Beef Stir Fry with Ramen Noodles

When I got some beef to make a stir fry, I instantly thought of this recipe which I have been holding on to forever.  I realized that I got it so long ago that I didn't get a link to the recipe to share.  I searched for the name on the internet and couldn't find it!  I was starting to write a post about how horrible I was that I didn't know where any of my recipes are from and then I did another search.  I actually searched all of the words that I had that weren't the recipe and I finally found it!  I should have figured that it was from Campbell's since it was using Campbell's soup.  Check here if you want to see the original recipe.
 
The only problem is that I don't keep tomato soup in the house.  These things never stop me because I figure out a replacement with the help of the internet. I had tomato juice (frozen homemade), tomato paste, and tomato sauce on the counter to try to figure out what I was going to use to replace the tomato soup.  I found this recipe to make condensed soup at home.  It gave me the great idea to add cornstarch which I then got out of the cupboard.

I heated up the pan and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Adding the thinly sliced strips of steak. Do you see the steam from the side with the sizzle?

Then, I stirred the steak strips around the pan to start to cook.  Don't over crowd in the pan so that they all get nice and brown.

 I tried to flip the pieces the best that I could do and wait for them to brown.  At this point, you should add the veggies that you are looking to cook but I got a little worried about the sauce and they jumped to the sauce part without thinking.

 
If you are a multi-tasker, start the ramen noodles in the microwave (or your preferred cooking method).  I actually used the bigger packages of noodles because we had a few that were getting older and close to expiration.  Mine took 4 minutes but the regular package takes 3 minutes in the microwave.

I added the tomato juice and some tomato sauce to the pan.  I sprinkled the oriental flavoring to top and stirred in.

The sauce was really thin and didn't look too good so I added the corn starch suggested in how to make condensed soup.

It turned the sauce more of an orange color instead of the bright red and it thickened it a little.

This was the point at which I saw the bag of snow peas on the counter...  UGH! 

I put the noodles on the plate and placed the steak mixture on the top.

Then, I emptied the pan so that I didn't have to dirty another one and sauteed them a little.  The great thing is that they stay a little crunchy which is how we like them anyway.

I put the cooked snow peas on top of the already prepared plate.  I brought a little extra sauce to the table because I didn't know how it would go over.

The meal was interesting but not really what I was expecting.  There wasn't a lot of flavor other than the tomato.  I added a few splashes of soy sauce and it was much more tasty.  If I were to make this again, I would add garlic and ginger as well.  I might also coat the steak with corn starch to give the extra crunch to the meat and thicken the sauce at the same time.  If you have tried it, let me know what you think and if it turned out different with the condensed soup.

I don't think that this dish was really what I was looking for when I tried it but it did give me other ideas on how to use up ramen noodles to change up dinner.  Any dish with a nice sauce is perfect to put over the noddles as a super frugal side dish.  Great reminder that even if it isn't your favorite recipe that cooking always teaches something!!  I hope that you try the dish and see what you think!!

Beef Stir Fry with Ramen Noodles

Non-stick cooking spray or oil

Very thin cut strips of steak

Tomato sauce

Corn Starch

2 packages oriental flavor ramen noodle soup 

1 package of Oriental seasoning packet
Snow Peas (or other favorite veggie)

Soy sauce

Spray a 10-inch skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Stir fry the snow peas and remove from pan.  Add the beef and stir-fry until well browned.  Stir in the tomato sauce (or Campbell's soup) and 1 ramen seasoning packet (reserve the remaining seasoning packet for another use) and heat to a boil.  Add some corn starch to thicken the sauce (if not using Campbell's soup). Simmer for a few minutes until thickened.  Return the snow peas to the skillet and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling.  Add soy sauce to taste.  Add any additional spices you prefer like garlic or ginger.

Cook the ramen noodles according to the package directions without the seasoning packet.  Drain the noodles well.  Serve the beef mixture over the noodles.

Shared on Homemade Mondays