I Made The Cheapest Noodle Dish Ever (8 Ways)

8 ways to make unbelievably good noodles dishes for less effort…because I love you : )

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noodles are a staple of The Culinary
world and unfortunately you have a
million choices on which one to eat and
if you go to a restaurant you might be
paying $15 for a basic noodle dish even
Panda Express is getting expensive these
days the point is don’t you feel like
you should be able to enjoy this and
stretch your dollar more that’s why
today I’m going to show you eight of the
cheapest noodles you could possibly make
at home easily to make the best bang for
your buck starting with Buttered Noodles
I do need to note this though every
single noodle dish in this video will be
under $4 a serving and of them are under
$2 per survey we used items across
Amazon Walmart and Target among plenty
of other legit vendors to get the
cheapest possible price per ingredient
be aware price changes will depend on
where you live but this is generally how
things price out because we live in
Texas first up butter noodles this
recipe makes four servings at 58 each
full price breakdown after the recipe
first you need a large pot of water
heated over high heat at a rolling boil
since we’re cooking pasta salt your
water generously almost as salty as the
ocean to that you’re going to add half a
pound or 225 g of butini boil according
to package directions or until cooked to
alente which for these took about 7
Minutes in a large saucepan or sauser if
you have one add 1/4 cup or 60 G of
unsalted butter and set over medium low
heat once your butter is about halfway
melted cut off the heat and wait for
your pasta to finish boiling once it’s
done you’re simply going to transfer
your pasta from the boiling water
directly to your melted butter pan it’s
okay if the pasta water’s getting in the
pan that’s totally fine it’s actually a
good thing begin constantly tossing your
pasta adding an additional 1/4 cup or 60
G of cubed cold unsalted butter toss
toss toss adding a tablespoon of pasta
water water at a time until you end up
with a beautiful luxurious emulsified
sauce coating the noodles season it
taste with salt toss together once more
and serve on a plate or Bowl as is
optionally if you want to get fancy you
can add a little bit of flaky salt and
fresh cracked black pepper but that’s
not mandatory whatsoever onto our first
cost breakdown here’s how this works
every single cost break done in this
video will be in three different numbers
the first one the total cost of all
ingredients in bulk assuming you have to
buy absolutely everything the next
number is the cost of only the
ingredients you actually used and then
finally price per serving which is based
off the last number so for this dish
total cost should you have to buy
everything is
$448 now for the ingredients used in
this recipe the total comes up to only
$22.32 which totals your cost for four
large side dish servings of 58 cents a
serving and now let’s taste this is like
the childhood memory that we all have
it’s a school day you just got back you
just want a little snack and maybe
someone just whips you up a little pasta
with butter and salt holy I made this a
little more adult you know we use Tini
you could use regular pasta and I made
sure to emulsify with the pasta water
you can obviously skip that but if you
don’t you don’t get good coating
remember that that’s great it’s butter
it’s noodles there’s no false
expectations of what this is it’s
exactly how you think it is going to
taste it tastes like that it’s a staple
and it’s so worth the price it’s a
classic I will never not love it I don’t
think there’s anything that gives you
bang for your buck and time and effort
more than this period end of story it’s
literally three ingredients if you don’t
include pepper obviously not only is it
something that we all probably already
have its ingredients that already
relatively inexpensive butter can be on
the pricey side sometimes and the reward
is significantly Beyond everything you
put into this from money to time this is
a perfect dish moving on moving on to
Drunken Noodles this recipe makes four
servings at $224 each full price
breakdowns after the recipe first we’re
going to make the sauce into a Ramin add
1 tbsp or 15 G of dark soy sauce 1 tbsp
or 15 G of fish sauce 1 tbsp or 15 G of
light soy sauce 2 tbsps or 30 G of
hoiston sauce and mix together until
combined but listen if you want to save
even more money you don’t have to buy
the light and the dark soy sauce you can
just combine the two and use One
Singular soy sauce to save even more
money it won’t hurt the final dish he a
