Vietnamese Noodles with Lemongrass Chicken (Bun Ga Nuong) is one of my signature dishes! Vermicelli noodles topped with fresh vegetables and herbs, an incredible lemongrass marinated chicken and drizzled with Nuoc Cham, the chilli garlic sauce that’s served with everything in Vietnam!
Easy enough for midweek meals, and a sensational CHEAP meal idea for large groups! Either cook the chicken in large batches on the BBQ, or even bake them, and put out all the toppings in bowls for people to help themselves!
Vietnamese Noodles with Lemongrass Chicken
This is a recipe that has many fond memories associated with it because it’s one of my signature recipes that I make as a meal for large groups. Other than how delicious it is (and the Vietnamese lemongrass marinade really is exceptional!), here’s why it’s one of my all time favourite recipes:
it’s cheap and simple to make
can be fully prepared ahead (including the noodles and chopping the vegetables)
it’s gluten free (cater for dietary requirements)
healthy
versatile – use the same marinade for tofu, prawns/shrimp, fish, other meats
easy to serve a crowd – chicken can be cooked in large batches on the BBQ, or even baked
no assembly – lay all the components out on the table for people to help themselves
Camping, on boats, weekends away, hen’s night – these Vietnamese Noodles with Lemongrass Chicken has made an appearance at many events!
Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken
The entire Vietnamese noodle bowl as a whole is so delicious, but I have to say that the Lemongrass Chicken is the stand out. The marinade is fantastic. The earthy lemony flavour from the lemongrass combined with the garlic and complex savoury flavours from the fish sauce and soy sauce makes a killer flavour that will have your neighbours popping their heads over the fence if you cook this on the outdoor grill!
What goes in Lemongrass Chicken
Here’s what goes in the Lemongrass Chicken.
Fresh lemongrass is best here, but if you can’t find it, then lemongrass paste works very well too.
I know some people aren’t a fan of fish sauce which is quite pungent smelling in raw form! But it’s really the “secret ingredient” here, it’s got far more complex flavours than soy sauce and adds incredible depth of flavour in the chicken. And don’t worry, it doesn’t taste fishy once cooked!
This Vietnamese lemongrass marinade is truly incredible. Everybody raves about it!
Substitute for fish sauce?
If you’re allergic to fish sauce, or really can’t get your hands on it (but please try!!), then substitute the fish sauce with more soy sauce but be aware that your marinade will lack the complexity of flavour in real Vietnamese Lemongrass marinades.
Toppings and sauce
And here are the toppings for this Vietnamese Noodles bowl. Lots of fresh vegetables and herbs, and Nuoc Cham, the Vietnamese chilli garlic sauce that makes an appearance alongside everything in Vietnam (I exaggerate not!!).
Nuoc Cham is made with fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic, chilli, sugar and lime juice. It’s got a wonderful balance of sweet/savoury and tang, and basically makes everything taste better – whether you drizzle or dunk things in it!
Feel free to switch up the fresh vegetables! Try snow peas, cabbage, capsicum/bell peppers and other crunchy fresh greens!
How to make it
The making part is very straight forward. You’ll see me cook the chicken on a grill in the video – Lemongrass Chicken is traditionally cooked over charcoal in Vietnam – but you can of course cook it on the stove or even in the oven or under the broiler!
This Vietnamese dish is healthy eating without compromise!
To me, these Vietnamese Noodles with Lemongrass Chicken is the epitome of healthy eating without compromise. Low in fat, lots of fresh salads brought to life with bright zingy flavours. The Nuoc Cham sauce has so much flavour, you can scoff down loads of the salad and go light on the chicken and noodles if you’re really wanting to cut down on the calories.
And one last tip – the marinated lemongrass chicken is perfect for popping in the freezer. So make a batch right now!! 🙂 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Vietnamese Noodles with Lemongrass Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken and Marinade
- 600 – 800g / 1.2 – 1.6lb chicken thigh fillets , skinless and boneless or breast (or pork, beef or any seafood)
- 1 stalk lemongrass , white part only, bruised them sliced into pieces easy to pick out later (Note 1)
- 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped or minced
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp fish sauce (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (all purpose or light, NOT dark soy)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese Sauce)
- 1/4 cup fish sauce (Note 3)
- 4 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 1 red birds eye chilli , finely chopped (Note 4)
- 3 tbsp lime juice
Noodle Bowl
- 1/2 tbsp oil
- 200 g / 7 oz vermicelli noodles , dried
- 2 carrots , julienned
- 2 cucumbers , julienned (optional: remove seeds)
- 5 cups iceberg lettuce , finely sliced
- 3 cups bean sprouts
- Handful of mint leaves
- Handful of cilantro/coriander
- Sliced red chilli (for garnish – optional)
- Lime wedges (to serve – optional but recommended)
Instructions
Lemongrass Chicken
- Combine Chicken and Marinade ingredients and set aside for at least 1 hour, up to 24 hours. (Note 4)
- Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a fry pan over medium heat (or heat the BBQ). Remove chicken from marinade, shaking off large bits of lemongrass (small bits should fall off during cooking).
