Thursday, September 24, 2009

Oriental Beef and Noodles


More meals to freeze and this one was super simple. It was made in the slow cooker; something I don't normally do on a workday because I leave too early and our dinner is usually dried out by the time we eat at night, 12 hours later. But this recipe called for cooking on low 9-10 hours, which I could manage.

Not a pretty dish, but we really liked this for an easy dinner. It is not for those watching their salt intake though, unless you can find a low-sodium stir fry sauce (I could not), but tasty nonetheless. It uses beef stew meat, which can obviously be tough and chewy, but after so long in the slow cooker it was practically shredding on our forks. Yum!

Oriental Beef and Noodles
adapted from Cook Once, Eat Twice Slow Cooker Recipes
Makes 4-6 servings

1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir fry vegetables
2 - 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
1 (12 ounce) bottle stir-fry sauce, any flavor
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, broken
1/4 cup green onions, chopped

Coat a 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Place frozen vegetables in the bottom and top with stew meat. In a medium bowl, stir together stir-fry sauce, water, and red pepper. Pour over stew meat and vegetables in cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or on high for 4 1/2-5 hours (I recommend low, it will help to break the meat down more).

At the end of cooking time, discard spice packets from ramen noodles. Stir noodles and green onions into meat mixture. Cover and let stand 10 minutes more. Stir before serving. This can be kept on warm for 1-2 hours.

9 comments:

Mrs.CFH2 said...

This one is going on my "Want to Try" list! Sounds so easy and yummy!

The Blonde Duck said...

Looks like a great weekday meal!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I'm learning more about the slow cooker. I've never had one but my sister-in-law gave us one to use at our little pied a terre in Florida for the winter. This sounds like a good recipe for me to try.
Sam

gaga said...

Mmm, looks easy and tasty. I just got a slow cooker recently, so I might just give this a try!

Anonymous said...

I made this today and it was really yummy. Hubby ate a whole bowl (and the vegetables disintegrated into it so he had no idea they were in there - good to know for future use!). The only change I made was I added three ramen pkgs... and I'd definitely want to try low-sodium stir fry sauce. It was a bit salty for me (hubby liked it as is).

Peabody said...

Awesome. I have a slower cooker and never use it, but I would totally drag it out for this. Looks good.

Mrs.CFH2 said...

Aaaaaaaaaaand it's in my crock pot right now, torturing H who is working from home. Can't wait to try it tonight.

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Great time of year for slow cooker meals.

Anonymous said...

I too leave very early to get to work. I always worry about food I've put in the slow cooker because I'm away from the home for closer to 10 hours. Thanks for the recipe and I look forward to trying it.