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 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 donât 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 donât have to sacrifice any of the flavor!
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
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.
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.
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.
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 youâd like.
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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 donât 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.
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.
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
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Photos used in a previous version of this post.
Just made this for dinner with the hubby and it was DELICIOUS! It’s way better than what you’d get from the restaurants. If I can share a picture of our cooked food, I would. We used all parts of the green onions because I love it! Also added more ginger because I love that too!
I would love if you shared the photo on Instagram with the hashtag #dinnerthendessert – there’s a solid contingent of my followers there sharing their takes on my recipes on there!
Would arrowroot work in place of cornstarch?
I haven’t tested it before but usually the two are interchangeable.
I cooked this for my husband. I am not good cooking beef at all but this one is a hit. I loved it and so does he! Thank you so much for sharing.
Karen, I love making delicious cooking easy, so I’m happy to hear you were able to make this successfully! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I have made this with chicken. And another time with beef. It is an easy and an amazing recipe. This tasted so much better than take out. I use a little more garlic and saute mushrooms and onion slices in the oil with the green onions. Thank you for this recipe!
I made this last night. O M G!!!!! I used all the ingredients but didn’t measure the brown sugar or Soy Sauce. I also added chooped Brussel Sprouts. Yum!!! We will absolutely have this again. A MUST Try!!!!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Sabrina,
This is just perfect!!
Thank you
You’re welcome!
It was awesome!! I substituted coconut aminos for soy sauce due to a soy allergy, and it tasted great. Will definitely make again.
So glad you enjoyed it Jen!
Loved this recipe!!!! Turned out awesome! Thanks!?
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Tonight made the dish and it’s so delicious, great comments from my husband & all the guests. Good receipt and easy to cook. Thumb up!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
With a pound of flank steak at $12.00, this was pricey. And, the usual “heat” in Mongolian Beef was missing. So, I added 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. I used light brown sugar but it looked so dark. It was good but, I would try it with regular onions in thin strips and green pepper, cut the same way. That is the way it is mad at the Chinese places where I live. Also, the beef coated with the corn starch stuck to the frying pan so, I’d have to rethink how this was done. I’d refine the process and try this again with a less expensive cut of beef. Put it in the slow cooker if need be.
I’m so glad you were able to customize it to your liking. 🙂
I had London Broil leftover and I sliced that up, added it to cornstarch and some stir fry spices, (let that sit)didn’t have green onions so used yellow onions, and asparagus.
I had light brown sugar but added a bit of molasses to the sauce. Made the sauce.
Browned the meat. Browned garlic, onions and sautéed the asparagus.
Added white rice with sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.
Awesome!!!
Hubby loved it and so did his coworkers.
Fantastic! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!
What the nutrition facts on this?
Sorry I don’t have the nutritional facts for recipes on the site but I know there are a lot of free resources on the internet from when I’ve cooked for clients with low calorie diets.
Absolutely delicious! I’m a beginner cook who’d like to be able to get Chinese food without leaving the house, and this was my first attempt. It turned out great! Admittedly it does lose something without the dark brown sugar, but I’ll be sure to try this again with it, once I actually have some in the house. And I’m definitely going to use this website for other recipes on my to-do list!
The only problem I had was with cooking the meat – the oil got very splattery during the second minute, and most of the corn starch not attached to the steak congealed into clumps instead of melting into the sauce. Again, though, beginner cook – any tips for reducing that?
I’m so glad even though you consider yourself a “beginner cook”, you took a chance and made it!! So happy to hear you loved it!
Next time, I would make sure to shake off as much excess corn starch from the steak before putting it into the oil. That will help with it coming loose and mixing in with the oil. You can also get a splatter guard to help with minimizing the splatter. 🙂
Hi, thanks for the recipe, it looks amazing!
Two quick questions:
1) you suggest using a work, but the video shows a frying pan. Does it matter?
2) can you use pre-cut “stir fry” meat, instead of slicing it yourself?
Thanks in advance!
Either pan would work just fine, but no I wouldn’t use stir fry meat. That’s meat the butcher needs to ditch that isn’t a good cut and also its almost never cut thinly enough or from a tender enough cut of meat.
I made your Mongolian Beef tonight and I was happy with it. My other half had never had it before and he said liked it. Modified slightly as had leftover porterhouse steak. Added broccoli. I should have doubled the sauce. I was wishing for something crunchy is the only negative I have for you. I was out of chow mien noodles and no peanuts either.
