Ground Mongolian Beef is the perfect weeknight meal to add to your rotation. It has a sweet and spicy sauce and only takes 20 minutes!
Ground beef recipes are a go-to for me during the week. Aside from the popular Korean Ground Beef, I’m a big fan of Mongolian Beef, my favorite Takeout copycat food.
Sabrina’s Ground Mongolian Beef Recipe
I have been making ground meat versions of my classic Asian food favorites, such as Ground Kung Pao Chicken and Ground Orange Chicken. This makes the recipe take less time which is always a win during the week! It is also a crowd-pleaser for all!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef , (85/15)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger , minced
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup scallions , chopped
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over medium high heat.
- Brown the meat really deeply with sesame oil.
- Once browned, drain most of the fat, then add the garlic and ginger.
- Add the mirin, rice vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes.
- Cook until the liquid has reabsorbed and the meat is shiny but not soupy.
- Top with green onions, toss together and serve.
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
If your sauce is taking a bit too long to thicken up, try whipping up a slurry. Just mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water and stir it in. This will help the liquid reabsorb more quickly and give you the glossy, thick sauce you are after. It is an easy fix for a delicious finish.
Table of Contents
About this Recipe
The perfect way to make Asian food at home is to use ground meat. First, it takes a third of the time. Second, if you brown the beef/chicken really well, it still tastes crispy. No deep frying is needed, and it makes a great, easy meal served over rice with some vegetables.
Ingredients
- Sesame Oil: The flavor of sesame oil in this dish is unmistakable and cannot be substituted. Some Asian grocery stores will try to sell less expensive options that aren’t sesame oil, so just be sure yours is authentic.
- Mirin: A sweetened Asian wine. If you don’t use this, use white wine with ½ teaspoon of sugar.
What to Pair With
Serve with Chinese Steamed Rice and Chinese Broccoli for a complete meal. You can also toss with any vegetables you love to eat. Top with Spicy Mayo for a kick of heat.
How to Store
- Serve: You can leave Ground Mongolian Beef at room temperature for about 2 hours before storing it in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Store: Allow to cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stovetop for the best sauce consistency and taste.
- Freeze: Once cooled, transfer the recipe to a sealed bag or other container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating on the stovetop.
Ideas to Serve
Make this delicious meat and turn it into a Mongolian Beef Burrito. Similarly, you could assemble the ground beef mixture into tacos with sliced cabbage or lettuce, shredded cheese, Pico de Gallo, or your favorite salsa.
Related Recipes
More Chinese Recipes
Photos used in previous versions of the post:
Very tasty and so quick to prepare. It will be our new go to favorite recipe!
Thanks for the high praise Linda! It brings me joy when I can help bring a new and delicious recipe into a reader’s repertoire.
Delicious and easy! My whole family loves this and requests this dish. I did not have mirin so subbed in extra rice vinegar. We enjoy so many of your recipes and make them often!
Thanks for the five star vote of confidence Sandy.
Me and my family loved the flavor blending and the ease of making this dish. I used ground chicken instead of beef and I added some teriyaki sauce instead of mirin. We will be making this again!!
Easy to do, lovely fresh and zingy flavours – perfect! I think getting the best quality ground beef is worthwhile and does not cost much more – but that means a trip to a decent butcher and not the local supermarket around here. A little bit of fat on the meat may be unhealthy – but it does add to the flavours!!
This is my first “Sabrina recipe” and I will now have a go at plenty more. My only difficulty was that here in the UK we have not used cups as a measure in decades and I had to do a mental conversion, but that is a very small price to pay for family dinner success. Brilliant – thank you!!
Welcome to the DTD family of cooks and bakers! If you’d like feel free to click on “metric” on the recipe card to convert measurements. Hope that helps and Enjoy!
Sabrina,
I’m excited to make this tonight! Finally, a dish I can use ground meat (instead of the usual recipes). I have your cookbook, delightful BTW, and between it and the website, I have about a dozen recipes I rotate. When I want something new, I check those first. My husband loves when I say, “I’m making one of my girl’s recipes.” He knows YOU are that girl, and boy, is dinner gonna be great tonight. I’m in awe of your 3-5-7 Ingredient cookbook; what a fabulous idea of few ingredients yet copious flavor that rivals 5-star restaurant fare. You make cooking fun and rewarding again…I’m married 48 years and I welcome these new delicious recipes. Thank you, Sabrina
I decreased the brown sugar by 25% yet still too sweet for us. Don’t think even decreasing sugar would make me want to try this again. Otherwise, I’m a big fan of yours 😉
Sorry it was too sweet. Thank you for trying our recipes.
