Tender crispy beef tossed in a sweet, savory sauce with a mild kick. This quick and easy Mongolian beef is ready in 30 minutes with simple ingredients. A delicious main dish that is better-than-takeout and great for the family!
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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: this is the best cut of beef as it contains less muscle fibres giving you a more tender cut. Or substitute with sirloin steak, tri-tip steak, hanger steak, or top round steak. Not a fan of beef? Substitute with chicken thighs, pork shoulder or extra-firm tofu (but skip the marinade for tofu).
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch. Avoid using rice flour or tapioca starch as this makes the beef slices stick to each other.
- 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.
- Sesame seeds: for garnishing. If you're allergic to sesame, please omit this ingredient.
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 substitute with white pepper.
- Baking Soda: to tenderize the beef and do not skip this ingredient.
Sauce
- Hoisin Sauce: a thick brown sauce that is sweet with molasses. You can find this at most Asian grocery stores.
- 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.
- Brown Sugar: light or dark brown sugar will both work. Or substitute with coconut palm sugar.
- Sesame Oil: If you're allergic to sesame, please omit this ingredient.
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch.
- Cold Water
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check online stores, like Amazon.
Expert Tips
- To thinly slice beef, freeze it for 45-60 minutes fully exposed and slice against the grain on an angle into ¼-inch thick strips with a sharp knife.
- Do not skip the baking soda in the beef marinade as it tenderizes the beef!
- Evenly coat the marinated beef ensuring no bald spots.
- Prepare the ingredients in advance as the cooking process is fast!
- Do not over fry the beef or it will dry out.
- Fry beef in small batches to maintain oil temperature for crispy beef.
- Transfer the fried beef onto a wire rack or paper-towel lined plate to drain off excess oil, which causes soggy beef.
- 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 an angle 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 for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients as listed above and set aside.
- In a separate bowl or on a large plate, add cornstarch and evenly coat each slice of marinated beef in the starch ensuring no bald spots. Transfer the coated pieces to a large plate.
- 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. Remove cooked beef and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil.
- Leave 1 teaspoon or 5 ml of vegetable oil in the pan and remove the rest. Reduce to low heat, sauté ginger, garlic, red chili for 10 seconds.
- Pour in sauce to reduce and thicken.
- Toss in fried 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? Mongolian beef can be frozen up to 3 months. To freeze, let the beef cool down completely and store it into a freezer-safe bag in the freezer. To reheat, defrost it overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a pan.
Pairing Suggestions
Mongolian beef serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice or 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 Sweet and Sour Chicken, Mongolian Chicken, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Bang Bang Shrimp, Shrimp Omelet, Soy Garlic Tofu, Chinese Braised Tofu and more!
FAQ
Can I make Mongolian beef in advance?
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.
Can I add vegetables to this stir-fry?
Feel free to add vegetables that are low in water content, such as carrots, bell peppers, snap or snow peas, broccoli or cauliflower. Please cook vegetables after you sauté the aromatics and before you pour in the sauce.
How can I make this not spicy?
To make this Mongolian beef not spicy, remove the red chilis from this recipe.
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Mongolian Beef
Tender crispy beef tossed in a sweet, savory sauce with a mild kick. This quick and easy Mongolian beef is ready in 30 minutes with simple ingredients. A delicious main dish that is better-than-takeout and great for the family!
Ingredients
- 1 lb flank steak or sirloin steak or skirt steak
- ½ cup cornstarch or potato starch
- 5 thin slices ginger
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 red chili pepper chopped
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- ½ cup vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds for garnishing
Beef Marinade
- 2 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper or white 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 potato starch
- ½ cup water cold
Instructions
- Thinly slice beef on an angle 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 for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients as listed above and set aside.
- In a separate bowl or on a large plate, add cornstarch and evenly coat each slice of marinated beef in the starch ensuring no bald spots. Transfer the coated pieces to a large plate.
- 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. Remove cooked beef and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil.
- Leave 1 teaspoon or 5 ml of vegetable oil in the pan and remove the rest. Reduce to low heat, sauté ginger, garlic, red chili for 10 seconds.
- Pour in sauce to reduce and thicken.
- Toss in fried beef and garnish with green onions. Remove off heat. Optionally garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Enjoyed my recipe?Please leave a 5 star review (be kind)! Tag me on social media @christieathome as I'd love to see your creations!
Suggested Equipment & Products
Nutrition
Calories: 541kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 1862mg | Potassium: 809mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 278IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 4mg
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!