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30 Minute Thai Basil Beef Noodles. An easy, weeknight dinner that’s better than any takeout. Quick-cooking rice noodles tossed with a Thai-inspired sauce, fresh vegetables, and steak that’s pan-seared with a touch of butter. These basil beef noodles are saucy, salty, and have just the right amount of spice. Finish off your beef and noodles with yummy toasted garlicky sesame seeds. So delicious.
When I was a kid, we would almost never order take-out. My dad cooked dinner every night of the week. Occasionally we’d order pizza on a Friday or Saturday night, but other than that, as a family of 8 back then, we’d eat homemade meals most nights.
But there were a few times when somehow my brothers manipulated my parents into Asian take-out. Usually, this was when both parents were too distracted to think about cooking. My brothers loved Chinese or Thai take-out and would often order plates of fried rice or beef and noodles.
We loved these random days of Asian takeout! Of course, living in a ski town now, our options are a little slimmer. But this is why I’ve come to love making takeout-style dishes at home!
I’ve made a lot of Thai basil beef dishes, but never one with rice noodles. Around this time last year, I made one of my favorite recipes, my garlic butter chicken pad Thai.
Basically, these are beef pad Thai noodles, just minus the egg, and made with a few special additions that make these saucy Thai noodles so yummy!
The Details
Step 1: soak the rice noodles
The noodles should be thicker-cut rice noodles, or use a box of Pad Thai noodles. Pretty much all grocery stores should carry one or the other.
Soak the noodles just as the box states. But I like to drain them for around 6 minutes to ensure they don’t get soggy while cooking. A soggy noodle is the worst!
Step 2: make the sauce
It’s a pretty simple mix of tamari, Thai chili sauce, fish sauce (don’t skip), rice vinegar, black pepper, and chilies. And if your grocery store carries it, I love to add lemongrass or lemongrass paste too.
For the Thai chili sauce, I usually make my own at home. I shared the recipe below! But I also love the brand Whole Foods and Amazon carry too, it’s the Grandma’s Sweet Thai Chili Sauce.
Step 3: cook the beef + peppers
And now we can cook! Cook the beef and peppers together. Use thinly sliced flank steak here, and give it a good sear.
Next, add the butter, toss in a shallot, chopped garlic, and pickled ginger. Cook until the garlic turns golden.
Then, toss everything up with the noodles and the sauce. Simmer just a few minutes to thicken the sauce until it coats the beef and noodles.
At this point, you should remove the noodles from the heat to ensure the noodles do not get overcooked. Add lots of fresh Thai basil and or cilantro, then plenty of green onions!
Step 4: the garlicky sesame seeds
Ok, last thing, toast a clove of garlic with sesame seeds until the mix is crunchy.
Serve each bowl of noodles topped with Thai basil, cilantro, roasted peanuts, and the garlic crunch. All together it’s so delicious! And I really appreciate all the color – best kind of recipe!
These noodles are best served right away, but the leftovers are great for lunch the following day too. I like to add a touch of soy sauce and butter when enjoying the leftovers. It just brings them back to life a bit more.
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Lastly, if you make this 30 Minute Thai Basil Beef 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!
30 Minute Thai Basil Beef Noodles
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 585 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces Pad Thai/wide rice noodles
- 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Thai chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste (optional)
- black pepper and chili flakes
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil (or olive oil)
- 1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced
- 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter, sliced
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped pickled ginger
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro or Thai basil
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1/3 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
Instructions
- 1. Soak the rice noodles according to packaged directions, then drain.2. To make the sauce. In a bowl, combine the tamari/soy sauce, Thai chili sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, lemongrass, black pepper, and chili flakes.3. Add the oil, beef, and bell peppers to a large skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the beef becomes crispy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon butter, the shallot, 3 cloves garlic, ginger, and a pinch of chili flakes. Continue to cook the beef in the butter until the garlic begins to turn golden, 1-2 minutes.4. Add the noodles and sauce, tossing to combine. Cook until the noodles are warmed through and begin soaking up the sauce, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add the cilantro/basil, and green onions, and toss again.5. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 clove of garlic, and the sesame seeds in a small skillet. Cook until toasted, 5. minutes. 6. Serve the noodles topped with green onions, peanuts, and garlicky sesame seeds. Add a squeeze of lime juice.
