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
Want to Save This Recipe?
Recipe Adapted from: Food.com
Originally published April 14, 2015
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Mongolian beef my son’s fav. I had been searching for a recipe and this one is easier to prepare. Thanks for sharing ?
I added a small amount of green pepper and broccoli to this and a bit more red pepper flake . This was and easy amazing dish will be making this more often.
Tried this tonight! Delicious! It is definitely being added to my favorite dinners file!
I favor a savory dish so I could see lessening the sugar, but I think everyone else in my family favors sweet. It is all about personal taste. 🙂
I love PF Changs and LOVE making delicious dishes in my own home. Nothing like it!
Thank you for sharing this!
Any way to cut back on the oil? 1/4 cup of oil per person seems an awful lot.
Thank you 🙂
It doesn’t seem the oil is used in the actual dish, just to cook/fry the meat to make it crispy. You discard the remaining oil after the meat is removed. This dish looks amazing AND super easy! Thanks!
Just finished making this. Followed the directions to the letter. I let the sauce cook down longer so it was thicker. Didn’t season the meat and when combined with the sauce found it was not overly salty. However next time I’ll use 1/4 c. regular soy and 1/4 c. sweet thick soy. I think it’ll add depth to the sauce. And maybe a bit of sesame oil for the flavor. This is really good.
Thanks so much for leaving your feedback Cheryl!
Made this tonight and it was so tasty;however, way too salty. I recommend using a low sodium soya sauce. I will certainly make it again with that adjustment! Yummy!
Tried to make, IDK if it was the soy sauce i used but it was really salty, will try again at another time, but i will add less soy sauce and more brown sugar.
Recipe was good only thing was that it was way too sweet. My sauce also didn’t thicken on it’s own. I recommend adding a 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a couple teaspoons of cornstarch to the sauce while it is simmering.
Never had real PF Changs before, I’ve tried the frozen stuff but I know it wouldn’t be the same. I made this last night and LOVED the flavor of the sauce! I only have one problem, the sauce NEVER thickened and I have no idea why I added a bit of cornstarch but it didn’t help any, other than that no complains except my meat wasn’t very tender after cooking it.
I made this last week since we are obsessed with the PF Chang’s version and live 3 hours away from one. It is absolutely amazing and I had a very happy family last night:) Thank you so much!
Cooked this in my crockpot for 4hrs, worked great. I will cut down the sugar next time and add more heat, but that is just me.
I’m glad to know it worked well in your crockpot Rusty. It seems a lot of people like it with less sugar. I do have a pretty strong sweet tooth. 🙂
Christine, this Mongolian Beef is just as good if not better than PF Chang’s. Thank you so very much for sharing this with us 🙂 And you are right, PF Chang’s is way to pricey, but the Mongolian Beef is what my Wife and I like the best. And you nailed it perfectly. Actually I like yours better lol. Now if I could get the recipe for Dynamite Shrimp*
crispy shrimp tossed in a zesty sauce, I’d be in hog heaven lol
Hi Larry, thank you so much for leaving such a nice comment. I might have to give that crispy shrimp a try at home. 🙂
How did you prepare to cook in crock pot? Mix sauce and all all ingredients to crockpot? Thanks
I’ve never tried this recipe in the crock pot Kim.
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it out this week, never had Mongolian beef so I am excited about this 🙂
Hope you love it Donika!!
I just made it, and it’s delicious! Thank you for sharing xo
So glad you enjoyed it Donika! 🙂
Very tasty dish and mouth-watering photos!
my family loved this dish….I used sweet soya glaze and 1/4 off the sugar, added mushrooms….delish
Saucer of milk for table 7… Meow!
I really wish people would comment on how this recipe came out rather than saying how great it looks and will try it later. That is not helpful. We can all see what the picture looks like. How about does it taste good? That is what I need to know. Thank you to the ONE person who actually made it and commented on what was wrong. Less sugar. Thanks!
Saucer of milk for table 7… Meow!
Thank you for the great pictures. Making it tonight!
I enjoyed the flavours coming out of this. We already cut back on the sugar, but we should have also used a low sodium soya sauce. It was so tasty other than being to salty for my liking. I used a roast and so doubled the sauce, I don’t think I needed to do that. I think adding broccoli would have been ok.
I LOVE MONGOLIAN BEEF
I made this today because I haven’t been to P.F Changs in a while since I am living abroad and all I can say is: it really took me back!!!
I added some broccoli and mushrooms in before the green onions making it a little more complete as a meal.
Thank you for posting!!!
It is way to sugary…once I read 3/4 cup of brown sugar the recipe lost me…cooked it ate it, spiced it up a little more to cut the sugar…I’m guessing the sugar is what keeps all the people coming back for more, right?
I need another mongo recipe one thats on the saltier side, non the less, thanks for the recipe…the kids love it!