Beef Stir Fry
Published on April 12, 2023
Quick Summary
This easy Beef Stir Fry is a weeknight dinner favorite and is easy to make at home. It has tender beef, a flavorful sauce, and lots of colorful veggies. Serve with rice or noodles for a well-rounded meal!
This Beef Stir Fry recipe is the best kind of meal! It has tender, thin-sliced beef, a flavorful sauce, and a delicious blend of crunchy vegetables. Serve it over rice or noodles and everyone is happy! It is one of my boys’ favorite meals, they even eat the veggies which is aa major win!
I also love this stir fry recipe because the leftovers are great! Heat up for lunch or enjoy for a quick and easy dinner! I am all about not cooking, when I don’t have to:)
Table of Contents
Beef, it’s What’s for Dinner!
This Beef Stir Fry starts with beef, of course! It provides a great base and cooks to perfection. Flank steak and sirloin are your best cuts of meat for this stir fry because they are tender, affordable, and we often have some in our freezer.
Cut the steak, against the grain to shorten the muscle fibers, which will help tenderize the meat. You want the strips to be thin, about 1/4-inch thick, so the pieces will cook quickly. Plus, the bite size pieces make it easy to eat!
Stir Fry Sauce
The secret is in the sauce! This sauce is made with pantry staples and comes together in no time. It adds so much flavor and really brings the whole dish together.
- Soy sauce
- Beef broth
- Rice wine vinegar
- Minced fresh ginger
- Garlic
- Brown sugar
- Chili garlic sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Cornstarch
Vegetables
You can really stir fry any of your favorite vegetables! This is a great recipe for using up whatever is in the veggie drawer. We like to use:
- Red bell pepper
- Carrots
- Snow peas
- Green onions
Other good veggies include:
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Mushrooms
- Brussels sprouts
- Green beans
- Water chestnuts
How to Make Beef Stir Fry
- Get the beef started! Season it with salt and pepper, then place it with cornstarch and rice wine vinegar in a bowl to sit while you make the sauce.
- The sauce is made by combining the soy sauce, beef broth, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl and giving it a good whisk until combined.
- Now we stir fry! In a large wok (or a saute pan!) heat the oil over medium-high heat and cook the beef in two batches. You want to brown each side for 1-2 minutes, then pull it from the pan and set it aside.
- Keep that pan hot! Add in the red bell pepper, carrot, and snow peas. Cook them until tender (about 3-5 minutes) with just an occasional stir.
- Stir in the sauce and add the beef. The cornstarch in the sauce will make it thicken after about 2 minutes! Finish with the green onions and fresh herbs, if desired.
How to Serve
You can serve the stir fry over rice or noodles. Quinoa would also be good, use whatever is in your pantry. If you don’t want a starch, enjoy as is or serve in lettuce cups.
Garnish with sesame seeds, a little fresh cilantro or Thai basil, and sliced green onions and you are good to go! Dinner is served!
How to Store
- To Store: Place leftovers in an airtight storage container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Reheat: Gently rewarm beef and vegetables in a skillet on the stove over medium-low heat. You can also reheat in the microwave.
- To Freeze: Store cooled beef and vegetables in an airtight, freezer container or bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
More Easy Weeknight Dinners
- Stovetop Mac & Cheese
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Easy Skillet Chicken Thighs
- Sheet Pan Sausage Gnocchi
- Ground Beef Tacos
Beef Stir Fry
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Beef:
- 1 pound thinly sliced beef
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
For the sauce:
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For the Stir Fry:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 large red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 6 oz snow peas
- 2 green onions, sliced
For Serving:
- Rice or Noodles
- Sesame Seeds
- Fresh cilantro or Thai Basil
Instructions
- Season the beef with salt and pepper. Place the sliced beef, cornstarch, and rice wine vinegar in a large bowl and let sit while you make the sauce.
- To make the sauce, combine the soy sauce, beef broth, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisk until well combined.
- In a large wok or sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Cook the beef in two batches, browning on each side for about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside.