walk over medium high heat add 2 tbsps
or 30 G of vegetable oil swirl to coat
the walk add half a pound or 225 g of
boneless skinless chicken thighs cut
into half in cubes season to taste with
salt and sear for 1 to 2 minutes then
begin stir frying just until the
chickens cook through another 2 to 4
minutes now from there you’re going to
add one thinly sliced shallot eight
cloes of garlic finely chopped two tight
chilies thinly sliced and one red Fresno
chili or jalapeno finely chopped
seasoning tastes with salt stir fry for
about 30 seconds or just until fragrant
and lightly soften then add 8 oz or 225
g of broad dried rice noodles that have
been prepared according to package
directions some will require rehydration
and some will require cooking point is
they need to be flastic toss to combine
add your sauce and toss once more just
to coat now right at the very end I want
you to cut off the heat and add half an
ounce or 14 G of holy basil or Thai
basil leaves they can be torn finally
chopped left hole it’s totally up to you
now fold that together transfer to a
bowl and that is your drunken noodle
your total ingredient cost should you
have to buy absolutely everything is
$23.85 now the total recipe cost of the
ingredients that you actually used is
$8.95 which totals your cost per serving
for four at $224 a serving and now let’s
taste I mean they’re Drunken Noodles so
if you have maybe a long night if you
know what I mean doing things that
aren’t good for your body put this in
your body it will make you feel worse
but it will taste good bad for the body
good for the
Mind spicy salty Umami little sweet
chewy rice noodles chicken meat
I love the flavor profile I don’t know
what’s coming through the most maybe
it’s the basil that flavor is just so
good mixed with the chili I’d love to
see this with like chowman noodles I
feel like that’d be really good I love
the flavors of this Drunken Noodles an
incredible dish but probably not my
favorite I think we have better ones
coming moving on moving on to pastina
this is essentially the dish thata would
serve you if you weren’t feeling so good
also how was that Italian accent that
was pretty good come on this recipe is
$155 a serving for four servings full
price breakdown after the recipe in a
two cord saucepan or slightly larger
that’s fine you’re going to add 1 qu or
950 mL of chicken stock set that over
medium high and bring that to a boil
once it’s boiling add 1 cup or 120 GS of
pastina to the pot that’s tiny little
baby pastas look how cute they are let
that cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until
Al Dente and at this point pretty much
all of the liquid should have either
evaporated or been absorbed by the pasta
so it’s quite thick already it’s kind of
like a Rota you’re going to cut off the
heat and add 1/4 cup or 60 G of unsalted
butter constantly stir that together
until it’s melted and emulsified and
then finally add 3/4 of a cup or 60 G of
grated pearo or parmesano regano cheese
hell maybe even a mix the both it really
depends on your taste I should also add
if you want to add a cheaper cheese you
can totally do that the whole point of
this is you only need a small amount of
a really nice Quality Cheese now
vigorously s that to emulsify you’re
going to spoon that onto a plate as much
as you like I flattened it out this is
really meant to just be served as is
that said if you decide to add anything
on top of this such as more cheese and
potentially black pepper that is not
covered in the cost but it honestly
would only add a marginal addition maybe
a buck or two so here’s our cost
breakdown if you have to buy absolutely
everything at
$16.26 and just for the ingredients that
you used for the recipe you’re spending
$619 which totals your cost per serving
to be
$155 for four servings not bad
considering how luxurious it tastes it
was hard to determine if this was a
noodle dish or not I know we were
thinking pasta isn’t noodles it’s pasta
look it’s close enough it’s a very
Savory dish there’s a lot of good
flavors coming from that chicken stock I
mean it’s not risotto but for the time
you put in and the cost you get
something very similar I also was pretty
surprised by this it’s super rich and
there’s a surprising depth of flavor for
this being what like four things it’s
another example of like really basic and
relatively cheap ingredients the cheese
is on the expensive side I will say that
and honestly that’s where the majority
of the price comes from but if you’re
making your own chicken stock you’re not
even buying it which by the way buying
it these days I feel like is pretty
cheap anyways but whatever stock you use
