Recipe Swap: Crock-Pot Asian Beef & Noodles

I am absolutely loving this recipe swap! It's really exciting to see what recipe I'll get & from which friend! This week's theme was "Asian" & I got my friend Lauren's (over at Lauren's Kitchen) Crock-Pot Asian Beef & Noodles recipe! I made some changes in the recipe to better serve my family's needs as I've blogged below.  Lauren's recipe has a much easier & faster prep time than mine but both are tasty! I took her advice on the saltiness completely to heart & tweaked a lot of ingredients. I like to choose what vegetables go into my stir fries & we're not big fans of frozen veg, so I changed the frozen up for fresh. Another big difference is with the Ramen noodles. Delicious as they may be, they have way too much sodium for us so I substituted with fresh, Chinese noodles (found by the wonton wrappers in your grocery store).

Oh! & I only have a 6 Quart Crock-Pot:

My hubby thought the veg looked so "pretty" in there- he said to take a pic!
Fresh, goodness! The "before" shot ;)

Crock-Pot Asian Beef & Noodles (Adapted from Lauren's Kitchen)

• Cooking Spray
• 1/2 head of Broccoli
• 1 large Onion
• 2 red Peppers, chopped into large chunks
• 8 oz. package of snow peas
• 1/4 cup button Mushrooms, quartered
• 2 lbs. Stir fry Beef/Beef Round
• 1/2 cup reduced sodium Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup Sesame Oil
• 1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon
• 12 oz. Water
• 2 TBSp. Corn Starch
• 9 oz. package Chinese Noodles
• 1/4 cup Scallions, chopped

Spray Your Crock-Pot with cooking spray. Place the first five ingredients (all Veg.) in the bottom of the cooker & lay the beef on top.


In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice & zest, & water. Dissolve the corn starch into the liquid. Pour the mixture over the beef & veg.


Cover & cook for 5 hours on high or 9 hours on low.


10-15 minutes before cooking time finishes, carefully incorporate the Chinese noodles & scallions into the crock-pot & cover again. Allow to finish cooking.

Not-so-pretty (it blinked!) but it was tasty

The beef was so tender & flavorful from the crock-pot cooking! But, I have to say, it's doubtful I'll make it again soon. The negatives for our family? The veg was too mushy & it's color was "stewed" out. Now this may be my fault for subbing fresh in for frozen! But we love fresh veg with "bite" to them. If I were to make it again, I'd tweak it so that I'd slow cook the beef in 3/4 of the sauce then add the different vegetables at varying times which, in effect, defeats the purpose of a crock-pot meal! LOL Also, I'd use the scallions as garnish instead of placing them in the pot. Still, the meat & the noodles were delicious with the sauce & I was happy to try something new- me, cooking/eating-wise & the family, taste-wise.

Thank you, Lauren!