Easy Mongolian Beef Recipe

4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Mongolian Beef is easy to make in just 30 minutes, crispy, sweet and garlicky with flavors you love from your favorite Chinese restaurant.

When it comes to favorite Chinese takeout, Mongolian Beef is at the top of the list. The delicious sauce of this popular Beef Dish can be used to make Ground Mongolian Beef and Mongolian Beef Burritos too!

Mongolian Beef cooked steak and onions in pile on plate

Mongolian Beef is very flavorful and takes just 30 minutes to make from start to finish including all the slicing of the meat! It also uses basic pantry ingredients, so you don’t need to worry about running to the store today for oyster sauce or hoisin sauce. Everything in this recipe is available in every grocery store, so it makes the perfect weeknight dinner idea!

It will blow you away how much flavor you can get in less than half an hour and without any marinating or tons of ingredients. Thin cut steak is quick-fried with a cornstarch coating to give it the signature crispy edges that makes this dish so amazing. Some aromatics are sauteed in the beef fat and then sauce is added to soak up the savory, beefy flavor. Finally the beef gets coated in the amazing sauce and it’s finished with some crisp fresh onions.

This authentic stir fried Mongolian Steak recipe is popular with adults and kids alike for a number of reasons. One, people love anything that tastes like Chinese takeout. Two, the sweet flavor of the dark brown sugar mixed with the salty soy sauce and the strong ginger and garlic is incredibly addicting. Three, you get to enjoy it over a mountain of Steamed Rice, which soaks up all the savory sauce and will take you to your happy place.

What is Mongolian Beef?

Mongolian Beef is a Taiwanese dish that originated where Mongolian BBQ cuisine was popular. In American-Chinese restaurants, it consists of thinly sliced red meat, usually flank steak, that is wok seared with green onions in a savory, sticky sweet sauce made with soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. It is usually not spicy, and it can be paired with other vegetables and served over white rice.

Why should you make Mongolian Beef at home?

There are many benefits to making copycat versions of your favorite take out dishes at home. The obvious one is to stretch your dollar. You can typically serve an entire family at home for the cost of one or two restaurant entrees. You can tailor the seasonings and ingredients for dietary and taste preferences. Your homemade recipe will typically be much healthier than the takeout version, and the best part is you don’t have to sacrifice any of the flavor!

Mongolian Beef cooked steak pieces with green onions closeup

How to Make Mongolian Beef

  • Steak: Cut the flank steak into ¼ inch thick pieces, slicing against the grain. Place the meat and cornstarch in a large sealed plastic bag and coat the meat completely. 
  • Fry: Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Sear the coated steak pieces in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan or your meat won’t get crispy. Transfer the seared steak to a plate.
  • Sauce: In the same pan, cook the ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add the soy sauce, water, and brown sugar and let the mixture come to a boil. 
  • Finish: Stir the steak back into the sauce and allow the sauce to thicken. If your sauce isn’t thickening, add a cornstarch slurry and let the mixture simmer for a minute. Add green onions to the beef mixture and stir. Serve over rice and a side of steamed veggies

Classic Chinese Takeout Sides

FAQs for Mongolian Beef

What kind of meat is used for Mongolian Beef?

Flank steak is the common cut for Mongolian Beef recipes. You can use any quick cooking beef cut such as skirt steak, top round, or tri-tip steak.

What is Mongolian Beef sauce made with?

Mongolian Beef sauce contains soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, water and cornstarch to thicken. The sauce ingredients are simple and you probably have most of it in your pantry right now.

How to I make crispy Mongolian Beef?

This Mongolian Beef recipe will have crispy seared edges and tender beef on the inside due to cutting the flank against the grain and quick cooking it. You want to make sure not to overcrowd the pan when you are frying or it will create steam and you won’t get crispy beef.

How thin should I slice steak for Mongolian Beef?

You want to slice the flank into ¼ inch strips against the grain. If you feel uncomfortable with cutting the steak thinly enough and have an hour or so notice, place the steak in the freezer for one hour. This will freeze it just enough that slicing it will be as easy as slicing a vegetable. The meat will firm up enough that you can slice it even thinner if you’d like.