The sauce was to sweet for our taste. Other wise nice Asian flavor.
I made this!!! It is definitely going to be a regular weekly meal!
Really good. Substituted sweet vermouth for Mirin.
Sabrina,
In addition to my previous comment, I have the following question:
How would you recommend cooking the ground beef to prevent it from “over crumbling?” I cooked our dish in a wok and I’m thinking I could have over tossed it, causing the crumble. I would love to brown the meat yet end up with larger meaty clumps vs the fine crumbly burger.
Any Suggestions?
Thank you for your time and expertise!
Sabrina,
I made this dish a second time and I made it in a frying pan vs my wok. I did NOT over stir and it so that was the answer! It did not crumble this time! In my other comment I had mentioned I reduced the brown sugar and for us, it turned out perfect as I used 1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar.
And of course the sweetness depends on what a person likes. I’ve had really sweet Mongolian, moderately sweet, as well as lightly sweetened. So, it’ all a matter of personal preference. I just want to say, you have nailed this recipe in that I’ve NEVER considered ground beef and now it’s going to be a regular rotation in our meal plan!
Thank you Again!
Cindy
Sabrina,
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe! I made it tonight and served it with brown Gaba rice. We will definitely have it again!
The one thing I would do differently next time is to reduce the brown sugar amount. Probably more my error when measuring it out, I packed it as I do with my baked goods so it ended up on the sweet side, but still good. Next time, if I pack it, I will use only 1/4 cup or if I don’t pack it, I’ll probably use 3/8 cup. Also, because we LOVE garlic, instead of 3 cloves tonight, I used the same amount as the ginger, 2 Tablespoons fresh minced.
Of course, I’m only adding these little tips because we’re all different and I know that I usually read the reviews/tips when trying a new recipe. Still a Winner! Thanks and I continue to enjoy your recipes! Keep them coming!!!! We appreciate you!
Wow, was that good! Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. That was delicious! A couple days ago II made the ground orang chicken, VERY good. Tonight this. Everyone loved it.
What percentage of fat do you recommend for the ground beef in this recipe?
By the way, I love it and my dad really did too. Thank you!!
I usually use 85/15. I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
This was so good! I was originally going to try the “Easy Mongolian Beef” recipe but ended up making this instead and OMG I’m glad I did. I made no alterations to the recipe. I look forward to making this again. Thanks so much Sabrina!
I’m glad you decided to give this recipe a try, Katie. It’s one of my favorites!
I’ve made this recipe 3 times. Once for lettuce wraps, which we ate with crispy rice noodles. Twice as the filling for steamed buns (bao). All three times were amazing! It’s got great flavor and heat. If you cook the beef properly, it’s got a nice crunchy texture. 5 stars all day!
Glad to know it’s such a hit! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Wow just made this and a big hit, thank you bloody divine will be a regular on my list
This is the third recipe I have tried from you so far, and it’s another winner! Hubby approved! I served it with some leftover rice from take-out and steamed broccoli on the side. Thanks for another great recipe.
Yay!! Thanks for coming back to let me know, Amanda. I hope you continue finding recipes you love.
I loved this recipe, hubby is a chef of a japanese/ peruvian restaurant, he loved it thank you for sharing your knowledge with all the housewife and everyone else that is into the cooking
Thanks so much for coming back to let me know.
This was amazing, I had never had Mongolian beef before and i enjoyed this immensely. I had to make a double batch the second time i made it because everyone enjoyed it so much.
Thanks for coming back to let me know, Sara. I appreciate the 5 star rating.
This turned out great!!! I modified it a bit to make it Keto friendly! Skipped the mirin, used swerve brown sugar (1/4 c), and gluten free soy sauce. I also added sriracha and sautéed veggies! Broccoli, onion, cabbage and red bell pepper! Served over cauliflower-rice! Yummmmmm!!
Thanks for all of the suggestions, Brooke.
Yummy dish I had for dinner & super easy to make. Then added more spicy rich flavorful dish on the rice.
Why are scallions listed on the recipe, yet aren’t in the instructions? This dish is amazing and I just ended up adding in the scallions during the cooking of the beef.
