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Dan Dan Noodles {30-Minute Meal}

Yield: 8 Servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces spaghetti noodles
  • 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
  • ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce, plus more to taste, if you like things spicy
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 2 pounds lean ground turkey or beef
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (see note)
  • ½ to 1 cup fresh, chopped cilantro

Instructions 

  • Cook the spaghetti noodles in a large pot of lightly salted, boiling water until al dente, according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water. Return to the pot and set aside.
  • For the sauce, in a medium bowl or large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, chile-garlic sauce, cornstarch, brown sugar, rice vinegar and sesame oil until smooth. Set aside.
  • In a large, 12-inch nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat, add the ground meat, salt, pepper, garlic and ginger, and cook, breaking the meat into pieces, until no longer pink, 6-7 minutes. Drain any excess grease.
  • Return the skillet to medium heat, whisk the sauce to recombine, and pour over the meat mixture. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. Stir in the cilantro.
  • Pour the meat/sauce mixture over the noodles in the pot. Serve immediately.

Notes

Sauce: chili garlic sauce is a great ingredient to keep on hand (it lasts forever in the fridge). It is usually quite readily available at most grocery stores in the Asian foods aisle (the Huy Fong brand). If you don’t have it or can’t find it, try subbing in sriracha sauce and upping the garlic by a clove or two.
Low-sodium: using low-sodium broth and soy sauce is pretty important in this recipe, otherwise it will probably be too salty.
Ginger: if fresh ginger intimidates you, never fear! I buy a big knobby handle of it, cut it into 1-inch pieces (no need to peel), stash it in the freezer in a ziploc bag and then pull it out for recipes like this. Straight from the freezer, it grates like a dream on a rasp grater or the small holes of a box grater and the flavor is so yummy.