We’re so excited to share our Mongolian Beef Recipe with you all! The first time I had the dish was P.F. Changs Mongolian Beef and I immediately fell in love. The tender beef coated in a sweet and savory sauce was absolutely delicious! Our version is very similar in flavor and texture to their version in the best way! This Chinese takeout inspired dish also couldn’t be easier (and a bit healthier) to make at home and is one of our top, family loved recipes on our entire site!
Our Mongolian beef is incredibly quick and easy to make. In fact, it can be made in under 30 minutes making it a perfect weeknight dinner! Serve it with a little steamed rice and broccoli and you have a quick, delicious and flavor packed complete meal! We love making a double batch so we have plenty of leftovers to enjoy the next day.
What is Mongolian Beef?
Mongolian beef is a popular stir-fry beef dish, made in a wok, served in Chinese restaurants. It was created in Taiwan, during the 1950’s, when Chinese BBQ was becoming a trendy cuisine. Its most notable trait is the tenderized slices of beef simmered together in a sweet and savory sauce.
The name of the dish refers to Mongolian barbecue style of cooking, which is quick and over high heat. The dish itself isn’t actually associated with Mongolian cuisine.
How to Make Our Mongolian Beef Recipe
Ingredients
Process
- Slice steak into 1/4″ thick piece, against the grain and season with salt and pepper.
- Toss steak pieces in cornstarch until fully and evenly coated. Set aside.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add some oil. Sauté the ginger and garlic until fragrant.
- Add soy sauce, water and sugar and bring to a boil until sugar dissolves. Pour sauce into a measuring cup and set aside.
- Place skillet back over heat and add more oil. Add steak and sear until evenly browned on both sides.
- Pour sauce back into skillet and stir together with meat. Allow sauce to thicken. Add green onion and continue to simmer until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Serve Mongolian beef over steamed rice. So easy!
Best Cut of Beef to Use for Mongolian Beef
Flank steak is the most traditional cut used for Mongolian beef and a cut we often used to use. It has great flavor, cooks quickly and can get incredibly tender. It’s still a great option to use today!
The reason we use NY strip steaks for our recipe is because NY strip steaks have similar qualities in flavor and cooking speed, but it’s a naturally tender cut and with flank steak getting increasingly popular and pricey, the price per pound are comparable these days.
Prep, Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions
Prep Ahead
To make sauce ahead, cool sauce and pour into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To make steak ahead, slice steak and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
When ready to cook, toss beef in salt, pepper and cornstarch. Sear coated steak in skillet as written in recipe. Warm the sauce in a saucepan for a few minutes before adding it to the seared meat. This will help to avoid the temperature dropping in the skillet, not allowing for quick and even cooking.
Fully Make Ahead
Make recipe as written and cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, pour entire mixture into a large skillet and simmer over medium-low heat until warmed through, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Freezing
To freeze, cool Mongolian beef completely before transferring into a freezer friendly container. Store in freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, transfer freezer bag to refrigerator and thaw overnight. Pour thawed mixture into a skillet and simmer over medium-low heat until sauce has thickened up and beef has just heated through.
Variations for Our Mongolian Beef Stir Fry
- Incorporate some veggies into the dish! We love adding some bite sized broccoli florets into the mix. Mongolian beef and broccoli is SO good! We also love throwing in a handful of spinach to the dish for added fiber or sliced red peppers for crunch!
- Add some heat with some dried thai chiles, crushed red pepper flakes or a spoonful of chile sauce ( like sriracha or sambal).
- Use chicken instead of beef! Yes, this recipe is called Mongolian beef, but subbing in chicken is such an easy and equally delicious substitute!
- Make it vegetarian friendly by swapping the beef out for cubes of firm tofu or strips of seitan. Gently press excess liquid from the tofu before cutting it into pieces and continue on with the recipe as written!
Tips and Tricks for Mongolian Beef Success
- Coating beef in cornstarch is important because it helps to tenderize the beef. It also helps to thicken the sauce, allowing it to fully coat the beef.
- Flank steak (sliced against the grain) is most commonly used to make Mongolian beef, although any quick cooking beef works great. New York strip steaks are our cut of beef of choice, as flank steak isn’t always found at all grocery stores and New York strip steak generally is readily available Flank steak has also gotten quite expensive in the last 5 years or so and prices are now similar between cuts. Both flank steak and NY strip steaks work really well for this recipe and we recommending whichever you’re able to find and prefer.
