Sweet and Sour Beef Ramen
These slick noodles are shimmering from a quick-and-easy, sweet and savory blend of soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil. Then, the tender noodles are studded with juicy steak, onion, garlic, and sweet peas. That’s basically the ingredient list and dinner is ready in 20 minutes!
Grab instant ramen and create a gourmet meal in minutes. This restaurant-worthy dish started with a packet of ramen. The noodles are insanely flavorful – salty, savory, and slightly sweet (from mirin and green peas). Your tastes buds will light up with every slurp.
Here’s the easy process for making this sweet and sour beef ramen. Cook ramen noodles until tender (3-4 minutes). Sauté bite-size pieces of steak with onion and garlic. Add broth, soy sauce, mirin, and sesame oil. Fold in the cooked noodles. Serve with green onions and sesame seeds (if you feel like it).
What kind of ramen should you use? I used two packets of instant ramen soup, and discarded the seasoning packets. Two packets of soup is about 6 to 7 ounces of dry noodles. You can also use Chinese stir-fry noodles, or your favorite Asian noodles. You’ll need 6 to 8 ounces.
What kind of steak should you use? I used boneless chuck steak here. It’s got a great amount of marbling (AKA fat), which makes it super tender and perfect for quick cooking. That said, choose any cut of steak you want (except stew beef), including round, top round, skirt, and flank steak.
Can you make this dish spicy? Certainly! For a spicier version of this dish, add sriracha sauce or chili garlic sauce to the pan when you add the soy sauce, mirin, and sesame oil. You can also serve extra hot sauce at the table.
Sweet and Sour Beef Ramen
Ingredients
- 2 3-ounce packets instant ramen or other quick-cooking noodles, seasoning packets discarded or saved for another use
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound steak, cut into bite-size pieces (I used boneless chuck steak)
- 1/3 cup minced onion, any color
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons mirin
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Chopped green onions for serving, optional
- Toasted sesame seeds for serving, optional
Instructions
- Cook the ramen noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes, until soft. Add the beef broth, soy sauce, mirin, and sesame oil and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Fold in the cooked ramen noodles and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to heat through, separating the noodles with a fork as they absorb the sauce. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Top with green onions and sesame seeds, if using, and serve.