Easy Black Pepper Beef Udon

Black pepper beef udon, inspired by Japanese-style noodle dishes often found in casual Asian restaurants, is one of those recipes that hits all the right notes-comforting, bold, and incredibly easy to make at home.

I’ve been experimenting with quick weeknight dinners that don’t skimp on flavor, and this dish quickly earned a permanent spot in my rotation. After a long day, I want something comforting without spending hours at the stove, and the combination of tender beef, chewy udon noodles, and a punchy black pepper sauce always delivers.

What surprised me most was how simple it is to prepare. With marinated beef and a fast stir-fry, you get a dish that tastes just like your favorite restaurant-only fresher and faster.

It’s one of those dishes you likely throw together in 20 minutes, but by the time you’ve got everything done, everybody will be pretty convinced that you must have spent hours toiling away in the kitchen.

Who doesn’t love those speedy, tasty dinners? Then, this Black Pepper Beef Udon is one of your treasures.

A balanced flavor, actually savory with the peppery punch, a little sweetness, really nicely balanced so that any finisher becomes a critic about how you present your dishes. And it’s a pretty open-ended list of ingredients so you can fiddle to suit what you have on hand.

Here Are Some Recipes You Might Like

• Indonesian Beef Rendang
• Pepper Lunch Beef Rice
• Beef Pho Noodle Soup
• Authentic Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
• Easy Ground Beef Tikka Masala

Ingredients:

For the Main Course: 

• 2 packs udon noodles: Fresh udon is great with its springy, chewy texture, but dried udon also works fine-just cook it according to the package instructions.
• 200 g fresh beef thinly sliced: I like to use ribeye or flank steak. Pro tip: When you are cutting your own beef, freeze it for 30 minutes first. This really helps to make it much easier to slice very thin.
• 1 minced garlic cloves: Of course, no dinner is ever complete with that heavenly scent of garlic!
• Chinese cabbage (or whatever leafy green): I love using Chinese cabbage for its fabulous crunch but can easily sub in spinach, bok choy, or even broccoli.
• 1 white onion, sliced: These onions bring a lovely natural sweetness in a perfect balance with the heat from the pepper.
• Salt to taste: This is just want amounts-the salt really brings out flavors.
• Sugar to taste: A pinch of sugar balances out all the savory, peppery flavors that’s been happening in this meal.

Marinated Beef Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic, minced: More garlic is added into the marinade, which really rings much flavor out of the beef.
• 1 tsp sesame oil: It gives this a very subtle nuttiness.
• 1 tbsp soy sauce: The savory base into which the beef absorbs all flavor.
• 1 tsp oyster sauce: Rich, silky umami flavor
• 1 tsp Chinese white vinegar: Add a splash of acidity to try and break down the beef and cleave through richness
• 1 tsp cornstarch or potato starch + water (for slurry): Thicken up that marinade and help it get that fantastic smooth surface around the beef

For Black Pepper Sauce:

• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce: adds everything you could want in richness and that salty, umami taste so classic.
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce: More umami-action (can’t mess this up!)
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper: This really depends on how hot you like this dish to be. Freshly ground pepper is best for flavor.
• 3 tbsp water: To water down the sauce, so it should coat the noodles really good.
• 1/2 tsp Potato starch: That is what helps to thicken the sauce, so adding it in gives it that glossy finish.

Instructions

1. Marinate the Beef: Whisk together minced garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese white vinegar, and cornstarch slurry in a small bowl. Add thinly sliced beef and toss to coat, allowing it to sit about 10 minutes while you start preparing the rest of your ingredients. There is so much flavor going on with that beef-then it becomes tender at the end. 

2. Prepare Black Pepper Sauce: Scrape all the browned bits into a small bowl with the dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, black pepper, water, and potato starch, mixed together. Set aside.

3. Prep the Udon Noodles: In a large pot of boiling water, cook the udon noodles for 1-2 minutes, until slightly loosed up but not overcooked, of course! Drain and set aside. No overcooking’s necessary in this recipe-you want it still to retain just that little bit of bouncy chew!  

4. Cook the Beef: Put the wok or large pan and heat it medium. Put one tablespoon of oil, Beef marinade is ready pan-brown until browned. That should take around 2-3 minutes because beef cooks fast so don’t overcook it. Remove beef and set aside since you now need to work on the sauce

5. Combining everything together: Used the same pan, put one tablespoon of oil, garlic, and onions sliced. Stir-fry until it is fragrant and softens. Add the cooked udon noodles and beef into the sauce. And the last add Chinese cabbage. Scramble everything in that pan really good so that everything’s absolutely coated, too. Let everything toss one last time and you’re good to go.

Tips:

To make Silky Tender Beef: Marinate beef for at least 30 minutes. The longer the beef will be even more tender and luscious.

Vegetarian Version: Use tofu or mushrooms instead of beef and use oyster sauce vegetarian.

Want More Heat? Of course, if you like the heat you may add more ground black pepper or even just a pinch of red pepper flakes to taste.

Alternative noodles: In case you don’t have udon noodles just lying about your pantry, you can use rice noodles or soba noodles or even spaghetti in a jam. Just cook them accordingly.

Prepare ahead: Marinate your beef beforehand and prepare your sauce well in advance so that when you are ready to cook, you can save much time.

It would have made the cut for that favorite speedy bowl of noodles, but in any case, 

Final Thoughts:

Beef Black Pepper Udon is now one of my faves. Chewy noodles, savory beef and that peppery sauce, really are just what comfort food needs when you need to step up the hurry a little, but don’t want to sacrifice too much taste for it.

This is just a perfect recipe when you want to just treat yourself to the most special of dishes, but you are terrified to spend an hour or two hanging out in the kitchen.

Enjoy making this almost as much as you will like eating it. If you get to make it, let me know how it turns out for you!

Esay Black Pepper Beef Udon

Tender beef, chewy udon, and black pepper sauce come together in this quick, flavorful stir-fry.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Course: dinner, lunch

Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 2 packs udon noodles
• Chinese cabbage (or whatever leafy green)
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 white onion, sliced
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste
• 200 g fresh beef, thinly sliced

Marinated Beef Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp corn starch or potato starch + water (for slurry)
• 1 tsp Chinese white rice vinegar

Black Pepper Sauce

• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp potato starch

Method

 

1. Whisk together minced garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese white vinegar, and cornstarch slurry in a small bowl. Add thinly sliced beef and toss to coat, allowing it to sit about 10 minutes while you start preparing the rest of your ingredients. There is so much flavor going on with that beef-then it becomes tender at the end. 
2. Scrape all the browned bits into a small bowl with the dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, black pepper, water, and potato starch, mixed together. Set aside.
3. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the udon noodles for 1-2 minutes, until slightly loosed-up but not overcooked, of course! Drain and set aside. No overcooking's necessary in this recipe-you want it still to retain just that little bit of bouncy chew!
4. Put the wok or large pan and heat it medium. Put one tablespoon of oil, Beef marinade is ready pan-brown until browned. That should take around 2-3 minutes because beef cooks fast so don't overcook it. Remove beef and set aside since you now need to work on the sauce
5. Used the same pan, put one tablespoon of oil, garlic, and onions sliced. Stir-fry until it is fragrant and softens. Add the cooked udon noodles and beef into the sauce. And the last add Chinese cabbage. Scramble everything in that pan really good so that everything's absolutely coated, too. Let everything toss one last time and you're good to go.