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!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Video
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. 👌
One of the best recipes, love it – easy, fast, and soooo extendable. Add one or two spoonfuls of oyster sauce for that extra flavor.
This recipe is good as written. Second time around with changes made to suit our tastes and spice level (and we like things spicy) we give the recipe 5 stars. Sorry, but first off, it’s just way too spicy. Secondly, the sauce seemed like it was missing something. 1 Tablespoon each of minced Garlic and grated ginger, 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of 5 spice powder were added to the sauce ingredients. Garlic Chili sauce reduced to 2 teaspoons and those that liked it spicer could add it to their dish when meal was served. Peanuts subbed for 2 teaspoons of sesame oil. One zucchini and chopped red pepper were sauteed and added when noodles were added. Garnished with chopped peanut, chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime. As you can see a VERY versatile recipe to suite your tastes and what’s in your fridge.
I make this recipe super often (and I typically don’t repeat recipes) because it’s so delicious while also being extremely easy to make. I’ve been monitoring my calories recently, and as-is this is a bit over my calorie budget, but I can’t resist keeping the peanuts! So recently I’ve been replacing the noodles with 10 oz of shredded cabbage and it’s JUST AS GOOD. I add the cabbage when I add the sauce so that the cabbage can wilt as the sauce cooks down.
Holy spicy noodles! Delicious but we are dying lol. Needs a warning with it – dragon noodles because you will BREATHE FIRE!
I used a vegan beef crumble, added chopped carrots and doubled the sauce and noodle amount. I also added 2 tbsp of sugar free peanut butter because I was out of peanuts.
Except for my mouth burning the flavor was spot on
LOL! Came here to say that! Made this tonight and my nose is running. Super tasty but SO MUCH SPICE! I think I’ll halve the chili garlic sauce next time.
Yum yum yum! This is a fabulous quick foundation for a meal. I sadly didn’t have chilli garlic paste, so I added in fresh garlic, ginger, a bit of chicken broth, red pepper flakes, carrot matchsticks and a little sesame oil. Next time I’ll add chopped cabbage too. My husband couldn’t get over how good it was (he’s quite picky). And definitely easier than piling my toddlers in the car and going out somewhere. Can’t beat that.
Used 3/4 of the garlic chili sauce, and it was plenty hot for me. Instant hit in our (very picky) household!
I am so glad I found this recipe. I live in a very rural area so unfortunately takeout isn’t in my cards unless I want to drive 40 mins for it. This recipe is really quick and perfect for nights when I’m getting home late and still have kids to get from sports’ practice, etc.
I quadrupled this recipe to make sure I had a little left for next day’s lunch. I think the servings are a bit small given the amount of noodles (3 oz. Of ramen is1 block of the cheap packs at the market) unless you are using this as a side dish. I’m really glad I did make such a large pan because I only had enough for 2 bowls for the next day. The husband and kid are multiple plates of this between themselves . I couldn’t find real ramen in my area so I had to use the noodles out of the ramen soup packs (discarding seasoning packets). I did find the chili garlic sauce after searching through the store as and found it in the Asian section (thought it would be in condiment aisle where sriracha and chili sauce from the same brand are found). I used 3/4 of the amount called for in the recipe and am glad I did because this was on the verge of being too spicy. Next time I will add a bit less of the chili garlic sauce and thrown in some veggies. Thanks again for the awesome recipes.
Took the advice from the comments and used only 1/2 half the amount of chili garlic in the sauce (because when it comes to spicy food I’m a BABY). It was excellllentttt. This is a new mainstay for sure.
This was great, I will be making it again for sure. It was really spicy and I like spicy food but I might decrease the amount next time. Also it would be great with peanut butter in it. Thank you for this. So easy and so good
This was SO good! I doubled the sauce ingredients, but halved the chili sauce because I was concerned it’d be too spicy for my taste. Next time I’ll only cut the sauce by 1tbsp. I also added a teaspoon of sesame oil, used cashews instead, and added broccoli and bell pepper. I used what was labeled as “Chinese noodles” from my local grocery store, tasted & looked just like Ramen so I guess it was the same thing. I was wondering if I could just buy Maruchan next time and use that without the flavor packet? Much cheaper!
this is really good with a half cup of natural peanut butter mixed in with the sauce and skipping the chopped peanuts. you lose the crunch and texture but the flavor is delish. I discovered this because I was cooking for someone who couldn’t handle chewing peanuts. Just wanted to share that for anyone who may not have good to know for others who want to make this but don’t have peanuts on hand!
OMG. The Pork and Peanut Noodles are absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, I had to leave out the unsalted peanuts and green onions because I didn’t have both ingredients on hand. However, I did serve the noodles with sauteed broccoli on the side since the dish is rich and spicy. I’m looking forward to making it again. Thanks, Beth. 😍😍
I am trying to cut back on pasta and incorporate more veggies. How do you think this recipe would be if I swapped out the ramen noodles for zoodles? Or would you recommend another type of spiralized veggie? Thanks!
I’m personally not a fan of spiralized vegetables in place of pasta, so I know that *I* wouldn’t like it, but I think it’s just a personal call. :)
Bailey, I replace the noodles with shredded cabbage (added when with the sauce), and it works great.
I used Vermicelli (Bean thread noodles) instead. Way less carbs (Bonus GF because I have celiacs). I also added some chopped baby bok choy and shredded carrots.
I made this for myself this week, and liked it so much I’m making it again this weekend. Very satisfying and easy to do. The sauce is easy to tweak and the whole thing hardly takes any time at all after a workday.
I never bought that chili sauce in the past, but I have a feeling it’s about to become a staple in my fridge.
This was SO good! I’ve made A LOT of recipes from this site…but this is up there in the top 5! My kids are heat-wimps, so I halved the chili sauce. That was good for one kid and me, not hot enough for my husband, and too hot for one kid. Oh well — it was delicious!