There’s no need to order out! This easy 30-minute Mongolian beef stir-fry is fresh, flavorful and ready to go in a hurry!
The Best Beef Stir Fry
How could we NOT love today’s recipe? This Mongolian Beef Stir Fry is really easy to throw together, and you can pretty much use whatever veggies you have on hand!
When it comes to choosing the right cut of beef, stick with flank steak, or if you can’t find that particular cut, skirt, hanger, or flat iron are all great options. Don’t be afraid to go up to the counter and ask your butcher for what you need. 😉
I don’t particularly like sweet Asian dishes, and luckily Mongolian beef isn’t super sweet but, I did cut way back on the sugar and added a touch more soy sauce. You can always add in chili sauce if you want it spicier, or use dark brown sugar if you want it sweeter. (Dark brown sugar has a higher content of molasses which is what really gives it a sweet punch!)
How to Make Mongolian Stir Fry
Prep
Begin by cutting your meat against the grain to break up the muscle fibers, which will give you a more tender texture.
Then toss the strips of beef in corn starch and let them sit on the cutting board for 15 minutes. You want your beef to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes because it allows the cornstarch to adhere better and it will help give the meat a nice crispy sear (tossing cold meat into hot oil will reduce the temperature of the oil significantly).
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan set over medium heat add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, lightly sauté the garlic for a minute, then add the ginger and cook for 30 seconds.
Pour the remaining ingredients in the pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce begins to reduce or thicken. Keep warm while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Sear and Saute
In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, add the 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, quickly stir-fry the beef in 2-3 batches. You want it to be nice and crisp on the outsides, but not cooked throughout. Transfer cooked beef to a plate. If the pan has a lot of oil in it, remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil.
*Pro-tip: Make sure the oil is smoking hot when you add the beef in, the oil should sizzle if you were to flick water on it. If it’s too cool you won’t get that crispy sear on it.
Saute the vegetables; broccoli, green onions, bell peppers, snow peas, carrots, or green beans are delicious options. Sauté for 2-3 minutes before returning the beef to the skillet. Add the sauce, stir, and allow everything to cook for an additional 2 minutes before removing from the heat.
Serve
Serve immediately with a side of steamed rice or your favorite noodles.
Recipe FAQs
Can I use chicken instead? If you’re using chicken make sure that you give it longer on each side so that it’s fully cooked in the middle. I recommend using a thinner cut of chicken. If you’re using any other type of meat just make sure that you cook it fully and do your best to get a good sear on it.
Can I make it in the slow cooker? You can make this in the slow cooker but you won’t get that same crispy sear on it. Add your beef along with all of the ingredients for your sauce in the slow cooker and cook on high in 2-3 hours or on low for 4-5 hours. Afterward, you can add in your sauteed veggies and let it sit until warmed through.
Can I use frozen veggies? Costco has a frozen vegetable medley bag that works great for Chinese style stir fry. If you decide to go that route just take more time when you are sauteing your veggies until they have warmed through and you are satisfied with the texture.
What is hoisin sauce? It is a thick sweet and sour sauce
Is this healthy? Mongolian beef isn’t the healthiest option because it is fried beef. Adding veggies and using low sodium soy sauce does help the matter.
Storing Tips + Side Ideas
Keep any leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, fully reheat in the microwave until warmed through.
If you want to freeze your leftovers for later consider taking out any bell peppers because they don’t freeze very well and end up becoming mushy. This should last in the freezer for up to 4 months.
For more favorites, check out:
- Better than takeout chow mein
- Better than takeout fried rice
- Better than takeout cashew chicken
- Better than takeout sweet and sour chicken
- Better than takeout orange chicken
Print Recipe30 Minute Mongolian Stir-Fry Recipe
There's no need to order out! This easy 30 minute Mongolian beef stir-fry is fresh, flavorful and ready to go in a hurry!Pin RateServings: 4 servingsCalories: 513kcalIngredients
- 1 1/2 lbs flank steak - cut across the grain into 1/4-inch strips
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
For the Sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic - minced
- 1/4 tsp ginger root - freshly grated (or ginger paste)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp crushed chili paste or chili flakes
Vegetables
- 1/2 cup water chestnuts - sliced
- 1 cup bell peppers - chopped
- 1 head broccoli - cut into florets and lightly steamed
- 3 green onions - cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- Toss the strips of beef in the corn starch and let them sit on the cutting board for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan set over medium heat add the vegetable oil.
