This easy Mongolian beef recipe is the perfect combination of sweet brown sugar and salty soy sauce with a bit of crispy coating. It’ll cure any craving for Chinese food take out!
Easy Mongolian Beef Recipe
Chinese take out is a pretty common craving for my family and I. There are so many nights when I ask, “What should we have for dinner?” and I’m met with the resounding response of, “Chinese!”
I love to make dinner at home, so I’ll always choose to make my own recipe over ordering take out. Thus, I have searched high and low for some great Asian cuisine recipes that are delicious and don’t take too many ingredients or too much of my time to make. If you’re like me, then you’ve probably done the same.
Finally, I found an absolute winner. This Mongolian Beef recipe is insanely flavorful and it only takes about 30 minutes to put together! It’s so delicious and it’s one of my go-to recipes when we are craving Chinese food.
The combination of the sweet brown sugar, mixed with salty soy sauce and the strong flavors of fresh ginger and garlic are seriously unbeatable! It reminds me of the P.F. Changs Mongolian beef (which is my favorite thing on their menu!)
I love rice! I don’t think I could ever get sick of it. I always serve this delicious Mongolian beef over top or a mound of steamed white rice or brown rice (my husband prefers brown) and it’s the perfect way to finish it off.
You are going to love how easy it is to make this flavorful Asian dish. Mongolian beef has become a staple in our dinner routine, and I’m sure it will in yours too.
Looking for more take-out inspired dishes? Try out Better Than Takeout Fried Rice and our Bourbon Chicken. You will never order carry-out Chinese again!
Continue reading to find out the ingredients you’ll need and the steps to making this delicious dish!
Mongolian Beef Ingredients
There are three main steps that you’ll need to have ingredients for. They are the beef, the sauce, and the finishing touches.
I have found that many Asian recipes require a special trip to an Asian market or just the grocery store. One thing I love about this Mongolian beef recipe is that it requires many pantry staples! So, I usually have quite a few of these items at home already!
For the beef:
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ pounds flank steak, sliced against the grain into 2inch pieces
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
For the Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (leftover from removing all the fry oil except this 1 tablespoon)
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced or grated
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon sriracha hot chili sauce
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Finishing Touches:
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4-5 green onions cut on the diagonal
How to Make Mongolian Beef
- Slice the meat against the grain into ¼ inch slices, then cut those slices down to 2 inch, bite sized, pieces.
Pro-Tip: You can freeze the beef for about 30-50 minutes, in the package, prior to slicing. This will make slicing the beef easier. - Place the cornstarch in a bowl and toss the meat pieces in the cornstarch. Let sit for 15 minutes.
- Heat the one cup of vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the cornstarch coated beef to the hot oil. Be careful to not crowd the pan and cook in batches. Cook 2-4 minutes per side (it will cook more in the sauce later). Remove meat to a plate. Be careful of hot oil!
Pro-Tip: Leave all those yummy bits of fry stuff left in the pan. They will add to the sauce flavor. - Now to make the sauce. Empty out all the oil from the pan except about 1 tablespoon.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the ginger and garlic and stir for about one minute.
- Add the brown sugar (first because you don’t want to add liquid to hot grease). Stir. Then add the soy sauce, water, hoisin sauce, sriracha and red pepper flakes to the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until it thickens. Stir occasionally scraping up the yummy bits at the bottom of the pan.
Pro-Tip: You can add a cornstarch/water mixture if it doesn’t get as thick as you like. I added 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water. Stir this mixture into the bubbling sauce and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens. - Once sauce has thickened add the meat back into the pan. Add the sesame oil, red pepper flakes and green onions. Stir to combine and heat through.
- Serve over the prepared white rice and garnish with extra green onions.
Serve over rice and enjoy! OR, throw together our famous Better Than Takeout Fried Rice. The perfect pair!
What Type of Beef to Use for Mongolian Beef
The best type of beef you can use for your Mongolian beef recipe is flank steak. Flank steak is taken from the lower chest of the cow and it is extremely lean. It works very well in recipes such as this.