- Sear the sliced beef in batches to avoid overcrowding in the pan. This will allow the beef to sear properly and prevent the slices from steaming.
Can This be Made in an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker?
Yes, you can definitely make Instant Pot Mongolian Beef, but we really don’t think there’s a need to do so unless you don’t have access to a stovetop. Our recipe is so quick and easy that it will actually take longer setting up your instant pot, cooking it and waiting for the steam function to complete, then it will be just making on the stove in a pan!
We do not recommend making this dish in a slow cooker. As we mentioned above, this recipe is too quick and easy to need extra equipment (that’s meant to make things easier). The texture of the beef can easily go from perfectly tender to mush or very dried out using an instant pot and we don’t think it’s worth the effort of using a slow cooker.
What to Serve with Our Easy Mongolian Beef Recipe
This dish is commonly served with a side steamed rice. We usually like to serve ours over a bed of steamed rice so some of the sauce absorbs into the rice. It’s so good! We also love serving this dish with garlic noodles, chow mein and a side of lightly roasted green beans.
In the U.S. Mongolian beef is also commonly served over a bed of fried cellophane noodles, which adds a light, crisp texture to the overall dish. We opted out of the fried noodle version since frying the noodles would add an extra step and more clean-up in the end, but it is a delicious alternative!
Other Delicious Asian Inspired Recipes You Will Love
Mongolian Beef Recipe
INGREDIENTS
Mongolian beef
- 2 thinly sliced New York Strip Steaks about 1 1/2 pounds
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 green onions sliced into 1 inch pieces
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds optional
Serving suggestion
- steamed rice for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
- Season sliced steak with salt and pepper. Toss steak in cornstarch until fully and evenly coated. Set aside.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute. Add soy sauce, water and sugar and bring to a boil until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes.
- Pour sauce into a liquid measuring cup and set aside.
- Place skillet back over heat and add remaining oil. Add steak and sear until evenly browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
- Pour sauce back into skillet and stir together with beef. Simmer and allow sauce to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Toss in green onion and continue to cook for 1 more minute until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
- Pour Mongolian beef over steamed rice and serve.
NOTES
- Coating the sliced beef in cornstarch is important because it helps to tenderize the beef. It also helps to thicken the sauce, allowing it to fully coat the beef.
- Flank steak (sliced against the grain) is most commonly used to make Mongolian beef, although any quick cooking beef works great. We use New York strip steaks in our version, as flank steak isn’t always found at all grocery stores and New York strip steaks generally are. Both flank steak and NY strip steaks work really well for this recipe and we recommending whichever you’re able to find and prefer.
- Sear the sliced beef in batches to avoid overcrowding in the pan. This will allow the beef to sear properly and prevent the slices from steaming.
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This is delicious. Better than take out. I’ve made it with ribeye steak and pork loin chops and it was just as good with pork if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative. Thank you!
So good! This will be a new regular recipe. Added broccoli and it came out great.
Just made for a family lunch. Delicious! No leftovers. Thanks for the easy yummy recipe.
this looks good
Very tasty. This is going in the permanent family rotation. And it’s pretty easy. I’m always looking for efficient (aka: lazy) dinners that use as few pots & pans as possible. Here, the count is “3.” A mixing bowl for the beef & corn starch, a pot for rice, or your rice cooker, and a skillet for the Mongolian Beef.
Like other commenters, I was also looking for savings & shortcuts. Flank & Skirt steak, it’s harder to find, just not a popular cut these days, and the low volume/rarity means it’s not a “budget cut” anymore. Because only a local “mom & pop” smaller supermarket or butcher/meats shop, or more “specialty & gourmet” will even have Skirt or Flank cuts.
One commenter’s idea about using beef ribs, with very thin cuts was an excellent idea, one I’ll have to try.