- When the oil is hot, lightly sauté the garlic for a minute, then add the ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Pour the remaining ingredients in the pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce begins to reduce or thicken. Keep warm while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
- In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, add the 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, quickly stir-fry the beef in 2-3 batches. You want it to be nice and crisp on the outsides, but not cooked throughout. Transfer cooked beef to a plate. If the pan has a lot of oil in it, remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil.
- Add the vegetables and sauté for 2-3 minutes before returning the beef to the skillet. Add the sauce, stir, and allow everything to cook for an additional 2 minutes before removing from the heat. Serve immediately with a side of steamed rice or your favorite noodles.
VIDEO
NOTES
-I used a Ziploc steam bag to steam my broccoli. It's so quick and easy!!Nutrition Facts30 Minute Mongolian Stir-Fry RecipeServing Size4 servingAmount per ServingCalories513% Daily Value*Fat20g31%Saturated Fat12g75%Cholesterol103mg34%Sodium1232mg54%Potassium1272mg36%Carbohydrates41g14%Fiber7g29%Sugar18g20%Protein44g88%Vitamin A2277IU46%Vitamin C186mg225%Calcium136mg14%Iron5mg28%* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.Did you make this recipe?Take a picture and tag @lmadesimple on Instagram or tag #LMSBakes! We can't wait to see your version!
looks delicious! would I need to make any modifications if I used chicken instead?
Depending on the thickness of your chicken, you may need to cook it a bit longer during that initial browning process.
hey girl this looks oh so yummy!
its a keeper. just made and it had some nice heat I used red pepper flakes and a thai chile sauce/ Thanks for the recipe
Yum! Sounds delicious- thanks Scotty!
Dish was great but would cut way back on the brown sugar to 1tblspn as the hoisin sauce has sugar in it.
Thanks for the recipe!
Agreed way too sweet, as in as sweet as say a barbecue sauce. I think it would be way too sweet even with absence of brown sugar. I’d cut the brown sugar down to one T and also cut the hoisin maybe down to 2-3 T.
Great Recipe! Thanks for Sharing!
Thank you!
Hi. The brown sugar… is it light or dark?
I only bake with light brown sugar 🙂
This recipe was great. Everyone loved it. I made the recipe as directed except that I cut the hoisin sauce in half because I didn’t have enough. I will make this again!!
Can you email me this please? thanks!
Came out great. My son and friend loved it. Everything disappeared with seconds stretched as far as they would go. Might need to make extra next time. My son said his favorite dish after my enchilada casserole. 😉 two ?
Made this tonight. It was a real hit. My only complaint is that it is kind of salty. I imagine that is from the hoisin sauce. Any suggestions for fixing that? Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Did you use low-sodium soy sauce? Other than that, you could always make homemade hoisin sauce that way you can control the amount of salt going into that portion of the recipe.
Natalie I just found your recipe today and fixed it for dinner. The only thing different was I had snow pea pods instead of broccoli. I wouldn’t change a thing. Me and my roommate loved it. Thanks
This was the best our family has ever had.? thank you.
I made this tonight. My husband declared it a “home run”! It was delicious and easy to prepare. I substituted soyaki for the hoisin sauce and added baby bok choy and snow peas. It looked as good as it tasted. Thank you!
I made this recipe tonight and it’s was really good. Definitely would make it again.
Thanks Amber!
This dish was amazing! We had NO leftovers…everyone came back for seconds!!!
Thank you!!! Finally a dish my entire family loved!!!
That makes me so happy! Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi do you think this recipe would be able to be substituted with Chuck beef and put in the slow cooker? Just wondering if you think that would work with those ingredients. Thankyou
I have not tried this recipe in a slow cooker before so I can’t really say what it would be like. If you do give it a try, please come back and let me know how it turned out!
Super easy and super delicious.
Super yum and oh so healthy!
Looks delicious. Could this dish be made with frozen broccoli or frozen vegetables? Would it come out as good?
Definitely!
