Super Tender Mongolian Beef
My take on restaurant-style Mongolian Beef! Instead of frying the beef, we use a secret ingredient to marinate and tenderize it, and the results are phenomenal!
Homemade Mongolian Beef loaded with tender garlic-scented beef, a sweet and salty brown sauce, and tons of crisp scallions for color and crunch. I serve it up on a bed of fluffy jasmine rice, and this recipe has quickly become a weekly staple around here!
One night I was making Mongolian Beef for dinner with the two huge bunches of scallions that our grocery store sent in my weekly grocery pick up. Did I order two, I don’t think so? But did I put them to good use? I sure did. I just happen to share a quick time-lapse on Instagram as I was making this and so many people all but demanded this recipe.
And I’m all here for it!
This easy Mongolian Beef recipe is modeled after my favorite Chinese take out place as well as my Mongolian Beef meatballs. They make the best version, loaded with tons of crisp scallions and even thin onion slices to help make this meal more flavorful.
Ingredients to make Mongolian Beef at home:
- Beef: There are several different cuts of beef that you can use. Be sure to cut against the grain and make equal pieces so that they cook up in roughly the same amount of time.
- Low sodium soy sauce: adds umami to the beef.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch is used on the beef so that it gives it some texture when we sear it in a hot pan. It also helps lock in the natural juices, giving you a juicy piece of meat when you bite into it.
- Minced garlic: We sauté the fresh garlic in the oil before we put the stir fry together.
- Baking soda: acts as a natural tenderizer in this recipe. It is my secret ingredient for take-out recipes as it gives the beef (or chicken) a tender texture even if you marinate it for a short 15-20 minutes.
- Seasonings: We’re seasoning the beef with garlic powder and white pepper to help flavor it before we sear it off in the hot oil.
- Onions: These add both color and crunch. You could use white or yellow onions as well, but I prefer red onions because they also add a bit of color.
- Dried red chilies: The chilies are optional however, they do give it more of that restaurant-style flavor. I purchased mine in bulk from an Indian grocery store; you can also purchase them here. These peppers are mild and used more so for flavor and color than anything else.
- Scallions: Be sure to trim the scallions and chop them into 4-5 pieces. If the whites on scallions are incredibly thick, I just slice those down the center as well.
What kind of beef cuts can I use to make Mongolian Beef?
I like to use a flank or skirt steak for this recipe. Both of these steaks produced similar results. Since these types of steaks contain tough muscles, it’s crucial to allow the meat to marinate for at least 15 minutes before cooking and to cut the meat against the grain for best results. I usually let it go for 1-2 hours and find that the steak bites just melt in your mouth at that point!
How to make Mongolian Beef extra tender:
When you’re slicing the beef for this recipe, I suggest cutting against the grain. I also like to do so on the biased so that my knife is at a 45º angle when cutting. This increases the surface area of the slice, and when we marinate it in the baking soda mixture, it leaves a more tender piece of steak!
What’s in the sauce?
The sauce is just equal parts water, low sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, freshly grated ginger, a bit of salt, and a tablespoon of hoisin sauce to add all the other flavors.
The science behind using baking soda to marinate Mongolian Beef:
The alkalinity of baking soda raises the pH of the meat, causing the proteins to move further apart, and that makes it more tender and easier for us to chew or bite into.
How to make the best Mongolian Beef:
- Marinate the beef. Add a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, a splash of water, cornstarch, baking soda, white pepper, and garlic powder to a bowl and allow the meat to sit and let it marinate. If you plan on letting it go for longer than 3 hours, I highly suggest cutting back on the baking soda.
- Make the sauce. This is the easy part, I like to just whisk this together in a measuring cup, but you could also toss it all into a mason jar and shake it up!
- Sear the beef in batches. Heat the wok until it’s screaming hot, then add a generous glug of oil and add the meat in batches to cook. I usually prefer to do it in at least three batches so that all the meat if perfectly seared. Remove the beef to a plate as you brown it.
- Put it together. Add a little more oil to the skillet and saute the onion slices and dried red chilies. Give them a minute before adding the garlic. Once the garlic is fragrant, add in all the beef. Toss so that the garlic just clings to the meat. Then pour in the sauce. It should start sizzling and evaporating right away. Most of the sauce will get soaked up by the meat because of the cornstarch on the crust. Add the scallions and give them a good toss. Top with toasted sesame seeds if desired.
