Mongolian Beef is a take-out favorite and even better made at home in about 20 minutes!
Thin slices of beef are flash fried and coated in a sweet soy sauce, ginger, and garlic sauce.
This copycat recipe for PF Chang’s rivals anything you could find in a restaurant. Serve this stir-fry recipe over rice with steamed broccoli or bok choy.
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What is Mongolian Beef? It’s a simple stir fry with thin slices of beef simmered in a sauce of soy, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger. The brown sugar caramelizes in the soy to make a slightly sticky sauce that coats the beef.
Easy Take-Out at Home
I love Chinese food dishes, from chicken lettuce wraps to a simple cashew chicken, and love it even more made at home.
- This recipe is the perfect balance of savory and sweet, the whole family will love it!
- Making takeout at home is easy and best of all you know exactly what ingredients go into it.
- Making Homemade Mongolian beef is budget-friendly compared to dining out.
- It’s so versatile, add veggies like sliced red peppers and serve over rice, on a bed of noodles, or even tucked inside a lettuce wrap.
- This recipe shares my favorite tips for extra tender beef and heaps of flavor!
How to Make Mongolian Beef (PF Chang’s style)
This is a really quick and easy Mongolian beef recipe; it’s on the table in about 20 minutes.
- Coat the slices of beef in cornstarch per the recipe below, flash fry, and set aside.
- Prepare the sauce. When the sauce has thickened, add the beef to the pan.
- Serve hot over rice.
Tips for Tender Beef
- Add Cornstarch: Toss the beef with cornstarch before cooking. As cornstarch is a natural tenderizer, I use it in this recipe for tender meat with a nice crust and it helps to thicken the sauce.
- Choose the Right Cut: Choose a kind of beef that is intended for quick cooking. I use flank steak or sirloin. More expensive cuts (such as filet) can also be used but avoid tougher cuts like stewing meat.
- Cut Across the Grain: Always cut beef across the grain and slice thinly.
- Cook in Small Batches: Don’t overcrowd the pan; cook in small batches as needed. Overcrowding the pan can cause the beef to steam rather than sear.
Tips for Cutting Beef
- For easier cutting, place the beef in the freezer for about 20 minutes before slicing. Cut beef across the grain into 1/4″ inch slices.
- You will see the long fibers in the meat, you want to cut across the fibers for tender meat. If you cut with the fibers the beef will be tough.
What to Serve with Mongolian Beef
Like most stir-fry recipes, rice is a perfect choice for soaking up that garlicky ginger sauce. Steamed or baked white rice will do the trick. Add in a fresh steamed veggie, some bok choy, or even some stir-fried veggies.
How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days in a covered container in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Freeze in single portions for a quick packable lunch to bring to the office. They can be reheated straight from the freezer in the microwave or oven.
More Take-Out Favorites
Did your family love this Mongolian Beef recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil plus 2 tablespoons, divided
- ½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 4 cloves garlic finely minced
- ½ cup less sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 pound flank steak or your favorite cut of beef, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 2 green onions sliced
Instructions
- Slice the flank steak into thin ¼" pieces. Toss with cornstarch, shaking off any excess and set aside.
- In a 10-inch skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of oil over medium-low heat. Stir in minced ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
- Add soy sauce, water, and brown sugar to the skillet, then bring to a boil. Let it boil for 3-5 minutes until slightly thickened. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a separate pan or wok over medium-high heat. Cook the beef in small batches for about 2 minutes. It does not need to be cooked through.
- Once all of the beef is browned, add the beef and sauce back to the skillet and heat over medium until hot and bubbly.
- Remove from heat and stir in green onions. Serve over rice.
Video
Notes
- Use low-sodium soy sauce for the best results.
- For a little bit of heat, add ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
- Cook the beef in small batches to ensure even browning. Overcrowding the pan can cause it to steam.
- Slice the beef against the grain for tenderness.
- Adjust the sweetness or saltiness of the sauce by varying the amount of brown sugar and soy sauce to taste.
- Serve with steamed broccoli or red bell pepper strips if desired.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, 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.