I mentioned them as green onions in step 6. They’re used as a garnish. Enjoy!
Awesome dish! Thank you Sabrina , looking forward to checking your other recipes out .
This is an easy recipe and the flavor is fabulous. I only give it two stars because the ground beer texture was terrible. With flank steak or pork it would be great. It seemed grainey just simply unpleasant texture wise. I will try this again with the flank steak or pork, but never again with ground beef!
For Mongolian beef recipe. So I heat the sesame oil first then add ground beef?
Yes 🙂
I don’t write many reviews, but this is one of the best dinners my wife ever made, and she is an excellent cook. So simple for such a great meal. My kids are picky, especially my son. They inhaled this meal and asked for more. We will have to make double or triple the recipe from now on. This is going to be a keeper.
I’m so happy to know that you loved it enough to want to leave a review. It really means a lot to me, Tom.
This is so flavorful and delicious! All my family loved it including my teen boys and 8 year-old. I wish I had tripled the recipe because it didn’t last long! A day or two later, I was asked to make it again soon.
Sounds like a winner to me!
Made this for lunch today with about half the sugar. Also added mushrooms and doubled the sauce so we could pour the extra over rice. 😉 It was delicious! Served with sauteed bok choy in oyster sauce. Family ate it all up. Thank you for such an easy yet delicious recipe!
You’re welcome, Alex.
My entire family loved this recipe. Would have liked more sauce though. What in the recipe should be doubled to add twice the sauce?
Sure 🙂
This was easy and delicious! I will make it again and again. Due to the shortage of meat at the store, I used carne asada instead of ground beef. It worked fine as a substitute. Thank you for a great recipe! I added some thinly shaved carrot on the side, with the green onion it was beautifully balanced in color and eye catching.
You’re welcome, Dana.
This is so easy and yummy! Just like you brought home carry out !
So glad you decided to give it a try, Joanne.
This recipe was extremely sweet for our taste buds. It was also too salty for my Hong Kong girlfriend. We didn’t have Mirin so we used the suggested white wine with 1/2 tsp brown sugar. Overall, this dish works very well with white rice, but can be overpowering with other dishes. Next time, I will probably cut the brown sugar and soy sauce in half. Thanks for the recipe! ?
I made this dish tonight and it was delicious. My only comment would be that it says it’s a main dish but is only feeds 3 “regular size” eaters (me and teenage daughter) and husband would have loved seconds but there was only enough to make these 3 plates. I will double it next time now that I know my family loves it. And you’re right very inexpensive and easy and quick to make
I’m so glad you liked it and yes, it’s an easy and inexpensive recipe to double! Happy to hear it made the repeat list 🙂
This is no where near to being Mongolian or Chinese…. this is more Japanese in flavors, since the chinese done use Mirin
I used Shaoxing cooking wine to help with that.
What a great recipe! Everyone in my home loved it. Thanks, Sabrina, for a great recipe.
You’re welcome! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Brilliant! I made this last night for my family and everyone devoured it. I love Mongolian beef but rarely make it because I don’t take the time to buy the proper cut of meat, etc. Using ground meat is such a great idea and I have to say that its very likely that I will only make it this way from now on. Thank you for this great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Lori!
Super easy to make and everyone loved it, I added some shemeji mushroom and it was just perfect! Thank you
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
This was a big hit in my family!!!
Thanks for recipe
You’re welcome Sandy! Glad you all enjoyed it!
What a great dinner option! I love the beef in there!
Thanks Krista!
This looks and sounds incredible!! I can’t wait to try it!!
Thank you Katerina!
Love that you made this with ground beef. Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Dee! I hope you enjoy it!
I made this dish last night, cutting it exactly in half, for my wife and I. I presented it on rice with steamed broccoli just as in the photo. It was very tasty and we both enjoyed it. Very quick recipe to make, Better have your sides ready when you start final steps!
So glad you both enjoyed it!
We loved this recipe. My hubby said to add this to our recipe list. Both of our kids loved it (ages 7 and 10). We put the meat over a rice bed and mixed it up.
It’s so awesome to know that the whole family loved it because I know how hard this can be at times! Love it!!
Love this idea for a more economical way to have Mongolian beef!
Thanks Amanda!
Bring on the beef! This looks so good!
Thank you Amy!