Ramen noodles with ground beef
A pack of instant ramen upgraded with savory beef, vegetables and a sweet soy garlic sauce, a real dinner for one for about two dollars.
- 15 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 1
- About $2.61 a serving
- 730 calories
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 15 minutes.
Ingredients
For 1 servings.
- 1 package ramen noodles
- 4 oz 85/15 ground beef
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup frozen mixed vegetables
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp sriracha (optional)
- 1 stalk green onions, sliced
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
Each serving has about 730 calories, 33 g protein, 69 g carbs and 34 g fat, and costs about $2.61 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No frozen mixed vegetables? Frozen peas or frozen corn or frozen green beans work.
- No sriracha? Hot sauce works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring a small of water over high.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
While it heats, cook the beef in a small over medium-high 5 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink is left. Spoon off the fat.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Stir in the garlic and frozen vegetables and cook 2 minutes, until the vegetables are hot.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min
Drop the noodle block into the boiling water (save the seasoning packet for another day) and cook 2 minutes. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of the water, then .
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 2 min
Dolly’s tip: The packet is mostly salt. The sauce here gives you all the flavor you need.Stir the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, sriracha and the saved noodle water into the beef.
Medium heat
Add the noodles and 1 minute, until coated. Top with the green onion.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Medium heat
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