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
Tried after another MoM posted this in our meal planning group and it’s really good! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂 Next time, I’m going to double the garlic and ginger, but that’s just a preference. I’ve noticed that almost all food bloggers’ recipes call for less seasonings than I prefer, same when I got the delivery boxes from ‘those guys’.
I did notice that some pieces that I didn’t slice as thin were not as delicious and crispy, so getting that thin slice and a great crisp on high heat isn’t really the key to the deliciousness here. The splatters are inevitable, but I’m originally from fried chicken country and that’s nothing new. You learn to clear off the counter/stove before you fry anything. Thanks again! I might try doing this on the sear in my Instant Pot to mimic the high heat from a wok next time!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it and were able to customize it to your liking. 🙂
Well, wouldn’t you know it. After a long day I stopped at the store here in Seattle looking for something to make for dinner. Right there in the meat case was a 1/2 price 2lbs flank steak. Score! But the how do you quickly whip up a flank steak dinner? Your Mongolian beef recipe was the perfect answer. I tried Chinese rice wine instead of water and added 2 table spoons of Indonesian sambal (chili sauce). It was amazing! Big hit and soon to be repeated. Thanks Sabrina!
Sounds like it was meant to be! So glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is fantastic! Definitely rivals any restaurant version I’ve ever had! There were two parts that were a little confusing though. The ingredients list says “4 inch scallions green parts only, cut into 2- pieces”. Does that mean 4 scallions cut into two inch pieces? Or some number of scallions cut in to 4 inch pieces?
Also, step 2 says “leave it to sit while you make the sauce”, but making the sauce does not seem to be listed as a step. Is there supposed to be a “make the sauce” step between steps 2 and 3?
Thanks so much for this recipe!
Sorry, the scallion part of the recipe plug in got a bit lost in translation, haha! It should read 4 stalks of scallions cut into two inch pieces. Thanks for letting me know. Also, just let the steak sit in the ziplock bag until you’re ready to cook it. Sorry if the wording is confusion.
Recipe Was Awesome, Quick, & Easy. Thanks
So glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks Soooo Much For this Recipe Was working out Great um I Realized I used The last of my Ginger The last Time I cooked, But I Didnt Panic, I Simply Remember I Had Some Ginger Tea, Yes I Did! Ginger Tea Bags the process to extract the Ginger Flavor was easier than I thought it would be. But with All that Said & Done turned out to be a Phenomenal Dish. My wife Loved it, I prep her Meals for Her Career as A Flight Attendant. Thanks A lot for the Recipe.
You are so creative in a pinch, I love it!!
Turned out great. The sweetness overpowered the ginger and garlic. How ever, that is a personal taste I believe. I paired it with cooked cabbage and brown Jasmin rice. So good and on the list if dinners my kids will eat.
I know how hard it is to find something everyone loves. So glad you all enjoyed it!
hi! thanks a lot for the recipe, i tried this recipe and it was wonderfull, really enjoyed it.
Making this, tomorrow night, I can’t wait to try this. I’m going to at least cut the sugar in half to start with. What the heck if it needs a little more, I will put a little more in. My question is, where are all the fried rice lovers people?
This was the absolute Best!! I made it for a church International banquet and I made both the light and dark sugar batches. I made steamed rice to serve it on. <3
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!
Oh I prefer the dark sugar!
Fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know how much you enjoyed it!
Hi! I have this recipe saved and plan to cook it soon! So excited! But I was wondering how many scallions you used? Thanks!
I am so sorry it took so long to respond. Your question got caught up in my spam filter 🙁
I used 4 stalks of scallions cut into 2 inch pieces. I hope you enjoy it!!
My wife and I made this recipe tonight and found it to be very sweet! We couldn’t even taste the garlic and ginger at first so we doubled the garlic and ginger. We also added red pepper flakes which gave it some good flavor.
If we were to do this recipe again, we would cut the sugar by half and double the garlic and ginger and add 1-2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes
Glad you were able to customize this to your liking!
This was amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! My husband and I both loved it!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for dropping by to let me know!
This recipe s yummy! I’m making this for he second time tonight! Do you have any others?
Wow, that’s awesome! I have lots of recipes!! You can go to the main page and scroll through them all or type in what you’re looking for into the search bar.
Loved it awesome I am making it again tonight
Hi, Im going to try your recipe tonight. I only have London broil on hand. Can I sub flank steak for the London broil?
– Stacy
Yes, essentially it’s the same thing.
Really want to make this tonight, but don’t have fresh ginger…how much dried ginger can I substitute with? Also, read all of the reviews…on one you said not to sub flour for cornstarch and on another you said it was ok…confused.
