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.
Servings (change as needed): 4 (or 3 larger portions)
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).
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.
- Ground beef alternatives: ground turkey, ground pork, ground chicken.
- 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.
- 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.
- Oyster sauce: Sub hoisin or Worcestershire sauce.
- Sriracha: Sub chili paste, gochujang, peri peri sauce. hot sauce or red pepper flakes
- Brown sugar: Sub maple syrup or honey
- Shortcut: Skip the sauce ingredients and buy a sauce such as Teriyaki, stir fry sauce, peanut sauce, Korean BBQ sauce, or Szechuan sauce.
- 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.
Calories: 517kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 1578mg | Potassium: 819mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 6036IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 6mg