Panda Express Beijing Beef with bell peppers and onions, tossed in the wok with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce is a tasty spot-on copycat!
Copycat Recipes are an excellent way to enjoy popular restaurant meals at home and on a budget. For the full takeout experience, try some of my other tried and true Panda Express Recipes, like Honey Walnut Shrimp, Kung Pao Chicken and Chow Mein.
Sabrina’s Panda Express Beijing Beef Recipe
Panda Express Beijing Beef is the beef answer to the insanely popular Panda Express Orange Chicken everyone craves so much. My favorite part of this recipe is the added hint of spice that always was lacking for me in the sweeter orange chicken sauce.
This sweet and spicy beef dish is a tried and true hit! The breading keeps a crunch to the outside even though it is covered in the addicting sticky sauce. Meanwhile, the red bell peppers and onions provide a flavorful fresh balance. And despite the long ingredient list and a little extra time for marinating, it all comes together pretty easily!
Key Ingredients
- Soy Sauce: I always recommend reduced sodium soy sauce to cut the saltiness and sodium.
- Oyster Sauce: This is a uniquely flavored 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 sauce makes the dish taste authentic. However, you could substitute a mix of oyster sauce and regular BBQ sauce to cut down on special sauces to buy.
- Sweet Chili Sauce: Adds a sweet glaze to the dish that you’ll have trouble replicating without quite a lot of work and extra ingredients. Note, this is specifically called “sweet chili sauce”, it is not the same as sweet and sour sauce or garlic chili paste.
How To Make
Time needed: 50 minutes
- Marinate beef
Slice the flank steak into ¼ inch slices against the grain. Then, combine the meat with the egg whites, kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Let it all marinate together for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Prep Beijing Sauce
Whisk together ½ cup water, ¼ cup sugar, ketchup, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce, crushed red peppers, and apple cider vinegar.
- Sear Beef
Toss the marinated beef in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Heat oil in your pan over medium high heat, and toss the beef one last time in another 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Cook the beef in batches until browned.
- Cook Vegetables
Add oil to a large pan over high heat, and cook the onion and bell pepper slices for 2-3 minutes. Add the minced garlic cloves and cook until fragrant. Transfer the vegetables to the side with the cooked beef.
- Finish
Add the sauce to the pan and cook at high heat for 3-5 minutes until the mixture thickens. Add the beef and vegetables back to the pan and toss to coat.
Recipe Card
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-inch pieces
- 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 finished 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
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Kitchen Equipment
- Wok: A high-quality wok is a great addition to your kitchen if you love cooking Chinese food or stir fries in general. It’s a reliable tool for high-heat, quick cooking.
- Large Frying Pan: You could also use a large cast iron skillet or stainless steel skillet would both work well for this recipe.
Time-Saving Tricks
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 pre-sliced (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 a day or two 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.
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The following photos were used in previous versions of this post:
OH M’GOODNESS!!! THANK YOU for this LUSCIOUS chopstick smackin’ YUM YUM Recipe!!! I’ve been on a Panda Express Beijing Beef binge for past 3 month! (Totally sad, but True!) So THIS is my cure for ordering 4x a month! LOVE your journey in making the flavors come off authentic to the Panda dish. Along with the explanation on why to include or not substitute is truly appreciated, Sabrina!
THANK YOU !! SO KINDLY FOR SHARING WITH US WORLD WIDE WEBBERS ?
LOL, this comment made me smile and thanks SO much for your kind words and five star review.
Awesome recipe
When you say “ketchup”, are you referring to the American, red ketchup or the Asian variety which is more of a sweet soy?
American – thanks for asking!
Bloody marvellous. I found coating the beef with cornstarch to be very messy and probably used too small a pan as it took me quite a while to fully prep the beef.
But the sauce is delicious I think I’ll try again with just frying some ground beef to make it quicker and easier (and cheaper)!
I made this last night, omitting the chili pepper flakes because my 27 year old disabled daughter doesn’t do spicy. It was just as flavorful and delicious as the inspiration recipe. Thank you and we will absolutely try your other Panda Express copycat recipes! It’s her favorite fast casual restaurant.
So glad to hear you enjoyed the Beijing Beef! Thanks so much for the five star review.
I made this today but added 2 bell peppers instead of one (cause I love them). It’s way better than take out for sure!
Do you ever use another type of steak and it be good?
This recipe was tested using Flank Steak but other steak options could include tenderloin, flank, New York strip / Porterhouse / Sirloin (same thing!), boneless ribeye/scotch fillet. Let us know which steak you decided to use!
Made this tonight and it was fabulous. I will absolutely make this again!
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.
Absolutely loved it.
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.
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).
Super helpful feedback for our vegan readers! Than you and also appreciate the 5 star rating!!
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.
Great to hear you enjoyed our Beijing Beef recipe. Thanks so much for the 5 star review!
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.
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
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
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???
Thanks Brandon!
Something is off, has an overpowering taste that isn’t in pandas, but not sure what it is. Not bad just different.
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.
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!
I really want to know how you use ground chicken with the sauce!
this recipe is better than the restaurant. thank you so much. I’m in heaven
Really good. I doubled the sauce and served with chow mein noodles. Everyone loved it!
This was an amazing dish. Incredibly fun to make and tasted absolutely wonderful.
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 ?????
I haven’t tried this dish before but after reading this recipe imma gonna need to make it sometime prob this weekend!!!
This was delicious…will be absolutely making this again. My husband raved about this dish….
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!
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.
Made this tonight, used cube steak (can’t afford flank) and added a little sriracha to the sauce. It turned out so good!
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
You are right! My mistake, I do usually list it in ingredient use order! Sorry for the confusion!
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 🙂
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.
I made this recipe using left over Prime Rib Roast from Christmas. My husband said it was best he’d ever eaten.
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.
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!
Beijing beef recipe is a little confusing. Is the beef fried twice? I am assuming it is since you divide the cornstarch. Thanks!
Hi! Yes its twice!
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!
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.
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? ?
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.
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.
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!
Thanks for all of your feedback and suggestions, Ron. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Making this tonight! But could you air fry this instead of frying it in oil?
I’ve not tested it using an air fryer. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks.
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.
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.
Do you fry it twice??
I didn’t.
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!
Just until they’re beaten. No need to overthink, haha! Enjoy!
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