Mongolian Beef Recipe (PF Changs Style)
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound flank steak sliced into 1/4 inch thick strips
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 jalapeño seeded and diced
- 1 inch ginger peeled and diced
- 3 scallions thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
For the sauce:
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
INSTRUCTIONS
- Toss the sliced beef in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons corn starch. Set aside.
- Add all sauce ingredients to a mixing bowl, and stir until combined. Set aside.
- Heat a pan over medium heat for a few minutes until hot. Add canola oil to coat the bottom. Add jalapeño and ginger. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add garlic and sliced beef to the pan, evenly distributing the beef. Cook until the beef browns, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir the sauce and pour it into the pan with the beef. Mix well until everything is coated with the sticky sauce. Let simmer for a minute until thickened.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in scallions. Serve over cooked white rice.
Mongolian beef is one of those recipes where the word authentic doesn’t apply, as it didn’t originate from traditional Mongolian cuisine. Its name derives from “Mongolian barbecue,” which is made-to-order cooking that became popular in Taiwanese restaurants but actually has nothing to do with Mongolian cuisine or barbecue.
Instead, Mongolian beef is a dish that you’ll only really find in Chinese-American restaurants in the United States, like P.F. Chang’s. It’s a very popular dish and it’s easy to see why, with its deliciously strong savory sauce coating the sliced beef and rice. It’s also really easy and fast to make at home.
Let’s talk about the beef. It should be very tender, and here’s a summary of my best tips for getting your beef to otherworldly tenderness:
- Thin cuts: A 1/4 inch thick slice of beef is what I typically use, but if you want more tender beef, you can try slicing even thinner pieces. The thinner the beef, the more tender it will be.
- Slice against the grain: Notice the long muscle fibers across the beef and how they are aligned. I recommend slicing perpendicular to those lines, so that you are cutting through the fibers. This will result in less work for your teeth and it will make the beef feel more tender.
- Premium cuts: I use flank steak for this dish, but if you opt for more premium cuts then you will get beef from more tender parts of the cow.
- Corn starch: Toss the sliced beef with corn starch prior to searing, as it’ll soften and tenderize the beef. This is a common step in many Chinese dishes. Corn starch also helps the beef retain its liquids so that it doesn’t exude juices when it’s cooked.
- Quick sear: Don’t overcook the beef slices — just a quick sear until they’re browned. If you overcook the beef, it will get rough and hard.
If you follow these steps, you’ll end up with deliciously tender beef every time. You can also apply these tips to my other sliced beef dishes, such as my garlic herb steak and potatoes, crazy good beef and broccoli, and low carb beef and broccoli.
The dish is only mildly spicy; to make it hotter, include the seeds and membranes of the jalapeño when you add it to the pan. Or you can substitute it with a serrano pepper, which has nearly double the Scoville heat units of a jalapeño.
My daughter’s new favorite dinner!
I made this in my instantpot. Already had some rice left over from another meal. Heated the rice and spooned the steak and sauce over it. DELICIOUS! Hubby said it was really good!
I added red peppers, carrots and spinach
Made this dish tonight, it was very flavorful and delicious! It smelled amazing as it cooked. Hubby was loving it, which is a plus. Thanks for sharing.
So I eat Paleo and made a few substitutions and it was AMAZING!! Sub corn starch for arrowroot orTapioca starch. Sub brown sugar with date syrup and a little molasses for the brown sugar taste. Sub soy sauce for coconut aminos.
Also, didn’t have any beef so did pork. Again, Amazing!!! Will be making this again.
And, I added broccoli
I have made this recipe so many times and it is no doubt my favorite in my current rotation. Thank you!
Made this evening and was delicious and everyone enjoyed
Thank you so much
I made this for a potluck and everybody loved it ! Thanh you goood the recipe !
Just made. It was a hit we added water chestnuts for some crunch.
Nice idea!! I added broccoli
I made this tonight and what a great dish! I added some sliced red peppers and it was so good. We had it over fresh jasmine rice.
Thank you!!!
Made this over the weekend for my wife and 2 boys (6 and 8). We all really enjoyed it! I actually used gluten free rice noodles and GF soy sauce. We had left overs since I had made extra and we thought it tasted even better the second time! Thank you!!
This was very tasty! I added some fresh veggies and served over jasmine rice.
My son and I make this a lot once every 2 weeks love it!
The tastiest thing I’ve ever cooked!! Amazing !!
The family loves this.. isn’t use jalapeños though used a bit of sweet chilli sauce! Turned out great also added broccoli!
Subbing a sweet chili sauce sounds delicious! Thanks for the review, Kas.
Delicious! This is the best Mongolian Beef recipe out there! I’ve tried several!!
Can I substitute the beef for chicken? Would the recipe work? If so Do I still have to use the cornstarch?
I haven’t tried chicken with this recipe, so I can’t say how it’ll turn out. If you try it, you should still use the corn starch.
Just made this and it was delicious……will be making it again for sure
Great!! Glad you enjoyed it Jeanne 🙂
This was really good! Our jalapenos were pretty mild (I picked them early), so next time I may add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes to each bowl. We served over a combination of udon noodles and thinly cut zucchini noodles. Delish! I am thinking I am going to make a big batch (just the meat) and then freeze in individual portions for quick meals in the future. Thanks!
Yum, that sounds delicious! I love the idea of freezing individual portions.
I made this recipe but I added 1 carrot and 1 red pepper and it was amazing, sooo good
Love those additions, yum 🙂
Have made recipe a few times now. Added onion and capsicum. No doubt I will make it a lot more. Extremely tasty.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! Hope you get to make it again soon 🙂
Made this and followed the recipe with the exception of sweet onion as well as green onion at the end. Served over jasmine rice. WOW!!! Fantastic!!! Thanks for a great simple delicious recipe!
