I’ve seen recipes for PF Chang’s Mongolian Beef all over Pinterest for some time and since PF Chang’s is one of my favorite restaurants, I knew I had to try making Mongolian Beef at home.
Usually when we go to PF Chang’s, I am all about the Kung Pao Scallops, but Mongolian Beef is also a favorite of mine.
Crispy but tender pieces of beef coated in a thick, sweet and a little salty sauce. It’s almost like eating beef candy! Add some red pepper flakes if you want to balance the sweetness with some heat.
We don’t go to PF Chang’s often since it is a little pricey and the drive can take a lot of time when there’s traffic. So I am thrilled to be able to make this dish at home and it is so easy!
You don’t have to eat at PF Chang’s to enjoy a fabulously delicious Mongolian Beef. It’s easy to make at home and can be served over white rice for a meal that is sure to become a family favorite.
And your kids will think you have suddenly developed restaurant chef skills. 🙂
Sweet and Salty
This recipe is fairly sweet and salty. If you don not like salty foods, try using low-sodium soy sauce. Likewise, you can reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup.
Tips For Making Mongolian Beef
- Try adding some broccoli or asparagus.
- Sirloin steak can be used instead of flank steak
- Some people think this recipe is too salty or too sweet. If you tend to not like salty foods, try using low sodium soy sauce. If you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, cut back on the sugar but keep in mind that the sugar helps balance the salt and cutting back on the sugar may cause the sauce to taste saltier.
Try These Other Take-Out Favorites
- Thai Chicken Pasta
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
- Spicy Mongolian Beef and Pineapple
For more mouth watering recipes follow Spicy Southern Kitchen on Pinterest and Instagram.
Subscribe to Spicy Southern Kitchen’s Youtube Channel.
Mongolian Beef (PF Chang’s copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
- 1-2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup Vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes,, optional
- 1 bunch green onions,, cut on diagonal into 2-inch pieces
Instructions
- Make the sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and stir for 30 seconds.
- Add soy sauce, water, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened some, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Slice flank steak against the grain into 1/4-inch slices with the knife held at a 45 degree angle. Some of the really long pieces I cut in half to make them more bite-sized.
- Toss flank steak with cornstarch and let sit 10 to 15 minutes.
- Heat 1 cup Vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add beef (I cooked it in 2 batches) and cook 2-3 minutes, until brown and crispy, flipping pieces over to cook both sides.
- Remove meat with a slotted spoon and discard cooking oil. Place meat back in pan along with sauce and cook over medium heat for 1 minute, stirring to coat meat.
- Add red pepper flakes and green onions and remove from heat.
- Serve over rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Adapted from: Food.com
Originally published April 14, 2015
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Thanks for this AMAZING recipe. Comes out perfectly every time!
Mine is not comment but a question. Can you air fry the meat, instead of frying in oil. Thank you
Yes, I think that would work. Might have to try it myself soon!!
I have been making this for my fam8ly for quite awhile now and never disappoints! I’m a pretty good cook, but this gets rave reviews lol. Mad3 it tonight with rice noodles and that was good too! Thank you for sharing this recipe ❤️
The family loved it. From the five year old to the sixty-five year old. Will definitely make it again.
Last time I made it, I didn’t have enough sauce for the rice. How can I increase the sauce so there’s extra?
Tastes just like PF Changs! The sauce was a little less sticky but still good!
My grandson said it was better than PF Chang’s. Very happy with this recipe. Will definitely make it again
I’ve made this several times. I used Tri-tip. Absolutely delicious recipe! Whole family loves it. ❤️❤️❤️
Need much less sugar than is listed and we used arrowroot starch rather than cornstarch. Yum!
This is Divine!! I don’t care for Chinese type dishes, but my husband loves and this is the only dish so far, I have found we both Enjoy! It does take a bit of time to brown the meat, but any great dish takes, time!
Pros and cons: The end product comes out like the picture. The magic happens once you put the prepared meat into the hot sauce in pan. The sauce starts out fluid, but once the meat heats up in the sauce, the cornstarch on the meat thickens the liquid, actually too much. I had to add more water to make the sauce ‘flow’ so it would be less dry. I liked the taste, but I didn’t like the work in standing over a pan frying slices of meat bc I had to double the recipe, using 3lbs of meat, so it took a while bc you have to do the frying in segments. So yes, the recipe is easy, but it takes time and the frying makes a mess and I had to open a window bc I was getting too hot. I probably won’t make this one again, there are other Asian recipes I will stick with.