is going to create the basis of this
flavor so the better the stock the
better the pastina and it doesn’t
require a lot of money money to make
great stock so that said the amount of
flavor you get out you’re really ringing
out every last dollar of flavor this is
by far the most deep flavor the most
anxious hearty dish we’ve had today I’m
surprised this is actually like my
second or third time I think ever making
pastina and I think this might be the
best iteration despite how simple it is
moving on now we have chamain this
recipe is a little more towards the
Chinese American style it makes six
servings at $1.31 each full price
breakdown after the recipe so first in a
small bowl we’re going to make a little
bit of a SWS So to that bowl you’re
going to add 2 TPO or 8 G of cornstarch
1 TPO or 4 G of toasted sesame oil 1 and
1/2 tbsp or 22 G of rice wine vinegar 2
12 tbsp or 40 G of light soy sauce 2
tsps or 30 G of oyster sauce with that
till combined and now we cook now either
in a large pan a large walk whatever you
have in your house that is a large
cooking surface you’re going to heat
that over medium high heat add 2 tspoons
or 30 G of vegetable oil swirl to coat
and once that’s ripping hot you’re going
to add half a pound or 225 g of boneless
skinless chicken thighs cut into halfin
cubes make sure that goes on into one
layer okay I don’t want your chicken
boiling on top of each other not getting
that good color we want the myard
reaction so while that’s searing season
it lightly with salt sear for about 2
minutes stir fry add a little bit extra
salt to taste then add a/4 head of Nappa
cabbage thinly sliced one carrot juli
end two ribs of celery small diced two
green onions cut into 1in segments
season lightly with salt stir fry for
about 2 minutes or just until the veg is
softened then add 12 ounces or 340 G of
Cham noodles you’re going to add these
according to package directions the
reason I say that is some chamain
noodles come fresh from the store that
you have to par boil and some come
parboiled so it really depends on the
brand and the store you buy them from
just be aware of that now toss that two
combin and optionally I do hate bean
sprouts but somehow I like them in chag
do I have an explanation why no I do not
so add 1 cup or 85 G of bean sprouts
Follow by your sauce toss that over and
over until completely Incorporated with
the sauce then cut off your heat add
seven cloves of garlic finally chopped
yes seven cloves sure that to combine
let it get nice and garlicky and
fragrant divide among six side dish
plates and garnish with thinly sliced
green onion your total ingredient cost
should you to buy absolutely everything
is
$30.7 now again you’re buying whole
ingredients you won’t use the whole
thing in this recipe things like soy
sauce oil so on and so forth for the
ingredients that are actually used fully
in this recipe you’re at
$787 which totals your customer serving
for six side dish portions at
$1.31 per serving and now let’s taste
Chia main the quintessential Chinese
takeout noodle I love the Simplicity of
this dish let’s eat it the beauty of
this dish is whatever that vegetables
you put in here become the dish so as
long as you keep it relatively simple
some sort of nice greens or a cabbage
maybe a little bit of onion or shallot
or whatever you got it’s going to
perfume this whole dish and you got this
nice vegetable dish it’s fresh it still
feels like a good part of the meal and
the meal still feels light but you can
have the whole thing but it also has
anxiousness it has richness but not too
much I like this moving on next up a
dish not talked about enough San
Francisco style Vietnamese garlic
noodles I adapted this recipe from my
homie Kenji Lopez alt in his book The
Walk I normally don’t do that but I
loved his recipe because it was so cost
efficient thank you Kenji coming with
six servings at
$112 a serving and a 5 quart sauté pin
you’re going to add about 2 quarts
roughly of water you need this thing to
be big a pot would probably do even
better but surface area is helpful for
the style of recipe so add your 2 quarts
of water and bring to a boil now
separately in a 5 quart saucepan over
medium heat add 1/4 cup or 60 G of
unsalted butter once that’s melted
you’re going to add 20 cloves of thinly
sliced garlic and you might be thinking
Josh that’s a a lot oh yeah you know
what it 25 clothes that’s what you get
for complaining and let that cook gently
stirring often just until fragrant and
the garlic becomes translucent then cut
off the heat once your water in your
other pan is boiling add 1 pound or 450
G of spaghetti and cook for about 8 to
10 minutes or until alente now while
