Stir fried minced beef and vegetable udon noodles
This delicious and tasty, quick and easy noodles are a fab lunch or dinner option. I include a heap full of vegetables to add a variety of texture and colour to the meal so it’s a great way to get some vitamins into your children’s diet. You can always substitute the beef for another type of meat such as lamb or pork, or alternatively, it is just as tasty without meat so also a great idea for any vegetarians out there.
Prep time: .
Ingredients
- 500g minced beef (lamb, pork works just as well)
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 green pepper, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 150g mushrooms, sliced
- 100g Spinach
- 2 carrots, grated
- 1 courgette, grated
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- Udon noodles (pre-cooked)
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil (optional)
Method
- Udon noodles are easily bought pre-cooked from local supermarkets and although they are cooked, it is a good tip to soak them in a pan of boiling pan to soften, which will then be quicker to cook later.
- In a wok or large stainless steel frying pan, heat 3tbsp of olive oil on high heat. Add the onions and stir for 1-2mins then add the minced beef and cook until brown all over.
- Add the green and red peppers, carrots, courgettes and stir-fry for 5minutes. Keep the heat on relatively high but if you feel it’s starting to dry out too quickly, turn the heat slightly lower. The secret to a good stir fry is to retain the heat and keeping the wok/frying pan as hot as you can.
- At this point, drain the udon noodles ready for later.
- Add the mushrooms and spinach to the wok or frying pan and cook for another 3 minutes. Season the noodles if you wish and add 4tbsp of soy sauce.
- If cooking for adults or older children, frying the vegetables for a few minutes is delicious to retain the crunchiness and texture of the dish. Otherwise, if you are cooking for younger ones, you can cook the dish for slightly longer to soften the vegetables more.
- Simply pour the noodles into the same wok or frying pan and mix well with the vegetables and until the noodles are hot (optional - drizzle a little sesame oil over the noodles and mix).