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Almost Instant Red Curry Beef and Garlic Noodles. Homemade garlic oil with Thai red curry and frizzled scallions. All tossed with quick-cooking ground beef, garden vegetables, and egg noodles. This comes together quickly, all in one skillet, with minimal prep work involved. Delicious for nights when you’re craving spicy Chinese noodles, but need them to be homemade – and quick!
The past couple of weeks here at home have been filled with such nice summer weather. It’s made being in the kitchen so hard! In an effort to spend a little time outside each night, I’ve been making a lot of under-30-minute dinners.
Sometimes it can be fun to spend all day working on an amazing meal. But when the weather is so nice, I really rely on simple recipes like these beef garlic noodles for family dinners. We love this recipe, Creighton even thinks it’s much better than ordering out Chinese!
That’s such a compliment coming from him, he’s a tough critic!!
When creating this recipe, I knew I wanted the beef and noodles to have some spiciness to them. I also knew that incorporating summer produce would be so delicious!
For spice, I took a shortcut and used Thai red curry paste. And for the vegetables, I used red bell peppers and broccoli – two of my favorites!
Ingredients
- Sesame or olive oil
- Butter
- Green onions
- Thai red curry paste
- Garlic
- Shallot
- Lean ground beef
- Egg
- Bell peppers
- Chopped broccoli florets
- Chili flakes
- Chopped fresh Thai or regular basil
- Ramen noodles, egg noodles, or rice noodles
- Tamari or soy sauce
- Honey
Here are details
Step 1: make the oil
The oil is the heart of this recipe. The beef and noodles are, of course, important, but it’s really the oil that adds all the flavor. You’ll want to start out by warming together the sesame oil and green onions (or scallions…what do you call them?). Warm until the green onions are super fragrant and frizzled up.
Frying the onions in the oil creates a really wonderful flavor. Once the onions are frizzled up, stir in the Thai red curry paste. Allow the curry paste to cook a minute or so to really intensify the flavors. Then mix in the garlic and an extra pinch of chili flakes. I love to use a Korean-style chili flake, which I purchase at Whole Foods.
Step 2: add the beef
Now, mix the beef into the oil. As it cooks, break it up into smaller pieces. Then add a splash of tamari and a squeeze of honey.
Let the beef caramelize, then mix in an egg.
Step 3: the vegetables
Now it is time for the vegetables. As mentioned, I use red bell peppers and broccoli. I love this combo of veggies, but you can use what you love!
Zucchini would be delicious too. Or try snap peas, corn, and or shredded cabbage. Oh, mushrooms would also be so delicious!
Add the vegetables to the beef, toss, and cook for a few minutes.
Step 4: the noodles
I love using an Asian-style egg noodle (look at Whole Foods for some good options, or Amazon has options too). I love using Brown Rice Ramen (which you can find at Whole Foods and in many grocery stores). These noodles taste just like real-deal ramen noodles, but they’re much healthier, gluten-free, and vegan.
Mix the noodles into the beef and vegetable. Then add the remaining tamari, and let the sauce cook into the noodles until they are coated.
At this point, remove everything from the heat.
Serve the beef and noodles immediately topped with fresh green onions and basil. I like to add peanuts too. So yummy!
Looking for other fun noodle recipes? Here are some favorites:
Crispy Sesame Garlic Chili Oil Noodles
Stir Fried Honey Ginger Sesame Noodles
Creamy Thai Turmeric Chicken and Noodles
Lastly, if you make these Almost Instant Red Curry Beef and Garlic Noodles, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Almost Instant Red Curry Beef and Garlic Noodles
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 477 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sesame or olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup green onions, sliced
- 1-3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1-2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped broccoli florets
- chili flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh Thai or regular basil
- 4 squares ramen noodles, egg noodles, or 6 ounces of rice noodles
- 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- 1. In a skillet, cook the oil and green onions over medium heat until very fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Lower the heat, stir in the butter, red curry paste, garlic, shallots, and chili flakes, cook 2 minutes.2. Add the beef and brown all over, 5 minutes. Pour over 2 tablespoons tamari and 1 teaspoon honey. Let the beef caramelize for 2 minutes. Mix in the egg and vegetables.3. Cook the noodles according to package directions, then drain and toss with the beef mix and 1/3 cup tamari. Cooker 2-3 minutes. Then remove from the heat. 4. Serve the noodles with additional green onions and basil. Top with peanuts.
This post was originally published on July 20, 2023
Just made this. Really good, but not one of my favorites from HBH. Some thoughts…
Needed more flavor. Added some Thai spice mixture and a little pure maple syrup at the end. That did the trick.
Use a LARGE skillet. Tieghan, it would really help your readers to specify what size skillet to use in your recipes. I don’t think a standard sized cast iron skillet would be enough room for this recipe.
After the veggies are added, you don’t say in the instructions how long to cook them. So I took a wild guess and simmered the mixture about 2-3 min til the veggies were crisp-tender.
