Quick Ramen Noodle Stir Fry
by Chungah
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This quick ramen noodle stir fry is so easy and budget-friendly using ramen noodles, ground beef and the most flavor-packed stir fry sauce!
Why you’ll love this quick ramen noodle stir fry
- Perfect for busy weeknights. Stir-fries are simply quick cooking meals. And this is the ultimate ultra-fast, weeknight-friendly dinner that requires no more than 30 minutes start to finish by using ground beef and instant ramen noodles.
- Highly customizable. This recipe can easily be adapted to mix in what you have on hand. For example, you can swap in ground turkey for the ground beef or use rice noodles in place of the ramen noodles to make it gluten-free. The possibilities are simply endless.
- Budget-friendly. You can essentially use up anything and everything in your fridge, transforming random veggies and proteins into the best clean-out-the-fridge meal.
How to make ramen noodle stir fry
- Cook the noodles. Cook the ramen noodles until al dente, rinsing with cold water to halt the cooking process.
- Prep the stir fry sauce. Combine the beef stock, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar and Sriracha.
- Brown the meat. Crumble the ground beef with the onion in a large skillet over medium heat, draining off any excess fat and grease.
- Sauté the aromatics. Stir in the garlic and ginger until fragrant.
- Deglaze the pan. Add the stir fry sauce, lifting up the browned bits (fond) from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the noodles. Stir in the al dente ramen noodles, tossing until evenly coated.
- Serve. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds, and serve warm.
Variations and substitutions
- Ramen noodles: substitute fresh lo mein, chow mein, Yaki-Soba or udon noodles
- Beef stock: substitute unsalted chicken stock
- Sriracha: omit for milder flavors
- Ground beef: substitute ground chicken, ground turkey or ground pork
Tools For This Recipe
Quick Ramen Noodle Stir Fry: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Cook the ramen noodles just until al dente, then rinse with cold water to prevent the noodles from clumping and becoming gummy.
The seasoning packet included with the ramen noodles should be discarded as the recipe builds a more balanced, authentic stir-fry sauce with a few pantry staples.
Yes! You can substitute ground chicken, ground turkey or ground pork. You can also try this recipe instead using boneless, skinless chicken.
Add quick-cooking vegetables such as broccoli, bell pepper, carrots, mushrooms and snap peas.
Always add the sauce towards the end of cooking time, allowing the sauce to thicken and create a glossy coat.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Quick Ramen Noodle Stir Fry
Video
Ingredients
- 2 (3.5-ounce) packages instant ramen noodles, flavor packets discarded
- ⅓ cup beef stock
- ¼ cup oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling water, cook ramen noodles until tender, about 3-4 minutes; rinse with cold water and drain well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together beef stock, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar and Sriracha.
- Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and onion, and cook until beef has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in beef stock mixture, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Stir in ramen noodles until heated through and evenly coated in sauce, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Prep beforehand. This stir fry recipe comes together quickly. Have all the ingredients and sauce ready to go prior to cooking.
- Cook until al dente. Cook the ramen noodles just until al dente as they will continue to cook when stir-fried.
- Rinse noodles with cold water. This will stop the cooking process to tighten the starches and keep the noodles from clumping.
- Use lean ground beef. Opt for 90% or higher, preventing the dish from being overly greasy or oily.
- Make it mild. Omit the Sriracha for milder flavors, perfect for little ones and toddlers.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
OMG! This looks so yummy!
Recipe looks great. Must you use ground meat for this? Can I sub chicken for the beef?
Yes, absolutely!
Yum Just made this for dinner tonight and loved it, even my husband liked it, and he doesn’t like much
That’s so amazing, Gwynne! 🙂
Looks so easy, tasty, and unlike anything I currently make. I’m going to give it a go!!
made this for dinner last night and it was a big hit – So yummy and easy to pull together!
So glad this was a win for you, Kathryn!
This looks sooo good! I’m looking forward to trying it.
I made this last night for my 2 year old twins and they loved it. I used fresh ramen noodles instead of instant, reduced the sriracha. I also added carrots and broccoli that I ground in my food processor with the onions, ginger, and garlic. I cooked the mixture with the beef.
We’re so glad the twins loved it, Nicole! 🙂
Made this last night! Excellent! Husband loved it as well.
We’re so glad you and your husband enjoyed it so much, Lisa! 🙂
This was very tasty and very easy. I made it for my husband and myself and the leftover was my lunch the next day.
This makes for great leftovers! Thanks for sharing, Winnie!
This was great and left my family smiling after dinner. My 2 year old really loves noodle dishes and this left her smiling and laughing, thanks for the great recipe.
Aw that’s great, Jacob! Thank you for sharing with us.
This is really damn delicious!
Look so yummy!!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a total hit with my boys! Thank you for providing such great recipes that are easy to follow for my household 🙂
We love that, Amber! Thanks for sharing with us! 🙂
This was so delicious and easy to make!! I will definitely be making again!! I would probably serve with sautéed green beans tossed with red pepper flakes! It was yummy!!
That sounds amazing, Jackie!
Easy, yummy weeknight dinner. Made this for my family tonight. They loved it. Substituted ground pork for the beef. My husband said it was like a deconstructed potsticker.
So happy to hear that your family enjoyed it so much, Shannon! 🙂
Would other asian noodles work in this?
Sure!
I made this for dinner last night. We loved it! Sometimes dishes like this can be too salty but this one came out perfect. Instead of beef, I used ground pork and added some shrimp at the end. Also subbed chicken broth for the beef.
Added shiitake mushrooms, chopped spinach and broccoli. It was really tasty!
Thank you so much for sharing your version, Karen! 🙂
Thought I would mention an alternative to ramen I found when I had to give up glutton. I missed it so much! It’s called “Miracle Noodle Shirataki Konjac Pasta” if you want to check it out on Amazon. The angel hair variety is the closest thing I’ve found to ramen and it’s really good! Can’t wait to try it with this recipe!
Hello! Can you substitute the fresh ginger for powdered or paste?
Yes, absolutely! The ratio for dry to fresh spices/herbs is typically 1:3. Hope that helps!
I made this last night and everyone loved it! I did add mushrooms and wilted some baby bok choy. I also did a low sodium organic tamari substitute for the oyster sauce as some others mentioned. Will definitely make again!
Thanks for sharing your version of it, Dana!
This was just fabulous. Our son whipped it up for us while we cleaned out closets! Win Win!!!