that’s cooking to your butter garlic
mixture you’re going to add 1 tbsp or 15
G of fish sauce 1 tbsp or 15 G of soy
sauce 1 tbsp or 15 G of oyster sauce
mixed together now add your garlicky
butter sauce to your noodles and toss
constantly to emulsify then add 1 oz or
20 G of parmesan Rano toss constantly
until beautifully emulsified and almost
creamy like and then toss in two green
onions thinly sliced mix to combine
transfer to your plates and garnish with
remaining green onion now your total
cost should you have to buy absolutely
everything is
$25.7 but just for the ingredients that
are used only in this recipe you’re at
$6.7 which total your cusper serving for
six side dish portions at $112 a serving
and now let’s taste San Francisco style
garlic noodles although there’s an
Italian ingredient in sort of an Italian
process here you’ll also notice some
Asian inspiration with soy sauce fish
sauce garlic two great regions coming
together into one beautiful plate of
food there’s something special about
this I feel like I could eat this whole
plate I don’t think I could say that for
every single thing on this list it’s
Umami it’s Rich it’s salty it’s got some
fattiness from the butter and the cheese
but there’s not so much that it stops
you from eating this I think all the
flavors in this are really delicate
everything’s hitting you in just the
right way that you’re like this has a
somewhat add quality to it I was
expecting a clash here I thought the
Italian noodles wouldn’t fit with the
Asian ingredients that we’re putting in
but instead it’s a really good Harmony
of flavor I was very surprised by it
moving on next up Yaki Udan this is sort
of like an everything but the kitchen
sink you can kind of add whatever you
want to Yaki Udan my recipe is what I
like to add it’s simple but it’s tasty
and contains a lot of ingredients that
you may actually have this recipe makes
four servings at $236 each full price
breakdowns after the recipe starting
with our yaki udon sauce into a bowl add
2 tbsps or 30 G of dark soy sauce 1 tbsp
or 15 G of mirin 1 tbsp or 15 G of rice
wine vinegar 1 TPO or 4 G of granulated
sugar 1 tbsp or 15 G of light soy sauce
2 tpoon or 30 G of oyster sauce whis
that together until thoroughly combined
and that is your Yaki mamy sauce I don’t
know what I’m saying the cooking process
for this is probably the easiest out of
all of them heat a walk over high heat
add 2 tbsp or 30 G of vegetable oil
swirl that to coat around that little
walk add half a sweet onion jeul the end
1/4 head of Nappa cabbage rough chopped
three green onions cut into 1in segments
and 1/4 lb or 112 G of button mushrooms
get that little toss to coat with with
the oil season to taste with salt and
stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes or till soft
and starting to pick up a little bit of
color now pour that out of the Walk add
1 tbsp or 15 G of vegetable oil let that
get nice and hot crack two eggs in your
walk don’t get a season to taste with
salt and scramble them as they cook add
your vegetables back into the walk along
with one pound or 450 G of udon noodles
half a teaspoon to 2 gam of ground white
pepper half a teaspoon to 2 G of
mg add your yaki udon sauce toss to
combined and then once that’s hot
throughout and thoroughly coated in your
sauce and MSG completely cut off the add
three cloves of finely chopped garlic
and toss thoroughly the whole goal of
adding the raw garlic at the end is
you’re perfuming it with this fresh
spicy pungent garlicky flavor it’s a
good thing now split that amongst four
bowls or into one giant Bowl I’m not
judging garnish with toasted sesame
seeds thinly sliced green onion and
totally optionally Bonito flakes I will
say Bonito flakes can get really really
expensive so if this takes the price too
high for you or you can’t find the cheap
brand that we used then you can totally
eliminate it I personally like it on
there but it doesn’t break the recipe if
you don’t have it your total ingredient
costume should you have to buy
absolutely everything is
$39.98 and just for the ingredients that
are used in this specific recipe you’re
at
$943 which toles your cost per serving
at
$236 for four nicely sized servings time
to taste yaki udon not loved on enough
not talked about enough I would argue
potentially one of the coolest and
easiest to make put in what you got type
noodle
dishes the Bonito flakes are optional
but they shouldn’t be cuz they are
insane how good they are but even
without the Bonito flakes there’s a very
distinct taste and experience with this
dish these are the thickest noodles in
this video and honestly it gives it a
lot more texture it’s just a bigger bite
