Ground Mongolian Beef

4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ground Mongolian Beef with a sweet and spicy sauce that is crispy and tender without having to buy steak and it’s done in 20 minutes.

Ground beef recipe are a go to for us during the week and aside from the popular Korean Ground Beef we’re a big fan of Mongolian Beef, our favorite takeout copycat food.

Ground Mongolian Beef in bowl with broccoli, carrots and rice.

GROUND MONGOLIAN BEEF

How to Make Ground Mongolian Beef

  • Brown the beef really well and keep the crumbles on the larger side.
  • Add the sesame seeds while cooking to get more of a toasted flavor from them.
  • If you want even more of a classic Mongolian beef flavor add more green onions cooked down in addition to garnishing with them.
  • Top with spicy mayo or make it into a Mongolian Beef Burrito.

We have been making ground meat versions of our classic Asian food favorites like Ground Kung Pao Chicken and Ground Orange Chicken in addition to the ground Korean beef.

Why make them with ground meat? Well for one it takes a third of the time. Secondly, 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.

ground beef, rice, broccoli and carrots with mongolian beef sauce.

GROUND CHINESE FOOD RECIPES:

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Tools used in the making of this Ground Mongolian Beef:
Sesame Oil: The flavor of sesame oil in this dish is unmistakeable and not really able to be substituted. Some Asian grocery stores will try and sell less expensive options that aren’t actually sesame oil, so just be sure the one you’re buying is authentic sesame oil.
Mirin: A sweetened Asian wine, if you don’t use this use white wine with a ½ teaspoon of sugar.

More Delicious Chinese Food Recipes

HOW TO STORE GROUND MONGOLIAN BEEF

  • Serve: You can leave out Ground Mongolian Beef at room temperature for about 2 hours before you will need to place 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 Ground Mongolian Beef to a sealed bag or other container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating on the stovetop.

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Ground Mongolian Beef

Ground Mongolian Beef With A Sweet And Spicy Sauce That Is Crispy And Tender Without Having To Buy Steak And It's Done In 20 Minutes.
Yield 4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 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 lite soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup chopped scallions

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

Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 963mg | Potassium: 518mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Vitamin C: 3.1mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 3.5mg
Keyword: ground Mongolian beef

Easy Ground Mongolian Beef collage

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. 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!!

  2. 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!!

    1. 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!

  3. 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

  4. 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 😉

  5. 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!

    1. 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

  6. 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!

  7. 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.

  8. 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!!

  9. 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!

  10. 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!

  11. 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.

    1. 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

  12. 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.

  13. 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!!

  14. Yummy dish I had for dinner & super easy to make. Then added more spicy rich flavorful dish on the rice.

  15. 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.

  16. 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!

  17. 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.

    1. 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.

  18. 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.

  19. 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!

  20. My entire family loved this recipe. Would have liked more sauce though. What in the recipe should be doubled to add twice the sauce?

  21. 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.

  22. 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! ?

  23. 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

    1. 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 🙂

  24. This is no where near to being Mongolian or Chinese…. this is more Japanese in flavors, since the chinese done use Mirin

  25. 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!

  26. Super easy to make and everyone loved it, I added some shemeji mushroom and it was just perfect! Thank you  

  27. 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!

  28. 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.

    1. It’s so awesome to know that the whole family loved it because I know how hard this can be at times! Love it!!