curry.
Fun Fact: Here is the original image for this recipe that I shot in 2017.
Instant Pot Garlic Noodles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Oil or Butter, use any neutral oil, I used avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
- 8 ounces Thin Spaghetti , or Canton Noodles
- 8-10 cloves Garlic, finely diced or minced
- 2 Scallion or Green onion, white and green parts separated, chopped
- 2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce , use vegan if needed
- 1/2-1 tablespoon Red Chili Sauce , I used Sambal Oelek
- 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
- 2 cups Vegetable Broth, or Water
- Salt , to taste
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seeds , to garnish
Instructions
- Heat the Instant Pot in Saute mode. Add oil and toasted sesame oil.
- Add the garlic and white part of the scallions. Saute for a minute until they are fragrant. Make sure the garlic does not burn. Turn off the instant pot.
- Break the spaghetti in half and place them in a zigzag pattern in the Instant Pot.
- Top with soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili sauce, and brown sugar.
- Add the broth and press the noodles down, so they are all covered with the liquid.
- Close the lid with the vent in the sealing position. Start the Instant Pot in pressure cook mode for 5 minutes at high pressure.
- Once the instant pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually. Stir the noodles, and let them rest for 2 minutes.
- If needed, sprinkle salt to your taste. Top with the green part of scallions and sesame seeds. Garlic noodles are ready to be enjoyed!
This recipe looks delicious — I’ve been using the Instant Pot a lot lately too, and it really makes noodle dishes like this way easier. If you’re into trying different styles of noodle recipes, you might also like Miki Bihon Guisado, a Filipino dish that combines two types of noodles (egg and rice) with vegetables, soy-based seasoning, and meat or shrimp. It’s not as saucy as garlic noodles, but has a really nice balance of flavors.
I have tried this recipe with Canton Noodles multiple times and it works great. However, I did not have those available so I tried Chow Mein noodles this time and adjusted the ingredient quantity according to the noodles quantity, however, it came out mushy. 🙁 I thought I will share this..
Hi Gargi – Thanks for sharing. I agree that canton noodles work well in the instant pot, but regular chowmein can get mushy.
Absolutely delicious!!!
Hi Mary – Glad you enjoyed the noodles.
Hi, my family loves this noodles. Can you tell me at what time I can add egg if I want to? While cooking or after? Thanks!
Hi Pari – I would cook the egg separately and add it after pressure cooking. Glad you are enjoying the noodles.
How would you add egg to this recipe? Just crack an egg or 2 into the pot before the cooking, or at some later point after it has started cooking?
Hi Homer – I would scramble the egg separately and add after pressure cooking.
Very nice! What changes would you suggest if I want to double the recipe?
Hi Don – Thank you. You can double the ingredients in the recipe. The pressure cooking time will remain the same. Hope you enjoy the noodles!
Hi Meeta, can I double the quantity in a 6 qt?
My family loved this recipe! Even my picky kids! We definitely plan on making this again… just absolutely loved that it was a dump and cook recipe! I didn’t have Schezwan sauce so I substituted with Vegetable Stir Fry sauce and Chili Garlic Sauce… it was very yummy!
Thank you!
Hey Pooja – So glad to hear you all enjoyed the noodles. Thank you for sharing back your review!
I tried this with Chow Mein noodles which appear to be same as Canton noodles. I forgot to reduce the water as the noodles were 6oz instead of 8oz so the texture was a bit wet and sticky but overall it was great. I am sure with 8oz it would be perfect. Your tip to wet the noodles evenly was very handy, I made it a point to flip the noodle chunks up and down to alternate their exposure to the water and get them fully wet before turning on the pressure mode. After manual pressure release I used saute mode briefly to try to dry the noodles up. The garlic flavor was great and noodles were cooked evenly, but post- pressure cooking I did add around 3 more tbsp of chili sauce, 3 more tbsp of vinegar, another 2-3 tbsp of reduced sodium soy sauce and salt to taste. Really enjoyed it with all the modification based on our preference. Thanks for sharing your recipes! It was truly so easy with virtually no effort required besides chopping a green pepper and no preboiling of noodles needed!
Hey JN – So happy to hear the noodles turned out well. Thank you for sharing the details and changes you made. It very much helps other readers to see what worked.
Hi, thanks for the recipe but my lo mein noodles were mushy and even stick together.
Hello Vaab – Sorry to hear the noodles were mushy. I have tried multiple noodles and Canton noodles work best for this recipe. Please do try with canton noodles and you will notice a difference in texture. Thank you!