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. 👌
Had this for dinner tonight, made exactly as written except doubled everything as we are a crowd. Served with steamed broccoli and it was a big hit. Thanks for another keeper.
Edit to add: from some of the comments, i thought this would be super spicy and i considered lessening the amount of chili paste. In the end, i stuck with the original recipe and im so glad i did. As my dh said, it was the perfect amount of heat to give good flavor and some zing, but not so much that your ears or eyes were burning
This is delicious! The spice was perfect! I’m doubling the recipe next week per my hubby 😋
Do you think I could use cashews instead of peanuts? I almost have all the ingredients. Would just just need the chili garlic sauce and peanuts if I can’t use cashews. Might substitute the pork for shredded beef, since I already have that on hand.
One blog suggestion, I would like to see more recipes that are rather cheap to make that still taste delicious and are meal prep-able. I’m on a very tight budget (I try to stay within $45/week for groceries) and love meal prepping. I’ve saved a lot of money this week bringing my meals rather than eating out all the time.
Keep up the great work. I love this blog. It’s the only blog that has really inspired me to actually start meal prepping. I love being able to cook one or twice a week instead of multiple times during the week!
Thanks, Kristy! Yes, cashews should work just fine. Shredded beef may not work quite the same as the ground pork, since the fat probably rendered off while cooking, so keep that in mind. While I never really highlighted it much before the “meal prep” trend started, as a rule of thumb I pretty much meal prep everything I make, so most of the recipes on this site are meal prep-able. :)
So so so good! I love the lime shrimp noodles, but think this is my new favorite version. The first time I made it it was WAY too hot for me (I’m a bit of a whimp) but the next time I made it I only did half of the chili garlic sauce, and added an extra tablespoon of brown sugar and soy sauce to get the right amount of sauce. It was so good, and so easy. Definitely will make this again!
Wow! I just made this and I am just blown away. It was so simple to put together and it had so much flavor. I’m already planning on making this again soon. I definitely think I’ll add some cooked broccoli or shredded cabbage to the pan at the end the next time. I didn’t think to grab any this time.
I’m already looking forward to my leftovers!
Love LOVE this dish! I made it for the first time last night subbing low sodium soy and lean ground pork and only 2 tbsp of the chili garlicn sauce since I was cooking for a 7 year old as well. We both loved it though, such a great quick weekn night meal. This will for sure be going into my regular meal rotation.
Made this for prepping for the week. Ate a bowl the first night, and it was HOT. Like nose running hot, and I do like spicy food. It did settle down once re-heated though.
I will probably do 1/4 to 1/3 cup next time, and add some peanut butter like one person suggested above. Any maybe some veggies.
I used Udon noodles for this. Which was fantastic.
10/10 would make again.
Budget Bytes is truly an incredible blog. This recipe (and the previous ones) are delicious, and the website isn’t annoying like other cooking blogs. Keep up the amazing work.
Thank you, Nicolas! I appreciate that. :)
This has become one of my favorite lunches of all time. I cut back on the chili sauce by half since my husband is not a fan of spicy, but it was still too much for him. Next time I will cut it back by 1/4. I also add a couple tablespoons of peanut butter to give it a little more of a peanut taste and it was fantastic!! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes. Almost everything I have made from your site has been a hit!! :
Can’t find this recipe on the app.
Unfortunately there are two separate search functions on the app right now. One that searches the 500 recipes that come pre-loaded into the app, and the second searches all the recipes available for download from the marketplace. If you click on the marketplace icon on the bottom center of the screen, then make sure to tap on “recipes” you can then search at the top to find this recipe.
These were excellent! I actually doubled the recipe to make sure we would have leftovers but reduced the chili garlic sauce slightly (1/3 cup for a doubled recipe vs. 1/2). My husband and I really like spicy but this was just the right amount for us. Because there was slightly less liquid as a result, I also added a splash of chicken broth to ensure the noodles stayed saucy. A definite winner served with a side of sesame broccoli.
My twin boys are 20 and they’d told me last night that this was the best stir fry I’ve ever made. That is a huge compliment for me and you too!! I did double the recipe and added a ton of veggies along with a Tbsp of each garlic and ginger. Didn’t double the chili sauce, just added an extra 1/2 Tbsp. Thank you so much.
Even better the second time. I added broccoli, cabbage, and carrots sauteed in sesame oil and used udon noodles this time. Insanely good!
Love this dish!! I mainly eat veg, so instead of the pork, I take extra firm tofu and crumble it up. Then I pan fry it until it’s a bit crispy and brown and then follow the rest of the steps of the recipe. I usually add a bunch of vegetables too, which I guess goes against the idea of it being a quick and easy comfort meal :P
This was a delicious hit and so very easy! I recommend doubling the noodles and using a scant 1/4 of the chili sauce. great leftovers, if you can restrain yourself from eating them all…