Craving a steamy bowl of hot noodle soup? This heartwarming Beef Udon is my go-to Japanese comfort dish. My recipe serves up tender sliced beef on top of thick, chewy udon noodles in a savory broth. What’s not to love?
When my family visited Takayama in Japan in 2015, we had the opportunity to enjoy this warm udon noodle soup with Hida beef. Made of freshly cooked udon noodles in a fragrant hot soup, topped with sweet juicy sliced beef, the beef udon was delicious and perfect. Today, we are going to recreate this Beef Udon (肉うどん) back in our own kitchen.
Despite its simplicity, this noodle soup is packed with flavor! The savory broth, seasoned tender beef, caramelized scallion, and chewy smooth noodles — that’s all you really need for a well-composed bowl of noodle soup.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Niku Udon
With basic Japanese condiments, you can easily make this delicious noodle soup at home.
- Udon noodles – Can be frozen, fresh, or dried. Wish to learn more about this noodle? Click here.
- Thinly sliced beef – It works great with “shabu shabu beef” from a Japanese market, but you can always slice your own.
- Negi (Japanese long onion) – You can use green onion as a substitute.
- Dashi (Japanese soup stock) – More about it below.
- Condiments: soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar.
- Optional toppings: narutomaki (fish cake), green onion, mitsuba (Japanese herb), etc.
How to Make the Best Beef Udon
- Prepare dashi broth and add the seasonings to make udon soup broth.
- Stir fry the negi (or green onion) and thinly sliced beef. Season them with soy sauce and sugar.
- Cook udon noodles according to the package instructions and drain well.
- Assemble udon noodles and broth in individual bowls. Top with cooked beef and other toppings of your choice.
3 Ways to Make Dashi
The key to the most flavorful broth for beef udon is dashi — the quintessential Japanese soup stock. Dashi is clear, delicate, mildly sweet, and full of umami. It is the base flavor for a superb bowl of beef udon.
For those who had never made dashi, it might sound intimidating. But trust me, it’s easier to make dashi than any other broth out there; all you do is drop the ingredients in water and let them steep. That’s it!
Just in case you’re new to making dashi, here are 3 ways to make dashi:
- Homemade dashi — You can make standard Awase Dashi by steeping kombu (edible kelp) and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) in water. If you’re vegetarian/vegan, make Vegan Dashi with kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms. [20 minutes]
- Dashi packet — A dashi packet is the best shortcut method that I use often. Similar to making tea, you steep the dashi packet in water and cook for a couple of minutes. Despite its quick method, the flavor of this dashi is pretty good. [5 minutes]
- Dashi powder — Dashi powder is my least favorite method due to its lack of flavor, but you can make a quick dashi with just dashi powder and hot water. [1 minute]
If you want to learn more about dashi, check out The Ultimate Dashi Guide, where I talk about 6 different types of dashi and the above 3 methods in detail.
Make Homemade Udon Noodles
If you have extra time, I recommend making Homemade Udon Noodles from scratch! All you need is flour, water, and salt.
The texture of the dough is much firmer than bread dough, so traditionally, the Japanese used their feet to knead the udon noodles. Isn’t it fun? Check out the post to see how we make udon noodles in Japan.
Other Delicious Udon Noodles
Don’t miss out on these delicious recipes with udon noodles:
- Yaki Udon (Stir-Fried Udon Noodle)
- Curry Udon
- Nabeyaki Udon (Hot Pot Style Udon Noodle Served in Donabe)
- Kitsune Udon
- Miso Nikomi Udon
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Beef Udon
Video
Ingredients
For the Broth from Scratch
- 2½ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 1½ Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Udon Noodle Soup
- ½ Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) (white part only; or use 2 green onions)
- 4 sprigs mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (optional; for topping)
- 1 green onion/scallion (for topping)
- 4 slices narutomaki (fish cakes) (optional)
- 6–8 oz thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) (or slice your own meat)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 servings udon noodles (1.1 lb/500 g frozen or parboiled udon noodles; 6.3 oz/180 g dry udon noodles)
For Serving
- shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) (optional)
For the Broth with Mentsuyu (Optional)
- ⅓ cup mentsuyu (concentrated noodle soup base)
- 2⅓ cups water
- 1 Tbsp mirin
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the udon noodles. Once boiling, keep it covered on low heat until you‘re ready to cook the noodles.
To Make the Broth from Scratch
- First, make 2½ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) of your choice. (To make udon broth with mentsuyu (noodle soup base), see the instructions at the end of the recipe.) Here, I‘ll show you how to make a quick dashi using a dashi packet (you can find it on Amazon). In a medium saucepan, add 2½ cups or 600 ml water and 1 dashi packet. Bring it to a boil over medium heat.
- Simmer for 2–3 minutes. Then, squeeze the liquid from the dashi packet and discard the packet.
- Add 1½ Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar, and ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and mix it all together. Cover the pot with a lid to prevent evaporation and keep it hot. Remove it from the heat and set aside.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Cut the white part of ½ Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) diagonally into ½-inch (1.3 cm) slices. Set aside.
- Thinly slice the leaves and tender stems of 4 sprigs mitsuba (Japanese parsley)(optional).
- Cut 1 green onion/scallion into thin slices. Transfer the green onion slices and mitsuba to a small plate or bowl for topping the soup later.
- Diagonally cut 4 slices narutomaki (fish cakes). Then, cut 6–8 oz thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) in half, about 1½ to 2 inches (3.8-5 cm) wide.
To Cook the Beef
- Heat the frying pan on medium heat. When it‘s hot, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil and the Tokyo negi.
- Sauté the negi until golden brown and tender. Then, add the meat and cook until it‘s no longer pink.
