Quick Beef Noodles With Veggies (One Pot, 20 Min)
Whip up a quick and easy one-pot beef noodles dinner in just 20 minutes with ground beef, vegetables, and ramen or instant noodles – all tossed with a delicious savory sauce.
Nothing fancy – just comforting and satisfying and perfect for busy weeknights!
Basic Recipe – 4 Steps
- Sauté veggies, then ground beef in a skillet.
- Mix in sauce ingredients.
- Move everything to one half of the skillet, then cook noodles in the other half for 2 minutes.
- Toss noodles, beef and veggies together and serve.
What to expect
This is a one pot meal: You can cook the noodles in the same pot as the beef and veggies since instant and ramen noodles only take 2 minutes to cook. Very convenient!
We are using ground beef which is quicker and easier than using flank steak or another type of beef – no slicing, flouring, or marinating is needed.
Add whatever vegetables you like. Or leave them out. I suggest including onions at a minimum for flavor.
The dish is seasoned with a simple sauce with Asian flavor (DISCARD the seasoning packets that come with the instant noodles). BUT…if you’re feeling lazy, go ahead and use a store-bought sauce with the flavors you like.
Bottom line: This beef ramen noodle recipe with veggies is a great way to get a tasty, quick and easy dinner on the table in 20 minutes.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
Ground beef – I use lean or extra lean ground beef.
Instant noodles – These come in small packages of 85-100 grams along with a seasoning packet that you will discard. The dried instant Ramen noodles are fine too. They both cook in 2 minutes.
Vegetables – I recommend including onions. Beyond that, use what you like or have on hand. I always go for red pepper and baby spinach for color and nutrition. Other good options are zucchini, mushrooms, matchstick carrots, cauliflower, bok choy and snap peas.
Sauce: The 5-ingredient sauce is a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sriracha, Shaoxing wine and brown sugar.
Substitutions
| Instead of: | Use: |
|---|---|
| ground beef | ground pork, ground chicken or ground turkey |
| instant or ramen noodles | rice noodles or any type of wheat noodles (cooked separately) |
| fresh vegetables | store-bought broccoli slaw or kale slaw – super easy! |
| Shioxang wine | another rice cooking wine (not rice vinegar), dry sherry, mirin, or apple cider vinegar |
| Oyster sauce | hoisin sauce or Worcestershire sauce |
| Sriracha | chili paste, gochuchang, peri peri sauce or red pepper flakes |
| Sauce in recipe | a store-bought sauce like Teriyaki sauce, Korean BBQ sauce, Szechaun sauce, peanut sauce, stir-fry sauce. |
Step-by-step instructions
Tip
Don’t overcook the noodles as they will become too soft, even mushy. Just under two minutes is perfect since they will continue cooking as you toss everything together.
Shortcuts
- Buy a bag of broccoli slaw instead of chopping veggies or chop your own veggies in a food processor if you don’t feel like chopping by hand.
- Use a store-bought sauce instead of the one in the recipe.
Make Ahead
If you don’t mind soft noodles, you can certainly reheat the dish before serving or reheat leftovers in the next 2-3 days. Just add a splash of water. Freezing is not recommended as the noodles tend to get mushy.
What to serve with beef noodles
For a quick weeknight dinner, I serve this easy recipe on its own if I include lots of veggies.
To stretch the meal, add a soup like an easy squash apple soup, egg drop vegetable soup or curried lentil soup.
Or a side dish such as no-cook peach compote or Thai mango salad.
More ground beef recipes
- make-ahead Italian meatballs
- healthy meatloaf with mushroom sauce
- meatball subs
- cheeseburger sliders with Hawaiian rolls
- ground beef and vegetable soup
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Quick Beef Noodles With Veggies (One Pot, 20 Min)
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
- 2 cups chopped vegetables, Note 1 *300 -340 grams)
- 1 pound ground beef, Note 2 (lean or extra lean)
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup water
- 2 packages, instant noodles, break into a few pieces, Note 3 DISCARD flavor packets
- Garnish: 1-2 chopped green oinons, and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds if you like.
Sauce ingredients, Note 4
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce dark or low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Shioxang wine
- 1/2 tablespoon sriracha sauce (for mild heat) (use more if you like spicier)
- Optional: 1/2-1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon peanut butter.
Instructions
- MAKE SAUCE: Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl or cup (including optional sesame oil or ginger if you like). Set aside.
- SAUTE VEGETABLES AND BEEF: Heat oil to medium-high heat in large skillet. Add onions and vegetables. Cook for 3 minutes until softened. Add ground beef and garlic. Saute until cooked through (meat will lose pink color), about 3 minutes. Stir in chopped spinach.
- ADD SAUCE: Pour sauce over beef vegetable mixture. Stir for 2-3 minutes to coat evenly. Sauce will cook and thicken slightly.
- COOK NOODLES IN SKILLET: Move beef-vegetable mixture to one half of skillet. Add 1 cup/237 ml water to other half of skillet. Let it come to a boil. Add 2 packages of broken up ramen or instant noodles to water. Let boil for 1 minute, turn them over and boil another 40 seconds or so until softened and water is mostly absorbed.
- FINISH: Toss cooked noodles, beef and veggies together. Taste and add a pinch of black pepper if needed. Garnish with chopped green onions and a sprinkle of sesame seeds (optional).
Recipe Notes
- Chopped vegetable options: some good choices are red bell pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, matchstick carrots, cauliflower, bok choy, snap peas – use 2 cups of one, two or any combination. 2 cups is approximately 1 bell pepper and 2 medium carrots, chopped. Shortcut: skip chopping veggies and use 2-3 cups of store-bought broccoli slaw in a bag.Â
- Ground beef alternatives: ground turkey, ground pork, ground chicken.Â
- Instant noodles or Ramen noodles: These come in small packages of 85-100 grams along with a seasoning packet that you will discard. I use two small packages (170 grams). The noodles are often found in the Asian section of your grocery store. I break them into smaller pieces for easier cooking. You can, of course, cook the noodles separately according to package instructions if you prefer and toss them with the beef at the end.Â
- Sauce substitutes: (flavors may be slightly altered)
- Shaoxing wine: Sub another rice cooking wine (not rice wine vinegar), dry sherry, mirin, or apple cider vinegar.Â
- Oyster sauce: Sub hoisin or Worcestershire sauce. Â
- Sriracha: Sub chili paste, gochujang, peri peri sauce. hot sauce or red pepper flakesÂ
- Brown sugar: Sub maple syrup or honeyÂ
- Shortcut: Skip the sauce ingredients and buy a sauce such as Teriyaki, stir fry sauce, peanut sauce, Korean BBQ sauce, or Szechuan sauce.Â
- Make ahead:
- If you don’t mind soft noodles, you can certainly make the dish ahead and reheat it before serving.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. I find the best way to reheat the beef noodles is in the microwave (add a splash of water and cover the dish) for a couple of minutes, stirring in between.
- Freezing is not recommended as the noodles tend to get mushy.Â
