Thai Pork Noodles (15 Minute Recipe)

Noodles are one of the things most kids like which is good news since they're also the base of some very delicious meals, like these Thai pork noodles that take a measly 15 minutes to cook. For an easy mid week Clean eating dinner recipe, give this a go!

Thai Pork Noodles that Kids will Eat

Do your kids like noodles?

Mine love them and I've not come across many kids who don't to be honest. There are so many things you can do with noodles from the super plain, where you can get kids used to new foods to the most elaborate of meals using a whole long list of fancy ingredients.

This recipe is an in-between. It's most certainly not boring and dull, there's bags of flavor and it's really tasty but there are a few more ingredients than I'd normally use so it feels kinda fancy, to me anyway!

The flavoring comes from a few traditional Thai spices and herbs. I really like these flavors and so do the kids. They're fresh and quite subtle so for smaller kids they're a good way of getting them used to new flavors.

I've used fresh lemon grass, fresh ginger, garlic, red chilis (optional) among others but you can leave the chili out or lessen it if you're cooking for much smaller kids.

Lemon grass is something I don't keep on hand in the kitchen all the time like I do with other herbs, I bought this at a farmers market I was at and made this recipe around it. I'm sure there are other ways to use it but I grated the lemon grass like I would fresh ginger. It looks like a sort of lemon zest, only white.

The smell is amazing...it's worth buying some just to grate for the smell, but when you use it in food the flavor is not that strong.

You get more of a fresh flavor from it than a super strong lemon taste.

Ingredients for Thai Pork Noodles

There's a few ingredients you'll need. They're not especially fancy and you've probably got lots of them in your pantry already.

Pork

Pork is one of the meats that I don't cook with all that often, I use bacon more than I use mince pork or pork loin.

Every time I do cook with it though, I wonder why I don't use it more, it's an easy meat to use and had a very mild flavor so it's quite good for kids. I like to buy locally produced organic pork and I'm picky about where I buy it from.

My local farm shop sells pork and they also mince it for me so I'm very happy about that. Have a look locally to you and see if you can find a local butcher shop (or pig farmer) who will sell to you. The quality of the meat is heaps better than most supermarket pork.

Noodles

You can use any noodles you like, as ling as they're not the pre cooked ones that come ready to go straight into the pan. These are good for lots of noodle dishes but for this recipe boiled noodles keep their shape and fry in the pan better than the softer pre cooked ones.

I buy packets of dried whole wheat soba noodles, whole wheat fettuccine and pretend they're noodles (what's the difference, really?!) or any other type of noodles you can find that are made with a flour you're happy with.

My local supermarket stocks several types of noodles I'm happy to use and so go with whatever you can find locally to you. If you can't find anything suitable near you, these buckwheat soba noodles are good.

Thai Inspired Spices

There's not too many of them but they provide a power punch of flavor and give this recipe a special kinda zing!

Lemon grass as I said is something I don't use very often at all but it's soooo good, I'll be using it more often from now on! I believe its a herb, it just looks a little different than the usual herbs I use. Grate it for this recipe, it's not as sticky as ginger, it's a lot drier and grates into a zest type thing, and can then be added to the pan to cook and release the flavor.

The other herbs and spices are a bit more common: red chili, I've used one but you can leave this out totally or add another depending on your tastes. Fresh ginger and garlic are both grated into the pan as well, before you add the pork.

Making Ahead And Storing

These noodles make the best lunch packed up and ready for the next day. Hot or cold, these work very very well as a leftovers lunch. We eat these hot or cold and they taste devine either way, they travel well and make a filling lunch.

Take it from me, you'll want to make a double batch of these just so you've got leftovers for the next day. Are they still leftovers if you've made extra on purpose? Who cares I guess...

You can make this ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge for 2 days before you need it. Make the whole recipe but leave off the garnishing cilantro and spring onions on the top, and pop these on when you're about to serve this.

To reheat these noodles, they microwave well so heat them for 2-3 minutes stirring them half way through to make sure they're piping hot al the way through. ~You can also reheat these in a pan, and fry them until they're hot throughout.

More Clean Eating Mid Week Meals

• Quick Thai chicken
• Easy Soba noodles
• Clean eating chili con carne
• Creamy chicken with a Tarragon cream sauce
• Black bean veggie curry
• Black olive pizza

How To Make Thai Pork Noodles

Ingredients

• Noodles Enough for 4-6 people
• 1 lb Pork Minced
• 3 Yellow peppers Deseeded and sliced
• 2 Lemon grass pods Grated
• 1 Thumb sized square Fresh ginger Grated
• 1 Clove Garlic Diced
• 2 Spring onions (summer onions) Peeled and sliced thinly
• 2 Red chili peppers Finely sliced
• 1 tsp Coriander Ground
• 1 tsp Cumin Ground
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• Sauce
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp Soy sauce Dark
• 2 tbsp Rice vinegar
• Garnish
• 1 Handful Fresh cilantro Chopped
• 4 Spring onions (summer onions) Peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 Lime Cut into wedges

Instructions

• Put a pot of water on the stove and boil the noodles and drain when they're cooked and put to one side
• In a large pan add the olive oil and heat on a medium heat
• Put the lemon grass, ginger, chilis, spring onions and garlic in the pan and gently cook them for 2 minutes
• Add the minced pork into the spice pan and fry it until it's browned
• Put the yellow peppers into the pan and continue cooking with the pork mixture until the peppers are soft
• Add the cumin and coriander and combine well. Cook for a further two minutes
• Add the cooked noodles to the pan and combine everything together
• in a bowl, mix the rice vinegar, honey and soy sauce and combine, then add to the noodles
• mix the sauce into the noodles well and cook for several minutes until all the noodles are covered in the sauce
• Serve in bowls and garnish with the cilantro and spring onion. Serve each bowl with a wedge of lime

Thai Pork Noodles Recipe