Friday, February 17, 2012

Butter Herb Noodle Mix



Years ago I had a male roommate brave enough to live with 3 women and every night he would watch Babylon 5 and eat a packet of Sidekicks (then called Lipton 'Noodles and Sauce') right out of the pot he cooked it in. Now that was fine dining!

I though they were disgusting at the time, but years later a friend made one as a side dish with dinner and I had to admit it was pretty tasty. I took a peek at them in the grocery store but decided against buying any- the chemicals were terrible! I experimented with some homemade versions and recently I came up with this: a copycat version of the popular Sidekicks Butter Herb Noodles...

Butter Herb Noodles Mix (single use)

2 tablespoons powdered milk (optional)
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
pinch pepper


The powdered milk is optional. It makes for creamier mix, but I find it tastes better without it. I discovered this because the first batch exploded when I tried to cook it in the microwave so I wasn't sure it was properly seasoned (it ended up being delicious) so I needed to make another batch. But I also realized my poor lactose intolerant stomach wasn't going to handle any more milk in one meal so I gave it a try without and found... perfection!!!

What else you'll need

2 servings uncooked fettuccine noodles broken in half
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter

It's hard to measure out long noodles so I just held a bunch in my hand and formed a bunch about the size of a quarter, then snapped them in half.


You could do a complete mix with noodles included like you buy at the store, but then you would have to separate each batch in its own container and that just seems like extra work and storage space. It's better to just add the noodles each time and have a batch of seasoning mix to throw in.



In a saucepan bring the water to a boil, then add the noodles and mix and stir well. Add butter and continue stirring as they simmer until the noodles are tender and the sauce thickens.


I served the noodles alongside some honey mustard lemon baked sausages and steamed mixed veggies. Usually when I make a side dish there are enough leftovers for lunch the next day, but despite making 2 batches of these not a single noodle saw morning. I think you can guess how good they were from that alone.

10 comments:

  1. What does the nutritional yeast do? Could you skip that?

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  2. Nutritional yeast adds 'unami' flavor to a food (it sort of enhances savory tastes in the same way as MSG) while adding extra b vitamins. It can be skipped without changing the flavor too much, but including it will give it that additive sort of taste that comes with processed foods.

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  3. Thank you for this. I'm excited to try it with my picky family. If they like it, I'll let you know.

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  4. Made this for a side for dinner tonight. I really enjoy the taste, added a bit of garlic to it as we are garlic lovers. And 1t more nutritional yeast.

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  5. THANK YOU so MUCH for this!! I've been looking everywhere for a homemade version of this since I love it so much but know it's not good for me. Now I can use whole wheat pasta. I'm not sure how much pasta is a serving though. I generally just toss a bunch of spaghetti in the pot. Would two servings be 2 quarter-sized handfuls?

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    Replies
    1. I just eyeball my pasta too, I would try it out and if it's not saucy enough just use less pasta the next time.

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  6. I've calculated 4-4.5oz of pasta.

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  7. I use Manischewitz medium egg noodles and they're a perfect for this recipe. I also put more salt, more nutritional yeast (2tsp) and instead of the powdered milk I put 1tsp of cornstarch in about a cup of milk (mixing when there is just a little milk and then adding the rest to the cup) and add that once the noodles are cooked, bring it back to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens.
    If you triple the recipe it's perfect for the whole bag of noodles (if you're making for a family for example)
    Love this recipe!
    Thank you so much for figuring it out!!

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    Replies
    1. I should add I leave out the 1tbs cornstarch at the beginning of the recipe in the spice mix

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