My “cheap & easy” shortcut for the steak or beef I needed was Walmart Sirloin Tip Mianesa @ $7.82/lb as of May 2024. Milenesa gets the name from “Milan Style” a thin beef cutlet battered or breaded, and pan fried. But it’s mainly as it traveled around, or just similar dishes were already in existence (S. America, Argentina, Panama, Mexico, Poland, Philippines… it goes on. And the paths are many. North Mexico Milenesa might be inspired by their spin on German Texans & Schnitzel…)
So Walmart will carry Milenesa if they cater to a fair amount of Latino shoppers, and folks looking to make beef Schnitzel, steak sandwiches, even US chicken-fried steak.
And actual “Steak-Steak” is very hard to find anywhere below $12 on sale. The already very thin cuts let’s you swipe with your chef knife and make the straps in about 15 seconds…
To “Asian it up” a tad, besides just the soy sauce & ginger, I also used a bit of sesame oil with the main cooking oil for both the saute of the sauce ingredients, and the actual beef. And alsp about 1/2 tsp of chili oil.
I also used a dash of MSG, the allergy is indeed real, but RARE. Utterly overblown “urban legend”-style in the 70s & 80s and just carries on today with “NO MSG” signs rather than try to explain. Like gluten free, which is meaningless unless you’re actually suffering from Celiac’s. (The “fad” against gluten is GREAT for actual Celiac’s sufferers though…)
For any soy sauce heavy recipe, this one, or something like a “easy Teriyaki” etc. the number one advice is always: CUT THE SOY SAUCE QUANTITY IN HALF, for whatever ratio or number of servings you are going for. You can always add more in if the dish is too bland. Because “low sodium soy” (Usually green label Kikkoman) is actually just “SLIGHTLY LESS INSANE SODIUM SOY SAUCE.”
Just treat soy sauce like salt, you can always add more, but you can’t take it out…
Also, if you can’t find toasted sesame seeds, raw ones are fine. Just toss them in immediately with the garlic & ginger, and they’ll fry up, darken, and absorb sauce as everything cooks, and be “toasty enough” in both flavor and apperance.
It really is as easy as described. The favor and texture are really surprising.
This was delicious! Doubled the sauce and served with basmati rice and steamed broccoli. Definitely a keeper recipe!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a delicious and quick week night dinner. It came together quickly and was really flavorful. I served over rice with a side of roasted broccoli.
One change I made was buying boneless beef chuck country ribs instead of New York strip steaks. The difference was $17.99 per pound versus the country ribs at $6.99 per lb on sale. Makes the dinner more affordable and if cut on the long side of the ribs, they are just as tender. Make sure your knife is sharp to cut thin.
Cab I use flower in place of corn starch?
Made this for dinner for the first time and everyone loved it. I did add broccoli to it and will definitely make this again. Very tasty!
Doing a pantry challenge and had 2 NY strips that needed to be used. My husband is not a steak fan so made this instead and he loved it. I doubled the sauce and added broccoli and yellow and orange diced pepper from the freezer. So delicious.
delicious, easy to make and even the kids loved it.
Husband gave thumbs up for this saying it’s better than the restaurants!
This was Excellent! I will definitely be making this one again! I rarely comment on recipes so trust me when I say this is a winner. I also recommend a side of Jasmin rice and steamed broccoli.
Soooooooooooooo delicious 😋 I will be making thus again for sure!!
cooked it for my family tonight my son is very fussy eater but he liked it he just picked the onion out
Used skirt steak. Delicious. Husband and son devoured it.
It was amazing!
We tried this tonight with a few modifications. Added red chiles to spice up the sauce, and made 2x the sauce. After removing the sauce from the pan, sautéed onions and red pepper. Wanted to get moisture out of the vegetables. After that, cooked the beef as indicated, added sauce and veggies, and cooked sauce down a bit. Yummy!!! Will definitely make again!
Great recipe! Thanks! I had another recipe but lost it, so tried to find it, but instead found yours, which came as great as expected. Thank you,
(could not post a photo as it was immediately eaten! Did it with Brocoli puré)
Great recipe! I would recommend using a little salt to the steak at the beginning. The soy sauce (low sodium) will add plenty. The meat wad very tender. I also added a few hot pepper flakes. Will make it again. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi, Just a note for those in the UK – I don’t think the Metric Conversion is correct, the recipe states that you use 1/4 cup or 110 g of light brown sugar. However, 1/4 cup of sugar is more like 50grams I think – you might want to correct the measurements! Thanks
Thanks so much for letting us know! We’ll look into this right away!