Tender beef with a crispy coating smothered in a sweet, savory sauce with a mild kick. This quick and easy Mongolian beef serves well as a main in 30 minutes with simple ingredients. Saving you money on takeout and great for the family!
Jump to:
What is Mongolian Beef?
Mongolian Beef is a popular Chinese takeout dish featuring crispy tender beef stir fried in a sweet and savory sauce with a hint of spice. It's absolutely delicious!
You'll find this dish served at many Chinese restaurants and it's best served with white rice and greens or vegetables!
Despite the name, Mongolian beef does not come from Mongolia. It's actually a Chinese dish first created at Mongolian BBQ restaurants in Taiwan, hence the name.
Back when I worked at an office, I'd always order this dish at my favorite Chinese takeout place. I salivated thinking of that sweet crispy beef as lunch time rolled around!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Flank Steak: or substitute with sirloin steak, tri-tip steak, hanger steak, top round steak. Flank steak is the best cut of beef as it contains less muscle fibres compared to other cuts. I also share other meat substitutes below in the FAQ section.
- Corn starch or potato starch: to make the beef crispy! Avoid using rice flour or tapioca starch as these two will make the beef pieces stick to one another.
- Fresh Ginger: or substitute with ½ teaspoon ginger powder.
- Garlic
- Red chili pepper: or omit if you wish to make it not spicy.
- Green onion
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil that has a low smoke point.
- Toasted sesame seeds: optional garnish
Beef Marinade
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Black pepper: or white pepper
- Baking soda: the key ingredient to velvet the meat making it super tender as it raises the acidity preventing protein bonds. Do not skip this! Don't worry you won't taste it as we're using a small amount.
Sauce
- Hoisin sauce: This adds a caramelized sweetness to our sauce.
- Regular soy sauce
- Brown sugar: light or dark brown sugar will work.
- Sesame oil: this offers a nutty flavor and I would to only recommend omitting if you’re allergic to it.
- Corn starch or potato starch: to thicken the sauce.
- Cold water
Note: Most Asian grocers will carry the Asian-specific ingredients.
Expert Tips
- Freeze flank steak for 45-60 minutes fully exposed to the cold air to thinly slice it! Also I recommend a sharp knife when slicing.
- Slice the beef against the grain on an angle for wider strips. To know how to slice “against the grain” is by looking at the direction of muscle lines. You want to cut through the lines and not parallel to them.
- Do not skip the baking soda in the beef marinade as it tenderizes the beef!
- Coat marinated beef slices generously in starch for crispy texture ensuring no bald spots.
- Prepare the ingredients in advance as the cooking process is fast!
- Do not over fry your beef. Since we are frying the thinly sliced beef in hot oil, it’s important not to over fry it or it’ll too crispy and dry.
- Fry beef in small batches and don’t overload the pan or you won’t get crispy beef because you’ll lower the oil temperature.
- Transfer the fried beef onto a wire rack or paper-towel lined plate to remove excess oil which creates soggy beef.
- Re-mix the sauce again before simmering it as the cornstarch falls to the bottom of the bowl.
- Simmer sauce over LOW heat or it can burn easily with the high sugar content.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make Mongolian Beef:
Thinly slice beef on a bias into ¼-inch thick pieces that are 2 inches in length. Transfer sliced beef into a large bowl. Tip: To thinly slice beef, freeze it for 45-60 minutes so the exterior becomes hardened and use a sharp knife to slice it.
Marinate beef strips with marinade ingredients as listed above and set aside as you work on the other ingredients.
In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients and set aside.
In a large bowl or large plate with cornstarch, evenly coat the beef slices into the starch one piece at time. Transfer coated pieces onto a large plate and set aside.
Heat oil in a large pan on medium heat and fry beef in small batches in a single layer for 1-2 minutes until crispy. Do not over fry. Remove cooked beef and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil.
Discard excess oil leaving 1 teaspoon in the pan and on low heat, sauté ginger, garlic, red chili for 10 seconds.
Pour in sauce to reduce and thicken.
Toss in beef and garnish with green onions. Remove off heat. Optionally garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? This can be stored in a freezer friendly bag after cooling down and frozen up to 3 months or until you see freezer burn. To reheat, defrost it and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a pan.
Pairing Suggestions
Mongolian beef serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, egg drop soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, fried rice, chow mein, lo mein, or plain noodles
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
- protein dishes like Mongolian Chicken, Bang Bang Shrimp, Gochujang Chicken, Soy Garlic Tofu and more!
FAQ
Mongolian beef can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To enjoy, reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat.
This can be due to the heat being too high or it was simply over fried. Once the beef becomes crispy, remove it from the oil immediately.
Yes, you can substitute the beef with sliced chicken, pork or extra-firm tofu (skip the marinade process for the tofu).
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 1 lb flank steak or sub with sirloin steak or skirt steak
- ½ cup cornstarch or sub with potato starch to coat beef
- 5-6 small slices ginger with or without skin on
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 red chili pepper sliced (optional)
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- ½ cup vegetable oil or any neutral tasting oil for frying beef
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds for garnishing
Beef marinade:
- 2 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon baking soda do not skip this!
Sauce:
- 4 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar light or dark brown sugar will work
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or sub with potato starch
- ½ cup water cold
Instructions
- Thinly slice beef on a bias into ¼-inch thick pieces that are 2 inches in length. Transfer sliced beef into a large bowl. Tip: To thinly slice beef, freeze it for 45-60 minutes so the exterior becomes hardened and use a sharp knife to slice it.
- Mix in marinade ingredients as listed above to the sliced beef and set aside as you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a small bowl, combine Sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In a large bowl or large plate with cornstarch, evenly coat the beef slices into the starch one piece at time. Transfer coated pieces onto a large plate and set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat and fry beef in small batches in a single layer for 1-2 minutes until crispy. Do not over fry or overcrowd. Remove cooked beef and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil.