Notes
Homemade Sweet Thai Chili Sauce:Â Mix 1/3 cup honey, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1-2 tablespoons chili sauce or hot sauce, 2 teaspoons lime zest, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, and 1 clove grated garlic in a glass jar. Shake or stir well. Use as directed.
We really enjoyed this. I didn’t have the lemongrass paste but it was fine without. It was a easy, quick weeknight meal. I wish I had doubled it. I didn’t have any problem with the peppers making it watery as another reviewer did. So good! Thank you!
Hey Darla,
Happy Friday!! I am so glad to hear this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for trying it and your comment:)
This was very delicious but I know for sure I had a few bumps along the way. I had bigger slices of top sirloin strips that didn’t get crispy while they cooked with the peppers, there ended up being way too much liquid so I had to scoop some out. And the package of noodles I bought didn’t say anything about soaking, just said to boil them and rinse with cold water. Still was delicious but kinda spicy! Was my first time trying to make something like this so I didn’t expect mine to turn out perfect, I’m sure if I did it all the right way it would have been even better. lol
Thanks so much Jasmine! I’m glad you gave the recipe a try even though it was your first time trying something new! Let me know if there is anything that I can help with or if you make it again! xT
This was delicious but waaaaaay too salty (I used tamari). Need to figure out how to tone this down.
Hi Mary,
Thanks for trying this recipe and your feedback, so sorry it was salty! I would try low sodium soy sauce next time! I hope this helps! xT
Agree. Delicious, but too salty. I made sauce at lunch time and marinated the sliced steak for a few hours (just how my day was). Steak (flank) was so tender, delicious – but next time I’d use less Tamari and maybe more of the sweet chili sauce? I’ll defo try again.
Thank you for often including homemade sauce recipes also! Always better than store bought.
Hey Christina,
Of course, happy to share! So glad you enjoyed this recipe:) xT
As a family that loves Asian and Asian-inspired dishes, I’ve made this recipe twice now, and this is going to be a keeper for our family.
The first time I made this, I followed your directions to a ‘T’. The dish was very tasty – a little spicey, savory, and aromatic.
I do agree with one of the other reviewers, that prep time is longer. I’m a pretty skilled cook and it took me 30 minutes to properly slice the flank steak, chop all the ingredients, soak the noodles, prepare the sauce, toast the sesame seeds, and then another 20 minutes for cooking.
The only thing I wasn’t loving the first go-around, was how much water the peppers yielded when cooking them simultaneously with the meat, which in my opinion, prevented the meat from browning/crisping up the way the recipe described.
Regardless, everyone really liked the dish and they were very happy as evidenced by there being nothing leftover – and I doubled the recipe.
Second go around, I made 3 changes while using your same recipe, which I’d like to share with you. The changes were meat and noodle selection and cooking method.
First, I chose to use Shabu, Shabu (New York beef loin cut paper thin). I got this at my butcher, as I love the meat being cut paper thin on a meat slicer and the extra bonus is it cut down on time as I just stacked it and cut it into strips in less than 2 minutes.
I also opted to use Yakisoba noodles instead of Pad Thai. My family hangs for these and I had fresh ones handy that just needed to be soaked in warm water to loosen them before frying them up in the wok. This also saved a tiny bit of time.
Finally, I chose to brown the meat solo in a wok with sesame oil to get maximum flavor and made the meat soft and juicy with a little crisp. I also chose to cook the peppers separately in their own wok. Before both were done, I poured off the water from the peppers and then combined them with the meat and the remainder of the ingredients in the wok I used to prepare the meat.
I then warmed the other wok back up using a medium-high heat, put a little of the Thai Chili Sauce in the bottom of the wok, and threw in the Yakisoba noodles while making the sesame seeds in another small pan and roasting the peanuts in the oven.