Mongolian Beef cooked with chopsticks holding one piece of steak

Key Ingredients

  • Steak: Flank steak works well for this recipe because it cooks quickly while staying juicy and flavorful. Plus it’s a pretty inexpensive red meat. You can also use skirt steak, hangar steak, or other thin cut of steak for the same amazing flavors in this recipe.
  • Brown Sugar: The addition of molasses to the dark brown sugar adds to the depth of flavor in this dish. You can use light brown sugar if that is what you have on hand, and you’ll still have a tasty meal. However, the slightly bitter molasses flavor does make a noticeable difference in the sauce.
  • Garlic: Fresh garlic adds a lot of aromatic flavor to Chinese cuisine, and complements the sweetness of the Mongolian beef sauce.
  • Ginger: Freshly grated ginger gives a slight kick to the recipe to balance the sweetness. If you don’t have fresh ginger, you can substitute ½ teaspoon ginger powder, and add it with the soy sauce.
  • Soy Sauce: Always use low sodium soy sauce in Asian dishes, as it allows you to control the amount of salt. You can always add a little more to your taste.
  • Cornstarch: Cornstarch acts as a thickener when the sauce comes together at the end of this recipe. By coating the beef in it, the cornstarch will cook with the meat and add a crispy coating as well.

Can you make Mongolian Beef ahead of time?

While you can technically make Mongolian Beef ahead of time, it is definitely better when you make it fresh. This dish is known for the signature crispy beef and you will lose that tasty crispy goodness when the dish is reheated. However, one way to make the steak easier to cut is to cut it while it’s really cold, so you can pop the beef in the freezer an hour ahead of starting the dish.

Variations

  • Spicy:  Make the sauce spicy by adding some red chili flakes, some fresh Thai chiles, or chili garlic sauce. You can also serve it with some Chinese hot mustard or Horseradish Sauce for a spicy creamy blend.
  • Meat: Instead of beef, thinly sliced pork, chicken, or even baked tofu would all taste amazing with this savory sweet sauce.  Keep in mind that chicken and pork need to be cooked all the way through instead of just being seared like beef. You could also use ground beef or other ground meat.
  • Veggies: For a quick and easy one-pan beef dinner idea, you can toss in some popular stir fry veggies like pea pods, shredded carrots, broccoli, and bok choy. Cook the veggies until crisp tender, then toss in at the end with green onions.
Mongolian Beef Collage

More Classic Asian Beef Dishes

How to Store

  • Serve: For the best flavor and texture, serve this dish right away while the edges of the beef are still crispy and the onions are still slightly crunchy. It can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
  • Store: Let any leftover Mongolian Beef cool down and then store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container. It’s best to reheat it on the stove in a skillet.
  • Freeze: Freeze Mongolian Beef up to 3 months in a sealed container. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
Mongolian Beef cooked steak and onions in pile on plate

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Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef is easy to make in just 30 minutes, crispy, sweet and garlicy with flavors you love from your favorite Chinese restaurant.
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Chinese
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound flank steak
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger , minced
  • 1 tablespoon garlic , minced
  • 1/3 cup lite soy sauce , low sodium
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 4 stalks scallions , green parts only, cut into 2 inch pieces

