Okay, so technically I didn’t “stir fry” anything here, but this is what you make at home to mimmic stir fry when you don’t have the proper equipment. This was really more of a “brief sauté” but that just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Regardless, these Easy Beef Stir Fry Noodles were fast and delicious, and that’s what really counts, right? I made this dish as simple and fast as possible, which was my goal. No frills, just good and easy. The ingredients are basic, but the flavor is still big.
Can I Add More Vegetables?
I used carrots and green onions as my only vegetables, but you could always toss in a handful or two of broccoli slaw, thinly sliced bell peppers, snow peas, bean sprouts, or really just about any vegetable that floats your boat. We’re going for fast, filling, and convenient with this one! Sweep out that fridge and make it work.
What Kind of Noodles Should I Use?
I used rice noodles for this because that’s what I was in the mood for, but in a pinch you could probably use just about any long pasta that you’d like. Ramen? Okay, go for it. Fettuccini? It’ll pass. Lo mein? Do it. Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to stir fry!
What is Chili Garlic Sauce?
Chili garlic sauce is a really simple mixture of ground up red chiles, garlic, vinegar, and salt. It’s a really easy way to inject heat and flavor into any meal or homemade sauce. I used Huy Fong brand, which you can find in most major grocery stores in the United States. It’s the same brand as the popular “green top” sriracha that is available in most stores.
If you can’t find chili garlic sauce you can use sriracha or sambal oelek in its place.
Is The Beef Stir Fry Noodles Spicy?
Yes, thanks to the chili garlic sauce, this recipe is deliciously spicy. If you want to try something similar without heat, consider using the sauce that I used in my Vegetable Lo Mein recipe. Want spicy noodles without the beef? Check out my Spicy Dragon Noodles.
Easy Beef Stir Fry Noodles
Servings 4Ingredients
SAUCE
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.30)
- 1 Tbsp water ($0.00)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.02)
- 1-2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce ($0.68)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil ($0.57)
STIR FRY
- 8 oz. rice noodles ($1.43)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp grated ginger ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.02)
- 1/2 lb. lean ground beef ($3.74)
- 1 carrot ($0.16)
- 3-4 green onions ($0.50)
- 1 handful fresh cilantro (optional) ($0.25)
Instructions
- Cook the noodles according to the package directions, being careful to leave them al dente and not over cooked. drain the noodles in a colander and set aside.
- Prepare the sauce by stirring together the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce, and sesame oil. Set the sauce aside.
- Mince the garlic and grate the ginger. Use a large-holed cheese grater to grate the carrot (or julienne using a mandoline). Slice the green onions on a diagonal, separating the fleshy white portions from the green ends.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the ground beef, garlic, and ginger. Sauté until the beef is cooked through. Add the white portions of the sliced green onions and sauté for one more minute. Add the shredded carrots and sauté for one minute more (leaving the carrots slightly crunchy).
- Add the drained noodles and the prepared sauce to the skillet. Stir until everything is coated in sauce and any extra moisture has been absorbed by the noodles. Turn the heat off and top with the green portion of the sliced green onions and fresh cilantro leaves.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Beef Stir Fry Noodles – Step by Step Photos
Start with 8oz. of rice noodles (or whatever type of noodles you prefer) and cook them according to the package directions. Make sure to only cook them until they are al dente (not overly soft) so that they don’t get mushy when added to the skillet later. Drain the cooked noodles in a colander. (This is a 14oz. box, so I used just over half and saved the rest for later.)
While the noodles are cooking, prepare the stir fry sauce. This is a super basic, pared down sauce. Stir together 3 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 1-2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce (depending on how spicy you like it–I used 2 Tbsp), and 1 tsp sesame oil.
I love using chili garlic sauce in my stir fry because it’s like killing three birds with one stone. This rustic sauce contains red pepper, garlic, and vinegar, three ingredients that I’d normally add to a stir fry sauce separately (this particular sauce is made by Huy Fong, makers of the most popular sriracha). You can also use sambal oelek or sriracha in place of this sauce.
You can also prepare the rest of the ingredients while the noodles cook, so that everything is ready to toss together quickly in the skillet. Grate about one inch of fresh ginger (about 1 Tbsp). I keep my ginger in the freezer, which makes it really easy to grate. Also mince two cloves of garlic.
Use a large hole grater to grate one carrot. If you don’t have a grater, you can use a spiralizer, mandoline, or a julienne peeler.
Slice 3-4 green onions, separating the white/fleshy ends from the green ends (they’ll be added to the stir fry at different times).