- Discard excess oil leaving 1 teaspoon in the pan. Over low heat, sauté ginger, garlic, red chili for 10 seconds.
- Mix the sauce again and then pour it into the pan to reduce and thicken.
- Once thick, add beef and mix to coat evenly. Garnish with green onions.
- Remove off heat. Optionally garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Lily
The directions are missing the green onions. I made the sauce and then saw that I still had the onions left 😭
Christie Lai
Hi Lily, I checked the recipe instructions and the green onions are listed in Step 8 (near the end) where you garnish the finished beef dish with the green onions. Hope this helps!
Chris
Made it for Family Sunday dinner. We usually take photos for the great meals but we were too excited and ate it all up before we could. I love your flexibility for using potato starch instead of cornstarch and I used jaggery for the sugar. So good! Will make again and hopefully get a picture.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for the positive review, Chris! What a kind compliment! Glad I could share some ingredient options and thanks for sharing your experience with my recipe 🙂 Have a lovely day!
Leah
We absolutely loved this dish with flank steak. I doubled the sauce as I had 700g of steak, added julienned carrots and red capsicum and also some snow peas. It was so colourful and delicious, hands down better than any bought take-away.
We will most definitely be making it again!
christieathome
So happy to hear this Leah! Glad you enjoyed it and happy it worked out well with additional veggies. Have a great weekend!
Doran Richart
Your blog was recommended by an Instagram friend. This was the first recipe I tried. My husband always orders Mongolian beef when he goes to a Chinese restaurant. He’s pretty picky but he gave this 👍👍and so did I. Love how quick and simple it was. Next time the only thing I would change is the amount of corn starch because I ended up with too much in the bottom of the walk after stir frying the meat. I think I would use less and apply it by using a Ziplock bag. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. I usually don’t like making Chinese food at home because it is too labor intensive. However our favorite Chinese bistro closed after the pandemic and our next favorite Chinese restaurant is over an hour away. Thank you for your website!
christieathome
Thanks so much Doran for making my recipe and for sharing your kind comment with me! I'm glad you both enjoyed it and that it was simple to make. I love that tip with the Ziplock bag so you can use less cornstarch. Thanks for sharing this trick with us!
Marlin
Hallo, I have been using this recipe a lot and love it. But i'm wondering about how much sesame oil, garlic and ginger I should be using if I double it for 8 People? I'm not a native english speaker so sorry for bad grammar
christieathome
Hi Marlin, Thanks for using my recipe! I would suggest using the multiplier tool near the ingredients in the recipe card where you can change it to 3x and add one more serving to your calculation. Hope this helps!
chris
I made this - my first-ever meal without asking my wife for help along the way. It was super easy and my kids loved it. The sauce was lovely and sticky. We swapped the beef for lamb (fillet). I was thankful for the functionality of your site to increase quantities.
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for leaving such a nice review, Chris! Glad I could help and even happier that you made this dish on your own - my mission complete 🙂 Also happy to hear the kids loved it and the quantity function is helpful!
Grandabenny
I have made this recipe two times now and it’s absolutely delicious 🤤😋 I make twice as much because I pack lunches for when I’m at work and it heats up perfectly!!
I would give this recipe a 5 out of 5 but it’s better than that more like a
10 out of 10 😊😊
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for such a kind review, Grandpabenny! Happy it works out for lunches and reheats perfectly. Have a great day!
Carol
Made this last night for dinner. The whole family enjoyed it and we all agreed to give it 5 star plus rating if we could. Was not hard to make and did not take long. Delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
christieathome
Awesome! Thanks for making my recipe, Carol! So happy that the whole family enjoyed it 🙂
Danielle
I made this for my husband and we are making it again tonight! This was the best recipe! Thank you!
christieathome
Thanks so much Danielle for making my recipe and leaving this kind review! I am really happy to read this. Glad you both enjoyed it!
Megan
Do leftovers freeze well?
Michael A Wade
I am an Asian food nut, I cook all the time, recently I had major dental implant surgery and can only eat soft foods; will ground beef work for this? Any other ideas for me? I am stuck the healing process is 4 to 6 months.
Thanks! Mike
christieathome
Sorry to hear that you had to have dental surgery. Yes ground beef could work but I would skip coating the beef in starch since you'd like to keep it soft. You can simply fry the beef until cooked, remove from the pan and then cook your sauce. Then add the ground beef back into the sauce to mix and pair it with some soft steamed rice or soft noodles. I also share a very easy rice porridge called Congee that requires very little chewing if you dice up the chicken finely or use ground chicken, click here for the recipe. I would also suggest my Egg Drop Soup as well, click here. Hope this helps and wishing you a smooth recovery!
Javi
Fantastic, I became a star when I served it !!!
Thank you..
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe! So happy to read this!
Boyd
Awesome awesome awesome!!! I love this recipie!
christieathome
Thank you so much Boyd! I truly appreciate your kind support!
David
Hello, and thank you for all the great recipes.
This recipe calls for sesame oil, is that the dark toasted sesame oil?
Thank you.
christieathome
You're welcome! It's roasted/toasted sesame oil. For the exact brand, I use Kadoya Pure Sesame Oil. Hope this helps!
Emma
Tastes like you ordered from a Chinese restaurant and so easy to make! For some reason I’ve always been a bit intimidated by flank steak but it was really easy to cut, especially with her tip to freeze for 30 mins, and also easy to cook. I air fried some broccoli and served with rice and it was perfect.
christieathome
Thank you so much Emma for making my Mongolian beef! I'm so glad the tip to freeze the flank steak was helpful!