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Mongolian beef made in twenty minutes.  All healthy whole ingredients and an easy weeknight meal that kids will love. Sweet, salty, and slightly spicy beef that you can serve over rice or vegetables.

Easy Mongolian Beef

Chinese takeout makeover

I don’t know about you but I love Chinese takeout.  I also have a thing for Pei Wei, the scaled down version of P.F. Chang’s.  One dish that I am particularly fond of is Mongolian beef.  You know, that sweet, salty, and slightly spicy beef dish with the green onions in it.  Yeah that’s the one I’m talking about.  It’s delicious.

I don’t always love the price tag or the ingredients in takeout, especially when you are dealing with food allergies. This is a quick and tasty version of the original, but made with a little healthier ingredients, so it’s made without soybean oil, soy sauce (unless you prefer it), and brown sugar.

Mongolian beef is a great kid-friendly dish, and perfect for a quick weeknight dinner. I like to serve it with a stir-fried vegetable like garlic green beans or broccoli with a side cauliflower “rice” or regular rice.  All three things came together in under 30 minutes.  You can’t even order take out and have it delivered in that time.

Mongolian beef on rice on a white plate with green towel beside it.

Tips for Mongolian beef

  • Slice your beef thinly! Cutting against the grain, really try to slice it as thinly as you can to produce a tender result. If you are having trouble getting a thin slice, pop the beef in the freezer to firm it up a bit.
  • Don’t overcrowd your pan. Use a large skillet with lots of surface area. You do not want your beef to steam, but instead sear. Overcrowding your beef will result in loss of flavor and pale beef.
  • Get your pan hot. You want your beef to cook fast and sear quickly. This is not the time to go low and slow. We are looking for a quick stir fry over medium high heat to develop some brown color.
  • Skip the non-stick. I like using a stainless steel or cast iron pan for this dish to encourage browning of the beef.

More quick Asian-inspired dishes:

Easy shrimp stir fry

Chicken fried rice

Beef and broccoli

Chicken with pea pods

Chicken lettuce wraps

Mongolian beef on top of rice on a white plate. Skillet of Mongolian beef in the background.
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Easy Mongolian Beef

A popular Chinese takeout dish made with healthy ingredients at home.

Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword healthy, Mongolian beef, stir fry
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4
Author Tara Buss

Ingredients

  • 1 lb sirloin or flank steak sliced thinly agains the grain
  • 1 tbsp oil avocado, olive, coconut
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/3 c. coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/8 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes or more if you like a lot of spice
  • 1/4 c honey
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch or potato starch
  • 3 green onions sliced on a diagonal

Instructions

  1. Slice steak against the grain as thinly as possible, trimming any large pieces of fat and set aside. 

  2. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. While skillet is heating, whisk sauce together (coconut aminos, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, honey, and arrowroot) in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl.

  3. Place oil in hot skillet, and stir fry meat and green onions quickly until it develops a brown color and meat is no longer pink. It should only take a few minutes. Be careful not to overcook meat or it will become tough.

  4. Turn down heat, pour in sauce and cook for a few minutes until thickened. Add a tiny bit of water if sauce becomes too thick. 

  5. Serve over rice and with a side of roasted broccoli.