I have made this recipe many times. The first time I made it, I believe it said using low sodium soy sauce was optional. It’s not. Regular soy sauce made the recipe so salty it was almost inedible. Luckily, I made several other dishes at the same time which balanced out the saltiness. This recipe is easy and quick for a weeknight meal. I have made it quicker by purchasing frozen cooked sliced “beef steak” from a well known company (NOT fajita beef). It’s only 12 oz., but I like my meal saucy. This cuts down on cooking time. Because it’s frozen, I don’t “velvet” the meat in cornstarch, but add a cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch to 1 Tbsp. water) after the sauce is added. Either way it’s made, this is delicious.
This was absolutely delicious and not difficult at all. I will make this again and again. So much cheaper than PF Changs and you get to regulate the amount of beef in the dish. Most of the time my family doesn’t have enough. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
You’re very welcome Mistie!
My husband loved it!!!
This was incredible!
Agree, this recipe is better than in restaurants. For the Chinese New Year, we were looking for authentic recipes. Our family is half Chinese and lived many years in China and in Hong Kong. We love Chinese food. This recipe is the best! We followed the recipe and the dish came out delicious. We added more scallions, as we like extra veggies. We used the flank steak, which was a good choice. Yet, we will try a different cut the next time for our family’s liking,
My “go to” fast and easy recipe. Takes little effort to prepare but makes a great impact. Tastes marvelous! I have passed this along to many friends and they too think it is an awesome recipe. Thanks!
Absolutely delicious & easy too!
This recipe is amazing! I make this dish almost every week. Thank you so much for sharing!
This recipe should take more sugar and less soya. Even with low sodium it’s still too salty. More poor meat.
I wasn’t impressed, needs more range of flavors.
too sweet
Hi Sue, you can reduce the brown sugar a little to reduce the sweetness. Hope that helps!
I didn’t care for this recipe. My family (who loves lots of salt) found this recipe (made as directed) far too salty. I may make something like it again and sub more water or beef broth for some of the soy sauce. I also feel that there’s not much to taste, other than soy sauce. I would increase the ginger and the garlic, and add some chiIis or chili powder. I severed book Chou on the side. I think mushrooms, bok choy, leeks, and maybe carrots would make great improvements to this recipe. I would also cut the beef into bite sized pieces instead of slices.
This was fantastic. I like a little kick so added some crushed red pepper. I did 1.5x the sauce, a litte more meat and tossed broccoli in the sauce too (just like they do at PF!).
I’m using thinly sliced portobello in place of the beef. Would I still place it in cornstarch, or should I just skip that and cook it with the other veggies I’m adding?
I haven’t tried this with portobellos so I can’t say for sure.
My family love it!
Just one questions can you make it with pork the same way?
That would work perfectly!
I have made this several times, and my family loves it!!. I also add chili powder or red pepper seasoning and sesame seeds on top. Alter it based on your preference(s). I will continue making this for sure. Something everyone likes.
UGH! Please edit this recipe to clarify that you start with the 2 teaspoons for the sauce and then add the 2 Tablespoons for the steak. I just put all the oil in the sauce because it was not clear at all when you say “Heat oil in a small pan over medium low. Add ginger and garlic and stir just until fragrant (about 1 minute).” I didn’t realize I don’t put all the oil in the sauce until I continued with the stead where you say add 1 Tablespoon at a time.
But otherwise, I excellent!
Thank you!
Delicious, not much more can b said. Made it this evening for me and hubby. We both were very happy with the way it turned out. Tasted awesome.
So happy to hear that Janice!
Usually when i make anything chinese food related my husband says “leave it to the chinese” lol but this turned out so good i loved it and he said it tastes like real chinese take out and he liked it!! I also added a little crushed red pepper to give it a slight kick and it was good! Other wise made as is!
i tried this and it was not only easy but tasted like a professional Oriental chef cooked it. Great recipe and not time consuming at all. About 20 minutes
This was a home run with my family. We loved it! I added some sautéed yellow onions and red/orange bell pepper to squeeze in some extra veggies and add some color. Served with broccoli and brown rice. Will definitely make this often!
FYI: I used 2.5 lbs of flank steak and tripled the sauce. There was just the right amount of sauce even with the added veggies.