Panda Express Beijing Beef (Copycat)

4 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original  with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.

Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.Panda Express Beijing Beef is the beef answer to the insanely popular Panda Express Orange Chicken everyone craves so much. My favorite part of Beijing Beef though is the added hint of spice that always was lacking for me in the slightly too sweet orange chicken recipe.

Turns out the idea was a hit, Panda Express Beijing Beef is a totally popular pick. The breading keeps a crunch to the outside even though it is covered in the sweet, spicy, sticky sauce and the red bell peppers and onions provide a soft, deliciously sweet counterpart to the spicy beef.

Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.

Keeping track of all the Panda Express copycat recipes here on the blog? I have a whole page dedicated to Panda Express Recipes… every single one in fact: Panda Express Recipes Index

Looking for more Chinese Food in general?

Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.

This dish may seem like it has a LONG list of ingredients, but that is because it is a multi-step recipe. If this is more in-depth or time intensive than you would like you can make some quick adjustments to help get dinner on the table sooner.

  • Buy presliced (but not seasoned) fajita beef meat from your butcher. It will NOT be as thin as I recommend but it is a quick swap if you’re in a rush.
  • Mix up your Panda Express Beijing Beef sauce the weekend before and keep it in the fridge. Most of the prep time is in combining these ingredients.
  • Skip the egg batter altogether and just toss the beef in cornstarch. Your beef will not have as much crust, but it will still be plenty crispy and delicious.
  • Grab some from Panda 😉 ok, ok, this one is a joke.

Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.

Tools Used in the Making of this Panda Express Beijing Beef Recipe:
Soy Sauce: Nothing much to say here except Kikkoman has the best flavor overall and I always recommend reduced sodium.
Wok: Great for high heat, quick cooking. This wok is a great addition to your kitchen if you love cooking Chinese food or stir fries in general.
Large Frying Pan: I use this Cuisinart for most of my non cast iron cooking unless I am going with a stainless steel option, then I choose my All Clad.
Oyster Sauce: This is a unique flavor and ingredient. If you avoid seafood and want another option I recommend Vegetarian Oyster Sauce (made from mushrooms) but I don’t recommend you swap this out for something else altogether.
Hoisin Sauce: Considered to be like an Asian BBQ sauce, this is a unique flavor I would not leave out of the dish.
Sweet Chili Sauce: Adds that sweet, glaze to the dish that you’ll have trouble replicating without quite a lot of work, this is at the heart of the dish. If you’re in a pinch use the Trader Joe’s brand, add a bit more than written of the crushed red peppers since the Trader Joe’s variety is not spicy at all.

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Panda Express Beijing Beef

Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound flank steak
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 yellow onion sliced
  • 1 pieces red bell pepper cut into 1"
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 egg whites beaten
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 6 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
  • 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
  • 4 teaspoons sweet chili sauce
  • 1 teaspoons crushed red peppers
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions

  • Cut the flank steak against the grain into thin ¼ inch slices.
  • In a medium sized bowl add the beef, egg, salt and 1 teaspoon cornstarch and let marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.
  • To make the Beijing Beef Sauce, in a small bowl whisk together the ½ cup water, ¼ cup sugar, ketchup, hoisin, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce, crushed red peppers and apple cider vinegar.
  • After the beef has finishing marinating add 2 tablespoons cornstarch to a bowl, add the marinated beef (discard the extra marinade).
  • Heat a small saucepan with the oil on medium-high (I use a small saucepan so that I can get a deep fry on this without using a lot of oil. So I fry in small batches, if you don't mind using more oil, go for a bigger pot and you can fry these up much faster).
  • With the last two tablespoons of cornstarch toss the beef one last time and shake off any excess cornstarch.
  • Fry the slices, in batches, until golden brown (2-3 minutes).
  • Heat a large pan on high heat and use two tablespoons of the oil you just fried the beef in.
  • Add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes, until it just starts caramelizing on the edges.
  • Add the garlic in and continue to cook a few more seconds until fragrant.
  • Remove the veggies and put them with the beef on a plate.
  • Add the Beijing Beef sauce to the large pan and cook on high until it thickens, about 3-5 minutes.
  • Add the beef and vegetables into the sauce and toss to combine.
  • Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Calories: 395kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 1009mg | Potassium: 549mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 205IU | Vitamin C: 3.8mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2.3mg
Keyword: Panda Express Beijing Beef (Copycat)

Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.

Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.
Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.
Panda Express Beijing Beef is an awesome copycat of the original with crispy strips of marinated beef, bell peppers and sliced onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce.

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I have made this recipe and it is divine…as are all your recipes.
    I always bring up your recipes when I am planning any kind of gathering at my home. Always, always a huge hit. Thank you for being here and sharing your expertise.

  2. I used to live in Scottsdale & frequented Panda Express but now live in rural Colorado with the nearest Panda Express 2 hours away. As this is my favorite at Panda Express I tried it today & was pleasantly surprised. It tastes exactly like the restaurant variety but dare I say better. Also, made the Chow Mein & it was a great side. I made this for lunch & luckily there was plenty left as I am having it for dinner too.

  3. I thought I had left a review already, guess not! I made this again tonight, so delicious.

    I am vegan so I adjust the recipe for my needs. The biggest changes I make are using TVP in place of meat and just lightly pan frying it, no marinating. Then I use 2 bell peppers and omit the sugar (it’s plenty sweet with hoisin and ketchup).

  4. Recipe was great! I was missing the oyster sauce so it was on the sweeter side of things and was still amazing. Got all the right stuff this second time and it was spot on.

  5. Delicious! Wish I would have used less oil as the beef soaked it all up and was a little watery. Husband loved it though. I did add a little sriracha sauce to add some spice.

  6. One thing I forgot to mention, I highly recommend frying the meat in batches using a NON STICK skillet and oil with high flash point you want it nice and crispy.

    After you’ve fried the meat use the same skilled with a little reserved oil for sautéing the peppers, onions and garlic with garlic chili sauce then add the meat back to the pan.

    I used a separate sauce pan to make the sauce according to recipe omitted the extra sugar then adding a little more soy sauce to balance the sweet, remember sugar corrects salt and vise versa if you don’t use too much

    You definitely want the umami of the soy sauce or it will taste like an Asian BBQ sauce

  7. I wold definitely make this recipe again.

    I’m not trying to recreate this recipe or I’d’ post my own and take th flack from other readers

    I substituted flap steak instead of flank FOUND IT ON SALE skirt or hangar would also work.

    I cut it up along with peppers and onions when I had time eliminating doing all the work at once

    The meat went in a separate bowl egg whites and cornstarch and tossed with my fingers UNTILL well coated. I then added the extra corn starch and tossed again eliminating the waste of marinade

    I would suggest using a little more beef and extra peppers

    I do agree with readers omitting the extra sugar I tried without the extra sugar and still found it very sweet I added a little extra soy sauce to correct the balance I had garlic chili sauce from making Kung Pau Chicken and that went in with the peppers and onions

    I think that might be the one ingredient that makes this different than Panda

    Overall it’s a fantastic recipe and a great alternative to always grilling the beef

  8. 2nd time using your recipe and had to come give a much deserved interaction this recipe is delicious and worth every minute of the effort???

  9. Something is off, has an overpowering taste that isn’t in pandas, but not sure what it is. Not bad just different.

  10. i made this for dinner tonight and it tastes SO close to the beijing beef. i get it so often but didn’t want to spend the money or take the trip today. it’s obviously not the exact same cause of all the msg but it’s SO GOOD.

  11. This recipe is absolutely delicious!!! I make it quite frequently! I also grind up chicken and make the sauce to pour over with rice. Absolutely amazing!

    1. Everyone who tasted this LOVED it and said it tasted better than Panda Express. It did! My son even had it for breakfast the next day.? 5 ?????

  12. I haven’t tried this dish before but after reading this recipe imma gonna need to make it sometime prob this weekend!!!

  13. This recipe is amazing and it tasted just like Panda Express. I didn’t have hoisin sauce so I mixed barbecue sauce with teriyaki sauce and added some red pepper flakes and brown sugar. It turned out wonderful! Will 100% make again!

