Vegan Kung Pao Noodles with Charred Broccoli is a delicious Asian recipe that gets ready within 30 minutes. The combination of hot and sweet slurpy noodles with crunchy peanuts and charred broccoli makes it irresistible.

A few months back I shared one of my favorite vegan Chinese recipes - Kung Pao Cauliflower and people loved it.
Today I am sharing another Kung Pao recipe – Vegan Kung Pao noodles with Charred Broccoli. I love this recipe so much that I can have it every alternate day. The best thing is that it gets ready in 30 minutes and needs only a few basic ingredients which are easily available in almost every kitchen.
This dish is from the Sichuan province of China and is very popular everywhere in the world.
The combination of hot and sweet noodles with crunchy peanuts and charred Broccoli is awesome and is a must-try.
Origin of Kung Pao recipe
The original Kung Pao recipe is Kung Pao chicken from which all the other Kung Pao versions originated.
Kung Pao Chicken recipe was invented by one of the Governor Generals of Sichuan province – Ding Baozhen in the 18th century. Gong Bao was his honorary title so his dish got the name Gong Bao chicken which later became Kung Pao chicken.
I love reading the history of our food and ingredients so whenever I make something I don’t just read the recipe but also the story behind it.
Do let me know if you also enjoy the history of food or the journey of ingredients
Ingredients needed
How to make (step-by-step photo instructions)?
Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions
- Instead of broccoli, roasted eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, tofu, etc, can also be used in the dish.
- Spaghetti can be used to make this dish too. However, if using spaghetti instead of noodles in an Asian dish don't cook it al dente.
- Be careful while adding salt as a lot of soy sauce is used in the recipe. Add salt only if required to meet your taste preference.
- Instead of peanuts, roasted cashew nuts or a combination of both can also be used.
- This dish needs Sichuan pepper that has a lemony taste and tastes slightly different than black peppercorns. However, if you cannot find Sichuan peppercorns, use black peppercorns. You can also add crushed coriander seeds for that lemony taste of spice.
- Keep the sauces mixed and ready as once you put the wok on heat the entire process will get over within a few minutes. If the sauce mixture won't be ready the chilies, pepper, and garlic will get burned.
More easy vegan noodle recipes
I love noodles. A plate of any delicious noodle dish is enough to make my day. If you love it too then don't miss to check out my following easy vegan noodle recipes:
- Veg Chowmein
- Peanut butter noodles
- Mushroom noodles
- Thai curry noodles
- Chili garlic noodles
- Ramen with vegetables
More broccoli recipes
If you like broccoli and want to try more easy broccoli recipes then the following recipes are worth checking out:
- Curried broccoli
- Broccoli in garlic sauce
- Broccoli cheddar soup
- Broccoli au gratin rice a roni
- Tofu broccoli in peanut sauce
Recipe
Vegan Kung Pao Noodles with Charred Broccoli
Ingredients
- 400 gms noodles/ spaghetti
- 2.5 cups broccoli florets
- 1 cup chopped spring onion green part
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 4 dried red chilies
- ½ cup roasted peanuts skinned
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn/ ½ teaspoon black peppercorn
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper adjust to taste
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp any hot sauce adjust to taste
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2.5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- ⅓ cup water
Instructions
- Spread broccoli florets on a baking tray. Apply some vegetable oil, sprinkle salt and pepper. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for 12-13 minutes or until the florets get golden brown patches.
- Boil noodles as per the instructions given on the packet. Drain and keep aside.
- In a bowl mix sugar, soy sauce, hot sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil. Mix and keep aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a wok. Add red chilies and peppercorns, sauté for a few seconds. Add minced garlic and sauté until it becomes fragrant.
- Next, add the sauce mix, salt, and cook for around 2 minutes. In a bowl mix water and corn starch. Add the corn starch slurry to the sauce. Stir continuously and cook until the sauce thickens.
- Add boiled noodles, roasted peanuts, charred broccoli, and spring onion to the sauce. Mix everything and cook on high flame for 1-2 minutes. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Add salt to the sauce only if required as the soy sauce is salty too.
- Instead of roasted peanuts, roasted cashew nuts can also be used in the dish.
- More recipe tips and tricks are given within the post above, please follow them to make this dish.
Thank you Vandana. We enjoyed the recipe, except for one thing: even though I used reduced sodium tamari (can’t have regular soy sauce because of gluten) we found the sauce too salty for our taste. Not a major issue, I will just adjust the water amount next time.
Thank you Joëlle. Sorry to know that it turned out too salty for your taste. Adding less tamari may also help.
I see brown sugar in the list of ingredients but not in the directions. Does it go in the soy sauce?
Hi. Thanks for pointing that out. Sorry, I missed mentioning that in the directions. Yes, you need to add sugar to the sauce. Corrected now.
Looks yummy. Nice pictures .
Thank you 🙂