This beef ramen noodles recipe is super comforting and comes together fast! You’ll love the tender ground beef with an addictive sweet and savory peanut sauce. Ready in only 30 minutes!
I love making Asian-inspired recipes. My ground beef bowls (with rice) and my beef and noodles (made with ramen and sirloin) are very popular whenever I feature them on Instagram, so I decided to create a sort of hybrid of the two. In my opinion, you can never have too many quick and easy beef recipes. 🙂
This one’s a bit different because I used peanut butter. I looove a good peanut sauce! I also added some soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sriracha sauce (it’s not too spicy mixed in with the other ingredients – don’t worry, but also feel free to add more if you do want it spicy!), garlic, and ginger.
This is the perfect recipe for a busy weeknight. It’s cheaper and faster than getting takeout. I seriously had troubles stopping eating this when the photos were done!
How to make this beef noodle bowl
- Brown the beef in a skillet;
- Meanwhile, boil the water to cook the ramen;
- Drain the beef of any excess fat and stir in the sauce ingredients;
- Add the red pepper to the skillet and cook for a few minutes until tender-crisp, and meanwhile, cook the noodles;
- Add the noodles to the skillet along with a splash of the water they were cooked in;
- Season with salt & pepper if needed and garnish with chopped scallions.
(Full ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card below)
If you’re not a fan of red peppers, feel free to leave them out. I just added it for a bit of color, crunch, and freshness. You could sub for another veggie if you prefer!
If you love ramen, try my chicken ramen noodle stir-fry, or you might like this easy chicken ramen recipe (soup).
Will you make this ground beef and ramen noodles recipe?
Questions? Let me know in the comments!
Beef Ramen Noodles
This beef ramen noodles recipe is super comforting and comes together fast! You'll love the tender ground beef with an addictive sweet and savory peanut sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound extra lean ground beef
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 3 heaping tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon sriracha sauce or to taste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 packages ramen noodles seasoning packets discarded
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Scallions chopped (optional)
Instructions
Add the beef to a skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned (about 8 minutes). If there's a lot of excess fat, spoon most of it out.
Meanwhile, boil a pot of water for the ramen noodles.
Take the skillet off the heat and stir in the sauce ingredients (peanut butter, hoisin sauce, sriracha sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic).
Return the skillet to the heat and add in the red pepper (you will probably need to turn the heat down a bit). Continue cooking for a few more minutes, stirring often, until the pepper is tender-crisp.
The noodles only take about 3 minutes to cook, so I recommend adding the noodles to the boiling water just as you add the red pepper into the skillet.
Once the noodles are done, add 4 tablespoons (or so) of the cooking water into the skillet prior to draining them. Drain the noodles and add them to the skillet.
Toss well and season with extra salt & pepper if needed. Top with scallions if desired. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- I like to keep a piece of fresh ginger in the freezer (just in a ZipLoc bag or Tupperware container) so that I always have some on hand. It's also much easier to grate when frozen. I use my Microplane grater to grate it (thanks to my friend Meghan for the life-changing tip!).
Pat says
Made this last night, it was soooo delish! I subbed oyster sauce for the hoisin. Also I keep a jar of pureed ginger from the ginger people in my fridge to use, this stuff is amazing. Served along side steamed brocolli and my kids inhaled it, asked for seconds!
Natasha says
So happy everyone enjoyed it!! I need to check that pureed ginger out…
Cheri says
Loved it!! Did not have sriracha sauce so I added some cayene pepper. Will definitely make this again. Thanks Natasha.
Natasha says
Wonderful! So glad it worked out, Cheri!
Libbi V. says
Sooo good! And a great pantry staple! I left out the sriracha, since my son can’t handle any spice. I also added a fourth noodle packet and made a little more sauce because I wanted to make sure we had leftovers 🙂 Thanks for another great recipe!
Natasha says
Awesome… I’m glad it worked out! You’re very welcome!
Marie-Josee says
It is super delicious!! I used soya butter instead because i am allergic to peanuts and quite a few nuts. Quick to do as I come back from work, less expensive than take out. Thank you !!
Natasha says
I’m so glad you were able to tweak it! 🙂
Erica says
Do you peel your ginger before freezing? This is an awesome tip
Natasha says
Hi Erica! Thank you! I don’t… I find the peel flakes off super easily so it doesn’t really bug me, and it protects the ginger from freezer burn. You can just grate the skin off (like over the garbage or sink or something) and then once you get past the peel, just grate it onto the food. 🙂
Gina says
This recipe is delicious and has been at the top of my list since I first made it!
Natasha says
Wonderful! Thanks for letting me know! XO
Norman says
Sounds like a 4or5 star.. Gonna give it a try thanks.
Natasha says
Hope you enjoy it!
Nancy MacDonald says
Easy and fast! It made is both smile:-) You can’t beat a garlic and ginger base. Opportunities for veggie additions and I’ll be using this recipe again. Thanks, love your 30 minute meals.
Natasha says
That’s great to hear! 🙂
Bob says
Do you peel the ginger before or after freezinf?
Natasha says
Hi! I just freeze the whole unpeeled piece of ginger. When you grate it, the peel comes off super quick/easily. You can discard the peel (like grate it into the sink or something until the peel is gone) and just continue grating when you’ve reached the flesh.
Heather says
This looked so good that I gave up on my original plan for dinner tonight and made this instead (on the very first day you posted it). It was a huge hit with my family (2 girls aged 5&7). The girls almost fought over the last of the noodles and my husband said we can eat this meal anytime. I added a whole pepper because we all love peppers and boiled some very small broccoli florets right in the pot with the noodles for serving of veggies. Thanks for a delicious, easy and budget friendly meal recipe.
Natasha says
Aww I’m so happy to hear that, Heather!! So pleased it was a hit with the family. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment!
Meg says
So excited to try this. Chili oil is a great idea – I also have sesame chili oil may try that as a twist. I’m going to leave out the red peppers. Thoughts on thin sautéed onions with mushrooms or go heavy on scallions?
Natasha says
I think sauteed onions are a great idea!!
Linda says
Can I use almond butter instead of peanut butter? Allergies..
Natasha says
You could definitely give it a try, Linda! Let me know how it goes – I’m curious. If it’s pretty creamy then I don’t see why it shouldn’t work.
Erika Susanne says
I made this for dinner and added mushrooms for added veggies. Loved it! The sauce was really good and I liked that by adding the water from the noodles I could control how thick or thin it turned out.
This was a really great meal for a weeknight dinner that wasn’t too expensive because I had all of the ingredients for the sauce as well as the meat. The noodles and veggies were easy and inexpensive.
For those who love additional Asian flare and flavor (or spice), I also topped it with some chili oil and it was SO GOOD!
Natasha says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Erika!! Great idea on adding the mushrooms and chili oil! Thanks so much for leaving me a comment! 🙂