Sticky Hoisin Beef Noodles

Skip the takeout this week and upgrade instant noodles instead using stir fried veggies and tender shaved steak in a rich umami sauce. These beef noodles are an easy high protein meal that’s ready in 30 minutes or less. And every serving has 32g protein with only 13g fat and 495 calories.

Ingredients + Substitutes

This is the sixth recipe in a series using all Trader Joe’s ingredients, and specifically their instant knife cut squiggly noodles. Take a look at everything you need in the photo below. Just know everything is interchangeable with ingredients from any grocery store.

The Steak

Working from the top down, let’s talk beef shaved steak. Typical shaved steak comes from cuts like ribeye or chuck, which makes them a bit fattier. Delicious, but not the best for making high protein noodles like these.

I was surprised to find the Swift shaved steak at Trader Joe’s only has 7g fat in a four-ounce portion. If you have trouble tracking down a lean shaved steak option, you can try making your own by partially freezing a lean top or bottom round roast then thinly slicing/shaving it. Or you can swap it for something like extra lean ground beef.

The other noodle recipes I mentioned like gochujang beef noodles, teriyaki noodles, and honey garlic noodles all use mince.

Instant Noodles

Now, let’s talk about noodles. Throughout my noodle fixation, there have been lots of questions about noodle alternatives for non-TJ’s shoppers. And I’ve given my same spiel for each recipe (sorry if this is repetitive).

Any instant noodles work. Ideally they have a sauce packet like the Trader Joe’s knife cut noodles. But if they don’t, you can add toasted sesame oil and extra coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce. I would go with a wider noodle as opposed to something like ramen, if possible.

Veggies & Sauce

If you have another favorite stir fry vegetable combo you’d like to swap the Cruciferous Crunch or coleslaw mix for, be my guest. I’d treat it the same way, stir frying on its own before setting aside and cooking the beef.

The steak is easy to cook, by the way. All the sauce ingredients get mixed together before tossing with the beef at the very start of prep. That briefly marinates while you cook the veggies and get the water going for the noodles. Once the beef hits the pan, it’s basically just waiting until the sauce reduces and caramelizes. No worries about under or over cooking!

As far as the sauce itself goes, feel free to experiment. If you have a go-to stir fried beef sauce like Mongolian or another classic, those should work fine. I’ve used this steak with a black pepper sauce to make beef and broccoli.

Serving, Storing Leftovers, and Final Tips

Your standard accoutrements like sliced green onion and toasted sesame seeds are really all you need, but I love a little drizzle of chili crunch with these steak noodles. There’s a little heat from the sriracha in the sauce but not enough to prohibit extra chili oil.

Since I’m always asked about reheat-ability of dishes and their meal prep readiness, I can report that I successfully refrigerated leftovers and microwaved them for 3-4 minutes to reheat. The noodles reheat as well as any takeout noodles. If you’re a fan of leftover noodle dishes, this will tick that box.

I have two final tips about the noodle to steak ratio and making this picky eater friendly. First, I find three packs of noodles is the right balance of keeping calories in check without having too much beef per serving. If you like a lot of noodles, add a fourth pack.

As for the picky eater in my house, I easily made a batch that got her stamp of approval by doing everything the same but keeping the stir fried veggies out of the final mixture to add to my individual servings. That way she got 100% beef noodles without the annoying veggies.

Okay, be sure to let me know how your steak noodle bowls turn out in a recipe review or comment. I always appreciate feedback, as it helps me level up future recipes and better understand what readers like to see and cook.

Hope to cook together again soon! – Mason

Sticky Hoisin Beef Noodles

Upgraded instant noodles with stir fried veggies and tender steak in an umami hoisin sauce.

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 495kcal

Author: Mason Woodruff

Ingredients

• 4 cups (170g) Coleslaw Mix I used Trader Joe's cruciferous crunch
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 3 packs (95g each) Trader Joe's Knife Cut Squiggly Noodles see notes for subs

For the Beef

• 1 pound Beef Shaved Steak
• 3 Sauce Packets from the Noodles
• ¼ cup (72g) Hoisin Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Coconut Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Sriracha

Instructions

• Mix the hoisin, vinegar, coconut aminos, sriracha, and the three sauce packets from the noodles together in a large bowl. Add the beef, stir to coat, cover, and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles.
• Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the slaw mix and toss to coat. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the veggies start to brown in spots. Stir and cook for another 1-2 minutes until nicely browned in spots but still tender crisp. Transfer to a clean bowl and set aside.
• Add the marinated beef to the pan and spread out in an even layer. Cook until no liquid remains and the beef begins to caramelize/brown around the edges, about 6-8 minutes. Avoid stirring too often.
• When the beef is nearly done, add the noodles to the boiling water. Cook the noodles for 4 minutes. Reserve about 1 cup of the cooking liquid before draining the noodles and returning to the pot off the heat.
• Add the beef and slaw mix to the pot and use the reserved water as needed to bring it all together.

Notes

I used Swift Beef Shaved Steak from Trader Joe’s that has 170 calories, 22g protein, and 7g fat per 4-oz serving. If you have trouble finding a leaner shaved steak, you can always use extra lean ground beef instead. Just brown/cook the beef then add the sauce and cook until the sauce begins to caramelize. 

You can use another instant noodles product like Momofuku noodles that come with sauce packets the same way. If you’re using instant noodles without a sauce packet, add 2-3 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil and an extra tablespoon of coconut aminos to the beef sauce. 

Nutrition

Serving: 10oz | Calories: 495kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 13g | Fiber: 3g