If you only have dried ginger, you can substitute using 1/2 teaspoon for the fresh ginger. Also, thanks for catching the cornstarch confusion. Substituting with flour will create a gumminess that you really don’t want when trying to make this dish.
The mongolian beef dish is so great.
Thank you!
LOVED THIS! As one reviewer mentioned, it does make a splatter mess, but well worth it. I used the low sodium soy sauce, but after I made it, I added some regular to my portion. I like it salty. I made it with flat iron steak, putting it in the freezer for 1.5 hours to make it easier to slice. Letting the dish set for just a bit in the pan will thicken it up nicely.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I made the dish exactly as described. It was great. The one nitpick I have is that, for me, this was two servings rather than the listed four. If you are serving a family, think about how much they are likely to eat, you may double it. Otherwise I recommend this tasty dish.
So glad you enjoyed it Chris!
Turned out ok, but would recommend using a bit less oil. Ended up having to drain some off when I was done. Also ended up with quite a bit of corn starch sticking to the pan and the coating falling off a bit.
Super delicious. My husband works nights and I had it waiting for him. He loved it so much, I made an extra batch of the sauce for leftovers. The next day, I put it in my finiky teenager’s lunch, when she got home, she asked me which takeout I had ordered it from. Thank you again! This recipe will be added among our regular favorites. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is the time it took to cook each layer. But the end result spoke for itself.
So glad everyone enjoyed it!
Tried this & it turned out super yummy. Thanks for the recipe !!
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
This is absolutely amazing. My family loved this hands down. Now finding the ginger root and mincing it myself was a little on the challenging side, but made this two nights in a row. My mom which if your food is good she’ll say “It’s alright”, if it’s great she’ll say “it was good “, but I have never had her say “that was bomb, that was the best I’ve ever had” was just awesome. I definitely recommend this and thank you for sharing this……
#momapproved haha! Sounds like a winner!
Check out minced ginger in a tube in the vegetable section of the grocery store. It really works well and you always have it on hand. I like having fresh herbs on hand. In the summer that is fine because I can walk out to y herb garden for what I want but when winter comes, the easiest way for me to always have fresh ginger to use is this. I live 20 miles away from a grocery store so running to the store is not an option. They also make other herbs in a tube.
Thanks for the tip!
Ok, I never post anything, but I must say this recipe was SO delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Aww, I really take that as a huge compliment! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know.
Is there any way to make this low carb? I’m diabetic and can’t have the sugar? Thanks so much for your help!!
I’m sorry but there just isn’t 🙁 I would suggest sticking to a stir fry if you’re looking for low carb.
We tried this last night and let me just say, it is better than any takeout i’ve ever had!
My husband and I are not big fans of ginger, so i opted to add broccoli in p;ace of the ginger and omitted the scallions. I served it with Uncle Ben’s Boil in a bag Brown Rice. It was amazing! My husband kept going back for more! This is a keeper!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
holy moly we love this!!!
Awesome!! So glad you loved it!!
Such an easy meal ah, I got to say the dose of sugar was too much for my liking. Never the less what a great meal. Had everything thing on hand to make it. Thanks heaps
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
You mentioned adding molasses to add to the depth of flovor. Any recommendations as to the amount? Also, I only use organic ingredients in my meals and my local grocery stores do not carry organic dark brown sugar. Can I use light brown sugar and add molasses in place of using dark brown sugar to achieve a similar flavor?
Thanks in advance!
I’d use 1 tablespoon of molasses to add flavor depth. If you’re not able to find organic dark, just mix it like you mentioned and make your own 🙂 Enjoy!
Thank you for for sharing. It was very good. Only i would change its less suger. ^_^
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Just fantastic! Used short rib, more ginger & garlic, and whole dried chili peppers. JUST YUM! More recipes like this, please!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Oh, geez! This was absolutely delicious! I cannot stress enough how deeply I love Mongolian Beef!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
I made this tonight for dinner and my family loved it! Even my super picky basically vegan toddler devoured the meat! ? thank you so much I will be trying more of your recipes soon!
So glad you enjoyed it, thank you for coming back to tell me you enjoyed it!
How many servings do these measurements make?
A family of four could definitely finish the dish. Smaller appetites, I’d say 6?
OMG!!! Extremely easy I used a different cut of meat as I could not find the flank steak in my local market. Any semi fatty thin cut steak will work with this recipe guaranteed! Absolutely a family favorite. I have a 5 year old and 6 year old that are skeptical on green things in their food and they hammered this dish like they were getting paid to do it! 🙂 thumbs up!
You made my day! Anytime I can get the little ones to enjoy something I feel like I have won the lottery! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know!