5-ingredient Asian recipes: 12 easy dinners from pantry staples
A short-list of Asian dinners that need just five ingredients (plus water, oil, and salt). Every recipe below is a real weeknight cook — stir-fries, noodles, rice bowls, and one-pot curries — built around the staples most Asian kitchens already keep on the shelf.
Only have four of the five? Pantry Kaki matches recipes to whatever's actually in your kitchen and suggests smart swaps for anything missing. Search recipes by your ingredients →
The pantry these recipes assume
Water, neutral oil, and salt are freebies. The other five ingredients per recipe come from a core Asian pantry: soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, miso, gochujang, curry paste, coconut milk, rice, noodles, garlic, ginger, and eggs. Miss one? See the substitutions guide for a swap.
Garlic soy noodles
Chinese · 10 min- Wheat noodles
- Garlic
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Scallions
Boil noodles. Sizzle sliced garlic in hot sesame oil until fragrant, off heat stir in soy sauce, toss with drained noodles and scallions.
Tip. Add a splash of the noodle water to loosen the sauce.
Egg fried rice
Chinese · 12 min- Cold cooked rice
- Eggs
- Soy sauce
- Scallions
- Neutral oil
Scramble eggs in oil, push aside. Add rice, press flat and let it crisp, then fold everything with soy sauce and scallions.
Tip. Day-old rice fries into distinct grains; fresh rice steams into clumps.
Chicken teriyaki bowl
Japanese · 20 min- Chicken thighs
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
- Mirin (or rice vinegar + sugar)
- Rice
Sear chicken skin-down until golden, flip. Simmer soy + mirin + sugar until syrupy, spoon over sliced chicken on rice.
Miso soup
Japanese · 8 min- Water
- Miso paste
- Silken tofu
- Wakame or spinach
- Scallions
Simmer water, drop in tofu and greens, kill the heat, then whisk in miso off the boil to keep it alive.
Kimchi fried rice
Korean · 12 min- Cold cooked rice
- Kimchi
- Sesame oil
- Egg
- Soy sauce
Fry chopped kimchi in sesame oil until deep red, add rice and a splash of soy, top with a runny fried egg.
Gochujang butter noodles
Korean · 10 min- Noodles of any kind
- Gochujang
- Butter
- Garlic
- Soy sauce
Melt butter with grated garlic, whisk in gochujang and a spoon of soy, toss with hot noodles and a splash of pasta water.
Pad see ew (weeknight)
Thai · 15 min- Wide rice noodles
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
- Egg
- Chinese broccoli or any greens
Hot pan, scramble egg, add greens, then noodles with soy + sugar. Leave it alone 30 seconds at a time to get the char.
Thai basil chicken (pad krapow)
Thai · 12 min- Ground chicken
- Garlic + chili
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
- Thai (or holy) basil
Smash garlic and chili, fry in oil, add chicken and break it up, splash soy + sugar, off heat fold in basil.
Tip. Serve on rice with a crispy fried egg — the classic move.
Coconut curry noodles
Thai · 15 min- Coconut milk
- Red curry paste
- Fish sauce
- Rice noodles
- Lime
Fry curry paste in a spoon of coconut cream, add rest of coconut milk + fish sauce, simmer, add cooked noodles, finish with lime.
Vietnamese lemongrass pork
Vietnamese · 20 min (+ marinate)- Pork chops or thin steaks
- Lemongrass
- Garlic
- Fish sauce
- Sugar
Blitz lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce and sugar into a paste, rub on pork, sear hot until caramelized. Serve on rice.
Dal tadka (5-ingredient)
Indian · 25 min- Red lentils
- Turmeric
- Salt
- Ghee or oil
- Cumin seeds + garlic
Simmer rinsed lentils with turmeric and salt until soft. Bloom cumin and sliced garlic in hot ghee, pour that tadka over the dal.
Chana masala shortcut
Indian · 20 min- Canned chickpeas
- Canned tomatoes
- Onion
- Garam masala
- Ginger + garlic
Brown onion in oil, add grated ginger + garlic, stir in tomatoes and garam masala, simmer 10 min, fold in chickpeas.
Tip. Finish with a squeeze of lemon if you have one — it wakes the whole pot up.
Rules that make 5 ingredients enough
- Lean on high-impact staples. Soy sauce, fish sauce, miso, and gochujang each do the work of three lesser ingredients — one spoon carries salt, umami, and depth.
- Aromatics count as one. Garlic + ginger + chili, blitzed together, is a single flavor base — treat it as one slot on your five.
- Sauce = salt + sweet + fat. Most Asian sauces are a variation of this triangle. Once you see it, five ingredients is plenty.
- Char is a free ingredient. Leave your noodles or protein alone in a hot pan for 30 seconds at a time — you gain flavor without adding anything.
Cook what you already have tonight
These 12 recipes are a starting point. If your pantry looks slightly different, Pantry Kaki will find the recipes that actually match it — no scrolling past dishes that need six things you don't have.
Every recipe here has been simplified for a busy weeknight — traditional versions often use more ingredients for more nuance. Cook these first, then explore the fuller versions.