Homemade Mongolian Beef in less than 30 minutes! Crispy slices of steak are tossed in a sauce full of ginger, garlic, and rich flavor. Make this popular Chinese take out beef recipe with a sticky, sweet-savory sauce for your weeknight dinner.
I loved when my friends' parents made Chinese-American food like Orange Chicken and Mongolian Beef during my teenage years, I've been so spoiled that I don't get it from the take out restaurant. I usually just get gyoza (pan-fried dumplings) or boneless spare ribs if we ever stop by a takeout place.
Anywhoo.
Like General Tso's and many other 'Chinese' dishes here in America, Mongolian Beef have no legs in China (or Mongolia). The Chinese-American take-out business owners had their way with naming these dishes, let me tell you.
It's not authentic Chinese food, but it sure is tasty.
This recipe came together pretty quickly and easily, although I do advise you have a splash guard on hand when frying the beef. It gets real, really fast and no one likes to get popped by grease.
The little steak strips get this amazingly crispy crust thanks to the cornstarch you toss them in, and then you quickly simmer down this garlicky-gingery sauce over the beef and it's amazing.
No, really. It's great how in just a few minutes this sauce turns into a sticky glaze over the beef strips, and you're basically done and dinner is ready.
So good! So easy! And so fast.
If you love Asian inspired recipes, check these out:
Pork Potstickers
15 minute Chicken and Broccoli
General Tso's Chicken
Sesame Chicken
'Authentic' Ramen with Homemade Tonkotsu Broth
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📖 Recipe
30-Minute Crispy, Sticky Mongolian Beef
Homemade Mongolian Beef in less than 30 minutes! Crispy slices of steak are tossed in a sauce full of ginger, garlic, and rich flavor. Make this popular Chinese take out beef recipe with a sticky, sweet-savory sauce for your weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. (454 g) flank steak, sliced thinly and cut into bite sized pieces
- ¼ cup (32 g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon (4 g) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) black pepper
- 2 tablespoon (30 mL) sesame oil
- ⅓ cup (78 mL) light sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup (118 mL) water
- 2 teaspoon (10 g) freshly grated ginger
- 3 large garlic cloves, or 4 small ones, minced
- ½ cup (110 g) dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (120 g) vegetable oil
- ¼ teaspoon (.5 g) red pepper flakes, optional
- 2-3 green onions, green parts only, chopped
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
- White Rice, to serve
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix sesame oil, soy sauce, water, sugar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Let simmer for 7-10 minutes, until it is ¼ reduced. Take off heat and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, toss the beef slices in salt, pepper and cornstarch.
- In a large skillet, wok, or saute pan, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat and place steak pieces in one layer in batches. Cook for 2 minutes on one side then another minute on the other, the beef should have a brown crispy crust on each piece. Using an Asian spider, scoop each batch up onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- After all batches are done, discard the excess oil from the pan. Add soy sauce mixture and beef into the large pan and let the sauce reduce for 5-7 minutes (or more, you want it to thicken and reduce as a glaze but don't let it completely evaporate and burn) over medium/medium low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Toss in sesame seeds and green onion slices then serve immediately with white rice.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 190Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 151mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 4g
Eden Westbrook is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind Sweet Tea and Thyme. A classically trained chef, Eden has inspired home cooks into the kitchen with cultural comfort foods, easy family-friendly eats and sweets, and glorious spreads for date night and entertaining since 2015.
Jeannie Sorrell says
Sounds delicious! Does the 15g of carbs include the rice?
Thanks Jeannie! The rice is not counted for the recipe, but you can swap it for any of your favorite low-carb swaps like cauliflower rice!
Sara says
This was AMAZING!!!! Will never buy crispy beef from my favorite Chinese place ever again. This was way better and a lot cheaper. Plus I know exactly what was in it. Family said it was like beef candy. I agree 100%!!!
Sad_kitten says
U know I gotta say this was bomb. I was skeptical as I am very picky with recipe's. It turned out great, amazing flavor, very easy, and gentle on the body (for my fellow chronic pain warrior's). A little of the sauce goes a LONG way, and all it takes is a small amount mixed in with rice for a TON of flavor. Only complaint is that it's almost too intence of a flavor if u go heavy on the sauce. Used meat mallet to soften beef, and fried in electric wok.
Sofia says
This recipe is fantastic! My favorite Asian dish I’ve ever made. I doubled the sauce and added red pepper chunks when I put the meat and sauce in the pan together at the end. When it was done reducing, I added snow peas and cooked for 1 more minute. Thank you!
Robyn Cameron says
This is actually one of the most delicious things I've ever made in my life! Even my picky, non-meat-eater enjoyed it, and my other son and I were standing at the stove eating the extra pieces of steak afterwards. Thanks!
Denise says
I made this last night and it was fantastic. I use boneless sirloin, sliced thin and also used dark brown sugar, omg I want to make it again tonight. Will definitely double up on the meat. Thank you for the recipe!!
RM says
Can't believe how good (and fast) this is, and it has already become a household staple. We've used flank steak and skirt steak and both have been fantastic. I've mixed in some spinach and thrown on some shredded squash right at the end to get in some veggies. Awesome recipe. So glad you shared it!
Thank you! I love mixing up all kinds of veggies in this, too. It's been a weeknight staple in our home, especially when I prep the night or morning before, it's so fast. Thank you for commenting, I really appreciate it! ❤️
Juliana says
I made this a few nights back and it was amazingggg...just one question, there is 1/2 cup water listed (that i omitted). When is that supposed to be added?
The water is to be added when you first combine the sauce. I edited the recipe to correct that, thank you for telling me! And I'm so glad you liked it! ?
Dana says
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I used top round London broil because that's what I had in the freezer. I sliced it really thin and then into 1 inch pieces. At the end, I added frozen chopped broccoli and cooked brown rice into the pan and tossed it all together....the beef was so tender and the sauce so good, I could have licked my plate. Thank you for a fantastic recipe.
Thank you so much for telling me! I love comments like this! You're so welcome, I'm glad you loved it!