Our delicious Sesame Noodles and Shrimp is ready in 30 minutes and is soy and peanut free. This has an easy gluten free option and can fit other allergens as well. Skip the take-out and make an easy and allergy friendly dinner at home!
There’s nothing quite like a delicious bowl of saucy noodles! If you have food allergies, getting take-out can be a gamble, so we created our soy free and peanut free Sesame Noodles and Shrimp recipe so you can have take-out flavors at home.
Our sesame shrimp and noodles recipe is inspired by the Pinch of Yum recipe for sesame zoodles that uses soy sauce and peanut butter. We’ve made a variation of their recipe a few times, and I decided to create my own allergy friendly version!
We changed around the sauce recipe and substituted some of the ingredients with allergy friendly ones, and made this recipe with regular noodles and shrimp instead of tofu and zoodles. Our sauce recipe is similar to the sauce on our Thai Cucumber Chicken Salad (which is also delicious btw!).
This recipe takes about 30 minutes to make from start to finish, so this is a perfect meal for busy weeknights!
Our sesame noodle recipe is:
- Dairy free
- Peanut free
- Soy free
- Has an easy gluten free option (just serve this over gluten free ramen noodles)
- Can be made paleo or low carb
How to make soy free sesame noodles and shrimp
Here are the steps for making our sesame shrimp with noodles (the full recipe card is at the end of the post, this is just an overview of the steps):
- Start the water for your noodles: fill a 2 quart saucepan with water to 2/3 full and heat it over medium heat.
- While you’re waiting for the water to boil, heat up a skillet over medium heat and add some oil (or dairy butter) in the pan and add the garlic and shrimp (I recommend using thawed shrimp that has the tail and shell removed to make this recipe come together quickly!).
- While the shrimp is cooking and the water is heating, prepare the sauce. Combine the coconut aminos, SunButter, water, mirin, sesame oil, fresh ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small blender or food processor until smooth (I used my Nutribullet). This takes only a minute or 2.
- Set aside the sauce.
- Once your water is boiling, prepare your noodles according to package directions.
- If using rice ramen, rinse the noodles in warm water once they are done cooking and add some sesame oil to prevent clumping and sticking (rice noodles tend to stick together quite a bit).
- Once the shrimp is just cooked, add the sesame sauce to the pan and cook the shrimp in the sauce for a few minutes to heat up the sauce and thicken it to your preference. The sauce should naturally thicken in just a few minutes.
- Make sure to add the sauce when the shrimp have just cooked (or just slightly before being cooked through) so your shrimp are not overcooked and chewy.
- Alternatively, you can remove the shrimp from the pan and cook the sauce in the pan for a few minutes over medium heat until it is thickened, then drizzle on top of the shrimp and noodles (like we did in the photos).
- Add the shrimp with sesame sauce over your favorite noodles and garnish with sesame seeds (we used black sesame seeds), a splash of coconut aminos, and sliced chives.
We used Mizkan brand mirin that is not real mirin. Instead of being an actual rice wine, this mirin is similar to a sweetened (and thickened) rice vinegar. If you can’t find mirin, you can use 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar + 1 teaspoon sugar.
A note about coconut aminos
Some coconut amino brands are pretty salty compared to others. I personally prefer the brands that are more sweet vs. salty. I’ve found that the Coconut Secret brand is more sweet and less salty than some of the other brands (like the O Organics brand).
I like the Coconut Secret better, but some of my family members like the saltier one better since it tastes closer to real soy sauce. Just be sure that you do not add additional salt to this dish without taste testing it first!
How to make our shrimp and sesame noodles gluten free
The shrimp and sesame sauce itself is gluten free, but we served it over regular wheat-based Japanese ramen that my kids love (this is what we used in the photos). However you can easily make this full recipe gluten free by serving it over a gluten free base.
Here are a few gluten free ideas for serving this sesame shrimp:
- Gluten free ramen (the Lotus Foods brand is good, just make sure to follow our tips for gluten free noodles below).
- Shirataki noodles (“miracle” noodles)
- Rice noodles
- Mai fun rice noodles
- White rice, brown rice, or black rice
- Cauliflower or veggie rice
If using gluten free rice ramen, it helps to rinse the noodles in warm water once they are done cooking to remove excess starch and then toss them with sesame oil. This will reduce sticking since rice noodles tend to stick to themselves more than regular wheat noodles.
Shrimp or sesame allergies
If you happen to have a seafood allergy, you can still have this recipe! Just swap out the shrimp with cubed chicken instead, or leave out the meat altogether and enjoy the sauce over noodles.
Even if you have sesame allergies, you can leave out the sesame oil and sesame seeds. The sesame oil adds a lot of flavor to this recipe, but it’s still a small part of the recipe so it won’t change the consistency at all to leave it out (it will slightly change the flavor however).
Check out our other main dish recipes for allergy friendly meal inspiration!
Easy Sesame Noodles and Shrimp (Soy Free)
Ingredients
- 4 servings of your favorite noodles (Japanese ramen, gluten free ramen, rice noodles, etc.)*
- 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 Tablespoon oil, dairy free butter, or sesame oil (if using sesame oil, add to the pan with the shrimp since it can easily burn)
- 1-2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 3 Tablespoons creamy SunButter
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 2 Tablespoons Mizkan mirin** (this has no to very little alcohol vs. regular mirin)
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger root (measured after grating)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you want more spice)
- Salt and pepper to taste (taste test first before adding any salt!)
- Garnish: chopped chives or green onions and sesame seeds
Instructions
- Fill a 2 quart saucepan with water to 2/3 full and heat it over medium heat to prepare the noodles.
- While you're waiting for the water to boil, prepare the shrimp. Heat up a skillet over medium heat and add some oil (or dairy butter) in the pan and add the garlic and shrimp.
- While the shrimp is cooking and the water is heating, prepare the sauce. Combine the coconut aminos, SunButter, water, mirin, sesame oil, fresh ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small blender or food processor until smooth (I used my Nutribullet). This takes only a minute or 2. Set aside.
- Once your water is boiling, prepare your noodles according to package directions. If using rice ramen, rinse the noodles in warm water once they are done cooking and add some sesame oil to prevent clumping and sticking.
- Once the shrimp is just cooked, add the sesame sauce to the pan and cook the shrimp in the sauce for a few minutes to heat up the sauce and thicken it to your preference. The sauce should naturally thicken in a few minutes.
- Make sure to add the sauce when the shrimp have just cooked (or just slightly before being cooked through) so your shrimp are not overcooked and tough.
- Alternatively, you can remove the shrimp from the pan and cook the sauce in the pan over medium heat until it is thickened, then drizzle on top of the shrimp and noodles (like we did in the photos).
- Add the shrimp with sesame sauce over your favorite noodles and garnish with sesame seeds (we used black sesame seeds), a splash of coconut aminos, and chopped chives.
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist