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. 👌
What do you think about using rice noodles instead of Ramen or wheat noodles? My daughter needs to avoid gluten so I am always thinking about substitutes.
That should work pretty well. :)
I need to tell you that your website is one of the best things that has happened to me this year. I was so bored of our go-to meals, and had tried a handful of blogger recipes from Pinterest that were universally awful until I came across someone’s post recommending Budget Bytes. I love that your recipes don’t have 10,000 obscure ingredients or take 5 hours to make. My husband and I have made about 10 of your recipes so far, and every single one has been delicious and something we’d totally do again (I’ve made this one and your sushi bowls repeatedly already). Thanks for reviving my interest in cooking!
Thank you!! <3
This is great! I used regular ramen noodles. Think it would’ve been better with a little thicker noodle. BUT it was super delicious! For me….I will cut the chili sauce in half next time. But it didn’t so me from eating it!!!!!!
YIKES – I went to 3 stores in our metropolitan area and we could NOT find any chili garlic sauce. Finally found one by Lee Kum Kee at a “usual” grocery store. The sodium is OFF THE CHARTS in this product (compared to what you recommend) All I can say is if “this” brand is all you can find readers….walk away, and pick a different budget bytes recipe, because this product has 1560mg sodium per tbsp compared to 95 in the product Beth recommend…and let me tell you folks, we were not saying “yum!” Amazon Prime is saving the day, and we’ll try this again tomorrow. GROSS!!! Ha ha ha ha (but not kidding!!) I feel sure TOMORROW’s version… will be a big hit.
So easy and delicious! Way better than takeout! This dish is definitely going into regular rotation at our house.
I made this and added gochujang to make it extra spicy! I did find it a little salty. I think next time I’ll halve the soy sauce & make up the difference with orange juice! I also added mustard greens. It was great!
I make this as meal prep boxes for my girls (13& 15 & so picky!) about once a month. I put one recipe into about 5 boxes, along with roasted broccoli or other veggies. They grab it to throw into their lunches & it’s so easy!
My adjustments are: whole wheat noodles, agave syrup instead of brown sugar. So delicious!!
Would this taste good cold?
That’s probably a matter of personal preference, but I’m going to openly admit that I’m pretty sure I’d still devour it cold. ;)
This is the best! I’m a wimp so only used a tablespoon of chili and subbed ground chicken. Wow!
This is super spicy but the flavors are all there. If you don’t like spicy food definitely cut the chili sauce in half, which is probably what I will do next time. Very good though. Thank you
Made it tonight for dinner! So simple, fast, and DELICIOUS!! Thank you for the awesome recipe!!
I love this recipe – I have used it in SO many ways. I can’t handle the full spice of using the recipe’s amount of the garlic chili sauce (total spicy-ness wimp), but I probably use this recipe in one form or another like twice a week. And have been for months now. I have made it exactly as the directions specify (with half the chili sauce) and it’s perfection. I have used it with pork loin chops that I thinly slice instead of ground pork. I’ve made it with zucchini noodles instead of ramen. I also love adding shredded carrots to it. I’ve even poured the sauce over salmon and asparagus and baked in the oven. I think the sauce is so versatile and takes like 30 seconds to mix up. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe – you should get a commission off the soy sauce and brown sugar sales at my local grocery store!
Awesome!! I love all those variations!
I don’t know how fair it is to comment but I come to this site when i’m broke and desperate for a good idea for a dwindling pantry. So I didn’t have any peanuts or brown sugar so I used peanut butter instead. I loved it!
I absolutely love this! It’s a little spicy, but easy to adjust to your own taste. I don’t know how my life existed before I made this!
I substituted the pork for 1/2 bag of Butler’s Soy Curls to make this vegetarian. I doubled the sauce and added veggies – 1 bell pepper and 1 head of broccoli. It came out great!