You’re very welcome!! Hope you get a chance to make it again soon.
I made this recipe almost precisely. I had to omit the ginger, as I am allergic. It was so yummy!! A definite do it again dish!!!
Great!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Hope you get to make it again soon!
This sounds lovely, would it work in a slow-cooker? Thanks in advance.
I haven’t adapted this particular recipe to a slow cooker, but I have a similar recipe for beef and broccoli that’s made in the slow cooker: https://www.savorytooth.com/slow-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/. That said, I do recommend making this on the stovetop if you can. There’s really no replacement for the pan searing step, and the whole recipe doesn’t take long to cook.
Hello, I just made this for dinner this evening and it was very good, so good that my 8 year old granddaughter licked her plate, and that says it all. Thank you
Haha you know something’s good when even picky eaters gobble it down 🙂 Glad you guys enjoyed it!
I used zucchini noodles instead of rice. After cooking to beef, I kept it warm in the oven , put in the zucchini and sauce and half the spring onion, then returned the beef.
It was fab!
Hi Joan, that sounds delicious! Great idea 🙂 Zucchini noodles are perfect for soaking up the sauce.
I made this for dinner tonite we used soba noodles instead of rice and mixed it right into the pan. It was so good. Next time I will add a little chili paste as we like more heat. Thank you for the recipe
Oh my goodness…this was absolutely amazing. I had to substitute skirt steak for flank because they didn’t have it, but still fantastic. Many thanks for this recipe; I will never order this out again because nothing compares.
If I double the meet would I double the sauce? That just seems like a lot of soy sauce.
Yes. You can use less soy sauce if you prefer.
Can I use flour as a substitute for cornstarch?
No, you’ll need corn starch to get that extra tender beef.
Excellent will definitely make it again. I used leftover London broil.
Excellent…will definitely make again.
I use sesame oil instead of canola and didn’t empty out the jalapeño. Awsome!!!
I made this. It was easy and really good. I added some Siracha to the sauce
i used ginger powder because thats all i had, it was amazing but i just gessed the amount, can you tell me more less how much of the powder to use, and thank you so much for sharing its brought passion back into my cooking
I’ve always used fresh ginger for this recipe, but I would probably guess 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon dried ginger powder would be a good amount for substituting.
Glad you liked the dish, Rosie!
I like this a different way. I fry the meat separate from the other ingredients. Coat with cornstarch, and fry on high heat until very brown. I fry the ginger and garlic in a separate saucepan. then add the soy sauce, let it almost boil…then add the brown sugar. This makes it thick. Your recipe looks very mushy and not cooked well. Sorry.
I’ve done it both ways, cooking the sauce separately vs together. I found that it doesn’t make much of a difference in the dish’s final texture and taste.
Can u use minced ginger?
Yes, that would work great!
This was very good!!! I may want to make this again, what can I use instead of brown sugar to make this healthier?
You can use the same amount of a sugar free sweetener such as erythritol or its brand name Swerve.
I also have a similar recipe for beef and broccoli that’s low carb and sugar free: https://www.savorytooth.com/low-carb-beef-broccoli/
I made this tonight it is very good, I didn’t have any jalapenos so I used crushed red pepper flakes I love jalapenos so I can’t wait to remake this using them
I don’t have fresh Jalapena peppers or ginger on hand. Need suggestions for substitutes. Thanks
I would add cayenne and ginger powder to taste.
Seriously delicious! So easy to make.
I made this last night it was so simple and fast. My children started commenting that it had better taste as good as it smelled……. It didnt disappoint. Better than a chinese takeaway and less than a third the price. I added water to get a thick sauce as we prefer this. It is definately going on our favourites to make frequently list. Thank you for sharing such a simple easy crowd pleaser recipie.
Yummy, I made this for dinner. It took longer than the 25 minutes. But it tastes great. I will make it again.
This was delicious. I do think I will cut back on the brown sugar next time as it was very sweet.
I’m not much a cook. I’ve been trying to cook at home and come up with easy and delicious recipe. This hit the spot! If I can make this, anyone can!
Wonderful recipe! Made it as written. Next time I’ll up the heat factor and double the sauce amount. Everyone loved they flavor. Thank you for this quick and easy recipe.
Julia, I’ve always had difficulty making these recipes with stir-fry beef because the beef always seemed to turn out tough. I really appreciate all your tips for cutting the beef and how to cook it so it isn’t tough. Even after 40+ years of cooking, I never came across many of your tips. I made this with bottom round steak that was sliced really thin for stir fry. (I picked it up on sale and was looking for a recipe to make with it when I found your recipe). It turned out terrific. I loved this stuff. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Teresa, I’m so flattered that you appreciated all of my tips! Glad to hear that the bottom round steak turned out great with this recipe 🙂
I can’t find flank steak in my small town is there any other substitute that will work as good?
Hi Laura, you can use any cut of beef as long as you can slice it very thinly, like 1/4 inch thick. Skirt steak could also work, as well as more expensive cuts of beef. I would avoid “beef stew” type cuts.
This looks so awesome I went to the store yesterday to get beef. I will be making it tonight and can’t wait! Instead of soy sauce I will be using Tamari. I am so hooked on that – it is awesome just sprinkled on Rice. It is similar to soy sauce but not as salty and more depth of flavor. Love it – can’t wait to try it with this recipe tonight. (Pardon my drool…)
I’d love to try out Tamari sometime — I’ve seen it around and I’ve been curious about it 🙂 Hope you love the dish tonight!
Can I use Hokies Noodles and make it more a stir fry?
Hi Meagan, I haven’t used that before, but noodles in general would definitely go well with this dish.
I made this last night and my family loved it! My 8 month old even loved it (have her some rice with the sauce). I used beef stir fry instead though. Definitely a win!