Are you looking for a new noodle recipe that's easy to make, can be ready in 30 minutes, and packed full of nutrition? This Beef and Spinach Noodles recipe is one of our new family favorites. When the kids love it too, we know it's a winner!
Raise your hand if you love noodles! It IS my comfort food. That is why in the past couple of months with all that's going on in the world, we have made this Beef and Spinach Noodles many times.
Ingredients Needed:
I love this recipe because it doesn't require any crazy ingredients.
Pasta - I've made this recipe with whole wheat spaghetti and linguine and I prefer linguine. You could also make it with regular linguine or even rice noodles.
Beef - Our favorite beef to use is grass fed because the flavor really is different. But I know it comes at a cost. We've made this with just a regular ground beef too, which is still delicious. But you do want to make sure you use an 80% or 85% lean. 90% is too lean.
Spinach - Baby spinach is the best and fresh is best for this recipe. I haven't made this with frozen, but I'm sure you can use it as long as you be sure to thaw it and remove as much liquid from it as possible.
Regular or Lite Soy - I've made the recipe with both and I have to say that my salt lovin' heart loves it with the regular soy sauce. The lite soy sauce just doesn't add the same kind of flavor, it seems like it's just missing something.
Garlic Chili Paste - This is optional. It will add more garlic, spice, and salt to the dish. All things that I'm like um, yes please!
How to Make:
- Heat a pot of water and cook pasta.
- Saute the onions and garlic. Higher heat (but be careful about burning the garlic!), because you want more of a crisp of the onions than a caramelization.
3. Add the spinach to the onions and saute until wilted.
4. Drain cooked noodles and add the cooked noodles to pan.
5. Add the sauce mixture and combine well and enjoy!
Tips:
- Have a pair of tongs ready! You definitely want tongs to be able to turn to spinach while it cooks but then also to turn the noodles.
- Soak up all of the sauce! Make sure that you coat everything with the sauce, that's the good stuff!
- Adjust to your taste. Sriracha lover? Yup, me too. Add that to the noodles at the end! Or even add a little more garlic chili paste to the dish if you love the heat. It's totally customizable.
Recipe FAQs
I prefer baby spinach over regular spinach but it really does matter. You could add a lot less than what we add, but by the way that spinach cooks down, with less it feels like there's nothing to it. Plus, the more spinach the better, right?
Yes. We haven't made this with anything other than 80% to 85% lean ground beef. But you do want to be sure to drain the grease, otherwise the noodles will be too greasy.
I prefer regular soy sauce, but I also have a high salt tolerance (love) and so this may taste a bit salty to some, but those who have a lower salt tolerance, use Lite Soy Sauce.
I use about only about 10 oz, which is about 3/4 of a regular box of 16 oz. I like to use less, especially if I'm serving it to my kids, because I want a higher spinach and beef ratio.
Substitutions:
Pasta: My favorite with this is linguine, but it's also good to spaghetti and thin spaghetti.
Protein: We love this with ground beef but ground turkey would be delicious, too! Chicken would be great too, but it will increase the cook time.
Add other veggies: Yes! You can! Kale? Sure! It will just take a little bit more time than the spinach. Add some peppers or mushrooms? Ok! Add 'em with the onions!
Don't you just want to bite into that bite? It's salty, a little sweet from the hoisin, with a little bit of a kick from the garlic chili - and dependent upon the amount of Sriracha you add on top!
We LOVED this. And so did our girls (who are 2 and 4) so if they approved, that's usually our sign that it's a winner!
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Don't forget, if you make this recipe (or any others) be sure to tell me if on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! Or leave a comment below - I love hearing from you!
Beef and Spinach Noodles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 10 oz noodles, linguine or spaghetti
- 1 lb ground beef 80% or 85% lean
- 8 cups packed baby spinach
- 1 large white onion sliced thin
- 4 cloves fresh garlic
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon hoisin or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic chili paste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Sriracha to top at end
Instructions
- Heat a large pot of salted water on high and bring to a boil.
- Heat olive oil in a 12 inch cast iron or saute pan on medium/high.
- Fill a large pot with water and heat on high to bring to a boil for the pasta.
- Add beef and saute while breaking up with wooden spoon, 6 - 8 minutes.
- While beef is cooking, in a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sesame oil, hoisen, and garlic chili paste
- Once water has come to a boil, add linguine and cook al dente until approximately 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Once beef is cooked, drain most of the fat from the ground beef and then add onions and garlic. Watch and stir often while the onions and garlic crisps. Turn heat down if onions begin to burn, but keep at at least medium. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Turn heat down to medium and add 1/2 of the spinach to the pan and turn with tongs to cook. Let spinach wilt and then add rest of spinach and continue to turn with tongs in pan while it cooks, both batches about 5 minutes.
- When spinach is wilted turn down heat to medium low. Add cooked pasta to saute pan and stir well. Pour in soy mixture and with tongs coat pasta, spinach, and beef with sauce.
- Serve hot and top with Sriracha as desired!