  14. This was good, but with modifications. The 1/4 cup sugar set off alarm bells since the hoison, sweet chili, oyster sauce, and ketchup are already heavily sugared, I cut the sugar back to 1/8 cup even though I doubled the recipe and still found it a little sweet. I think I’ll cut it back further next time.

    We had fresh snow peas from the garden, so threw them in. The flavors complimented each other.

  15. Made this tonight, used cube steak (can’t afford flank) and added a little sriracha to the sauce. It turned out so good!

  16. Great dish! I didn’t have egg whites so I substituted with corn starch mixed with water slurry. I think 1/2 cup water made the dish too wet and it’s missing some spice. I will try adding some baking soda next time and maybe add more honey instead of sugar. Thanks for sharing.

    1. I agree 1/2 cup water was a little too much. I used cube steak instead and added a little sriracha to the sauce, turned out so good

  17. Came out great! I did need more meat. Found that I had alot more sauce left over. Look forward to making it again. I would probably use only 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar instead of the 2. I used the short cut method of just corn starch and not the mixture for the meet. It was quick and fun to make. Looking forward to making this again! This is my new go to meal!

  18. I love Panda‘s Beijing Beef, so I wanted to try this copycat recipe. It’s delicious, but still different from Panda Express. I’d change just a few tiny things:

    I think 3 egg whites is too much, next time I’ll use 2 and see how it goes. I hate to waste food, and after marinading you throw out most of the whites anyway not to mention the three yolks.

    I‘d also use a large onion – easier to eat with chopsticks. I’d double the bell peppers too, they‘re delicious!

    Finally, I added two tsp of starch (dissolved in a bit of water) to the sauce for consistency.

  19. Just made this. I used some precut stir fry steak meat I found at Walmart (I forgot what kind it is. I think round?) Marinated it for a full hour. Used a touch more sugar in the sauce and 2 kinds of sweet chili sauce (1/2 Maggi, 1/2 Stubbs). No oyster sauce. No bell pepper. And a touch more corn starch for the second fry.

    No oyster sauce tastes absolutely fine so it’s perfectly okay to omit it. No bell pepper was a little shame missing the extra crunch but not a big deal. It was still so delicious. I didn’t fry the meat quiet as long as I should have so it didn’t get particularly crispy but it was super silky. My dad who is picky about this sorta thing even liked it. Now I’m gonna have to make a double batch in a couple weeks lol. But it is actually gonna go into our rotation. I dunno how the actual PE version is but this was quiet good.

  20. Sabrina… girl… you got this down pat. I’ve never left a review before on this recipe, but I have been using it for the past 3 years and it has never let me down. The flavors, so smoky and powerful. I prefer this to my local Panda Express. Thank youuuuu.

  21. I don’t cook Chinese food very often, so I’m a little confused on your recipe. Ingredients and directions don’t coincide. Am I missing something? You list “3 egg whites beaten”, but don’t give directions what to do with them. Then in Step 12 you give instructions to add Beijing Beef sauce, but it’s not included on your list of ingredients nor does it say how much to add. I don’t know if I missed any ingredients. Directions are confusing because the list is not in order. Would you please clarify what to do with the egg whites and how much Beijing Beef sauce to add?

    1. Hi, I am a little confused. The eggs are listed in the 2nd step. Beijing sauce is made in instruction number 3. You would then add all of the sauce in instruction number 13. Hope that helps.

  22. I’m going to try this tonight but I feel like the recipe is written differently than most recipes. Typically, you see the list of ingredients in the order you would use them. In this case, it would be the beef, egg, salt, and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. But, the recipe starts as flank steak, canola oil, garlic, and yellow onion. Which caused confusion for me from the start.

      1. It was wonderful. Loved it and can’t wait to make it again! I’ll next time I will double the meat and bell peppers. There was a lot more sauce then meat. I will also cut down on the apple cider vinegar. But it’s tasted great. Making again tomorrow 🙂

      2. Yes, be nice if the items were grouped by order and by particular purpose (e.g., Marinade, Sauce, etc.). But, I don’t know if that is possible in the Recipe System that you are using. But, be nice if it was sub-divided to purpose.

