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. 👌
This came out great! I don’t like peanut so I added a bit of sesame oil to the sauce and threw in some carrots and it turned out soooo good. I saved some of the pork before I added the noodles so I could have it on rice as well. The spice level was perfect for me but I love spice so if you don’t, consider adding less.
I’m having the hardest time finding whole or chopped unsalted peanuts here in suburban Chicago. The only place I haven’t checked is Whole Foods. Any thoughts?
You can probably use salted peanuts, but then reduce the soy sauce just slightly (like 3T + 2tsp soy sauce instead of a full 4T).
I rinsed the salt of some cashews when I made this the first time (I forgot to buy them and just used what I had on hand). It worked out just fine. I had to chop them up myself. Love this dish! It is always good to have a non-dairy pasta option.
I really liked this recipe but next time will cut the spice even more. I made it for 12 and did 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup brown sugar & 1/2 cup of the chili sauce. Next time I will do 1/3-1/4 a cup of chili sauce, 1 cup of soy sauce & 1 cup of brown sugar. I also served it with broccoli. If you are at all sensitive to the heat I would recommend cutting it back for sure. I used 2 pounds of meat & 6 ramen packs from the refrigerator section & low sodium soy sauce. I also used a little beef stock splashed on top to help warm up the noodles, which are precooked. I have lots of left overs for hungry teens. Thanks for the recipe!
I have to say how much I love this recipe, I have become slihtly obsessed and make it once a week. I can find a large pack of ramen noodles for $1.69 at Aldi. I half the chili sauce for taste preference. Sometimes I sub veggies for the meat – red cabbage and snow peas are a great addition. Thanks for the simple, go-to recipe! This stops me from order take out so often :)
Easy to make and tasty. My only complaint is that it’s incredibly salty! Next time I will use low sodium soy sauce and try to find a Chile garlic sauce with much less salt.
I made this tonight. I added thick cut zoodles and used fresh udon noodles instead of ramen. Hubby loved it! However, I thought it was too spicy. I ate it, but I would love to make it again without it being too spicy. I definitely want to make this again.
Any idea how to cut back some of the spiciness?
You can reduce the chili garlic sauce to 2 Tbsp.
Made this recipe exactly as written for the first time tonight and it is so good! I like spicy food and this was perfect. Glad to use some of the chilli garlic sauce I’ve had hanging around. Will definitely add to my meal rotation. Thank you!
Awesome recipe! Very simple, and VERY effective. I ate the whole bowl in almost one bite! I had to use regular sriracha since I couldn’t find chili garlic sauce here. Added some five spices mix I had lying around, it added a nice depth to it, and I cooked the pork until it was crispy (and toasted the peanuts too).
Your recipes are a blessing for students like me, Beth!
This may seem like a dumb question, but, anyway, I’ve been avoiding making any dishes that requires soy sauce because I’ve not yet acquired the taste so I’ve been missing out n was hoping they may b a substitute, worchestier sauce for example?
Hmm, no I don’t think Worcestershire sauce would be a good substitute because it is much sweeter and just has a different flavor overall. I know sometimes people use tamari or coconut aminos in place of soy sauce, but I’ve never used either myself so I don’t know if it would be a 1:1 substitution.
You can totally sub coconut amines for the soy sauce. That is what I do and it still turns out amazing.
This was SO fast and easy to make, and delicious!! A lot of times I have to double the recipe time for how long it takes me – but this recipe actually took 25 mins! And yes, it is pretty spicy (just on the edge of my tolerance level) but that makes it soooo good. I used egg noodles to use up what I had in the pantry, and it was great.
Might be a dumb question but how spicy 🌶 is it mild, med or hot !
Very spicy. :)
I use Ka-Me Sweet Chili Garlic sauce and it isn’t too spicy. I can’t do spicy and I love this dish!
Anything made with ground pork is just as easily made with ground turkey. I use the normal, not the extra lean, ground turkey in most Chinese recipes because the cooked texture is almost the same as pork while all of the spices covers any difference in taste between the two meats.
I usually decide based upon availability and price.
This dish was super easy to make. But it was way too spicy!!! I was sweating for 30 minutes. If your not great with spicy foods, I’d recommend using half the amount of chili garlic sauce. I usually can eat mild, but this was very spicy for me. Other than that, I liked a how quick it was.
Just made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious. A little on the spicy side for my wife, but perfect for me. If you want to go a little bit more luxurious, you can opt for Shanghai ‘Oil’ noodles, which are in the refrigerated food area if you live in a town with a large Chinese population (we live in Vancouver, so that’s a given). The texture of the Shanghai noodles is perfect with this dish, and steamed Baby Bok Choi on the side was a great, crunchy but also tasty companion (and it did indeed help to cool off some of the spiciness of that Chili Garlic sauce.
I think this may become one of my regular go-to dishes during the coming season.
Finally made this! I couldn’t find chili garlic sauce, so I substituted Samabal Oelek and added a clove of minced garlic to the sauce. I also added a bag of thawed frozen broccoli to the finished product. The recipe was quick, easy, and delicious! I am enjoying it now and looking forward to leftovers for lunch!