Beef Stir-Fry: a quick, flavorful recipe for busy weeknights

For a fast, easy dish that's packed with flavor, there's nothing like this easy beef stir-fry. It's a simple yet flavorful Chinese main dish recipe that works for any occasion.

Made with tender morsels of beef, and crunchy snow peas, bell peppers, and carrots tossed in a savory, slightly sweet, slightly spicy sauce, beef stir-fry is a delicious dish that takes little effort to make.

Serve your homemade beef stir-fry with steamed rice or noodles, or make it into a keto dish by enjoying it with a side of cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles. Whichever way you choose, you're sure to enjoy this fantastic, easy-to-make dish!

What is the Best Beef Cut for Stir-fry?

The perfect cut of beef for stir-fry is flank steak or sirloin. Both of these cuts are inexpensive yet tender, so you won't wind up with tough meat. Chuck steak is also a decent option.

Beef Stir Fry Ingredients

To make this tantalizing stir-fry at home, you'll need beef and your choice of vegetables.

You'll also need a few special ingredients, in particular, for making the sauce.

The sauce calls for staple Chinese ingredients like soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili garlic sauce, and rice wine vinegar, as well as more common ingredients like beef broth, ginger, and garlic.

Cornstarch is essential both for tenderizing the beef and for thickening the sauce, so make sure you don't leave it out!

How to Make Beef Stir Fry Sauce

Making beef stir-fry sauce is a cinch. All you need to do is combine the ingredients together in a bowl until everything is mixed well. Whisk the soy sauce, beef broth, vinegar, ginger, garlic, sugar, chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, and cornstarch until the sugar and cornstarch have dissolved. That's it!

How to Make Beef Stir Fry

Making savory, delicious stir-fry with tender pieces of beef couldn't be easier. Start by putting the beef into a bowl and seasoning it generously with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and rice wine vinegar to the bowl, then toss the beef to coat. This step is key to helping your beef get beautifully tender.

Heat some oil in a wok over medium-high. Working in batches, cook the beef, for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Saute the veggies for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they become soft and tender. Add in the beef and sauce back to the wok.

Cook for 2 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Garnish with green onions and serve over a bed of noodles, rice, cauliflower rice and enjoy!

How to Make Beef Stir Fry Tender

No matter what cut you choose, make sure to cut against the grain when you're slicing the meat. This will help tenderize the beef and stop it from getting too tough. Aim for 1/4-inch thick pieces. You can also tenderize the beef with a beef tenderizer.

The other trick is to leave the beef in the cornstarch mixture for at least 20 minutes. This will tenderize the beef. You can also use baking soda if you don't have any cornstarch on hand.

How to Serve Beef Stir Fry

Serve your beef stir-fry with steamed jasmine rice or egg or rice noodles.

For keto options, use cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles. Garnish the stir-fry with some fresh chopped cilantro or Thai basil and a sprinkling of sesame seeds, and enjoy!

Tips for Easy Beef Stir Fry

Use any combination of your favorite vegetables to make stir-fry. Cauliflower, zucchini, mushrooms, sprouts, and beans all make fantastic additions and will make your stir-fry even healthier.

If you love spicy food, add fresh chilis or chili flakes to your stir-fry.

You can easily swap out the beef for chicken, pork, or tofu.

To make your stir-fry gluten-free, simply use gluten-free soy sauce.

Either fresh or frozen vegetables work in this tasty stir-fry.

Can You Make Beef Stir Fry Ahead of Time?

Absolutely! You can either prep your ingredients and sauce before fully cooking and assembling the stir-fry or cook it from start to finish and reheat it when you're ready to enjoy it.

Prepping the ingredients before you cook will save you loads of time, which is essential for busy weeknights or whenever you're famished and need to whip up a healthy, filling meal quickly.

How to Store Beef Stir Fry

Keep your beef stir-fry in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Reheat it in a wok when you're ready to tuck into your leftovers.

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Instructions

Put the beef in a bowl. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and rice wine vinegar to the bowl.

Toss the beef to coat.

In a separate bowl, whisk the soy sauce, broth, vinegar, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, and cornstarch to combine.

Heat oil in a wok over medium-high flame. Working in batches, cook the beef, for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Take the beef out of the pan and set it aside on a plate.

Place all vegetables in a bowl.

Sauté the bell pepper, carrot, and snow peas, stirring occasionally for 3 to 5 minutes, until the vegetables become tender.

Add in the beef.

Pour in the sauce.

Cook the stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

Garnish with green onions.

Serve and enjoy!

Notes

For a less salty stir-fry, use low-sodium broth and low-sodium soy sauce.