Don’t you just love how I post a pasta recipe immediately after the blog post where I say I’m trying to break my addiction to pasta? 😂 We’re all human. Anyway, This week I threw a spin on my classic Dragon Noodle recipe by adding ground pork and chopped peanuts, using a chunky chili garlic sauce in place of the sriracha, and using some good ramen noodles that I got at the international market. This recipe is ridiculously easy and soooo rich and delicious. Sweet, salty, sticky, crunchy, and all the noooooodles! These Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles are like comfort food x 100. You’ll never go back to take out. Ever.
What Kind of Noodles Can I Use?
You can use just about any type of noodle for this recipe, but I suggest something kind of light like a ramen or egg noodle as opposed to a traditional spaghetti. The noodles I used came in a huge package, but I used about the equivalent to two standard 3oz. ramen packages. My noodles were quite a bit more expensive than grocery store ramen, so you can probably make this for even less! Woo!
What to Serve with Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles
And because this dish is so sweet, rich, and indulgent, I highly suggest serving it with something green. I grabbed a bag of baby bok choy while I was at the international market and just sautéed them up briefly until wilted. You could even add some vegetables to the noodles, if you want. Broccoli florets or even some fresh spinach would be awesome. Shredded napa cabbage would be amazing, too. Or serve some Sesame Kale on the side!
Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles
Servings 3Ingredients
Dragon Sauce
- 1/4 cup chili garlic sauce ($0.53)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.16)
Pork and Noodles
- 1/2 lb. ground pork* ($1.50)
- 2 3oz. packages ramen noodles (seasoning packets discarded) ($1.00)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.20)
- 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts, chopped ($0.12)
Instructions
- Combine the chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a bowl.
- Add the ground pork to a skillet and cook over medium heat until it is fully browned*. Once browned, add the prepared dragon sauce and chopped peanuts. Allow the pork and peanuts to simmer in the sauce for another 5 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by half.
- While the pork is browning, begin boiling water for your noodles. Once boiling, add your noodles and cook according to the package directions. Drain the noodles in a colander.
- Once the sauce has reduced and the noodles have drained, add the noodles to the skillet and toss until everything is combined and coated in sauce. Top with sliced green onions and serve!
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Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles – Step by Step Photos
Prepare the dragon sauce by combining 1/4 cup chili garlic sauce, 1/4 cup soy sauce, and 1/4 cup brown sugar.
This is the chili garlic sauce I’m talking about. You can find it in most stores right next to the sriracha. It’s kind of like a chunkier version of sriracha. It’s a mix of red chiles, garlic, vinegar, and salt. Super simple, but easier than adding all of those ingredients to your sauce individually. :)
Add 1/2 lb. ground pork to a skillet and cook over medium heat until it’s browned and cooked through. The ground pork I used was about 25% fat. It had enough fat so that I didn’t have to add any extra oil, but not so much that I had to drain off any excess fat after browning. You want about 1 Tbsp fat in the skillet to combine with the sauce, so if your pork is really greasy, drain some off before the next step.
Add the dragon sauce to the browned pork, along with 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts that have been chopped.
Let the pork and peanuts simmer in the sauce for about five minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by half. The sauce should be just thick enough that you can leave a trail in the skillet when you drag your spatula across, and the trail slowly fills in. While the pork and peanuts are simmering, boil the water for your noodles. Cook 6 oz. noodles according to the package directions. Drain the cooked noodles in a colander.
The pork is almost candied at this point and is SO GOOD that I had a hard time not just eating it out of the skillet. The peanuts kind of absorb the sauce as well. It’s just too good to be true.
Add the drained noodles to the pork and peanut mixture. Toss until everything is combined and coated in sauce.
Once everything is combined, sprinkle a few sliced green onions over top and serve!
So freaking good, guys. So good.
And like I said in the intro, these noods are really rich, so I suggest serving them with something green. Because the noodles are super flavorful you don’t even have to add anything to your greens. Just leave them fresh to contrast the super rich pork and noodles. 👌
Would it destroy this dish if I did the following?
Back down the brown sugar a little and add peanut butter?
Swap out the pork for chicken… either sliced thin or maybe even ground
Are some sriracha and red pepper flakes to the chili sauce
I think all of those things would be amazing!
Good flavor. Worth making for sure. Very spicy. This would be a 7 out of 10 at a restaurant spice level. I loved the spice level. My family…..not so much.
Just a suggestion on the pork dragon noodles. Use low sodium soy sauce. I made this per the instructions and it was too salty. Also – make sure you like really spicy food because this is really spicy!
This taste like ass
So delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, except for the brand of chili garlic sauce, and served it with broccoli. My mom and boyfriend both loved it as well.
Do you think I could freeze the pork and sauce mixture? I’d love to be able to make a giant batch and portion it out.
I think the ramen would be gross after freezing, but it’d be great to cook a brick of noodles and thaw a little container of sauce/pork for a single serving here and there (:
I think that’s a great idea!
Danged delightful dragon noodles & a big hit with the fam! 🐉🍜🏆
I made this tonight and it was so good! I used sweet chili sauce and cashews instead of peanuts. The sweet chili sauce may have made it sweeter as it was pretty sweet, but still really good and a keeper for sure! I also sauteed some red cabbage and snow and sugar snap peas to add more veg to it and served your Sesame Cucumber Salad with it. Pretty well balanced and kind of fun to make, lol.
Delicious ❤️ spicy goodness and SUPER easy! Dinner on the table in 20 mins. I added black and white sesame seeds with the green onions. I think this would also be amazing with cubed chicken.
I am a total noob at cooking, this is seriously the third real meal I have cooked, but it was incredibly easy and tasty, my family really liked it and complimented me :) But it was so darn easy!
THIS IS THE 4TH RAMEN RECIPE I’VE READ JUST NOW AND I NOTICED THAT ALL OF THEM HAVE HIGH, OR EVEN VERY HIGH, SODIUM CONTENT IN THE NUTRITIONAL INFO. I SUSPECT THAT THIS MIGHT BE BECAUSE ALL THE SODIUM THAT WOULD HAVE COME IN THE SEASONING PACKET, THAT WE AREN’T USING, WEREN’T SUBTRACTED FROM THE TOTAL. IS THAT WHY?
Yes, unfortunately our nutritional data is calculated using ingredient databases that do not specify with or without the flavor packet for ramen.
Any suggestions for chili garlic sauce subs? It’s not available at the moment.
Yep, you can do sriracha. Most other brands that make sriracha are still available, since the shortage with Huy Fong is isolated to their supplier.
I’ve been making this recipe since it was published the first time. I was a student so the less ingredients, the best. It’s the recipe that got me hooked on your website!
After all these years I still make it once or twice a month. My boyfriend always request it when I don’t know what to cook, we almost always have everything to make it on hand as a last minute meal idea.
This is a regular in my house over zoodles. Love it.
Adjusted the spice to be more sweet for my kids and it got an enthusiastic “I loved it!” and a request to make it again! Adding it to the repertoire!!
What did you use instead? I was wanting to make it for my kids but worried about the spice level. Thanks!
I have made this recipe MANY times. The first time, I followed the recipe exactly x4 cause there are a bunch of us. We quickly discovered that the Chili Garlic sauce was overpowering for us. I still make it, but I use 1.5 cups soy/brown sugar and like 2-3 tablespoons of the Chili Garlic sauce. We also cannot keep peanuts in the house.. (they disappear to fast) so I use peanut butter and add it to the sauce. The teens and all their friends inhale this every time I make it. I am so thankful for the ideas and meals that I get from this site!!