Instructions

  • Slice the flank steak against the grain (the grain is the length of the steak) the long way in ¼ inch thick pieces and add it to a ziploc bag with the cornstarch.
  • Press the steak around in the bag making sure each piece is fully coated with cornstarch and leave it to sit.
  • Add the canola oil to a large frying pan and heat on medium high heat.
  • Add the steak, shaking off any excess corn starch, to the pan in a single layer and cook on each side for 1 minute.
  • If you need to cook the steak in batches because your pan isn't big enough do that rather than crowding the pan, you want to get a good sear on the steak, and if you crowd the pan, your steak with steam instead of sear.
  • When the steak is done cooking remove it from the pan.
  • Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and sauté for 10-15 seconds.
  • Add the soy sauce, water and dark brown sugar to the pan and let it come to a boil.
  • Add the steak back in and let the sauce thicken for 20-30 seconds.
  • The cornstarch we used on the steak should thicken the sauce, if you find it isn’t thickening enough add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of cold water and stir to dissolve the cornstarch and add it to the pan.
  • Add the green onions, stir to combine everything, and cook for a final 20-30 seconds.
  • Serve immediately.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 433kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 1152mg | Potassium: 497mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 3mg
Keyword: Easy Mongolian Beef
Mongolian Beef Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Mongolian Beef that's easy to make in just 30 minutes, crispy, sweet and full of garlic and ginger flavors you love from your favorite Chinese restaurant.
Mongolian Beef that's easy to make in just 30 minutes, crispy, sweet and full of garlic and ginger flavors you love from your favorite Chinese restaurant.
Mongolian Beef that's easy to make in just 30 minutes, crispy, sweet and full of garlic and ginger flavors you love from your favorite Chinese restaurant.
Mongolian Beef that's easy to make in just 30 minutes, crispy, sweet and full of garlic and ginger flavors you love from your favorite Chinese restaurant.

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. Made it for the 10th time. Easy and family favorite. Used shaved beef this time and came out great. Just need to separate or you’ll get clumps of meat

  2. This was delicious! Pretty simple, straight forward recipe, not too many ingredients. Be sure to let your oil get hot so the beef sears and gets those crispy edges. I did need that little slurry of cornstarch and water to thicken the sauce.
    It splattered up the cooktop a bit but absolutely worth a few minutes extra cleaning. We’ll definitely be making it again and again.

  3. I made this recipe last night and it was delicious! I made it exactly like the recipe was written- and it tasted as wonderful as my favorite Chinese restaurant. Thank you! I will definitely be making this Mongolian Beef recipe again.

  4. Yes, this was delicious. Cut the steak when partially frozen so you can get the slices super thin. This was the best I’ve tried. Served with broccoli and rice

  5. This was a hit! I thought at first it might be too sweet. However, the salt and brown sugar tamed down the flavors very well. My husband had two servings!

  6. I tried this and it was soooo sweet the recipe had great flavor but if u don’t like it real sweet I would half the sugar

  7. This recipe was do good. Very easy to make. I did not have dark brown sugar so I used the light. I was well pleased with the taste.

  8. This was a hit with my family. Easy, tasty, and I added a bunch of broccoli (that I had sautéed separately) and served it over jasmine rice. Thank you, Sabrina!

  9. Yum, wow! This was delicious and super easy. Used top sirloin because grocery was out of flank steak. Added sliced carrots and pineapple chunks. Substituted green peppers for the onions. Went really nice with spicy Aachar quick pickles on the side, plus rice and an eggroll. Will definitely be making this again and again. Thanks, Sabrina!

  10. Yum, wow! This was delicious and super easy. Used top sirloin because store was out of flank steak. Added sliced carrots and pineapple chunks. Substituted green peppers for the onions. Went really nice with spicy Aachar quick pickles on the side, plus rice and an eggroll. Will definitely be making this again and again. Thanks, Sabrina!

  11. Excellent recipe, I have made this several times. Always good. Sometimes I add some snow peas at the end too.

  12. It’s in the sugar already.

    So what’s the difference between light and dark brown sugar? The difference between light and dark brown sugar is simply the amount of molasses each contains. Light brown sugar has less molasses per total volume of sugar (about 3.5% according to Rose Levy Beranbaum) while dark brown sugar has more (6.5%).

  13. Sounds terrific!! In your commentary you say, “The addition of molasses to the dark brown sugar adds to the depth of flavor in this dish.” So, how much molasses do you recommend? I don’t see it listed in the ingredients. Thanks a Bunch!! -Roxanne L.

    1. It’s in the sugar already.

      So what’s the difference between light and dark brown sugar? The difference between light and dark brown sugar is simply the amount of molasses each contains. Light brown sugar has less molasses per total volume of sugar (about 3.5% according to Rose Levy Beranbaum) while dark brown sugar has more (6.5%).

    2. I love this dish! But I’ve yet to make it in 30 minutes. The prep time says 10 min but I spend more than 10 minutes just peeling and chopping ginger. Fresh ginger seems very hard for me to work with. It’s hard and has a tough texture, and the peeling is a challenge. I cut my hands because the ginger is so small and awkward to hold onto. But, it’s all so worth it! I keep coming back to this recipe!