When all was done and turned off, I threw half of the chopped green onions and cilantro into the meat and pepper mix and left the remainder for everyone to use as topping along with the sesame seeds and peanuts.
Everyone loved it – and again, I doubled the recipe and no leftovers.
Bottom line – if I hadn’t changed up your meat or noodle selection – the only thing I would have done differently from your recipe, is I would cook the meat and peppers separately and then combine them. But that is simply a personal preference.
So, this recipe is a huge hit – THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!
Hi Laurie,
Wow! I truly appreciate your detailed notes on this recipe. Thank you so much for making it and sharing what you have found works best, I know other readers will find this helpful. So glad it has been enjoyed by your family! xT
Another winner! My husband has already asked me to please make this again. Those garlicky buttery sesame seeds are the BEST!
Thanks so much Pam!! So glad to hear this dish turned out well for you, I appreciate you making it! xT
This is delicious! I followed your recipe exactly and made two bowls. Steak for me and Beyond Steak for my vegetarian husband. The Grandma’s Sauce you recommended is very good. A side of seemed broccoli and we are happy people. 😊
Hi Diane,
Love this!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your feedback! So glad it was enjoyed:) Xx
Hi can I use different cut of meat than flank
Hi Diane,
Totally, a skirt steak would also work nicely for you! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
I used sirloin flap and it worked out great!
These noodles sound pretty tasty, but this recipe is absolutely nothing like pad thai, like you assert in the description (and not just because of the absence of egg).
It took me almost an hour to prep this one. And then we had to scarf it down, because we didn’t have time to eat it. This is the first recipe that I have been disappointed in.
So very sorry to hear this, Lynn. Please let me know if there is something that I can help with! x
Making tonight! I’m soaking the noodles as you said – will they cook in the sauce? Or do I need to cook as per pack instruction’s?
Hey Mary,
They will finish cooking in the sauce:) I hope you love this recipe! xT
Is it ok to use sweet chili sauce or will it change the flavor of the recipe?
Hi Julie,
You bet, that’s actually what I used for this recipe:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This was good. Made double the amount of sauce and used the juice from one lime for a bit of tang.
Thanks Teighan.
Hey Maria,
I appreciate you trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, love to hear that it was enjoyed! xT
Well, you are my favorite go to for great recipes but this one missed the boat for me. The meat and peppers ratio to the noodles was way off. I had to rewrite this as I went. Fortunately, I was taught how to cook Thai food by my best friend 30 years ago who owns a restaurant where I live. I will be attempting to turn the leftovers into a soupy noodle dish. I would skip the sesame seeds. Next up for me is the chicken meatballs and orzo. Cheers!
Thanks for sharing your feedback Michele! So very sorry you felt the ratios were off. I hope it turns out to be a good soup dish for you! Let me know how the chicken meatballs and orzo turn out:) xT
First time ever using fish sauce, pickled ginger, and lemongrass paste, and oh my goodness, this was so incredibly delicious! I used sugar free sweet thai chile sauce, but I fully intend to make the homemade version very soon. The ONLY change I made to this recipe was using sweet chile peppers instead of bell peppers only for my family’s personal preference. This is most definitely a meal I will be making for future guests I want to impress! Thank you, Tieghan!
Hey Sarah,
Awesome! I love to hear that this dish turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xT
I don’t like the flavor of fish sauce. Is there a substitute you can suggest?
Since I don’t have fish sauce, I use oyster sauce instead and find that works well. You can adjust the amount of oyster sauce to your taste.
Hi there,
You can use additional soy sauce or oyster sauce. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Looks delicious. How similar is this to, say, a Thai Drunken Noodle with beef? It seems that adding extra vegetables such as broccoli, mushroom, onion, baby corn and/or green been would make this dish very similar. My only worry is if the sauce won’t hold up as/is for so many additional ingredients. Your thoughts?
Thanks Christian! If you want to add more veggies, I would just double the sauce and add more to your liking so everything is coated:) I hope you love this dish, let me know if you give it a try! xT
Think I’ve seen this before somewhere….was it hbh? Looks delicious though!
Thanks Flipe! I hope you love the recipe!!