it’s a bigger experience but it’s also
easy to eat a lot of this like the
vegetable flavor really comes through on
this but it’s not overpowering the whole
dish you get that nice soy flavor that
deep Umami this is extremely Savory it
reminds me of a pad tie with how things
are mixed together in this but it has a
really good flavor to it and I love the
thickness of the noodles I think it
compliments it really well this is my
favorite one of the day I love the eggs
I love the mushrooms everything within
it is combined really well and if
there’s one I’m going to be making a lot
of it’s this one many of long nights in
Japan were finished with a bowl of yaki
udon for me when I lived there it’s a
classic that’s slept on and I hope you
make this here’s what I will say out of
everything that we’ve eaten today
somehow this is both the most
straightforward flavor yet simultanously
one of the more luxurious tasting noodle
dishes to me and for not that much more
money than any of the other Nole dishes
it’s one of my favorites but I don’t
know that it is my favorite but
hopefully we’ll find that by moving on
moving on to jce one of my favorite
Korean noodle dishes this recipe makes
two generous servings at $3.3 per
serving first we’re going to make our
egg garnish also called Jon now you’re
going to need two egg yolks season
lightly with salt and mix together heat
a small non-stick pan over medium Heat
spray with cooking oil and add your egg
yolks cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute or
just until about 75% of the way cook
through flip cut the heat let sit in the
pan for another 30 seconds take it out
of the pan and roll it up and cut it
into thin threads kind of a chiod
essentially these are a little under a/4
inch thick in a large pot filled with
water bring to a boil over medium high
heat add 6 oz or 170 G of sweet potato
noodles and cook that according to
package directions this is probably one
of the more expensive noodles to buy but
they are worth it he a walk over medium
low heat add 4 oz or 115 G of baby
spinach cook that down stirring
frequently until fully wilted about 1 to
2 minutes now look typically you would
see the spinach boiled in a traditional
recipe instead of sauteed like this do
either or I personally don’t boil it
because some times it saps the nutrients
head of your food and look I’m tra be a
little healthier Here season that
spinach with 1 tbsp or 15 G of soy sauce
and 2 tasps or 8 G of sesame oil remove
the spinach from the walk and set to the
side now let’s cook our aliums heat that
same walk over medium high heat add 1
tbsp or 15 G of vegetable oil then add
three green onions cut it into 2 in
segments and half a sweet onion thinly
sliced season The Taste with salt stir
fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until soften
and beginning to develop color remove
and set to the side turn the walk back
to medium heat coat with the same amount
of oil add five button mushrooms thinly
sliced season to taste with salt and
stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes or till cook
through and beginning develop color I
know you’re thinking Josh why don’t you
just cook all these together well you
could totally do that and frankly I
probably would in most cases but for the
sake of old school traditionality these
things are meant to be cooked separately
and then combined in the end once your
mushrooms are cooked set them to the
side heat the walk again the same amount
of oil add one carrot Julien season The
Taste with salt stir fry one in 2
minutes till just soften set to the side
again heat the walk oil half a red bell
pepper Julien stir fry for 1 to 2
minutes set to the side and now we
assemble now grab a large mixing bowl
and add your cooked noodles your
mushrooms your green onion and sweet
onion your carrot your red bell pepper
follow that with one clove of finely
chopped garlic 1 tbspoon or 15 G of soy
sauce 1 tbsp or 15 G of sweet soy sauce
or just a pinch of sugar if you don’t
have that toss sauce toss and then just
season with additional soy sauce to
taste if you desire and optionally you
can also add some toasted sesame oil to
taste if you wish transfer your noodles
to a plate and garnish with cooked
spinach your Jon which is the cooked egg
yolk sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds
and thinly sliced green onion that is
your job now to our cost breakdown your
total ingredient cost should you buy
everything is
$26.7 but just for the cost of the
ingredients used only in the recipe
you’re spending about
$625 which totals your cost per serving
to
$3.3 of course you’ll be left over with
soy sauces maybe even more noodles
