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So, are you ready for another noodle bowl?!?
I know I had one up last week, but I guess something about January screams noodles and bowl to me.
I am surely an odd one.
Keeping things short today because I am trying to get myself all caught up on cooking and things in the kitchen this week. Last week I was kicked out of the kitchen for three days in a row so now I’m playing catch up.
Plus, Sunday was my mom’s Birthday. This meant I spent all day making two cakes and a french toast breakfast complete with blackberry syrup, coconut whipped cream and fresh fruit…and a side of hot chocolate! That’s just the way my mom rolls…the extra delish way.
Anyway, I want to tell you all about these Vietnamese lemongrass beef bowls.
They are loaded with spaghetti squash and topped with bok choy and mushrooms. The lemongrass beef, wow, I am not even a beef person and the flavor of this beef is just spot on awesome.
If you have never had lemongrass, it basically just looks like a tall stalk of grass and it softens once cooked. It’s got a great, subtle flavor that to me seems very fresh.
It’s perfect when used in marinade, soups and salads. You have to try it!
My favorite thing about these bowls is that they are pretty easy to make. You just have to marinate the beef for at least 20 minutes and while that is happening, you can either roast or microwave the spaghetti squash (I gave options for both). While the squash is cooking, you can start caramelizing the mushrooms and bok choy. From there you will need to caramelize the steak. Then quickly make the peanut sauce and simply throw it all together.
Pretty simple, and perfect for a Monday, dontcha’ think?
Oh, in my opinion, peanut sauce should be put on pretty much all Asian and Thai dishes. It’s so good, like addicting good. Peanut sauce on everything!
Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef and Spaghetti Squash Noodle Bowls with Peanut Sauce.
Servings: 4 BOWLS
Calories Per Serving: 539 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemongrass chopped (or 1 tablespoon lemon grass paste)
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger grated
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce found in the asian aisle of most grocery stores
- 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 1 pound beef skirt steak sliced thin against the grain
- 1 medium sized spaghetti squash
- 3 tablespoons peanut or sesame oil
- 1 head bok choy chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- chopped peanuts sliced red chilies, shredded carrots, fresh mint, fresh thai, chopped lemongrass, for serving
Peanut Sauce
- 1 ounce can coconut milk 14, lite or regular
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons thai red curry paste use 1 teaspoon for less heat
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the lemongrass, ginger, honey, soy sauce, fish sauce and garlic. Add the steak to a ziploc bag or glass bowl. Pour the marinade over the steak. Seal the bag and allow the steak to sit for 20-30 minutes or in the fridge overnight.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti squash.* Pierce the squash 6 or 7 times with a sharp knife. Microwave on 100 percent power (high) for about 15 minutes or until tender, turning squash every 5 minutes throughout cooking. Cut squash in half lengthwise and allow to cool slightly.
- While the squash is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a drizzle of peanut oil and once hot add the bok choy and mushrooms. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the bok choy is wilted and the mushrooms caramelized. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the veggies from the skillet to plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
- Return the skillet to high heat. Add a drizzle of oil and once hot, add the steak and caramelize for about 2-3 minutes, then toss and cook another 2-3 minutes or until cooked throughout. If there is any marinade left in the bowl or bag, pour that over the steak and cook a minute longer. Slide the steak onto the plate with veggies and cover with foil to keep warm.
- To make the peanut sauce add the coconut milk, peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and thai red curry paste to a medium size pot. Place the pot over medium heat and bring to a low boil, stirring until the peanut butter melts into the coconut milk and the brown sugar has dissolved to make a smooth peanut sauce.
- To serve, scrape the spaghetti squash away from its rind divide among bowls. Top with bok choy and mushrooms and then add the streak. Drizzle with the peanut sauce and then top with your desired toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
*If you have time, roast your spaghetti squash instead of microwaving it. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the squash lengthwise and rub a drizzle of oil all over the cut side of both squash halves, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake about 30 minutes (I like to roast the garlic + squash at the same time), or until the squash is just tender enough to scrape into strands. You want the squash to be barely tender, it will continue cooking later. Remove from the oven and scrape the squash into strands. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
What do you say? Let’s kick Monday in the butt with some killer noodle bowls!
Is this recipe supposed to read 1 14 oz can coconut milk?
Hi Laura,
Yes sorry for the confusion, it is 1-14 ounce can of coconut milk. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
With regards to the coconut milk, does the recipe call for one 14-ounce can?
the text in the recipe for this ingredient is not clear.
Hi Rachel, you need one (14 ounce) can of coconut milk. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! xTieghan
Omg yum! Marinade is on point. 10/10 will make again
Thank you Alexis!
I forgot to add that i love how versatile this is – i have used different vegetables and meats. So great!
So i have made this a few times now and it is one of the most delicious things i have ever made. That being said, it is not a quick, easy throw together meal in my opinion. There is a lot going on here – a ton of chopping and prep. You have to cut up the meat, make the marinade, cut up the veg., make the peanut sauce, bake or micro the squash then prep that, all before you even start cooking. Oh, i forgot the cutting up of the garnishes! I am a very experienced cook and it is quite time consuming.
But i really do love this recipe – i had just never actually read the blog post for it yet and saw that you wrote it was a quick meal and just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. It is a definite must make, though for those who haven’t tried it – worth the time!
Oh thanks so much Erin, I am really happy you love this meal! (:
I’d love to make this for my dinner guests tonight, but we don’t eat red meat. Is there an alternative to the beef steak, like turkey or chicken, that would still taste as good?
Hey Bill!
I am sure chicken will work great in place of the beef. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Really enjoyed making this today; however, I was at a loss for the amt. of actual calories consumed. I have been logging my food for the last 1-1/2 yrs. and have lost 125+ lbs. doing so, but this one stumped me. caloriecount.com gave me an approximation of calories as 367 using light coconut milk with the recipe making a total of six (6) serving. I’m pretty sure that even with my increasing the amount of liquid for this recipe, it wasn’t 6 servings. Gonna’ tweak the recipe further to cut down on the cals. Perhaps using chicken breasts next time. Other than that, it was delish! Thank you.
great idea
How many calories in one serving?
Hi, I am sorry, I do not know the calories.
OMG! Made this for dinner tonight, and it was DELICIOUS! And I may or may not have drowned my “noodle bowl” with the peanut butter sauce…
I did not have any bok choy on hand, so I used spinach instead and omitted the brown sugar in the peanut butter sauce, because I don’t like my food too sweet and I find the coconut milk sweet enough.
But again REALLY D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!
Absolutely amazing!
Thank you!!
Hi, thank you for posting this recipe! I plan to make it tonight but with chicken (NYC prime steak cuts are just too much for my wallet right now!). Question: how long with the peanut sauce keep for? Can I freeze part of it? I could cut the recipe in half I suppose but I always end up wasting half of the coconut milk when I do. Thanks for your recipes/help! 🙂
The peanut sauce will keep one week and freezes amazingly!! Let me know if you have any other questions and I hope you love this! 🙂
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful recipe, I love spaghetti squash. I was wondering if I could substitute tahini for the peanut butter and coconut aminos for the soy sauce? I can’t digest peanuts/nuts or soy 🙁
Hey Sophia, that will work great. Hope you love this!!
So I made this last night and it was spot on!! Incredible flavor!!! Wonderful recipe!! Next time I will take pictures, but this time we all kind of started eating before I thought about a photo! haha!
Thank you!! So excited you loved this!
Just made this for dinner tonight and it was fabulous! The combination of textures, flavors, and colors is wonderful. That caramelized beef – delicious! And I love the spaghetti squash instead of noodles. You nailed this one!
SO excited you loved this! THANKS!