Lunch

Japchae-Style Beef and Vegetable Noodles

Name: Japchae-Style Beef and Vegetable Noodles
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients: 120 g Lean beef, trimmed; 150 g Cooked rice noodles; 60 g Spinach; 50 g Carrot; 80 g Mushrooms; 50 g Onion; 1 clove, about 3 g Garlic; 4 tsp (20 g) Tamari; 1 tsp (4 g) Sugar; 5 g Toasted sesame oil; 5 g Sesame seeds

Strips of beef, spinach, carrot, mushrooms and onion, each cooked in turn and tossed with rice noodles in a sweet soy and sesame dressing. 34 g of protein for 490 kcal.

Calories: 490kcal
Protein: 34g
Fat: 14g
Carbs: 53g

Per serving, makes 1. 25 minutes of work. Published 8 September 2026.

Allergens

Soya
Sesame

Flags follow UK labelling rules and come from the ingredients as listed, not from any particular brand. Check the packet before cooking for somebody with an allergy.

Ingredients

Lean beef, trimmed120 g
Sliced as thinly as you can across the grain. Freezing it for twenty minutes first makes that easy. Weighed raw. The same piece weighed after cooking has lost water, so the protein per gram is higher and the total would come out about a quarter over.
Cooked rice noodles150 g
Japchae uses sweet potato glass noodles. Rice noodles are the nearest thing most supermarkets stock and the numbers are similar. Cooked weight, after soaking.
Spinach60 g
Carrot50 g
Mushrooms80 g
Onion50 g
Garlic1 clove, about 3 g
Tamari4 tsp (20 g)
Sugar1 tsp (4 g)
Toasted sesame oil5 g
Sesame seeds5 g

Method

Mix the tamari, sugar, garlic and half the sesame oil. Put a third of it on the beef and leave it while you cut the vegetables into matchsticks and slices.
In a hot non-stick pan, cook the onion for two minutes, then the carrot for two, then the mushrooms for three, each with a pinch of salt, moving each to a bowl as it is done.
Wilt the spinach in the pan with a splash of water and squeeze it dry.
Fry the beef over the highest heat for ninety seconds until just browned. Add the noodles, all the vegetables and the rest of the dressing and toss for a minute. Finish with the last of the sesame oil and the seeds.

Worth knowing

Cooking the vegetables one at a time is what makes this japchae rather than a stir-fry. It takes longer and there is no way round it.
Good warm and equally good cold from the fridge the next day, which is how it is often eaten in Korea. The sugar is one teaspoon and is counted.

Other lunch recipes that share ingredients with this one, or every lunch between 450 and 600 calories a serving.

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Macros are calculated from the weights listed above using standard food composition values, and will shift with your own brands and measuring. Weigh what you can. This is a recipe, not dietary advice. The full health disclaimer is below.