Finally, heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 1/2 lb. lean ground beef, the minced garlic, and grated ginger. Sauté until the beef is cooked through.
Add the white ends of the sliced green onions and sauté for one minute more. Add the shredded carrots and sauté for one additional minute. I added the carrots last because I wanted them to stay fairly crunchy.
Finally, add the drained noodles and prepared sauce.
Stir until everything is coated in sauce and no extra liquid remains on the bottom of the skillet (it should get absorbed by the noodles). Turn the heat off.
Top with the remaining green portions of the sliced green onions and a handful of fresh cilantro leaves (optional).
Then eat!
You don’t have to tell me twice…
It was so good, I had a hard time stopping eating it
thank you
I made this with 1/2 lb. of ground pork that was in our freezer, and it was a huge hit! It was Thai-like without the coconuty flavor that some of the family doesn’t favor. I plan to use it often with shrimp, leftover roasted chicken and all sorts of things.
Wow, this was delicious! I remember thinking “this may be one of the best dishes I’ve ever had” while I was eating it. Seriously. I used ramen noodles for mine. It was really great!
Using ramen is genius! So much cheaper than the pad Thai noodles.
This is SOOO good!!! My husband made it last night and I made him make it AGAIN today-it was that good!!!! We love your recipes!!!
The sauce on this one is delicious, but even increasing the noodles to 12oz, it didn’t make as much as I was hoping for. Oh well, I’ll have to add some extra veggies and things to it next time.
I used ground turkey as it’s what I had on hand and cleaned out my veggie drawer, dropping in the rest of the veggies that needed to be eaten. The SAUCE is AMAZING! I doubled it since I was adding so many extra veggies. My son made sure the leftovers were packed for his lunch today as he couldn’t wait to eat it again. Thanks, Beth, for doing all the combining and test work for me so dinner is easy!
Do you think I could use ground pork?
Yes, I think that would be great. :)
Very tasty dish. The whole family liked it. Yay!
I’ll cook this one later – just a quick thing about your new design. I cant get your new print “function” to work. I tried it 5 times now and everytime the text gets cut off on the right side, leaving me with 2-4 words missing per line. Is it me or the print page broken?
Hmm, it works fine for me. What browser are you using? Have you tried doing it in a different browser? Have you tried resizing the browser window to see if that changes the way it displays? I’ll keep testing it to see if I can replicate the issue and then troubleshoot it if I can.
Hey,
I am using the newest version of firefox. The new site that opens after clicking on print looks fine and has all the words on it, but the print does not :/ And may have something to do with my print settings. I will let you know how it goes in the comment section of the next recipe I am cooking off your blog :)
Ohh, okay, yes, that does sound like it might be the print settings. I hope you can find the issue!
Flavor was great, but it was so dry! The sauce needs to be doubled or tripled. I had to add water to our individual bowls to give it a little more moisture. This could be due to the fact that our rice noodles were brown rice (only kind my grocer had). I did like the flavor and the zip of the garlic chili paste. It was an easy sauté. I may try it again with regular rice noodles, and double the sauce.
Worked out well for me. All the stuff in the sauce has a long shelf/fridge life, which is a boon to someone like me who cooks infrequently. I made a double-serving, to have a big pot of bachelor chow. Also added broccoli, just to get some more green into my usually crummy diet: http://i.imgur.com/W7yqBb3.jpg
Tried this recipe tonight and it was a success! I used Rice Ramen noodles (found at Costco) and added some broccoli, mushrooms and bean sprouts.
I didn’t want to spend $5.00 on a tiny bottle of sesame seed oil – does anyone know if there is something I could use instead? We have tahini, olive oil and vegetable oil. No sesame seeds.
Thanks!
I used some sesame seeds I had lying around from another recipe, and just used olive oil in the sauce mix. In all honesty I didnt miss the sesame oil, and if you’re craving a nuttier flavor profile I’d just use peanut butter and just turn this into a pad thai.
I would just use olive or vegetable oil. I couldn’t really detect the sesame oil in the final dish. Not sure if you live near a Trader Joe’s, but their sesame oil is considerably less money than most other grocers.
These look and sound amazing, yum!
xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
I made this last night using the Morningstar fake beef crumbles, and a small bag of frozen stir-fry veggies, as well as the green onions (which I seem to always have in my freezer). I used 1.5 Tbs of sambal olek, which was fine for me and a tiny bit spicy for my husband. The sauce is great! I bought a bulk pack of those rice noodles on Amazon, and this was my first tine trying them. Fantastic, easy meal. Will make again. Thanks!