This Mongolian Beef tastes just like the dish served at PF Chang’s! It’s a homemade copycat recipe that is so easy to make. Flank steak is sliced thin and cooked in a sweet and salty sauce flavored with ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes for a kick of heat. Once you try this Mongolian Beef recipe you won’t want to order it out again!
I don’t know about you, but I love to figure out how to make popular restaurant dishes at home like this easy Mongolian beef. I mean, don’t get me wrong – we love to eat out, but when you realize you can make a similar dish at home that is less expensive it’s a win right? Save money, stay home in your comfy pants, and still get to have a delicious dinner. Sounds good to me!
PF Chang’s Mongolian beef is one of my favorite copycat recipes – it’s quick and easy to make and you don’t need any hard-to-find ingredients. If you’ve never had it, it is basically tender beef cooked in a savory sauce that’s sweet, salty, and a little spicy. The nice thing about making it yourself if that you can control how sweet and how spicy you want it.
Table of Contents
What Kind of Beef is Best?
For this recipe you will need flank steak which is a lean cut of beef. It has lots of flavor and cooks fast which makes it perfect for this dish. If you can’t find flank steak you can substitute skirt steak which is another lean cut that is great for stir-fry recipes like Mongolian beef.
You will need to thinly slice the beef against the grain. You should see the grains running lengthwise down the flank steak – cutting against them will ensure your beef is nice and tender once it’s cooked.
Tip: To make it easy to slice the raw beef, place it in the freezer for 5 minutes. It’s a lot easier to slice when it’s cold!
Once you’ve sliced the beef, place it in a resealable bag with cornstarch and toss it around to coat the beef evenly. The cornstarch will help tenderize the beef and give it a really great texture.
How to Make Mongolian Beef
This is a really quick recipe so it’s always a good idea to prep all of your ingredients before you start cooking. That way, everything is ready when you need it. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- Thin-sliced flank steak coated in cornstarch
- Vegetable oil for cooking the beef
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Water
- Brown sugar
- Minced ginger
- Minced garlic
- Red pepper flakes
- Sliced green onions for garnish
- Sesame seeds for garnish
Tip: You can easily adjust the sweetness and spiciness of this Mongolian beef sauce! For a less sweet sauce reduce the amount of sugar by up to half. If you want spicy Mongolian beef be generous with the red pepper flakes! Or reduce the amount for a milder version.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place the sliced flank steak in an even layer in the hot pan. Cook it for one to two minutes on each side or until it’s browned. Take it out of the pan.
In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes. Pour the sauce into the pan and bring it to a boil (this will happen fast if your pan is hot!).
Add the cooked beef back to the pan and stir to coat it evenly in the sauce. Simmer the sauce with the beef for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Garnish each serving with the sliced green onions and sesame seeds. Add a side of cooked rice to make it complete!
This recipe is so easy – it’s ready in about 30 minutes! The beef in the flavorful sauce is so good – you may not order it out again and just make your own homemade Mongolian beef from now on. I think you’re going to love it!
Other Dinners You’ll Enjoy
PF Chang’s Mongolian Beef Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak sliced against the grain into 1/4 inch strips. Trim fat off
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Green onions sliced for garnish
- Sesame seeds sprinkled to garnish
Instructions
- Combine steak and cornstarch in a large plastic sealable bag or a plastic container.
- Mix steak and cornstarch together to get an even coating. Heat a large skillet with vegetable oil to high heat.
- Once hot, add the steak in an even single layer in the skillet.
- Cook 1-2 minutes on each side and ensure the steak has browned on both sides. Once cooked, remove the steak and put on a plate
- In a small to medium mixing bowl add the brown sugar, water, soy sauce, garlic, red pepper flakes and ginger.
- Add the sauce to the skillet and bring to a boil. Add the steak back into the skillet with the sauce and stir to make sure the steak if covered with the sauce. Let the sauce thicken for 2-4 minutes.
- Plate and add sesame seeds and green onions.
Recipe Notes
- It can be tough to cut the steak into such thin strips. Place steak in freezer for 5 minutes and then cutting will be easier.
- Add or subtract red pepper flakes to your spice preference.
- Cut brown sugar to 1/4 or 1/3 of a cup to lessen sweetness to your preference.
- Serve with rice.
Recipe Nutrition
Looking to save money, stay home in your sweats and still have a delicious dinner? Try this Mongolian Beef recipe! It’s just like the famous dish served at PF Chang’s.
Yum! I can hardly wait to try Mongolian beef.
Yum!
So so so good
I love everything about this!
I made this last night for a friend, and my birthday. It was amazing. My friend said “I can eat this everyday.”
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