  23. I made this recipe using left over Prime Rib Roast from Christmas. My husband said it was best he’d ever eaten.

  24. We have now made this twice and followed your recipe exactly. And it is awesome! Yes it takes a little time to prep, drop the veggies and measure out the sauce; however it is totally worth it.My only suggestion would be in the actual recipe card to reverse the order of number five and six because the first time I made it I almost fried beef without doing the second corn starch dust. But really that would be have been my mistake, luckily I did read further and realized corn starch dust then fry. Thanks for the great copycat recipe.

  25. I made this last night and thought it was DELICIOUS! I’ve never marinated in egg whites so I made them frothy, which I guess isn’t correct, but was still good! I also didn’t double fry (by accident) and I tasted a piece of leftovers this morning and it still has great texture. This has a great flavor! I did think I may reduce the sugar a little, but I think this probably varies with how much the sauce reduces while finishing up the dish. Overall delicious and taught me a new technique!

  26. Beijing beef recipe is a little confusing. Is the beef fried twice? I am assuming it is since you divide the cornstarch. Thanks!

  27. I made this today, and really liked it. I used ranchera meat instead of flank steak, two whole eggs for the marinade instead of whites, and homemade vegetarian oyster sauce (the missus has allergies.) The flavor does differ from the Panda Express version, so next time, I’m going to tweak it in these ways:
    -Reduce the sugar by a half to two thirds.
    -Use a greater quantity of dry batter, containing one part flour to two parts corn starch.
    -Increase (perhaps double) the chili flakes, oyster sauce, and the vinegar.
    Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

  28. I made this recipe tonight for dinner and it was excellent! I have never even had Panda Express but may now need to try it. I did leave out the red pepper flakes from this recipe. I make several Asian dishes but this is my new favorite.

  29. A little confused, in the directions it says to Fry the beef 2 different times. But in the comments it says only once. Which is it? ?

    1. Twice, sorry about the comment confusion. The double fry keeps it crispy. I got mixed up on the recipe in the comments, it has you answer them in a central part of the website where they’re all in a row and I read a different recipe name when I answered it.

  30. Loved it….tastes just like Panda Express.
    I used egg white batter marinade and the beef was so crispy and held up to the sauce.
    Will make this again.

  31. I made this last night… and it was awesome! I followed the recipe pretty close because I wanted to see how close it could be to Panda. I cut up a decent steak I got on sale (chuck steak I think) and it turned out to be better beef flavor than I usually get at Panda. I did the double frying and I think it was worth the texture… and wasn’t hard. I did use a wok for everything and I found it to be fairly easy… just need to be careful when working with the hot oil. I was worried until the very end… because it wasn’t smelling quite right or tasting as I expected. Cooking the sauce down helped a lot. Then when I added the peppers/onions/garlic to the sauce it was like magic! Suddenly it was all the right smells and tastes! The Hoisin sauce I had was a garlic one but that didn’t seem to make a big difference. I had a mix of red and yellow peppers also didn’t seem to hurt. I added the apple cider vinegar as it notes but also added a teaspoon of pepper vinegar I had made from a different copycat recipe. Next time I make this I will probably add more pepper flakes… or something else to give it a little more spice… but because I like a little heat and would often add some hot sauce to my food at the restaurant! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this! My favorite so far!

  32. Nope , not at all like Panda Express. It had a great texture, but the flavor was not spicy and not sweet like the Panda Express Beijing beef. I spent money on buying sauces that I probably did not even need.

  33. Just made this tonight for some friends and it came out great!!! 🙂 I loved it. Used a meat thermometer to make sure I didn’t over cook the meat. Thank you for the great recipe. Everyone finished all the food.

  34. Just how beaten do the egg whites need to be? Just a little? Soft peaks? Am I overthinking this haha? This is my family’s favorite Panda dish! Can’t wait to make it!

    1. Though I think the recipe is very tasty, this is not even close to Panda’s Beijing beef. I will definitely keep the SAUCE recipe as its delicious however, the entire process was way too much bother for what we got out of it. Next time, I’ll just go to Panda, lol