Mongolian beef is such a classic and delicious Asian dish… and easy to make at home! In just 30 minutes you’ll have an incredible meal!
Deliciously savory and warm, this Mongolian beef is pan fried and coated in a finger-licking sticky sauce that will have you coming back for seconds!
Simple and easy, this Mongolian beef comes together quickly and packs a big flavor punch. The one drawback is that it’s not spicy like P.F. Chang’s is (according to hubby), but I think next time I’ll add some cayenne or sriracha to the sauce 🙂 The other good thing is that it uses flank steak, which is a relatively inexpensive cut of meat, and doesn’t use any fancy ingredients… in fact, you probably have all the other ingredients in your kitchen right now 🙂 Don’t you just love those kind of recipes? We sure do!
To make dinner a little less hectic, I cooked my rice earlier in the afternoon, but you could easily cook it at any time. You could also omit the rice completely and just serve over a bed of steamed broccoli or however you’d like it. I boiled my rice in a mixture of coconut milk and water, so it had a creamy consistency and a slight hint of sweetness. I love the creamy, sticky, texture of this rice, and the subtle sweetness really goes well with most Asian dishes.
If you’ve never seen a flank steak before, here’s what it looks like… this is a 1.3 lb steak
This particular cut of steak can be tough if not sliced properly, so here’s the simple way to do it…. see those lines running horizontally through the steak? That’s the grain… as in the grain of a piece of wood. You need to slice AGAINST the grain, meaning slice vertically. It also makes it more tender if you slice at a 45 degree angle to the meat, instead of traditionally.
Okay, okay…enough of Meat 101 😛 I sliced my steak earlier in the day as well, and let it hang out in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator until I was ready to use it. More prep ahead means less stress while cooking… haha, less stress… that’s hard to say with a straight face while my 2 kids are running around like maniacs demanding food while I’m trying to cook lol.
Recipe adapted from Food.com
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 3/4 tsp grated fresh ginger could easily swap out 1/4 tsp of ground ginger instead
- 1 Tbsp garlic minced
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- approximately 1 cup vegetable oil ,for frying your steak
- 2 green onions sliced
- 1 lb flank steak
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce (these last two ingredients are optional but I enjoyed the extra flavor)
Instructions
- Slice your steak into strips, pat dry, place into ziploc bag. Add cornstarch, 2 Tbsp soy sauce and 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce to the bag, seal tightly, and smoosh around until the meat is coated. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat 2 tsp. vegetable oil in small saucepan over medium low heat. Add ginger, and garlic, cook for 20 seconds, then add 1/2 cup soy sauce and 1/2 cup water.
- Dissolve brown sugar into sauce and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 2-3 minutes until it starts to thicken. Set aside to keep warm.
- Heat 1 cup of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add beef and saute for 30 seconds - 1 minute per side. It doesn't matter if the beef isn't finished cooking yet, it'll continue to cook in the remaining steps.
- Remove beef to drain on a paper towel. Drain oil from pan.
- Place pan back on medium heat and slide your beef back in. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add your sauce to the pan, cook for 1 minute. Add green onions, cook for 20 seconds.
- Remove beef and onions to serving platter and reserve sauce in a bowl for drizzling over the meat.
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Chef Tips
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice basmati or long grain white rice works fine too
- 2 cups coconut milk unsweetened
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Bring coconut milk and water to a boil, add salt and rice, stir to combine.
- Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Fluff with fork and either serve or place in airtight container and refrigerate until use.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Anon says
I didn’t have brown sugar so I used honey. Was delicious
Hana says
Hey! The recipe looks really good but is there any alternative to hoiser sauce or any way to add spices?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain what substitutions would be needed. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Alexandra Dinjar says
Mongolian Beef: super good. Next time I’ll use a little less sugar. Maybe half sugar half honey? I dunno. I added some steamed carrots, broccoli, and snap peas and that was yummy. I also added red pepper flakes to the sauce for a little kick. I definitely could have done more. Wouldn’t mind trying with chicken?
Coconut Rice: I did NOT think this was going to work. I was like woah thats a lot of coconut milk. Also, i decided to cook the rice in the instant pot. So I was waiting for a burn warning to go off. If you’re interested: 1 1/2 cup rinsed Basmati. 1 cup water. 1 can of the unsweetened coconut milk and the salt. Pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. It was soft, not overdone. and the coconut was subtle but so satisfying!
Kiran Kairab says
Loved it. Added some sriracha for heat, but the foundation recipe is great! Thank you!
Jesse L says
This was great, I’ll be doing this often. Can’t wait th try the stir fry version!
Thanks for your efforts!
Alana says
I love this recipe so much and so does my entire family. They beg me for it regularly. I have shared this recipe so many times its not funny. We substitute the flank steak with elk meat and it is so good no one can believe it. Thanks so much for sharing your talents.
Kris says
Made this for the first time. Everyone agreed it was a keeper. I steamed broccoli and sugar snap peas to top and some water chestnut. For a family of 5 I would double or even triple the recipe.
I may try the slow cooker method next time.
Lyssa says
Hi there! I just have a question regarding the Coconut Rice, I’ve been searching for a recipe for a long time and yours sounds amazing!
I don’t usually buy any type of instant rice but I saw the “Coconut Jasmine” made by Uncle Ben’s and it just sounded so good, so I tried it. OMG, I couldn’t have been more right (in my opinion), I LOVE IT!! Unfortunately, since the start of the Pandemic we have been unable to find it anywhere. SO, I’m going to make it myself, I’m hoping that I can come close to the incredible flavor of the Uncle Ben’s. I normally wouldn’t even consider a 90 second rice, it doesn’t seem possible that it could be all that great, uughhh, I was so wrong! Lol
Anyway, I’m wondering if you use the Coconut beverage, such as the type you can buy in a plastic bottle, or is it the cans of Coconut Milk that are located along with the rest of the Asian food in the grocery store?
I’m a very seasoned cook, including Asian food, I’ve never used any of the “Coconut Milk” type products though, I’m definitely ready for that to change! I absolutely LOVE that flavor, so I will be trying some more of your recipes, including the amazing looking Mongolian Beef! I’m so happy that I found you, everything you have on your site looks just incredible!!
Thank you in advance! Lyssa
Amanda says
Don’t you hate that, when you can’t find something you love at the grocery store anymore? Happens to us all the time. I’ve made this rice with the canned milk and the coconut milk you can buy and drink as a milk alternative… both are delicious, so I’d use what you’re comfortable with. I’m not sure how close my recipe would be to Uncle Ben’s, but hopefully you enjoy it 🙂
Suzy Queue says
A delicious meal. I did however leave out the sugar for our less than sweet palette
Cynthia S. says
Subbed beef for chicken and my family loved it! It was a little too sweet so I’ll only use 1/2 cup of brown sugar when I make the dish again. I even made my own hoisin sauce. Great recipe!