Craving for something Japanese? Try this quick and easy yaki udon stir fry recipe with beef strips, vegetables, and 5-ingredient sauce. Whip this up in just 15 minutes after all the ingredients are cut and ready.
What Is Yaki Udon (Udon Stir Fry)?
Yaki udon (焼きうどん) or fried udon is a Japanese noodle dish loved for its thick udon noodles tossed in a soy sauce based sauce. It is often mixed with strips of meat, from beef steak to shrimp and pork. Apart from meat ingredients, it also includes vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, shredded cabbage, or any of your favorite vegetables.
You may confuse yaki udon with yakisoba, but they are two completely different dishes. Although both are stir-fried noodle dishes, yaki udon uses thick udon noodles, while yakisoba uses thinner noodles. The only similarity between the two noodle dishes is that both are stir-fried with a savory sauce.
In my version of yaki udon, I stir-fried the marinated beef strips, thinly sliced bell peppers, and diced onions with the cooked udon noodles. Then, I added the savory sauce made with light and dark soy sauce, black pepper powder, and cornstarch. It is a simple recipe for a quick meal, snack, or an izakaya night with friends and family.
Want to try more noodle recipes? Here are some delicious noodle recipes you shouldn’t miss:
- Stir Fried Spaghetti Noodles With Soy Sauce
- Homemade Silver Noodles (銀針粉) With Only 2 Ingredients
- Japchae (Korean Glass Noodles)
- Jjajangmyeon (Black Bean Noodles)
- Hokkien Mee (Fried Prawn Noodles)
- Spicy Handmade Noodles (Biang Biang Noodles)
- Ban Mian (Handmade Noodles)
- Scallion Oil Noodles (葱油拌面)
- Shrimp Chow Fun
- Shrimp Chow Mein
Ingredients To Make Yaki Udon (Udon Stir Fry)
There are several ways to make this dish your own, from choosing your protein to adding your preferred vegetables. You can also customize the sauce if you prefer something sweet, spicy, or savory. Check out my suggestions below before starting with the recipe instructions.
- Udon noodles: Udon noodles are thick white noodles made with flour, water, and salt. These are usually packed in clear plastic packaging in the chilled section of a grocery store or Asian supermarket. The noodles are cooked in water for a few minutes to loosen them up before stir-frying them with the rest of the ingredients. The most common type of noodle for udon is sanuki udon (讃岐うどん). If udon noodles are unavailable, the next best alternatives are other Asian noodles like soba noodles, ramen noodles, and rice noodles. Here are some recipes where I use other types of Asian noodles:
- Beef steak: The protein for this dish is beef steak cut into thin strips. The key to stir-fried dishes is cutting the ingredients into strips to cook them faster during the stir-frying step. Use a beef cut for cutting thin slices, such as top sirloin steak, flank steak, and Denver steak, to name a few. Aside from beef, you can swap it with other protein sources like pre-cut and peeled shrimp, diced extra firm tofu, shiitake mushrooms, chicken strips, and pork strips.
- Beef marinade: After cutting the beef into strips, it is marinated with salt, oil, and cornstarch for about 15 minutes. Adding cornstarch is best to have a slightly crisp texture and protect the beef from overcooking or hardening. Oil helps keep it moist and prevent it from drying out during the stir-frying step. Any cooking oil will do, such as olive, avocado, sesame, or safflower oil. Lastly, salt is key in letting the meat absorb moisture and keep its flavor.
- Vegetables: Adding vegetables is great for extra fiber, color, and texture. I used diced red onions and thinly sliced red, green, and yellow bell peppers.
- Diced red onions: Use small or medium red onions. Swap it with other types of onions like white and yellow onions.
- Bell peppers: Use red, yellow, or green bell peppers. These are also cut into strips to make it cook faster during the stir-frying step. Bell peppers are excellent for a hint of sweetness and a delightful crunch.
- Optional vegetables: I recommend including any of your leftover vegetables. Vegetables that are perfect for this dish are thinly sliced cabbage, carrots, ginger, green onions, bok choy, broccoli, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts.
- Sauce: The sauce is added after stir-frying the vegetables and noodles. It is a mix of light soy sauce, black pepper powder, cornstarch, water, and dark soy sauce.
- Light and dark soy sauce: Light soy sauce is important for adding salty and umami flavors. You can also use regular soy sauce and adjust the amount accordingly. Aside from light soy sauce, you can use tamari, liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or gluten-free soy sauce. On the other hand, dark soy sauce makes the sauce thicker and darker. It also adds a hint of sweetness.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch is essential in making the sauce thick and creamy. If you decide to omit cornstarch, the sauce will be watery. An excellent substitute for cornstarch is tapioca flour or potato starch. Swap 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of tapioca flour or 1 tbsp of potato starch.
