This easy beef stir fry is a quick weeknight meal with the most delicious sauce.
Tender strips of beef and fresh vegetables are stir fried and tossed in a tangy, sweet, and savory sauce.
Serve this beef stir-fry over rice or egg noodles.
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This Is The Best Beef Stir Fry Because…
- This method ensures the beef actually comes out tender.
- The reviews speak for themselves, it’s VERY delicious.
- It can be prepped ahead, and it cooks quickly.
- The homemade sauce has lots of flavor and is easy to make.
- Clean out the fridge – you can use any variety of vegetables.
Ingredients for Beef Stir Fry
- Beef: The best beef for stir fry is either sirloin or flank steak because it is tasty, affordable, and easy to tenderize. Other cuts of beef such as chuck steak or ribeye can also be used.
- Veggies: Use whatever vegetables you have on hand, personal favorites are broccoli, snap peas, and bell peppers.
For the Stir-Fry Sauce
- Ginger/Garlic: Freshly minced garlic and ginger add tons of flavor. Jarred minced garlic or ginger can be used in this recipe.
- Orange juice: Adds a sweet and tangy flavor to the sauce. Replace the oj with pineapple juice or apple juice.
- Soy sauce: Adds umami (savory flavor).
- Brown sugar: Adds a hint of sweetness. Use either light or dark brown sugar.
- Sesame oil: Adds a nutty flavor.
How to Make Beef Stir Fry
- Cut and then toss the beef with cornstarch. Pan fry (recipe below) and then set aside.
- Stir-fry the vegetables and transfer to the bowl with the beef.
- Mix the sauce ingredients. Cook the sauce in the pan.
- Slowly add cornstarch. Add the vegetables and beef.
How to Keep The Beef Tender
- To make tender strips of beef, trim any silverskin, connective tissue, or large bits of fat, and then ensure you’re cutting slices across the grain (¼-inch thick).
- Don’t skip the step of tossing the beef with cornstarch as it tenderizes the meat and adds a crust for the sauce to stick to.
Tips for a Great Stir Fry
- For easier slicing, place the beef in the freezer for 15 minutes before cutting.
- Prepare all ingredients ahead of time, as a stir fry comes together quickly.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan, or the beef won’t crisp.
- The meat, vegetables, and sauce can be prepared and stored separately for up to 48 hours before cooking.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Five Star Favorite Stir-Fry Recipes
Did you enjoy this Easy Beef Stir Fry? Leave a comment and a rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
- 1 pound flank steak or sirloin steak
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 cups mixed vegetables
For the Sauce
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- ⅓ cup water
- ¼ cup less sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar light or dark
- 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Whisk the sauce ingredients except corn starch in a bowl. Set aside.
- Trim any silverskin, connective tissue, or large bits of fat from the beef. Cut ¼-inch slices across the grain.
- Season the beef with salt & pepper and toss with cornstarch. Set aside while you prepare the vegetables.
- Cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in a wok or large skillet. Add half of the beef and cook until browned, about 2-3 minutes (beef does not need to be cooked through). Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the remaining beef.
- Add the vegetables to the skillet, adding more oil if needed, and cook until tender-crisp, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the beef.
- To make the sauce, reduce the heat to medium. Stir the sauce, pour it into the skillet, and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water (or broth).
- Gradually add the cornstarch slurry to the simmering sauce while whisking to reach the desired consistency, you may not use all of the cornstarch mixture. Let simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the vegetables and beef with any juices to the pan and cook until heated through. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
- Serve with noodles or over rice.
Notes
- For easier slicing, place the beef in the freezer for 15 minutes before cutting.
- Prepare all ingredients ahead of time, as a stir fry comes together quickly.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan, or the beef won’t crisp.
