Ready for a simple recipe that will likely become a family favorite? This Mongolian Beef recipe is quick, only requires a few ingredients and it is quite delicious. My husband always orders the Mongolian Beef at PF Chang’s – it is definitely a favorite with the kids too. I tried a few different variations to recreate the recipe at home and came up with this quick and easy version.
You can serve it with green beans, rice, snap peas or noodles. The sauce can be made in advance to make dinner prep even faster. I have been known to make this ahead and portion into Thermos for quick sport night dinners that are hearty but not too filling.
Ready for this simple recipe?
- 1 lb flank steak sliced into thin pieces, cut across the grain
- ½ cup corn starch
- ¼ cup + 2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup soy sauce (this can be quite salty so low sodium is a great option)
- 3 green onions, chopped
- sesame seeds or red pepper flakes (optional)
- Thinly slice your steak into bite sized strips.
- Place in a bowl with corn starch and coat each strip well. Set aside.
- Add 2 teaspoons of oil to a sauce pan over medium-low and mix in garlic and ginger. Saute for about 1-2 minutes, add in brown sugar, water and soy sauce.
- Increase heat to medium-high and allow mixture to come to a low boil for about 5 minutes, just until it starts to slightly thicken.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add oil to a saute pan at medium-low heat- you want to completely cover the base of the pan with oil adding more as you work through the batches of steak as needed.
- Slowly add the strips of steak in small batches, shaking off any excess corn starch before placing in pan. Increase heat to medium.
- Cook about 2-3 minutes- flipping in between. Steak does not need to be cooked through- just until it starts to grey as it will continue cooking in the sauce.
- Remove steak and place on a paper towel lined plate, working in batches until all the steak is cooked.
- Add steak to your brown sugar sauce and cook over medium high just until sauce starts to bubble.
- Add green onions just for a few seconds to cook, tossing well and remove from heat.
I used fresh green onions just for the photos but you actually want to cook the onions with the beef just for about 10 seconds so they don’t wither. If you like a spicier dish- add some red pepper flakes on top. For a little crunch, add some sesame seeds.
A nice tender meat is important for this dish so flank steak or sirloin is great.. no need for super expensive cuts. You definitely don’t want to use stew meat as that can be too tough.
My family likes this recipe with rice and maybe some snap peas or this PF Changs Shanghai Cucumber Salad is delicious:
If you decide to try this recipe, please come back and let me know what you think!
I made this during this week and it was yummy! My family liked it
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment Lisa. I am glad they liked it 🙂