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Mongolian beef is one of the best Chinese recipes. This easy Mongolian beef recipe is better than Chinese takeout and PF Chang's. Homemade easy recipe that anyone can make at home!
Mongolian Beef Recipe
What is Mongolian Beef?
It is one of the best Chinese recipes ever; it’s also a popular Chinese beef dish at Chinese restaurants or takeouts. The popularity is second to broccoli beef. Other crowd favorites are ginger and scallion beef, Szechuan beef, and sesame beef.
Mongolian beef is delicious, with silky and tender beef in a rich and savory Chinese brown sauce.
My Mongolian beef recipe is very close to the taste of PF Chang’s Mongolian beef.
It’s savory, slightly sweet, with melt-in-your-mouth beef.
It’s also healthier, less greasy, with a Mongolian beef sauce that is so yummy with steamed white or brown rice.
Ingredients
- Beef tenderloin
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Scallion
- Corn starch
- Shaoxing wine
- Sesame oil
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make This Recipe
Step 1. Marinate the beef slices with the marinade ingredients for 30 minutes. Heat a wok with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and stir-fry the marinated beef until it is half-cooked. Dish out and set aside.
Step 2. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add the beef back into the wok, followed by the Sauce.
Step 3. Continue to stir-fry until the beef slices are almost done, then add the scallions. Stir briefly. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Cooking Tips For Home Cooks
To make the best and authentic Mongolian beef, please follow the cooking tips and techniques below:
- Make sure you cut the beef against the grain.
- Marinate the beef with cornstarch to tenderize the meat.
- The step above is called velveting in Chinese food. It makes the beef tender, juicy, moist and silky.
- Stir fry the beef on high heat using a wok (preferred) or skillet.
- The brown sauce shouldn’t be too sticky and gooey.
Frequently Asked Questions
The name of the dish is misleading because it’s not a traditional Mongolian dish from Mongolia. The dish is named “Mongolian Beef” after the cooking style, rather than its origin. Mongolian Beef is actually a stir fry dish that originated in Taiwan.
Mongolian sauce is a savory sauce that consists of oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and ground white pepper. The sauce pairs extremely well with the beef and is easy to make!
Yes, you can make the dish in an Instant Pot. Just use the Saute function to stir fry the beef and ingredients. Add the Mongolian beef sauce towards the end, thicken it up and it’s ready to serve.
For authentic flavors, I don’t recommend crockpot or slow cooker to make this recipe. This is a Chinese stir fry beef dish. The beef shouldn’t be slow cooked in a slow cooker or crockpot.
This recipe is only 396 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Serve this dish with fried rice or chow mein. For a healthy Chinese meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Chinese Recipes You Might Like
Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 12 oz. beef tenderloin, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch peeled ginger, thinly sliced
- 2 stalks scallions, cut into 2-inch strips
Marinade:
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or Shaoxing wine
Mongolian Beef Sauce:
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 3 dashes ground white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar or to taste
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Marinate the beef slices with the marinade ingredients for 30 minutes. Heat a wok with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and stir-fry the marinated beef until it is half-cooked. Dish out and set aside.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add the beef back into the wok, followed by the Sauce.
- Continue to stir-fry until the beef slices are almost done, then add the scallions. Stir briefly. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Video
Notes
- Make sure you cut the beef against the grain.
- Marinate the beef with cornstarch to tenderize the meat.
- The step above is called velveting in Chinese food. It makes the beef tender, juicy, moist and silky.
- Stir fry the beef on high heat using a wok (preferred) or skillet.
- The brown sauce shouldn’t be too sticky and gooey.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Rasa. I want to try this recipe but im a muslim. Do you know any suitable substitute for the wine beside using any wine or any otrrr alcoholic based? Thanks.
You can skip it.
The alcohol will evaporate in the cooking. But, if you rather not have alcohol in the house …just skip it as Rasa Malyasia says.
BobB
Hi Rasa,
I just tried this recipe tonight and like it very much-thanks! One thing I noticed which I may try next time, and I was wondering what your thoughts were about it. And that is I would like to try the sauce so that it hangs a bit on the beef more, so I will make a cornstarch/water slush and add it at the end to the sauce. Have you ever tried it that way and, if so, what were the results?
Thanks again- it was very good!
Hi Barry, yes you can add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to the Sauce mixture so it thickens a bit. I like mine light and also the Marinade does coat the beef with the cornstarch so I opted out. :)
This one is good. yum yum.
Mongolia beef is one of my favourite foods out there!! I must try your recipe!!
Thanks a lot for this!!
Jullian
my salivation rate automatically increase by looking into that shiny beef..yummy.
THANK U VERY MUCH 4 THE PROMPT ATTENTION REGARDING MY DOWNLOAD I HAVE NOW THE E-BOOK ON MY TABLET KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
SELAMAT
I ordered your digital ‘easy asian cookbook’ clicked on the link 2 download @ sendowl the page is not found I e-mailed numerous times 2 your e-mail w/ my receipt n the sendowl no page found as proof n have not had any feedback from u or your staff my order id is 0008692463 ordered 02-14-2016 !! I went thru the sendowl website just in case I missed something 2 no avail pls help !!
by the way u have a most wondefull website I’m originally from s’pore need I say more !!
Hi Collin thanks for your support. I didn’t receive any of your emails I am not sure why. I have sent you the instruction to download. Please check.
What can I use besides wine?
You can use dry sherry or skip completely.
Super quick & easy recipe – I omitted the sugar, it’s not needed. Delicious & filling, I’ve made it 3 times in less than a week! My family & I love it!
Catherine – that’s great so happy that you love my Mongolian Beef recipe.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious!!! I had company over so I tripled the recipe and served it with teriyaki chicken fried rice. Everyone loved it. There wasn’t a bite left. I will definitely be making this again, but a bigger batch next time. Yum!!!
Thanks Jessica for trying my Mongolian Beef recipe.