When sliced into thin pieces, against the grain, and cooked to medium is when flank steak is best.
If you are trying to watch your carbs, serve this dish alongside our Cauliflower Fried Rice!
PRO TIPS:
- When slicing the meat I highly suggest to freeze it for 30-50 minutes beforehand. That way, it will freeze just enough that cutting it will become very smooth and easy. Make sure that you cut the steak against the grain.
- You can substitute light brown sugar for the dark brown sugar, but it will slightly alter the flavoring.
- Be very cautious of how thick you cut the meat. If you cut it too thin, it will become flimsy and cook very quickly. But, if cut too thick it will not cook through. Try to keep it to ¼ inch thick cuts.
- Be aware of hot oil! I can’t stress this enough. One of the trickiest things about making this recipe when I first started out, was working with the hot oil and making sure that I didn’t get burned.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan – cook the meat in batches if your pan isn’t large enough.
- If you don’t already own one, I would invest in a good wok (this is the one I own)! I use it all the time for stir fry and other dishes!
- Feel free to swap out the soy sauce for a reduced-sodium soy sauce.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
Mongolian Beef
Video
Ingredients
For the beef:
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1½ pounds flank steak sliced against the grain into 2inch pieces
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (leftover from removing all the fry oil except this 1 tablespoon)
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger minced or grated
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tsp sriracha hot chili sauce
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Finishing:
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ⅛ tsp red pepper flakes
- 4-5 green onions cut on the diagonal
Instructions
- Slice the meat against the grain into ¼ inch slices, then cut those slices down to 2 inch, bite sized, pieces. *You can freeze the beef for about 30-50 minutes, in the package, prior to slicing. This will make slicing the beef easier.*
- Place the cornstarch in a bowl and toss the meat pieces in the cornstarch. Let sit for 15 minutes.
- Heat the one cup of vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the cornstarch coated beef to the hot oil. Be careful to not crowd the pan and cook in batches. Cook 2-4 minutes per side (it will cook more in the sauce later). Remove meat to a plate. Be careful of hot oil! *Leave all those yummy bits of fry stuff left in the pan. They will add to the sauce flavor.*
- Now to make the sauce. Empty out all the oil from the pan except about 1 tablespoon.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the ginger and garlic and stir for about one minute.
- Add the brown sugar (first because you don’t want to add liquid to hot grease). Stir. Then add the soy sauce, water, hoisin sauce, sriracha and red pepper flakes to the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until it thickens. Stir occasionally scraping up the yummy bits at the bottom of the pan.*You can add a cornstarch/water mixture if it doesn’t get as thick as you like. I added 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water. Stir this mixture into the bubbling sauce and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens.*
- Once sauce has thickened add the meat back into the pan. Add the sesame oil, red pepper flakes and green onions. Stir to combine and heat through.
- Serve over the prepared white rice and garnish with extra green onions.
Jenn’s Notes
PRO TIPS:
- When slicing the meat I highly suggest to freeze it for 30-50 minutes beforehand. That way, it will freeze just enough that cutting it will become very smooth and easy. Make sure that you cut the steak against the grain.
- You can substitute light brown sugar for the dark brown sugar, but it will slightly alter the flavoring.
- Be very cautious of how thick you cut the meat. If you cut it too thin, it will become flimsy and cook very quickly. But, if cut too thick it will not cook through. Try to keep it to ¼ inch thick cuts.
- Be aware of hot oil! I can’t stress this enough. One of the trickiest things about making this recipe when I first started out, was working with the hot oil and making sure that I didn’t get burned.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan – cook the meat in batches if your pan isn’t large enough.
- If you don’t already own one, I would invest in a good wok (this is the one I own)! I use it all the time for stir fry and other dishes!
- Feel free to swap out the soy sauce for a reduced-sodium soy sauce.
Nutrition Info
Get ready for your new favorite Asian inspired dinner dish! Trust me when I say that the flavors in this Mongolian beef recipe are to die for. You and your family are going to absolutely love it!