Hi Melanie,
Thanks for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear this wasn’t a fave! Hope you are having a great weekend! xx
Made this tonight. We added fresh ginger with the garlic to give a little more flavour.
Delicious! Almost like an Asian spaghetti bolognese.
Thank you!
Hi Fiona,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thank you so much for giving it a try! Have a great weekend:) xx
Ingredients and directions are unclear re cilantro and shallots. Needs editing for clarity.
Hi Toni,
I have edited the recipe, there is no cilantro in the dish and the shallots are added in step 1. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
The calories per deriving are WAY off. They are at least double what you have stated of serving 4. 1/4 cup of oil seems extremely excessive along with the ground beef. I also don’t see instructions on how exactly to cook the egg and veg once they’re added? Are they meant to be left raw?
Hi Debra,
I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Feel free to use less sesame oil to your liking:) You are mixing in the egg and veggies in step 2 and letting those cook while the noodles cook. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
It was a tasty dish. My husband and I both felt like it was missing something. I would use more chili flake( person preference). Maybe some ginger?? I used rice noodles. Would try ramen noodles next time.
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback! Glad to hear the flavors were enjoyed:) Have a great Friday! xx
What brand of brown rice noodles do you use? This recipe sounds great -can’t wait to make it! Thank you !
Thanks so much Deanne! I like to use the Lotus Foods brand of rice noodles:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
There’s no mention of shallots in the ingredient list, but they are included in the directions.
Thank you Kirstie (and apologies to Peter), I do see that now. However, after using the scallions to make this for dinner tonight I can tell you that it was delicious. No need for shallots 🙂
1 shallot is the 6th ingredient down on the list. Between garlic and ground beef…
Hi Kirstie,
Sorry for any confusion! You are going to use 1 shallot:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Several people have asked about the shallots, but I have not seen you reply. What is the measurements?The ingredients list does not mention it.
She refers to and lists scallions (green onions) in both her post and ingredient list. Is that what you are looking for? Where does she talk about shallots?
Hi Connie,
Sorry for any confusion, the recipe uses 1 chopped shallot in step 1. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this dish! xT
Hi Peter,
The recipe calls for 1 chopped shallot. We try to answer all comments within 24 hours:) Happy Friday!! xx
Question: why wouldn’t you brown the beef first so you can drain it of all the extra fat, then add it to the dish?
Because she didn’t want to..? Not everyone drains the fat and flavour from their meat. Part of the beauty in cooking is that you can alter recipes to suit your personal tastes 🙂
Totally agree, Lothian!!! I personally prefer “cooking” over “baking” because you don’t have to be exact. Add what you like and don’t use things you don’t like! Pretty simple and FUN!!! Go create!!!
Hi Wendy,
If that is something you would like to do you could easily do that:) I didn’t feel the need to drain any fat as the meat I used did not produce a lot. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
How many shallots did you use? I am not seeing those in the list of ingredients and want to make sure I get it right. Thanks! So excited for another delicious HBH curry dish!
Hi Emily,
You are going to use one chopped shallot:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
I know what I’m making for dinner tonight! Fresh, healthy & quick – doesn’t get much better than this 🙂
Thanks so much Molly!! I hope you love this recipe:) Happy Friday!
I haven’t worked with sesame oil or curry paste before. How spicy is this dish? Hubby likes heat but me not as much.
Hi Sally,
Sesame oil is not spicy, but the curry paste will have a little kick, you can always use less if you wanted:) Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I love sesame oil but 1/4 cup seems like a lot. I’m used to adding just a tbsp. Just checking!
Hi Patti,
I used 1/4 cup for this recipe, but feel free to reduce that amount to your liking:) Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
Hi Tieghan,
Where are the shallots?
When do you add the cilantro?
Do you scramble the egg first?
Broccoli – put it in raw?
Thanks, making this tonight!
Hi Alan,
The shallots are going to be added in step 1, the cilantro was a typo-no cilantro in this recipe, you do not need to scramble the egg first and yes put the broccoli in raw:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
It’s summertime … can you let this cool and serve it room-temp or cold? Thanx.
Hi Dave,
Sure, I room temp would be just fine:) I hope this recipe turns out well for you, please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Is the egg beaten before you add it in the mixture?
Hi Carol,
Sure, you could go ahead and beat the egg:) Let me know if you give this dish a try, I hope you love it! xT
Just made this delicious red curry beef and also noticed the missing shallot in the ingredient list as many others have noted. Next time I make this dish I will include the shallot. I’m guessing the cilantro is added with the basil in step 4? Also I had to assume that in all, 1/3 cup of tamari is used from which 2T are drawn to be added to beef in step 2. All the same, it was delicious. I used some special lemon liguini that my mother-in-law brought from Italy as the past though I think a lighter, thinner noodle could be even more delicious.
Thank you Tieghan.
Hi Ginger,
Happy Friday!!🫐🍓 I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for your comment and making it! Sorry about the shallot, it’s added in step 1 and then the cilantro was a typo, no cilantro in this recipe:) xT