Additional tips for homemade Mongolian Beef:
- Use the right equipment: For this recipe, you can go one of two ways. You can either use a wok that retains heat well. Or you can use a cast-iron skillet or wide dutch oven. Then, I like to use a wide spatula designed for a wok to help flip the meat quickly.
- Get your pan screaming hot. A way to check if your pan is super hot is to sprinkle a little water into the skillet (make sure there isn’t any oil in the pan), and if it sizzles and evaporates right away, it’s ready for you to start cooking. Starting the meat in a hot pan allows for it to sear quickly on the outside while retaining all the juices on the inside. Also, you don’t want to cook the beef all the way through when searing, so it’s essential to have your pan hot enough to where it can quickly form an outer crust.
- Sear in batches. Instead of adding all the beef to the pan at once and causing it to steam rather than sear, I suggest browning the meat in batches. I prefer to do this in 3 batches.
- You shouldn’t need to thicken the sauce. Since we’re using a significant amount of cornstarch on the sliced steak, you shouldn’t need additional cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Adding it to a hot pan should cause it to sizzle, cling, and thicken onto the beef, leaving it with a nice sheen. If you find the sauce to still be thin for your liking, I suggest combining 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch with a 1-2 teaspoon of water and adding it to the meat. However, in all my recipe testing, I didn’t need to thicken the sauce afterward.
Serving suggestions:
- With roasted or steamed veggies
- Over quinoa
- With my 15 minute fried rice
- Over brown or jasmine rice
- Serve with freshly cooked egg noodles
Other Asian Recipes to try:
- The Best Garlic Noodles
- Instant Pot Korean Beef Bowls
- 20 Minute Teriyaki Chicken
- Weeknight Dan Dan Noodles
- Thai Cashew Chicken
- Thai Basil Chicken
- Beef and Pepper Steak Stir Fry
- Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches
[recipe]
Super Tender Mongolian Beef
My take on restaurant-style Mongolian Beef! Instead of frying the beef, we use a secret ingredient to marinate and tenderize it, and the results are phenomenal!

Ingredients
Beef
- 1-1¼ pound beef, such as skirt or flank steak trimmed and cut thinly against the grain (at a 45º angle)
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons EACH: cornstarch AND fresh minced garlic
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon EACH: white pepper AND garlic powder
- ½ small red onion, cut into thick slices
- 2-3 dried red chilies, optional
- 6-8 scallions, trimmed and cut into 4-5 pieces each
- Oil, for cooking
Sauce:
- ¼ cup EACH: water AND low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar (I prefer dark brown)
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated or minced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
Instructions
- MARINATE: Add the thinly sliced beef, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water, cornstarch, baking soda, white pepper, and garlic powder to a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside for at least 15 minutes and ideally, 1-2 hours works best to tenderize the meat.
- SAUCE: Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl with a whisk or in a mason jar with a lid.
- SEAR THE MEAT: Heat a wok a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 ½ tablespoon of oil and allow for the oil to be just below the smoking point. Add one-third of the meat in a single layer and allow for it to cook through for 1-2 minutes or until it crisp, flip, and continue cooking for another 1 minute. Remove the meat to a plate and repeat with the remaining meat in batches, adding oil as needed.
- PUT IT TOGETHER: Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the same skillet and sauté the onion slices and dried red chilies for 1 minute. Add the garlic and give it 30 seconds then, add the beef back into the pan and toss. Kick the heat up to the highest setting and stir everything. Drizzle the sauce over the meat and toss to combine so all the meat is evenly coated in the sauce. Allow the sauce to sizzle and thicken a tiny bit before adding the scallions and tossing until the scallion wilt just a bit. Top with sesame seeds and serve warm!
VERY good. The marinade really does make a difference in the tenderizing of the meat. During this time (Covid times), when sometimes it is hard to get the meat you want, you get what you can take. I took a few packages of tri tips steaks and a package of top sirloin out of the freezer. It was what was available. I was worried about using two different types of meat and about them having been frozen. Marinade saved the day. I marinaded them for 2 hours. Everything was tender and delicious! (also did the cut against the grain and on the biased.
Also, I did not add the Kosher salt because I did not have low sodium soy sauce. If you use the regular, I suggest not using the salt.
