5 Bold and Flavorful Beef Ramen Recipes

Beef has always been among our favorite toppings for ramen or any noodle dish for that matter. Its natural umami flavor lends really well to both traditional and modified beef ramen recipes. Plus, it makes a simple ramen meal all the more hearty. 

We’ve grown up eating beef noodles and over the years, we’ve done quite a few recipe trials, all to one day share with you our love for beef ramen. With that in mind, here are 5 flavorful beef ramen recipes that may become your favorites too.

‘Mongolian’ Beef Ramen

The famous ‘Mongolian’ beef that we all know is not from Mongolia at all. It’s a Taiwanese recipe that’s made in the local style of stir-frying and glazing meat. 

This recipe is unique because it pairs two recipes that wouldn’t usually be served together, namely Mongolian beef and fried ramen. However, we found that the noodles develop a thick saucy crust just like the beef when they’re fried together. 

Our Spicy ‘Beef’ flavored immi ramen works great for this recipe because it already has the ideal flavor base for a great ramen-beef pairing.

Ingredients

*These amounts are for two large bowls*

Beef Flank Steak: 300 g (thinly sliced)

Ramen Noodles: 2 packs (250 g)

Brown Sugar: 50 g

Soy Sauce: ½ cup

Ginger: ½ teaspoon (finely minced)

Garlic: 4 cloves (finely minced)

Cornstarch: 50 g

Green Onion: 2 (sliced)

Water: ¼ cup

Oil: 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons

Instructions

1. Lightly fry the ginger and garlic in the two teaspoons of oil until fragrant, or just about a minute
2. Add the water, brown sugar, and soy sauce, and bring to a boil
3. Let the liquid boil till it thickens, and set aside
4. Toss the sliced beef in the cornstarch and shake off any excess
5. Heat the remaining oil in a wok and fry the beef in small batches till slightly crispy
6. Cook the noodles according to package instructions
7. When the noodles are cooked, add them and the beef to the sauce and stir-fry until well mixed
8. Garnish with the green onion before serving

Braised Steak Ramen

Braising beef releases another layer of flavor that you wouldn’t get with a chargrilled and pan-seared steak. Do that with a good, well-marbled steak and you don’t really need too many seasonings on it!

We’d suggest using an aged ribeye or fillet for an even more decadent bowl of beef ramen. You can also use tougher cuts such as rump roast or chuck for the classic braised beef flavor, but those require longer cooking times.

It may sound strange but we found that our Black Garlic ‘Chicken’ flavored immi ramen works great as the base for braised steak. This is because it creates the perfect umami when eaten with buttery ribeye steak.

Ingredients

*These amounts are for two large bowls*

Ribeye Steak: 1 (large)

Ramen Noodles: 2 packs

Water: 8-10 cups

Soy Sauce: 4 tablespoons

Sichuan Peppercorns: 1 tablespoon (crushed)

Mirin: 4 tablespoons

White Pepper: ½ teaspoon (crushed)

Sweet Thai Pepper: 1 (chopped)

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients besides the ramen and sweet pepper in a large saucepan 
2. Cover and simmer over low heat until the meat is spoon-tender
3. Cook the noodles according to package directions
4. Add the noodles to the beef and toss well until mixed
5. Continue to simmer for another minute or until the liquid turns into a thick sauce
6. Sprinkle the chopped sweet pepper on top and serve

Shoyu Steak Tips Ramen

Shoyu ramen is one of the four primary ramen flavors with dark soy sauce as the flavor base. Use that same dark soy to marinate some steak tips in, and you’ve got a delicious, easy, and convenient daily meal.

This recipe is really high in both flavor and texture because of the steak tips. Depending on how aged the beef is, it can have an intense beefy flavor that goes great with noodles. 

Because we already have a flavor developer (soy sauce) here, this is another recipe that’ll benefit from the milder flavor of our delicious Black Garlic ‘Chicken’ immi ramen. It’s subtle enough to retain the original soy flavor but still seasoned enough to flavor the noodles well. 

Ingredients

*These amounts are for two large bowls*

Steak Tips: 300 g 

Ramen Noodles: 2 packs

Dark Soy Sauce: 6 tablespoons

Honey: 1 tablespoon

Peanut Oil: 2 tablespoons

Butter: 1 tablespoon

Instructions

1. Marinate the steak tips in the soy and honey for 8-10 hours (overnight is ideal)
2. Saute the meat in the oil and butter over high heat until brown on the outside
3. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions
4. Once cooked, toss them along with the marinade liquid and steak tips
5. Cook for a further minute, take off the heat and serve immediately

Tangy Beef ‘Oyster’ Ramen

The ‘oyster’ in this recipe comes from two things – namely the oyster steak which is a cut of beef, and the oyster sauce that we’ll marinate the beef with. 

This is a tangy stir-fry beef and noodle combo that’ll be a delicious shock to your taste buds. This is because we’re used to beef usually being sweet, smoky, and savory, instead of tangy. In our opinion, it’s a whole another flavor dimension that you have to explore!

Naturally, our Spicy ‘Beef’ flavored immi ramen is great for this dish.

Ingredients

*These amounts are for two large bowls*

Beef Oyster Cut: 350 g (diced)

Ramen Noodles: 2 packs

Oyster Sauce: 4 tablespoons

Lime Juice: 2 tablespoons

MSG: ¼ teaspoon

Instructions

1. Marinate the beef with the Oyster sauce, lime juice, and MSG for 4-5 hours
2. Saute the beef in some oil until brown on the outside
3. Cook noodles as per the package instructions
4. Once cooked, toss the noodles and the remaining marinade in with the beef 
5. Cook for another minute while tossing well
6. Serve with a (optional) sesame seed sprinkle on top

Beef Bulgogi Ramen

Korean BBQ culture has made beef bulgogi a household name in the Western culinary world. We saw its impact and decided to implement a ramen twist on it. The result was a dish that tastes super ‘authentic’, like this is how it was always supposed to be made! 

Our bulgogi ramen recipe is more flexible too. In case you don’t have a tabletop BBQ setup, you can cook the beef in an oven, or even in a pan.

Because it’s already mega-flavorful, you can make it with any one of the three immi ramen flavors. We’ve tried it with all three and the results are very slightly different, but awesome nonetheless. 

Ingredients

*These amounts are for two large bowls*

Beef Flank Steak: 350 g (thinly sliced)

Soy Sauce: ¼ cup

Ripe Pear: ½ cup (finely chopped)

Brown Sugar: 2 tablespoons

Garlic: 3 cloves (minced)

Toasted Sesame Oil: 2 tablespoons

Gochujang: 1 tablespoon

Ginger: 1 tablespoon (finely minced)

Sesame Seeds: 1 teaspoon

Green Onion: 2 (medium)

Vegetable Oil: 2 tablespoons

Instructions

1. Marinate the beef overnight in the soy sauce, pear, sugar, garlic, gochujang, sesame oil, and ginger
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and grill the meat until charred on both sides
3. Cook noodles as per the package instructions
4. Add the noodles and 2 tablespoons of the marinade to the mix in the pan
5. Cook for another 2 minutes and take off the heat
6. Garnish with sliced green onion and sesame seeds before serving