- Add 2 tsp sugar and 1 Tbsp soy sauce.
- Stir-fry the meat until it is well coated with the seasoning. Remove from the heat.
To Boil the Udon Noodles
- Cook 2 servings udon noodles in boiling water according to the package instructions. For frozen udon noodles, boil from frozen for 1 minute to reheat. Drain well and rinse quickly with water to remove the excess starch.
To Serve
- Divide the well-drained udon noodles into individual serving bowls and pour the hot broth over the noodles to cover.
- Place the stir-fried beef, narutomaki, green onions, and mitsuba on top. If you like it spicy, sprinkle shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) on top. Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the stir-fried beef, udon noodles, and broth separately in airtight containers and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To Make the Broth with Mentsuyu (Optional)
- In a medium saucepan, combine ⅓ cup mentsuyu (concentrated noodle soup base), 2⅓ cups water, and 1 Tbsp mirin and mix well. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Cover with a lid and turn off the heat. The udon broth is now ready to use.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on November 8, 2015. It’s been updated with new images and video.
Simple and utterly wonderful. Thankyou. x
Hi Rob! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Niku Udon.
Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Loved making this with my husband, turned out pretty good for our first time making this, the Seven Spice added a nice level of flavor to the dish as well. Will be making this again.
Hi Zofia, We are so happy to hear that you and your husband enjoyed Niku Udon!
Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback. Happy Cooking!
I’ve made this recipe so manytimes and it was delicious each time! Lately I’ve needed to get more into meal prep due to a more hectic schedule. Would it be okay to make the broth the night before and refrigerate it then heat it up when needed? Would this impact the flavour negatively?
Hi Flann, Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Yes! The broth can be prepared ahead of time, and the flavor is still delicious the next day. You can keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days if you store them in airtight containers.
We hope this helps!
This is our favourite JOC recipe! We eat this at least once a week especially now that our supermarket now sells frozen udon. This is also what we eat when we feel a little sick.
Hi Amy! We are glad to hear this is your favorite recipe!🤗
Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi there! Gonna be trying this recipe for dinner tonight. But I was wondering, why not boil the noodles in the stock instead? Is there a reason why I shouldn’t do this? Kitchen space is limited at my flat so I try and use as few dishes as possible haha.
Hi Fluff! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
We recommend boiling the Udon noodle separately, draining well, and rinsing quickly with water to remove the excess starch.
We hope this helps!
Made this recipe today and my husband said that the meal was as good as his moms. haha I feel so accomplished lol
I didn’t do the fish cakes, substituted this topping with baby bok choy instead.
Thank you! it was easy to follow and came out to be as good or better than at the restaurant
Hi Kay! Aww. 🥰 Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed Nami’s Beef Udon recipe.
Happy Cooking!
nami…the dashi powder or granules,,what is it made up? are there additives? thank you.
Hi chit, Thank you for reading Nami’s post!
It depends on the brand of Dashi powder or granules. We recommend checking your package ingredient list.
Nami explains more about this in this post: https://www.justonecookbook.com/dashi-powder/
We hope this helps!🙂
This was amazing, but how many servings is the nutrition info for? Are the calories for the entire dish? Or like 1/2-1/4 of it?
Hi Carissa! Thank you for reading Nami’s post!
This recipe is for two servings, and the nutrition info is approximately one serving.
We hope this helps!
Just made this tonight for dinner and it was incredible!! Thank you so much for the delicious recipe 🙂 My family loved it and gave it a million thumbs up!
Hi Diana! We are so happy to receive a million thumbs up!🥰🤩
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi! I was curious if the recipe/ratios may have been updated when you updated the photos and video? This dish/recipe has been a favorite of my wife and mine. We just made it again for the first time since you updated it, and it seems as though the flavor came out a little different than in the past. I wasn’t sure if there may have been a slight change from the previous post/iteration? It was perfect for our palate in the past – maybe our taste has changed and not the tecipe ratios? Thank you so much! We’ve loved every dish/recipe we’ve followed!
Hi Toan! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipes!
This post has been updated with new photos and a video, but Nami did not change this recipe.
The flavor difference could be from meat flavor or the brands of each condiment.
We hope this helps.
Thank you for your recipe! I just made it today. Your posts on mirin, soy sauce, and tsuyu were really helpful. My Mitsuwa was out of shabu shabu beef, so I went with Trader Joe’s shaved beef steak which was a little too thin but worked.
Hi Irene! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear it worked out well and you enjoyed Beef Udon!🥰
I made Beef Udon last night – it was FABULOUS! I cut the Soy Sauce by 1 T and did not add the salt. otherwise followed it exactly. I prepped the noodles, broth and beef ahead of time and simply reheated and assembled when everyone was ready for dinner.
This website is my “go to” for Japanese cooking.
The link to products is greatly appreciated!!
I scaled the recipe for 8 – thank you for the tool.
Hi Dana! Aww🥰 Thank you very much for your kind words and feedback!💝
Nami and JOC team are so happy to hear you enjoyed Nami’s recipe and website. Happy Cooking!
This noodle dish is like a big hug. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi heure.du.loup, We are glad to hear you like noodle dishes!
Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback. 😊
Oh wow! You even made a recipe of my favourite dish! I didn’t know making Udon is simple! Tell me, do you have a recipe of just the Udon soup?
Hi Lunala!
Here is the Udon soup recipe; https://www.justonecookbook.com/udon-noodle-soup/
We hope you enjoy both recipes! Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
Thanks for the great recipe. Made this for the first time last week and my whole family love it (including my little picky eater). Love your site! From Malaysia
Hi Pamela! We are so happy to hear you and your family loved Niku Udon!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!🥰