So glad that it worked out with the cuts of beef you had available, and thank you for sharing that info, as well as the tip about the soy sauce!!
Very good! Would definitely make it again
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Kate! Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment 🙂
I found this site and showed it to my wife and I’ve been loving the meals from here ever since! Tonight she cooked this recipe and it was so legit and tasted amazing. Highly recommend this for a nice twist on a stir fry!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, Ash! Appreciate you circling back to leave a review!
I made this recipe tonight because I wasn’t in the mood for my normal pork/chicken/fish meals.
This recipe is so tasty! I let the meat marinate for almost 2 hours and I’m so glad I did! My husband came over to me and asked me if I can make this more often. I definitely will keep this in my back pocket!
Hi Christine! So happy to hear this was enjoyed! Appreciate you taking time to circle back and leaving a review 🙂
I don’t ever comment when I make stuff but oh lord! Can I just say this was the best Mongolian beef I’ve EVER had! Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing! Will absolutely be making FOREVER!!!
I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it, Heather! Really appreciate you taking the time to leave a review 🙂
This is an incredibly easy and delicious weeknight meal! I ended up grilling the meat and it was just as delicious as stove top without the inevitable splatter mess from the oil.
Very good. I did not have any Chiles, so I added sriracha to the sauce. Worked out great.
Absolutely Delicious ! Super tender melt in your mouth beef, thank you for the baking soda tip 🙂
Great recipe!! Made a couple substitutions for lack of ingredients, but dang, that beef!!! Science, yay.
I used sirloin from freezer and marinated for 15-20 min. I sautéed some green beans and tossed em right in with everything else. Served over Jasmine rice. Thanks!
Well this is the second time to make it! Excellent, has become one of our favorite dishes 🙂
It looks like I made a mistake. The garlic is added at the end, with the onions and chilies. .
Actually, this recipe was delicious! My first comment was wrong, as wrong as it could be!
thanks its great
Does using aluminum free baking soda vs. Regular baking soda make any difference in the tenderness of the flank steak or top sirloin? What if using a crock pot?
Thanks
Katherine
can you marinate the meat overnight?
Made this tonight along with orange chicken, Yaki Soba noodles, rice and egg rolls home made except noodles. Won’t do take out any more your Mongolian beef was a huge hit
Beat the heck out of my old recipe. Already took it out of my recipe book. Thanks again keep up the good work. Lance Lowman
I followed all the directions, but I was not impressed. The meat was not “super tender” even though I let it sit in the cornstarch/baking soda mixture for an hour. It was “OK” (3 stars), but I’ve had better Mongolian Beef.
Wow this was fab! I had some pre sliced stir fry beef in the freezer and wanted to use it. Had an old recipe for Mongolian beef that I couldn’t find so came across yours and it’s AMAZING! Best I’ve ever had. Used all gluten free ingredients (easy switch in this recipe) as I’m a celiac. Marinaded for about 45 min and the normally tough strips were tender yet crispy. My husband was disappointed I didn’t make a double batch (next tome!) and both my kids – 8 and 6 – ate it all. My 6 year old finds all meat chewy but not this one! This is a keeper and now I’m exited to search the rest of your site for more recipes. Thank you!
Followed this recipe to marinate the beef. I used beef for stew meat & sliced it thinly across the grain. Let it marinate for 2 hours & it came out soooooo good. I was very afraid bc the stew meat can be very tough but this marinade worked like a charm to get it nice & tender! The texture was nearly identical to Chinese takeout.
I did not make the sauce only bc i was in mood for something more savory vs sweet, but I will most definitely try it next time & am looking forward to it!
Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂
Wow, talk about tender.
This was fabulous and was better the 2nd on..never cooked flank steak but followed your directions except the night before was still frozen n put balsamic vinegar in a zip lock bag and tossed in the fridge, next day when I was off followed your directions but let it sit in your marinade like 6 hrs, and was really worried at first that I wouldn’t be able even chew this type of steak and would’ve ended up as dog food.. lol but as I cut against the grain n 45 degree angle ( which i was mangling it because it was so tender just raw..
But turned out fabulous!!! And the 2nd n 3rd days are even better.
Easy and has become a family favourite. I add bell peppers cut in strips and up the onion quota as my husband loves them.