If you’re tired of meals that leave you hungry, mentally drained, or thinking about food more than before you ate, this recipe is for you.

If you still want to be mindful of the nutrition part of this meal (which is completely OK ofcourse), then feel free to scroll all the way down – the more detailed nutrition-based information is pointed out after the recipe card notes.

Chicken teriyaki with egg noodles (or egg tagliatelle, like in the photos right below) is the kind of meal that quietly proves a point: You don’t need restriction to eat well — you need flavor, balance, and good cooking.

This recipe is savory, deeply satisfying, and adaptable to whatever vegetables you have on hand. It’s built around tender chicken thighs, a glossy teriyaki-style sauce, and egg noodles that actually absorb flavor instead of just carrying it.

A Flexible Recipe You Can Adapt Easily

This chicken teriyaki with egg noodles is intentionally vegetable-friendly. I’ve tested it with:

• broccoli (adds freshness and structure)
• button mushrooms (deepens umami and richness)

Both versions work beautifully, and both will be shown in the photos accompanying this post.

Why Endless Dieting Misses the Point

Years of nutrition research show that rigid dieting often leads to:

• stronger cravings
• preoccupation with food
• poorer long-term outcomes for both physical and mental health

Restriction doesn’t teach balance — it teaches obsession.

Satisfying meals that include protein, carbohydrates, fat, and flavor help reduce food noise and make eating feel normal again (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics).

This recipe isn’t about “cheating.” It’s about eating in a way that actually works.

Don’t Remove the Skin: That’s Where the Flavor Lives. Just look at this beautiful charred glaze!

If you take only one technical note from this recipe, let it be this:

The skin:

• renders fat that carries flavor into the sauce;
• protects the meat from drying out;
• creates depth you cannot replace later.

When cooked properly, the skin isn’t greasy — it’s essential. Removing it strips the dish of both texture and taste, especially in a sauce-driven recipe like teriyaki.

From a cooking standpoint, fat is a flavor solvent. Many aromatic compounds in garlic and soy sauce are fat-soluble, meaning they literally need fat to taste their best (beloved Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking).

Why Egg Noodles Are the Right Choice Here

Egg noodles work exceptionally well with teriyaki chicken because they:

• absorb the sauce quickly
• have a softer, more porous structure
• don’t require heavy reduction to feel cohesive

This allows the sauce to stay balanced instead of being overly salty or thick. The starch released by the noodles helps emulsify the sauce, coating both the chicken and noodles evenly — a technique used across many cuisines, not just Italian cooking.

A Flexible Recipe You Can Adapt Easily

This chicken teriyaki with egg noodles is intentionally vegetable-friendly.

I’ve tested it with:

• broccoli (adds freshness and structure)
• button mushrooms (deepens umami and richness)

Both versions work beautifully, and both are shown in the photos accompanying this post.

Ingredients (No “Diet” Substitutes Needed)

• Ghee
• Large chicken thighs with skin on
• Garlic
• Teriyaki sauce
• Dried rosemary
• Preferred vegetables or mushrooms (such as broccoli or buttons)
• Egg noodles
• Heavy cream, if you want it more buttery, OR 5% fat plain yogurt, if you want it lighter and more tangy. I would say that cream works best with the broccoli version and the yogurt with the mushroom one.
• Lime for drizzling over (optional)
• Ginger or chili flakes (optional)

How the Recipe Comes Together

• Brown the chicken thighs skin-side down in some Ghee (my favorite fat for cooking). Let the fat render slowly. This builds the base flavor.
• Brown the mushrooms (if using) the same way – be bold to brown them quite heavily, as the charred flavor and texture that they develop this way is really pleasant. If you just shallow-fry them, on the other hand, they will retain too much water and have an entirely different texture, which is not as satisfying in my opinion.

• If using broccoli instead of mushrooms, then you don’t need to char it (but you can!)
• Make the sauce in the same pan. Stir everything else together.

1. Toss in cooked egg noodles. Finish everything together so the noodles absorb the sauce.

This sequence is what turns simple ingredients into a satisfying meal. Recipe card with the notes below!

Is Chicken Teriyaki with Egg Noodles “Healthy”?

Health isn’t determined by whether a meal fits a diet label. Meals support health when they:

• provide enough energy;
• reduce stress around food;
• are satisfying enough to prevent constant grazing.

Mental health and eating behavior are closely connected, and food anxiety has measurable negative effects on well-being (Harvard Health Publishing). This recipe supports eating well without turning food into a moral decision.

Stop the endless dieting. Forget removing everything that makes food satisfying. Flavor matters. Fat matters. Enjoyment matters!

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Chicken Teriyaki with Egg Noodles (Easy, No-Diet Comfort Food Recipe)

Recipe by Helena-Laura

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Chicken, High Protein, Main, Meat, Pasta, VideoCuisine: Asian-InspiredDifficulty: Medium

Servings: 2

1/2x 1x 2x

2

large servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Calories

944

kcal

Fat

50

grams

Protein

42

grams

Carbs

81

grams

Sugar

8

grams

Total time

1

hour 

Crispy chicken thighs glazed in rich teriyaki sauce and tossed with egg noodles, mushrooms, and vegetables for a cozy, Asian-inspired weeknight dinner. The real flavor is locked into the golden chicken skin — so don’t skip it — and the recipe is flexible enough to work with broccoli, button mushrooms, or whatever veggies you have on hand.