- Add the red bell pepper, carrot, and snow peas to the hot pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in the sauce and add the beef. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Add the green onions.
- Serve over rice or noodles. Garnish with sesame seeds and herbs, if desired. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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Very good! Had almost everything at home during quarantine and made this! Subbed shallots for green onions and sautéed them with the veggies. Great meal!
So happy you enjoyed the beef stir fry! Thanks for sharing!
My family raved about this amazing meal, including the incredible smell! I loved everything about it, but it takes over an hour to prep and cook so start early!
This was fantastic. The only thing I would say is that the direction to “Place the sliced beef, cornstarch, and rice wine vinegar in a large bowl” resulted in my cornstarch and rice vinegar forming a big clumpy mess, so rather than coating the beef, there were big chunks of cornstarch on the beef. It essentially cooked off, but I would have preferred a smoother coating. I wish I would have added water chestnuts as per your recommendation — I think they would have been a great addition! I’d make this again.
HI Ceilidh,
I tossed the cornstarch in the beef and separated the beef a bit to coat better before sprinkling the rice vinegar over then lightly stirring – no lumps!
I agree, although I used a large spoon and tossed the beef a few times. It coated the beef and it cooked off just fine.
Looks good! What cuts of beef do you recommend?
I loved this recipe. Thank you. I only had chicken stock rather than beef but it worked out just fine.
Sauce is excellent. Absolutely on the “make again” list.
Delicious and so easy to make!
It was a very good recipe. The only thing I did differently was to reduce the sugar by half. Thank you.
This is the first stir fry recipe i have found that i love. I am going to keep this recipe and play with it a bit. I didn’have chili garlic paste so i used chili flakes in its place.
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe , I love to try it. I also roblox robux free wants to share this game platform.
WOW the sauce is so delicious. In place of the Chili garlic sauce I used Gochujang. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Best recipes ever ! Food was amazing and tasty.
Absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to make again!
Why doesn’t the recipe give the measurements for the ingredients?
The measurements are in the grey recipe card box at the end of the post:)
My family of four kids all loved it!
One of my favorite recipes. I keep coming back to this one – the sauce is delicious!
I made this the other night for dinner. It turned out very good! I’ll be making this again…
Yay!!
I made this once and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing! Not hard to make at all, I’d like to try noodles w/ it this time, what kind of noodles do you recommend?
Oh wow! This tasted better than take-out! A new favorite for sure! Thanks!
My favorite Stir fry recipe for over a year now. I change up the veggies every time but the sauce is the best!
This was so good! Was wondering if there was a way to make this a freezer meal?
Excellent Mel that the whole family raves about!
Is there any particular cut of beef that you recommend for using in the stir fry?
This was by far one of the most tasty Asian recipes I have cooked to date.
I subbed broccoli for
Snow peas…It was a cost decision. I was attempting to cook for 4 peeps and keep my costs below $20.
It was easy to prepare and the ginger paste and white wine vinegar gave the dish a nice little zing!
This is now my goto recipe, loved it. So did my fussy son…
I am so glad you loved the recipe.
Sauce was bland given how many ingredients it had. Tasted one note – soy sauce.
I love to make special decisions dishes
Made this as a meal prep for me and my boyfriend and it was a hit! This will be going into our rotation of dinners. Itsw a must try.
Glad you loved it!
Partner really liked it. But personally I thought it was way too sweet. I would reduce the amount of sugar unless you prefer super sweet foods.
Had everything needed except the beef! So I substituted with chicken and it was delish! Used yellow and red peppers, snow peas, carrots and had some broccoli that needed to be eaten so added that as well – it all worked great and was a beautiful dish with all the colors. Will definitely keep in my recipe rotation.
Glad you loved it! Thanks for sharing!
When shopping, what type cut of beef do I use?
winner !! Best recipe I have tried for stir fry
Glad you loved it.
This was amazing!! My entire family loved it. I used flank steak sliced thin and served it over brown rice.
Yay!