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), beef and broccoli, 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 (overview):
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, then add the red bell pepper to the skillet and cook for a few minutes until tender-crisp. Add the noodles to the skillet along with a splash of the water they were cooked in, then 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 bell 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
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.
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!).
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Mamaw Henderson says
Sorry. Definitely not fan. I know it is peanut sauce but it’s way to strong. I doubled the sauce and cut the peanut butter to 4 spoons. Still too much.
Tamara Daniel says
It had a great taste to it, and honestly, I love peanut sauce. Unfortunately, it just seemed a little bit too thick, not sure if I did measurements wrong or what I did. I even added a little bit of teriyaki sauce, but unfortunately that didn’t help. I definitely want to try this again maybe with a thinner sauce!! 😊
Natasha says
Hi! Did you use creamy peanut butter? I think you could for sure thin the sauce next time before adding it in... perhaps a little water could work.
Carrie says
I absolutely loved this. I saw a comment that said double the sauce, so I did. Phenomenal. I didn’t even know I liked ramen. I made it with my husband in mind. I added onions to the pepper and cooked those to my liking First, then cooked the beef. I’ll definitely make this again. Thank you!
Natasha says
Excellent!! So glad you liked it!! I appreciate your 5-star review, Carrie!
Beth says
Yum, yum, yum! This is going into my regular meal rotation. The peanut sauce was to die for!
Natasha says
I'm thrilled you enjoyed it, Beth!! Thanks for your review!
Emma says
I didn't love this recipe either. I think it needs more vegetables so isn't just peppers beef and noodles. The peanut butter was a little strange too.
Natasha says
It's actually not strange at all and used in different Asian cuisines. Sorry you didn't like it, though. The recipe description literally calls it a "peanut sauce", and I describe it more in the blog post, so I really don't know how to convey to readers that you will taste the peanut butter. You could definitely add more veggies.
Uncommon Sensesc says
Let's see - if someone has an opinion that doesn't just blow sunshine up your dress, you argue with them? Why not just say that it's not for everyone and move on? Not everyone likes everything. Me? I love a peanut sauce so I'll definitely try it regardless of negative or differing opinions!
Natasha says
Not in most instances, but indeed I will point out to people that if they don't want a peanut sauce, perhaps don't make a recipe where PB is a major sauce component.
Courtney says
Wondering if the sauce can be mixed in advance, or would it affect flavor or breakdown the ingredients in any way? Just thought of saving a little prep time and mixing it the night before. Not that it should take too long but anything to make it quicker for my impatient toddler 😂
Natasha says
So, I haven't tried making the sauce in advance, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. You could maybe add a little extra in case it somehow dries out a bit. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Jp says
Putting peanut butter in the recipe is a no go. It ruined the whole thing
Natasha says
The peanut butter works great. Others love this recipe. Sorry you didn't like it!
Tara Ramirez says
My family loved this! We always play the "What's in it" game when I make a new meal. My kids guessed most of the ingredients but were all shocked when I told them there was peanut butter in it. After I told them, they could then taste and smell it. I did add carrots to the ramen. My son whispered to me that I should put this on our "make it all the time' list! Thank you so much for sharing!
Natasha says
Haha I love that!! That's a fun game and a great way to teach kids about cooking. I'm so glad it was a hit with your family! 😀
Kayla Matta says
Been coming back to this recipe time and time again as it is truly a staple now in my home! My kids enjoy it as well:)
Natasha says
That's awesome!!
Jennifer says
Ehhh.... This wasn't a hit in my house 🙁 the noodles were a bit mushy and the sauce lacked flavor. maybe I did something wrong? Not sure. We will try something else next time!!
Vicky Wilkins says
I want to make this for supper but I don’t know how much Ramon noodles to add. They come in many size packages and different thickness.
Natasha says
Hi Vicky! Just the ones that every supermarket sells (like Mr. Noodles). I believe they're 3 oz/ 85g. Hope you like the recipe!
Megan says
This is the first time I’ve made something from the website that we really didn’t like. The ramen noodles were very mushy (I cooked them exactly 3 minutes) and absorbed all the wonderful sauce, so the flavor kind of disappeared. The hamburger texture was not a good pairing. Oh well. We’ll keep trying
Robin says
This is delicious. My family really enjoyed it. I will definitely be making this again.
Natasha says
Glad it's a new family favorite, Robin!
Julie says
My husband and I really enjoyed this dish. Next time we are going to add another tbs of Soy Sauce.
Natasha says
Awesome!!