Delicious Mongolian beef udon, with beef strips quickly stir fried with udon noodles and a delicious Mongolian sauce. A quick and easy meal that’s ready in a flash, so it’s a perfect weeknight meal.
Why I love this Mongolian beef udon stir fry!
I love Mongolian Beef and it’s in regular rotation in my kitchen. I usually just cook up the beef and serve it over rice. I’ve recently been enjoying it stir fried with udon noodles and it’s been a delicious, quick and easy dinner that I thought deserved sharing.
If you’re not familiar with Mongolian Beef flavours, it’s best described as sweet and salty, with distinct notes both from the soy sauce and sugar. It’s a winning combination of flavours!
Added to the delicious sauce, are easy to use, shelf-stable udon noodles. These udon need no pre-cooking, so you can simply add them directly to your hot stir fry and cook until warmed through. With just a short marinade time, this dish is ready in a flash and a great weeknight meal!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Beef – I love the “Stir Fry Beef Strips” for this dish, that are often available in the meat counter. If unavailable, pick up any piece of beef steak and cut it into strips yourself. I find cutting the beef when partially frozen makes it easier to cut into thin strips, so if you are taking some beef from the freezer, keep this in mind.
Udon Noodles – this recipe makes use of shelf-stable udon noodles, for a quick and easy meal, though you can use frozen udon as well. I like to soak them in hot water before adding to the pot. If starting with dried udon noodles, you will need to boil them first, before adding to the pot.
You will also need – Green onion, vegetable oil, baking soda, white sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger and brown sugar.
Recipe Tips
If you’re rushed, you can just set the beef to marinade on the counter for 10-15 minutes before stir frying, instead of the longer marinade. A little marinade time is better than none, but longer marinating is of course better, if you have the time.
Mongolian Beef sauce is, by nature, on the sweet side. It’s kind of the unique feature of this dish. That said, you can certainly dial back the brown sugar in the sauce a bit if it’s too much so for your taste. (Though I always suggest trying it as written first, then going from there).
This is the same basic recipe I use for straight-up Mongolian Beef to serve on it’s own or over rice. So if you enjoy the beef and sauce flavour, you may want to try it that way, as well.
Making ahead and storing
If you want to start this dish in the morning, you can also pop your beef and marinade into a zipper plastic bag and let it marinade in the fridge for several hours or all day until dinner time.
Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for about 2 days.
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Get the Recipe: Mongolian Beef Udon
Ingredients
- 1 lb. beef strips, stir-fry strips or a larger piece of beef steak, cut into strips
- 1 cup green onion, diced, plus more for garnish
- 14 oz. udon noodles, shelf stable
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, for frying beef
Marinade:
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium highly recommended
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Sauce:
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, or 1 tsp fresh minced ginger or ginger paste
- 1 Tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Garnish:
- Sliced green onions
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients. Add beef to marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat the 2 tsp. of vegetable oil in a wok or skillet over medium high heat until quite hot. Add the beef strips and cook, stirring, until beef is cooked through. Add the green onion and cook, stirring, until the green onion softens and browns, slightly. Add the sauce and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the udon noodles and stir gently to loosen the noodles, then cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and noodles are well warmed through.
- Serve garnished with sliced green onion and sesame seeds.
Notes
More Udon Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
This is excellent! And easy…foolproof, really. I want to be able to make ethnic foods that taste restaurant quality and this is perfect!
So glad you enjoyed it, Trish! Thanks so much :)
I made this exactly as instructed and it was absolutely amazing!!! Thank you, this one is a keeper!!!
So glad to hear, Shannon :) Thanks so much!