- Place chicken in the pan and cook each side until dark golden brown and chicken is just cooked through – about 6 to 8 minutes in total.
- Remove from pan, shaking off any remaining bits of visible lemongrass and set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Then slice into thin pieces.
Nuoc Cham Sauce
- Combine the Nuoc Cham ingredients and mix well to dissolve the sugar. Adjust to your taste (spiciness, lime, sweetness) and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
Assemble
- Soak the vermicelli noodles in hot water for 3 minutes (or according to packet instructions), then drain and rinse under cold water to stop the noodles from sticking together.
- Individual servings: Place noodles in bowl. Top with vegetables and herbs, and sliced chicken pieces. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of Nuoc Cham Sauce (be generous, ~ 4 tbsp per serving) and serve with lime wedges.
- DIY (my preferred way): Place chicken, vegetables, herbs, noodles and sauce in separate bowls / piled on platters. Then let everyone make their own bowls!
Recipe Notes:
- Make this kid friendly by just serving the chilli on the side.
- To make it GLUTEN FREE, ensure you use GF tamari.
- Sub the vegetables with other vegetables of choice eg. capsicum/bell peppers, snow peas (finely sliced)
Nutrition Information:
Originally published January 2017, updated October 2019 with a brand new spruced up video and new photos!
Get your Vietnamese food fix!
Vietnamese Caramel Pork – another iconic Vietnamese food! Also see the Chicken version.
Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls – the super quick version of the above
Browse all Vietnamese recipes
And more of my favourite Asian Chicken marinades
All these are ideal for grilling but can also be cooked on the stove
Real Teriyaki Chicken – on my mother’s Japanese recipe website, RecipeTin Japan. Crispy skin, no oil – way better than westernised versions!
Thai Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang) – marinated in a fragrant Thai marinade
Thai Coconut Chicken – added richness and flavour from a coconut marinade
Asian Chicken – marinated in a great Asian marinade that’s sweet sand savoury
Sticky Baked Chinese Chicken Wings – use this marinade on breast and thighs!
Chinese Chicken (Char Siu!) – Chinese BBQ chicken
Life of Dozer
Yes, that’s the tripod that holds my camera worth several thousand dollars…..don’t stand up Dozer!!!
hey! love this recipe
i want to make it tonight but im a bit confused with the amount of fish sauce i need to put, a 1/4 of a cup seems too much and in your video it seems much less.
can you translate the nuoc cham recipe in spoons please:))))
Hi Salma! Sometimes I have to cut clips out of the video so it doesn’t go for too long so I may have only shown pouring some of the fish sauce in. I know it sounds like a lot but the sauce is thinned with water and also balanced out with the sweet and sour. I do hope you try it as written, I am sensitive to overly salty things and I don’t find it too fishy.
Amazing !!! It was exactly like our favorite vietnamese restaurant… maybe even better! Thank you SO MUCH ! <3
So glad you enjoyed it Anna, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
Oh Nagi, what i gonna do without your recipes? Dinners getting more exciting since i started using your stress free recipes???…we had this tonight,and oh as usual,far more that expected. The sauce the marinade,the vegs,everything blend together. We LOVED it!!!! Xxxx…thank you very much…
Woo hoo! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this, thanks for letting me know Jemayma! N xx PS I ain’t going anywhere! I love what I do, I want to do this forever!
I just made this tonight and it was delicious! I didn’t have lemongrass so I just omitted it and used garlic powder instead of fresh. I’m sure it would be extra yummy with the fresh ingredients. I haven’t tried Vietnamese style cooking before but your recipe was easy to follow and turned out great! Thanks so much!
So glad to hear that Jennifer! Thanks so much for letting me know! N x
This is my favourite Vietnamese dish- so was excited to try it. Cooked for the family yesterday and yes it was a winner.
Thank you so much!
Awesome! So glad to hear that Vim, thanks for letting me know! N x
This recipe is exactly what I’m looking for. I eat this regularly at my local Vietnamese joint, but have been wanting to make at home. Its been so easy to order it to go, no reason to make at home, EXCEPT that i want to make it GF for my daughters.
Note: Nagi, you have soy in this recipe. For those who are GF, be sure to substitute GF tamari for the soy sauce or you will poison your friends and/or family. Braggs amino acids are a good substitute also.
Otherwise, the rest of the recipe is fully GF friendly. And Dairy free. And this salad is my favorite! Thanks for putting your recipe out here for us to enjoy!
Ahh sorry good point Michelle, thank you for pointing that out! So glad you enjoyed it!!
I made this for dinner last night for my sister and her husband. We absolutely loved it, best dish I’ve had in a while. I doubled the dressing as we love a lot of sauce. Used Red Boat fish sauce for the dressing which is my favourite fish sauce. My sister loves tiramisu so I also made your authentic tiramisu and the four of us demolished it. I only have a electric hand mixer so used that. The only issue was after beating the egg yolk for 20 min it still didn’t change colour. Otherwise it tasted fantastic. You’ve become my favourite food blogger and majority of my meals will now be coming from your recipes. Thank you
Whoo ho! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Carol, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
This recipe is AMAZING!
