The delightful zing of Sichuan peppers is actually what makes me go back again and again to this super pared-back, easy dan dan noodle recipe! Inspired by one of my favorite Chinese dishes, I use peanut butter (just like my local Chinese restaurant does!) as an easy sub for traditional Chinese sesame paste.
Other than that, these easy homemade dan dan noodles have all of the other classic flavors in droves: Crispy, rich ground pork, lots of fresh ginger and garlic, soy sauce and yes, those peppercorns! Tame the heat by using red pepper flakes instead of the Sichuan peppercorns, if you prefer.
Serve these easy dan dan noodles alongside any other Chinese restaurant favorites! I especially love them with dry-fried green beans or hot and sour cabbage on the side (or both!). Try starting with springs rolls or for a beefier main, try cumin beef!
Key Ingredients For Dan Dan Noodles
- Noodles: Fresh udon, yakisoba, or ramen noodles. Usually, I find these in the refrigerated section, often near produce, cheeses, packaged hummus and so on. For a gluten-free option, try rice noodles. The dish will be a little different, but still yummy.
- Ground pork: Pork is traditional and SO yummy, but ground chicken or ground turkey will work fine if you’d like to keep things lighter.
- Peanut butter: You can leave this out if you’d like to, but it adds wonderful creaminess to the dan dan sauce.
- Sherry or vinegar: This ingredient is very flexible! Use shaoxing wine, dry sherry, or rice wine vinegar. Whatever you’ve got will work!
- Spices & seasonings: Cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, ground (or ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes), green onions, ginger and garlic.
How To Make Dan Dan Noodles At Home
See the full recipe card at the bottom of the post for the detailed instructions.
- Cook the noodles in a large pot. They’re going to get bathed in piping-hot dan dan sauce, so it’s OK if they cool while you make the garlicky, spicy pork sauce.
- Fry the pork in a large skillet. When it’s nearly cooked, toss in fragrant fresh garlic and ginger.
- Dan dan sauce time! Mix the garlicky fried pork with soy sauce, sherry, stock, peanut butter, cinnamon, ground Sichuan peppercorns, sugar and chili paste. Simmer for five minutes to thicken the sauce and make your house smell AMAZING.
- Pour the brothy dan dan sauce all over your cooked noodles, garnish and slurp away!
Tips For Dan Dan Noodle Success
- How to grind Sichuan peppercorns: Either use a mortar and pestle, roughly chop with a knife, whiz in a spice grinder or simply use a pepper grinder.
- What can I substitute for sichuan peppercorns? If you’re looking for a milder dan dan noodle recipe, simply substitute red pepper flakes for the Sichuan peppercorns or leave them out entirely.
- Some dan dan noodle recipes use Chinese sesame paste. This tastes nothing like tahini, and it’s hard to find sometimes, so I really suggest using peanut butter as a sub instead because my favorite local Chinese restaurant does! That said, if you have the more traditional Chinese sesame paste, use it!
- My recipe does not include mustard greens, and many traditional dan dan noodle recipes do. If you miss it, go ahead and add some quickly stir-fried leafy greens. Mustard greens, collards or even spinach will do.
How To Store & Freeze
Leftover dan dan noodles keep fairly well. You can keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days or you can even freeze them for three months. Between you and me I like to eat leftovers cold from the fridge! But, you can warm them gently on the stove top, too.
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