vegetables so on and so forth use those
for another recipe because guess what
the total amount that you spent if you
bought everything isn’t all used in the
singular recipe and now we taste this is
the more unique noodle that we have
today and probably one of the more
expensive noodles but does that mean
that it’s as good as as the price might
suggest they’re very chewy and it’s
surprisingly smooth in your mouth this
is the lightest bite we’ve had all day
if you like noodle dishes or really any
food for that matter to have lots and
lots of flavor but really sit on you
light this is kind of that dish you can
fit a ton of vegetables in it the
diversity of the texture in this somehow
feels Ultra unique because of the glass
noodles they’re a little more chewy than
you would typically expect almost like a
Mochi like chebe I like it they’re great
it’s definitely light it does feel more
like a side than a main I think it
stands on its own really well and I love
all the different components of it I
think it comes together to make a really
good bite I like that it calls itself
out as a side though you don’t need to
change anything about it that said
moving on moving on to what I’m calling
the budget chili garlic noodle what does
that mean well chili garlic noodles can
sometimes get a little expensive with
all the different spices that I like to
put in mind so how do we make that
cheaper this recipe makes two servings
at
$1.9 each so in a two qu saucepan over
medium high heat a/ cup or 120 M of
vegetable oil to 350 F or 175° c I’m
using this specific Ramen brand but you
can use any Ramen brand you want and
you’re going to need a total of two of
these bad boys now first take out
whatever is inside your Ramen packet
whether it’s dry ingredients or dry
ingredients with wet ingredients point
is pour your spice packets sauce packets
whatever you got into that bowl and on
top of that you’re going to add 1 and
1/2 tbsp or 22 G of goou garu or any
chili flake you want mix that together
then you’re going to pour your hot oil
which again has been heated 350 F or 175
C Bing Bong whis it together till fully
combined and you have your chili oil now
cook remains in your Ramen packages
which should be two noodle discs noodle
squares they’re different depending on
the brand cook according to package
directions in boiling water then
straight in trans your noodles into the
chili oil toss it combine transfer to a
plate and garnish with finely chopped
green onion and finely chopped garlic
now for the cost breakdown your total
ingredient cost should you have to buy
absolutely everything is
$13.95 I should add $7 of that total
cost by the way is spent on a five pack
of bulldock noodles which is kind of the
small size that we found so if you were
to buy let’s say Top Ramen for A1 each
or $2 each it would be significantly
less cuz you wouldn’t have to buy all
five blah blah blah blah blah now just
for the cost of the ingredients that we
used in this recipe is
$383 which puts your total cost per
serving at
$1.9 per serving for some luxurious um
mamy Rich spicy noodles and now let’s
taste we have a spicy chili noodle I
feel like if I got this in front of me I
would not go oh this someone just like
rehash an instant Ramen pack and added
oil to it it makes me concerned that
it’s happened to me in the past so I’ll
give it a little mix again
fellas that’s insane that is dangerous
it’s literally just one additional step
which is instead of putting everything
into one pot you just boil the ramen in
that pot and then the second step is
pouring the hot oil with your mixins
that you normally put in that’s it out
of all the chili oil noodles that I’ve
made effort for those is three times as
much I might even say this is better
than some of them like I would put this
in my top five the fact that this is
just a packet of ramen plus oil and then
optionally garlic and green onions it’s
insane how much this is leveled up took
Josh 5 minutes to make it tastes like
this is something he took all day this
is low cost and low effort this video is
even about being low effort but it’s
funny how those go hand in hand so what
is the best cheap noodle dish out of all
of these if you’re going to make one I
was surprised to say it was the spicy
chili oil noodles a lot of the ramen
these days have the flavors so dialed in
it’s got MSG in it packed full of flavor
it’s minimal effort but the best part
about it is it’s guaranteed to be good
every single time you make it you’re not
going to accidentally under season it
Etc so if you’re going to make one of
these make that but also don’t forget to
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