Easy Healthy One Pan Mongolian Beef

Name: Easy Healthy One Pan Mongolian Beef
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 14 oz shaved beef steak (1 package; such as Old Neighborhood brand); 2 tbsp corn starch; non-stick cooking spray; 1 tsp sesame oil; 4 scallions; 4 cloves garlic; 1 tsp ginger (either fresh ginger root, or the squeeze tube); 1/4 cup brown sugar; 1/4 cup water; 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce; 2 tsp sriracha

January 10, 2022 By Steph 39 Comments

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This recipe for Mongolian Beef is just what the title says: easy, healthy and made in one pan. This recipe uses tender shaved beef, so it cooks in no time at all, and is packed with flavor. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner for the entire family, and made with pantry staples like brown sugar and soy sauce, this is an easy meal to keep in your rotation. Serve this delicious and quick meal over rice or cauliflower rice, with a side of steamed broccoli.

What is Mongolian Beef? What does it taste like?

Mongolian Beef is a traditional stir fry dish served at Chinese restaurants. Often it features flank steak (which would be delicious here) but there is something delicious about the shaved beef I used here. It is extremely tender, and gets nice and crispy when cooked. It has nice marbling, which adds some fat to the dish (which it needs). Typically, Mongolian Beef is a combination of sweet and savory flavors which makes it delicious and a crowd-pleaser. I like serving this dish alongside rice and broccoli, or if you want to lighten this dish up even more, you can use cauliflower rice, like I did here.

All about shaved beef

If you have never used shaved beef before, it is one of my favorite proteins to cook with. It is flavorful, marbled steak that is cut into the thinnest slices by being shaved. This is the meat typically used to make Philly Cheesesteaks. I usually find this type of beef at Target (of all places) and also Trader Joe’s. Some regular supermarkets carry it as well, but it might be harder to find there. It also freezes really well, so often I will keep a package in the freezer for a quick and easy meal. The brand I used for this recipe is Old Neighborhood Shaved Steak. This meal comes together extremely quickly because of the use of this shaved beef. Since it cooks in just minutes, this entire meal can be done in under 15 minutes. This makes it a perfect week night meal.

What you will need to make this recipe:

shaved beef
corn starch
- This is used to coat the beef before cooking, which ultimately brings the sauce together.
cooking spray
sesame oil
scallions
ginger
- Either ginger root or the squeeze tube ginger is recommended here, not ground ginger.
garlic cloves
brown sugar
reduced sodium soy sauce
sriracha
water

How to make easy healthy one pan Mongolian beef

This recipe is made entirely in one pan. It makes for a quick and easy-to-cook meal from start to finish, and an even easier clean up. Start off by tossing the shaved beef pieces in the corn starch to coat. Preheat a large frying pan or wok over medium high heat. Spray non-stick cooking spray in the pan, and then add the beef. Cook the beef for about 5-6 minutes, tossing every few minutes to make sure all of the pieces are separated, evenly cooked, and get crispy on the edges. Then, remove the beef from the pan and set aside.

Chop the scallions and separate the white and green parts. Mince the garlic. In the same pan, add the sesame oil, followed by the white part of the scallions, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha and water together, and add the mixture to the pan. Simmer the sauce, and then add the beef back in. Simmer for a few minutes for the flavors to combine. Garnish with the green part of the scallions. Serve immediately.