18 Pasta Recipes Better Than Takeout

There was a time in my life when Friday nights meant a stack of takeout menus on the kitchen counter and a 45-minute wait for lo mein. Then I started making these at home, and I haven’t ordered out on a weeknight in over a year. The trick isn’t fancy equipment or hard-to-find ingredients — it’s just having a few go-to sauces in your back pocket, and treating the noodles like the star they are. I’ve pulled together twelve of my favorite takeout-style pasta and noodle dishes, from peanut-soba cold noodles to crispy Hong Kong chow mein nests, plus a couple of easy weeknight lo mein recipes that beat anything on the delivery app. Bookmark this one — you’re going to come back to it.

What’s Inside

1. Ground Beef Lo Mein
2. Shanghai Noodles (Cu Chao Mian)
3. Porky Udon Noodles That Are Better Than Takeout
4. Crispy Noodles with Coconut Shrimp and Vegetables
5. Peanut Rice Noodles with Pork and Collard Greens
6. Peanut Chicken over Brown Rice Noodles
7. Asian Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing
8. Easy Chicken Ramen Stir-Fry
9. Chicken Pad Thai
10. Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein
11. Sesame Soba Noodles
12. Spicy Dan Dan Noodles

The 12 Recipes

From lo mein and chow mein to peanut noodles and dan dan — every one of these tastes like it came from your favorite takeout spot, made in under 30 minutes.

Ground Beef Lo Mein

Recipe via Salt & Lavender — Natasha

Natasha’s weeknight lo mein uses ground beef instead of sliced steak to cut the cook time in half. Bell peppers, mushrooms, and snow peas add crunch, and the hoisin-soy sauce comes together while the noodles boil — done in 30 minutes flat.

Shanghai Noodles (Cu Chao Mian)

Recipe via The Daring Gourmet — Kimberly Killebrew

Kimberly Killebrew’s Shanghai-style noodles are chewy, smoky, and packed with umami from oyster sauce and toasted sesame oil. A quick pork marinade is the secret — it builds flavor in just 10 minutes and tastes like your favorite Chinese restaurant.

Porky Udon Noodles That Are Better Than Takeout

Recipe via Bon Appétit — Alex Delany

Alex Delany’s weeknight udon is built around a pound of ground pork, instant udon, and a swoosh of soy-mirin sauce. The cabbage wilts into the noodles for sweetness, and crispy scallion greens on top make it look like it came from a Tokyo izakaya.

Crispy Noodles with Coconut Shrimp and Vegetables

Recipe via Bon Appétit — Rachel Gurjar

Hong Kong-style pan-fry noodles get golden and crackly on the bottom, then topped with a coconut curry shrimp and baby bok choy. Rachel Gurjar’s recipe is impressive enough for dinner guests but easy enough for a Friday — the noodles crisp up while you prep the sauce.

Peanut Rice Noodles with Pork and Collard Greens

Recipe via Bon Appétit — Chris Morocco

Chris Morocco’s peanut noodles are a weeknight miracle: rice noodles, ground pork, collards, and a creamy peanut-soy sauce that comes together in the blender. It’s the most-flavored-for-the-least-effort pasta in my entire rotation.

Peanut Chicken over Brown Rice Noodles

Recipe via The Cozy Apron — Ingrid Beer

Ingrid Beer tosses crispy cornstarch-coated chicken and sautéed veggies with brown rice noodles and a creamy homemade peanut sauce. The sauce is the star — sweet chili, soy, honey, and lots of peanut butter, made in the food processor in two minutes.

Asian Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing

Recipe via The Cozy Apron — Ingrid Beer

Cold linguini gets a serious glow-up with shredded rotisserie chicken, crunchy cabbage, carrots, and the creamiest peanut dressing. Ingrid designed this as a meal-prep lunch that actually tastes good three days later — a true workhorse salad.

Easy Chicken Ramen Stir-Fry

Recipe via Salt & Lavender — Natasha

Discard the flavor packets and load those instant ramen noodles up with chicken, fresh basil, cilantro, grated carrot, and a swoosh of peanut sauce. Natasha’s stir-fry is on the table in 20 minutes and costs about $3 per serving — better than takeout, and cheaper too.

Chicken Pad Thai

Recipe via AI-Generated Inspiration — Elowen Thorn

Rice noodles, juicy chicken, and a tamarind-soy-fish sauce that tastes like the real deal. Topped with crushed peanuts, lime, and bean sprouts, this is the homemade pad thai that finally made me skip the delivery app entirely.

Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein

Recipe via AI-Generated Inspiration — Elowen Thorn

Tender slices of flank steak, garlicky broccoli florets, and slippery lo mein noodles all tangled up in a glossy brown sauce. I always double the recipe so we have leftovers for lunch — it reheats beautifully and tastes even better the next day.

Sesame Soba Noodles

Recipe via AI-Generated Inspiration — Elowen Thorn

Cold buckwheat soba noodles with cucumber, edamame, and a creamy sesame-ginger dressing — the kind of dish that’s on every Japanese restaurant menu but takes 15 minutes at home. A true fridge-cleanout dinner that never disappoints.

Spicy Dan Dan Noodles

Recipe via AI-Generated Inspiration — Elowen Thorn

Sichuan-style dan dan noodles with chili oil, numbing Sichuan pepper, and crispy ground pork — the recipe that turned me into a homemade noodle convert. Make the sauce ahead and dinner’s ready in the time it takes to boil a pot of water.

That’s a lot of noodles

If I had to pick one to start with, it’d be the porky udon noodles from Bon Appétit. It uses instant udon, ground pork, and a quick soy-mirin sauce, and the whole thing is on the table in about 20 minutes. The peanut chicken over brown rice noodles from The Cozy Apron is the one my husband requests on his birthday every year, and the cold sesame soba is what I bring to summer potlucks. Cook them all, save the leftovers for lunch, and don’t forget to make a little extra sauce — that’s the real takeout secret.

—Elowen Thorn

Sources & Credits

A heartfelt thank you to the food writers, test kitchen cooks, and home cooks who developed and shared these recipes. Every dish below is credited to its original creator and source publication — please visit their sites, leave a comment, and support their work.

1. Ground Beef Lo Mein — Salt & Lavender (recipe by Natasha)
2. Shanghai Noodles (Cu Chao Mian) — The Daring Gourmet (recipe by Kimberly Killebrew)
3. Porky Udon Noodles That Are Better Than Takeout — Bon Appétit (recipe by Alex Delany)
4. Crispy Noodles with Coconut Shrimp and Vegetables — Bon Appétit (recipe by Rachel Gurjar)
5. Peanut Rice Noodles with Pork and Collard Greens — Bon Appétit (recipe by Chris Morocco)
6. Peanut Chicken over Brown Rice Noodles — The Cozy Apron (recipe by Ingrid Beer)
7. Asian Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing — The Cozy Apron (recipe by Ingrid Beer)
8. Easy Chicken Ramen Stir-Fry — Salt & Lavender (recipe by Natasha)
9. Chicken Pad Thai — AI-Generated Inspiration (recipe by Elowen Thorn)
10. Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein — AI-Generated Inspiration (recipe by Elowen Thorn)
11. Sesame Soba Noodles — AI-Generated Inspiration (recipe by Elowen Thorn)
12. Spicy Dan Dan Noodles — AI-Generated Inspiration (recipe by Elowen Thorn)