- Black pepper powder: Add heat with black pepper powder. You can also use white pepper powder for an earthy taste and subtle heat.
- Optional flavoring ingredients: Change the taste a bit with other optional flavoring ingredients such as oyster sauce for something umami and chili sauce for something spicy. You can also play around with cooking wine or rice wine like mirin, Shaoxing wine, dry sherry, red wine vinegar, or alcohol-free wine. Brown sugar, sesame oil, Japanese mayo, and sesame seeds are also excellent ingredients to alter the sauce taste.
What To Prepare For Yaki Udon (Udon Stir Fry)
Prepare a knife for chopping, a pot for boiling the noodles, and a non-stick pan for stir-frying. You will also need mixing bowls for the sauce and marinade. The ingredients to prepare are:
Stir-frying
- 400g Udon noodles
- 30g of diced red onions
- 50g of red bell peppers (thinly sliced)
- 50g of yellow bell peppers (thinly sliced)
- 50g of green bell peppers (thinly sliced)
- 180g of beef steak (cut into strips)
- 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, I prefer using peanut oil
Beef marinade
- 2g of salt
- 5g of vegetable oil
- 5g of cornstarch
Sauce
- 10g of light soy sauce
- 3g of black pepper powder
- 5g of cornstarch
- 100g of water
- 5g of dark soy sauce
How To Cook Yaki Udon (Udon Stir Fry)
Cook the noodles and beef, stir-fry the ingredients, and toss in the sauce – and it’s done! You have yaki udon in about 15 minutes, the perfect meal for a quick lunch or light snack. Watch how I did it with my Instagram or TikTok tutorial videos.
Did you love this yaki udon recipe? Share your thoughts and ideas by writing a comment in the comments section. Don’t forget to share your dishes by tagging @kitchenmisadventures!
- Thinly slice the bell peppers and dice the red onions.
- Clean and slice the beef steak into thin strips.
- Marinate the beef strips for 15 minutes with salt, oil, and cornstarch.
- In a bowl, prepare the sauce by combining light soy sauce, black pepper powder, cornstarch, water, and dark soy sauce.
- Cook the udon noodles in water for 2 minutes or according to the package instructions. After cooking, let it cool in cold water and set aside. While cooking, carefully separate the noodles to stop them from sticking together.
- Heat a pan with oil for stir-frying. Stir-fry the beef strips until the color changes to light brown. Set aside.
- In the same pot with less oil, stir-fry the diced onions and bell peppers over medium heat for 2 minutes.
- Add the udon noodles. Give the sauce another mix and pour it into the pan.
- Stir-fry for an additional 2 minutes and add the beef strips.
- Continue stir-frying until the sauce is evenly mixed and starts to thicken.
Quick & Easy Yaki Udon (Udon Stir Fry) Recipe
Ingredients
Stir-frying
- 400 g Udon noodles
- 30 g of diced red onions
- 50 g of red bell peppers thinly sliced
- 50 g of yellow bell peppers thinly sliced
- 50 g of green bell peppers thinly sliced
- 180 g of beef steak cut into strips
- 2 tablespoons of cooking oil I prefer using peanut oil
Beef marinade
- 2 g of salt
- 5 g of vegetable oil
- 5 g of cornstarch
Sauce
- 10 g of light soy sauce
- 3 g of black pepper powder
- 5 g of cornstarch
- 100 g of water
- 5 g of dark soy sauce
Instructions
- Thinly slice the bell peppers and dice the red onions.
- Clean and slice the beef steak into thin strips.
- Marinate the beef strips for 15 minutes with salt, oil, and cornstarch.
- In a bowl, prepare the sauce by combining light soy sauce, black pepper powder, cornstarch, water, and dark soy sauce.
- Cook the udon noodles in water for 2 minutes or according to the package instructions. After cooking, let it cool in cold water and set aside. While cooking, carefully separate the noodles to stop them from sticking together.
- Heat a pan with oil for stir-frying. Stir-fry the beef strips until the color changes to light brown. Set aside.
- In the same pot with less oil, stir-fry the diced onions and bell peppers over medium heat for 2 minutes.
- Add the udon noodles. Give the sauce another mix and pour it into the pan.
- Stir-fry for an additional 2 minutes and add the beef strips.
- Continue stir-frying until the sauce is evenly mixed and starts to thicken.