      1. I found small diced ginger, in a jar, at my grocery store, in refrigerated section next to garlic. I use this all the time now as I do agree with you regarding the peeling and chopping. It is good to have on hand as I do a lot of stir fry meals of my own making. I just use the vegetables we like, in the wok, after cooking the protein. Then I just add whatever sauces that sound good to me and this always includes the diced ginger (right out of the refrig!!!). So simple!

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  15. Hello, Sabrina…my husband and I have a sizzling plate which in my opinion add to the presentation.
    Do we put the sizzling plate in the oven first to heat up and take it out after the recipe is finished and just pile it all on the plate and bring it to the table? What do you suggest?

  16. Hi Sabrina I have made this recipe many times so delicious. I plan on cooking this dish for 20 people so I just multiply the ingredients by 5.
    Thank you

      1. As you probably know, tenderized flank steak has been marinated or braised to increase tenderness. Depending on how you marinate or braise your flank steak will determine how the flavor of the Mongolian Beef recipe will be impacted.

  17. I added 2 tbl of cornstarch to sauce as opposed to dredging steak in it; steak was marinated in soy sauce. Better than take out, this is a keeper!

  18. I LOVE this meal. I’ve made it with half the amount of brown sugar and STILL love it. Sometimes I spice it up with Red Pepper Flakes and some siracha, and that’s yummy too!! Other times I’ve added fresh Red Pepper for color, and that’s nice too! Can’t go wrong with this one! ??

  19. Hi Sabrina I have made this recipe many times so delicious. I plan on cooking this dish for 20 people do I just multiply the ingredients by 5.
    Thank you

  20. This recipe is not only simple, but also super delicious.

    I usually buy 2-3 bunches, chop the tops for garnish and cut the rest in 1 inch pieces to toss in with the beef.

    My kids love it, my husband requests it and it’s super easy to make. Can I really ask for more?

    Any strip steak works with this recipe, if you get the one on sale it’s fine.

    Pair with coconut rice! (1 part basmati rice / 1 part water / 1 part coconut milk) ?

  21. Very good. Might reduce brown sugar to a1/3 cup as it was a little sweet for me although my husband didn’t think so. Meat was tender and sauce was delicious. Very good recipe.

  22. I have to tin foil the entire surrounding area, Press ‘n Seal the whole over-the-range microwave, and lay a bath towel on the floor in front of the stove before I start. That, and wear long sleeves!! BUT IT IS SOOOO WORTH IT!!!!

  23. Hi Sabrina! Love your recipes as always – Every dish I’ve made of yours has been top notch! This said — I have a pork tenderloin in my freezer that I’d like to cook; do you think using this recipe would be just as wonderful If I substituted the flank steak w/ sliced pork tenderloin instead? Just curious? And thank you SO much for posting this. Happy Holidays!

      1. Using the pork tenderloin turned out amazing! I kept the rest of the recipe exactly the same (even the velveting of the pork), this was so delicious I made it again the next evening! Next time I will try it with the steak. Thank you again Sabrina for this easy and fantastic recipe.
        Wishing you a very Happy New Year!!

  24. This is asolid recipe but for those who want more tender pieces of meat I suggest velveting the meat with baking soda regardless of the cut of meat you purchase. I realize cornstarch helps with this process but the additional velvet with baking soda just adds to the texture similarly that you would find in a restaurant.
    Unpopular opinion: you can do without cornstarch completely and just velvet with baking soda. It’s a little bit cheaper in the long run as you will use less, also this helps a business keep cost low and is used very often in Chinese restaurants. Don’t tell any Chinese buffets I told you that though.

    Source: I used to cook for a Chinese restaurant.

  25. Very good. A little messy but worth it. I imagine when you have cooked it more than once its less messy. Husband was a big fan. Thank you.

    1. I have to tin foil the entire surrounding area, Press ‘n Seal the whole over-the-range microwave, and lay a bath towel on the floor in front of the stove before I start. That, and wear long sleeves!! BUT IT IS SOOOO WORTH IT!!!!