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. 👌
Absolutely love this recipe! Such an easy weeknight fix. We paired it with sauteed baby bok choy and it was divine! I swapped the pork with ground turkey for a little less fat (surprisingly less noticable change in the final dish than I expected. The sauce really makes up for the less savory meat). Also used low sodium soy sauce time cut back on the salt a bit. Perfectly seasoned that way!
My only concern is I can’t make it often. My boyfriend and I are trying to avoid sugar. Would there be any swap we could make for the sugar? I would be happy to use a tablespoon or so, but 1/4 cup is a little much. I’m mostly afraid the sauce won’t thicken enough with too little sugar.
The sauce probably won’t thicken as much, as you said, and the balance of flavors will change quite a bit. The sugar balances both the heat and the salt. So, you can play around with reducing the sugar to see where you find the balance still acceptable. I would just try reducing it by 1 Tbsp every time you make it until you find the ratio that works for both your taste buds and dietary needs. :)
Absolutely delicious!!! Followed the recipe exactly. My partner and I are huge fans. We both agree it is an immediate repeat for us. Thank you for this recipe! It was the first one I have tried from Budget Bytes. Can’t wait to try more! :)
The flavor was rediculously good – we used half the chili sauce, but it still had a good spice to it (and surprisingly my 7 year old ate a serving!). However, my noodles got all clumpy and I had a hard time getting them coated with the sauce – any suggestions on how to keep them from being so starchy/sticky? (I used the kind from those cheap ramen packets — we just didn’t use the enclosed seasoning packet. This is my first time cooking with ramen noodles since college -ha! Never knew they could taste so good.)
You may try giving them a brief rinse before adding them to the skillet. That can help loosen them up first. :)
As Beth suggested (in an earlier reply) to someone who doesn’t like spicy, I made this recipe using her homemade teriyaki sauce (amounts exactly as written) – and man, this was DELICIOUS! Will definitely become a staple in my house.
This was so easy…fast and delicious. I’ll definitely be making it again. The whole family liked it, though a bit on the spicy side. I paired it with baby bok choy as a side.
this was great. I think I cooked the pork long enough? I don’t usually brown pork so I’m not sure how long it usually takes.
This was delicious! Like someone else said, this serves as a great base recipe with room for a lot of variations. I didn’t have ground pork so I minced a chicken breast. I also added onion and broccoli. To finish, I added sesame oil and sesame seeds. It did run on the salty side (even with using the low sodium soy sauce). I’d probably replace some of the soy sauce with water. The meat itself would be amazing served in lettuce cups! I took my leftover meat and ate it with celery sticks. It provided the perfect crunch, balanced out the salt, and made for a refreshing alternative to the noodles.
I cannot stop eating this. It’s so GOOD! I will probably cut back on the heat just a bit because I’m kind of a wimp 😊. Thank you for this recipe! It will become a staple around here.
Love the flavors! My daughter requests this for dinner when she comes home from college :-)
I love this recipe! Or rather a variation of this recipe, since I’m allergic to peanuts and my Aldi doesn’t have ground pork ;) But I’ve made this 3 times with leftover chicken and added a half a bag of sauteed shredded cabbage and carrots (I did increase the sauce measurements to 1/3 c of each, instead of 1/4 c) and absolutely adore it. So easy, so tasty and so affordable!! I’m a huge wimp with spicy foods, but I’m able to tolerate this, I just have to make sure I have plenty of water. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
This looks amazing! I love your website and check it weekly for dinner inspiration. I would like to make this but our family can not do spicy. I made the cauliflower chickpea masala recently with less than 1/8 tsp of cayenne and even that was too much. So, my question is, is there something I could use in place of the Chili Garlic Sauce that would add good flavor without the spicyness?
Unfortunately there isn’t an easy swap for that, but you might be able to use something like my homemade teriyaki sauce in its place, although I haven’t tried this.
I don’t like spicy either but we made it work! I quartered the chili sauce and then after mixing it in, I strained the sauce so the seeds were removed. I also mixed in some peanut butter. My husband (who does love spicy) added sauce sriracha to his, but my three-year-old and I ate it up!
Anyone try this with ground chicken since it’s what I have in the freezer?
Yaaaaas gurl! This is perfect. Spicy, rich and flavoursome. It’s for sure going to be a staple on my list for easy meals while the hubby is away (plus he hates chilli and I want ALL of it!)
This is such a great basic recipe! You can make it as is or add or subtract. Sometimes I use less sugar, sometimes I throw in a lot of garlic and ginger. Sometimes I dice the extra bell pepper I have in my fridge, or throw in the rest of a leftover cabbage I had. Tonight I’m tossing in some cooked (from frozen) broccoli. What never changes is the amount of yummy chili sauce is used. :) I’ve also used just the simple Maruchan Ramen (so cheap!) but tonight I have some semi-fresh Hokkien stir-fry noodles. Thank you for the inspiration for so many tasty, affordable, fast, and easy meals!
I really liked this recipe. Even my boyfriend liked it (and unless it’s meat and potatoes he isn’t a fan usually)! He even asked me to make it for him again which is rare. I used half of the garlic chili sauce, but it was still too hot for us. Next time I’ll probably use 1/4 of the chili sauce since we can’t take the heat. I made extra so we could take it in our lunch the next day. I would say it was even better the next day as the noodles had a chance to take on the sauce. It was definitely spice, but not too crazy. It was super fast to make and easy too. I made it with the broccoli almond salad for our side which also was delicious!
I’m eating it right now and am in pain. This is definitely not for the sensitive.