Used chicken thighs and made almost to recipe (added a little more sugar to nuoc Cham). Absolutely loved it. Will definitely be making again and again. Thank you Nagi! 🙂
WOO HOO!! So glad you enjoyed it Catherine, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
Love this dish! Great for workweek lunches! So tasty, light and fresh! Love that it combines healthy with super tasty and that it can be made ahead of time. Winner winner chicken dinner!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Melissa! Thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
Hi Nagi, this is one of my all-time favourite meals, I always order this when I go out for Vietnamese. I can’t wait to make this at home.
Seriously, I kid you not – I had this yesterday and today for lunch at Vietnamese restaurants! That’s how much I love it!!!
This looks absolutely amazing. I am just getting started with learning how to cook Vietnamese. I figure I love to eat it, why not make it? I’ve been reading up on the best fish sauce to use, and have found Red Boat 40 and 50N to be popular. What kind do you use?
Hi Danielle! I use Squid Brand Fish Sauce which is sold at supermarkets here in Australia. It’s actually one of the cheapest but I like it the best, and I see chefs using it on cooking shows too 🙂 https://www.woolworths.com.au/Shop/Search/Products?searchTerm=fish%20sauce&name=squid-brand-fish-sauce&productId=99484
Hi Danielle! I use Squid Brand Fish Sauce which is sold at supermarkets here in Australia. It’s actually one of the cheapest but I like it the best, and I see chefs using it on cooking shows too 🙂 https://www.woolworths.com.au/Shop/Search/Products?searchTerm=fish%20sauce&name=squid-brand-fish-sauce&productId=99484
So good! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Natasha!! 🙂 You tried it?? N xx
Hi. Re: your video The ingredients listed in big black letters on or close to the stuff made it so much easier to follow along. I think you might have slowed it down a titch too. 🙂 Thank you. So much easier for me to follow along now.
So glad to hear that Laura! 🙂 Continuous improvement, that’s what it’s all about! N x
So good, my favourite so far. Thank you for all your tips as well, very helpful
Thanks Sarah!!
After overindulging over Christmas, this looks like the perfect dish to help ease the added pudge away! Looks so fresh and light and super tasty. I must make this next week!
I hear you Gloria!
HI Nagi, happy new year to you, could I ask what is the best utensil to grate diakon raddish and carrots just like they do in japanese restaurants and also in your recipes. thank you
Hi Lilly! In this recipe I chop it by hand, I show my technique in the video 🙂 This is the one I have, I didn’t get it from this store -> http://www.kitchengadgets.com.au/productDetails.php?productid=SSL15 There are mandolins out there that do both fine slicing and julienning but I like this one because it cuts it into the perfect size strips, finer than the multi-purpose mandolins that I’ve tried. Every recipe you see on my site with shredded carrots and daikon, I use this. I cut cabbage by hand – I find it easier!
Happy New Year Nagi! Looking at all your photos is bringing back memories of Vietnam! And I’m so making this next week for work week lunches, it looks and sounds delicious. I became addicted to Nuoc Cham when I was in Vietnam and, like you said, I couldn’t believe how much it is used when making any Vietnamese dish.
I know, right??? It’s used on EVERYTHING!!! And variations used for marinades too 🙂 With good reason, it rocks! All about getting that balance right, isn’t it? Some are WAY too fishy!
Wonderful recipe with dozens of variations possible. Living in Australia I have eaten some 70% Asian for decades anyways, but the light freshness and gorgeous fusion with French as well as other Asian cuisines has put Vietnamese recipes right at the top of my menu choices – and one does not have to do this for a crowd. *big smile* I guess Luke Nguyen’s marvellous books and series have made matters even more appealing. For me: cabbage and snow peas and red capsicums almost always . . . do not use iceberg lettuce personally . . .
Oooh I LOVE Luke Nguyen! I watch all his shows too, isn’t he the best? I love how he cooks everywhere throughout Vietnam and how all the locals watch on!!!
Oooh! This looks and sound so good. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to wait until we go back home to make this. We have most of the ingredients there. One of the things I want to learn how to do is eat with chopsticks. I’m going to have to find some — for presentation purposes 🙂 — and then learn how to use the. Hubby was in Okinawa for two years, he can use them like a pro. I guess it’s a good way to diet and eat slowly — it takes me forever to pinch the food. Then the items sometimes end up in my lap 🙁 I love the recipe and your photos are great!!!!! xxoxo
Ooh where are you?? Travelling??? 🙂
Beautiful looking dish! I was in the shop yesterday looking at those beans sprouts asking myself whether to buy them or not… I didn’t. I would omit them but I also have no fish sauce and haven’t seen one around here. Seeing the note there I hoped you would write some substitution but you said the sauce was important 🙁 Noooo! Must do a proper search for the fish sauce 🙂
Hi Julia! Gosh, where do you live?? I thought fish sauce was pretty common everywhere nowadays! 🙂 N x