- The meat, vegetables, and sauce can be prepared and stored separately for up to 48 hours before cooking.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 423 | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 681mg | Potassium: 863mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 9285IU | Vitamin C: 29.9mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 3.9mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian, Chinese© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
The family loved this recipe! I ended up over thickening the sauce but I had more meat than the recipe called for and had to add cornstarch and didn’t increase the sauce ingredients, so thst was on me. I think next time I will double it and use the same amounts I omitted the ginger because I didn’t have any but it was good without it too. Easy and tasty.
What type of noodles are used in the stir fry?
I use fresh chow mein noodles and I find them in our grocery store near the tofu or fresh egg roll and wonton wrappers.
Very tasty and very easy! I made it at the nursing home where I work and it was a hit. I added a few fettucinni noodles at the end (was all I had) and it was delicious. I used onion, green & red peppers, water chestnuts and broccoli in mine. I am definetely adding it to our regular menus.
This was so good. A keeper for sure! I followed the major points from the recipe. My 4 cups of veg were left over from a recent company veggie tray with some pineapple thrown in that were in the fridge. I used the pineapple juice instead of orange juice because that was also in the fridge. Meat, from the freezer was trimmings from some disappointing steaks I bought recently. I had sliced them very thin and coated in the corn starch. Very tasty! I served this over a package of ramen that has been hanging around for awhile.
Doubled the sauce! Super flavors!! Thanks for posting
simple & very tasty! We personally liked more veggies, so the next time I’ll reduce the beef & add more veggies. This is a keeper!
Tonight I made this dish for the second time. The first time, the only ingredient I did not have was orange juice so I used pineapple juice, everybody loved it. This second time I had everything including the orange juice so I thought the dish would be better but it was not. A least for our taste buds it seemed like the pineapple juice brought all the flavor together and the OJ made everything bland. Other than that, this recipe has made its way into our rotation, thank you for sharing.
Super delicious!
Just made it for dinner tonight & it was amazing!
Outstanding recipe. Rather than putting the garlic and ginger in the sauce, I added it in when I was stir frying the vegetables. We didn’t find the sauce to be too sweet – it is an orange flavoured sauce so a bit of sweetness worked well. Rather than adding all the vegetables at once, I added them based on cooking time.
This dish was amazing exactly as it is! I didn’t add carrots today, but will next time. My kids even devoured this! And we thought the amount of sugar was just perfect. Thanks so much!
What an awesome recipe. Everyone one in the family enjoyed this. Simple recipe but oh so tasty. I served it over rice noodles!
This stir fry has become a go to quick meal in our house! I love that I can use up whatever fresh veggies I have on hand and it’s so quick. SWP Employee
I hate to say this, but this recipe was way too sweet and lacked flavor. We reduced the sugar to 1 TBSP and it was still very sweet. I can’t imagine how it would be with 3 tbsp of sugar. It seems like the recipes was missing something, maybe seasoning the veggies. Think the addition of garlic and onion powder would help. The recipe was very easy and came together quite well. I feel bad leaving such a negative review, since we often use Spend With Pennies recipes. This one just didn’t do it for us.
Huh. Well….I suggest learning to read and then re-reading the recipe if I were you.
Very good – I added fresh pineapple and used pineapple juice instead of OJ. Coated beef strips with toasted sesame seeds and topped everything with green onions. Delecious – thanks for the recipe.
Absolutely delicious!! I added stir fry noodles and a little more soy sauce once it was done!
wow this was very delicious! so glad i came upon it.
Wondering if anyone has tried this without sugar.
While I have not tried it without sugar, some readers have cut the sugar by half and said they loved it. Let us know how it goes if you make it without sugar Shree!
I think 1–2 tsp sugar is more than enough. We used 1 TBSP and it was too sweet for our liking.
Great recipe
Great recipe for sirloin tip steak sliced very thin. Easy to make and it is very good on steamed rice.
I would love to know what noodles you used and how you prepare and incorporate them. In one of the comments you replied that they are chow mein noodles but I thought those were crunchy canned noodles. Thank you!
I use fresh chow mein noodles and I find them in our grocery store near the tofu or fresh egg roll and wonton wrappers.
Thank you for replying! I will search out stores.