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Ingredients

• 40 g Ghee (approx. 2 heaped tablespoons)

• 100 g small button mushrooms or washed broccoli florets

• 3 cloves garlic (sliced)

• 2 whole chicken thighs (skin on!)

• 0,5 teaspoons fine sea salt or rock salt

• 2 tablespoons Teriyaki sauce

• 1 tablespoon picked rosemary leaves

• 200 g egg noodles or egg tagliatelle

• 100 g heavy cream or natural yogurt (at least 5% fat)

• 0,5 pieces lime (only juice)

• freshly ground chili flakes to serve (optional)

Instructions

• Put the ghee in a larger heavy-based skillet and let it melt over a medium-high heat.
• Add washed and paper-towel-dried mushrooms (if they’re too big for one bite, halve them; otherwise, they would look and taste their best when whole). If you decide to use broccoli instead, don’t do anything with them yet (besides washing) and simply skip this step.
• Cook the mushrooms in the Ghee until golden charred, and will release this irresistible mushroomy-umami flavor. See the photo above – this is the look you should be aiming for. It can take a bit of time, as a large amount of water needs to evaporate from the mushrooms. You can feel free and turn the heat to the maximum for a little while, but be sure to stay present there and move them around so as not to burn.
• Remove the mushrooms from the heat onto a plate, covered with kitchen paper. Leave as much fat in the skillet as possible.
• Move on by frying the chicken thighs along with garlic slices on the same skillet and fat – just char the chicken outer layer (especially the skin), until golden. The garlic should become golden too, but be careful not to burn.
• Add the salt, and fry a little more by moving the chicken thighs around, so that they are evenly seasoned with the salt.
• Then add the teriyaki sauce and move the chicken thighs around until a beautiful, deep brown glaze is formed (check out the video above).
• Add mushrooms or broccoli, turn the heat to low, cover with a lid, and let everything simmer. It should be about 20 minutes for the chicken to cook through.
• Meanwhile, cook your egg noodles or tagliatelle according to the package instructions. Don’t forget to add salt to the boiling water. Drain the noodles, but reserve about 100 ml of salty, starchy water.
• Make a chicken sauce taste test and add some more salt if necessary. For the flavoring, you can use a pink Himalaya salt now – it’s less salty, but really good for you and great for the final seasoning, because it’s easier to dose it when you just need a little hint.
• If using yogurt, then add it now. Mix lightly.
• Drop the noodles into the chicken skillet, or if ot’s too small, make it the other way around: put the chicken along with everything else into the noodle pot. Pour in the noodle cooking water. If using cream, then add it now. Toss around.
• Simmer just a few more minutes to let everything melt together. Squeeze some lime to give the final kick.
• Grind or sprinkle some chili flakes over the top, and there you have an easy indulging teriyaki chicken dinner. Carbs and fat included!

Notes

• Whole mushrooms are best when almost all the liquid has evaporated from them. By this process, they develop a nice brown color and an extremely deep flavor layer.
• Ghee is my favorite butter substitute. In many situations (like the current one) it will work even better. Unlike butter, it has a higher smoke point, which means you can sear the chicken thighs until the skin turns deeply golden and crispy without burning. Because the milk solids are removed, ghee also creates a cleaner, more concentrated flavor and a beautiful caramelization — especially perfect for teriyaki-glazed chicken. It’s a small upgrade that makes a big difference.
• You can use garlic flavored Teriyaki sauce; the result will be even better.
• I always prefer a cast-iron skillet, as you can see in the photo above, but feel free to use any sturdy skillet you have at home.
• Despite the common myth, mushrooms should be rinsed to remove dirt and debris — brushing alone isn’t enough. They won’t turn soggy if you dry them well, and since we cook off their moisture anyway, a quick rinse won’t affect the final dish. Clean mushrooms = better, safer food.
• Chicken thighs are best cooked to an internal temperature of 170°F–175°F (77°C–79°C) for optimal tenderness, although they are safe to consume at 165°F (74°C). Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, avoiding the bone, to ensure an accurate reading and juicy results.

Let me know if you made the recipe!

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If you enjoy flexible comfort meals like this, you might also like my Healthier Sloppy Joes recipe: Healthier Sloppy Joes!

This Chicken Teriyaki with mushrooms/veggies and egg noodles is a calorie-dense meal for sure, but I tell you: it’s really worth it. You can plan to make it on a day when you already know you don’t have much time to eat properly, and you will be starving by dinner time. Then you absolutely need those calories. Or for a Sunday supper – why not, just as an exception once a week?

Nutrition Note:

This is a hearty, high-protein meal with 42g of protein per serving, making it very satisfying and ideal for active days. At 944 calories per serving, it’s best enjoyed as your main meal of the day. If you’re aiming for balance, consider keeping your other meals lighter — think vegetable-forward dishes, lean protein, and lower-fat options — to round out your daily intake.

💡 If you’re watching Calories

To reduce calories, you can slightly decrease the noodle portion or use skinless chicken thighs while still keeping the protein high.

Fitness Note:

With 42g of protein per serving, this meal is excellent for supporting muscle recovery and satiety, especially on training days. The combination of protein and carbohydrates helps replenish glycogen stores after workouts, while the higher fat content makes it very satisfying and energy-dense.

At 944 calories per serving, this works best as a post-workout meal or your main meal of the day. If you’re in a calorie deficit, consider pairing it with lighter, protein-forward meals earlier in the day (such as Greek yogurt, eggs, or a lean protein salad) to stay balanced overall.