It took me about an hour to make.:( Also, I must not be a fan of hoisin sauce. Didn’t like the smell like I thought I would. Plus, tasted pretty tangy I thought.
What is hoisin sauce?
It’s a sauce made from soy and other ingredients. It’s thick and fragrant. You can find it next to the soy sauce and teriyaki sauce.
Just made and was really good I used costco stir fry mix and doubled the sauce recipe,, had real nice heat only suggestion if making for kids I would cut the ginger in half. Worked real good with moose sirloin steak.
Thanks
BOMB. I left out the bell peppers.
Thank you Heidi!!
Natalie, bravo! What a great idea! Love this. I’m sure this is incredibly delicious!
This was delicious! I added an extra tbsp of brown sugar as my boyfriend and I love sweet sauces. I also used ground beef instead of steak because it’s just way to expensive for us – ofcourse this alters the dish quite dramatically but the sauce and beef still went together so well. Will definitely make again!
I made this tonight and it was a huge hit with the family and so easy. My picky 11 yr old loved it so that’s a win! I will be making this again.
Thanks Cheryl! I’m glad it was a hit!!
Natalie, it looks so yummy! I love the step-by-step instructions, making it an easy recipe to follow!
This is amazing. I doubled the recipe and made it the day before I needed it for a dinner party. I kept the broccoli and green onions back to add on the day because I did not want them to become soggy. It is however way more than a 30 minute recipe. I serve this with Basmati rice.
Hi Natalie how would you adjust this recipe for frozen vegetables?
Just cook the veggies a little longer, it should work just fine 🙂
I will be making this all the time!! SO much flavor & so good!
Adding this to our dinner rotation! Stir Fry is so simple to make and delicious too!
We love it it is so easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Delicious!!!!!
I am so glad you liked this. It’s one of our favorites! Thank you!
I didnt have the hoisin sauce or chili flakes but even without that. This was delicious and so easy to make. I added a bit extra brown sugar and that made it too sweet so I’ll stick to the recipe next time. Great dish thanks
Good to know! Thank you for letting me know that 🙂 Happy you liked it!
This is so simple and really tasty. Mr doesn’t like broccoli, so we added snow peas, carrots and red onion instead of the green onion. Will defend make again and again
Those are great options!! Thank you!
Mouthwatering & so good!! The meat & veggies are nice & tender & there is so much flavor!
I made this for the extended family tonight, my mum said it’s her new favourite meal! Thank you so much for the recipe 🙂
If we do not have low sodium soy sauce how much do you recommend we reduce the soy sauce?
I would start with 1/4 to 1/2 of what the recipe calls for and then add as needed to taste.
How much do you recommend we reduce the soy sauce if we do not have low sodium?
I used crushed szechuan pepper to add that extra zing 🙂
Ooh sounds like a yummy addition!! Thanks for sharing!
Excellent!
This is great when you’re hungry and don’t want to wait too long for dinner.
Really tasty. Even my picky kid loved it and he actually ate the vegetables. I put in broccoli, peppers, snow pea pods, carrots, mushrooms and green onion.
This is amazing, especially if you splash out and use beef tenderloin!
Fantastic! The whole family loved this (Hubby, 12yo and 14yo). I halved the sugar as others said that it is sweet, and it was perfect for us. Only other change was adding extra veg: carrots, bamboo shoots and beansprouts, and served it with boiled brown rice.
Thank you so much for a new recipie top add to our midweek meals.
Hi Clare, so glad you loved this recipe and thanks for sharing your changes!
Delicious 😋 I used waterchestnuts, broccoli, green onion and asparagus.
Hi Kayla, thanks for sharing your love of this recipe and your changes!
This was Amazing! Even though I forgot to thicken the sauce at the end, it was still magnificent! The only problem I am having with this recipe is that I’m gonna have to get a bigger wok,and I may need a slightly larger tummy! The sauce, I am thinking, would go wonderful with many dishes. Thank you for the recipe. it will be my family heirloom recipe now!
My version was inspired by your recipe, but mine was plain. We had been a little under the weather and were tired of soup. I cooked the veggies on a sheet pan, seared the beef in a very hot cast iron skillet (no corn starch or anything like that). Then added it to the veggies and served over rice. It was really good! I didn’t have ginger, but I’m going to get some to make it even better.