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My husband requested Mongolian beef recently so I decided to try and make a Whole30-approved version. After a few tweaks, I’m so excited to share this saucy, savory, and totally delicious Whole30 Mongolian Beef Stir Fry.
I don’t know anyone who isn’t obsessed with this classic takeout dish. It features stir-fried beef in a slightly sweet, umami-rich sauce that you’ll want to put on everything. To add some greens to the plate, I just quickly pan-seared some baby bok choy with fish sauce to give it a savory, salty flavor. It’s packed with nutrients and I adore this little veggie so much! You can eat it as is or serve it over a bed of cauliflower rice to keep it Whole30.
ingredients:
- Skirt or Flank Steak
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Arrowroot Starch
- Avocado Oil
- Garlic Cloves
- Fresh Ginger
- Toasted Sesame Oil
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- Low-Sodium Beef Broth
- Green Onions
- Coconut Aminos
- Rice Vinegar
- Fish Sauce
- Toasted Sesame Seeds
- Baby Boy Choy
step-by-step:
step one: prep the beef
Place the flank steak on a cutting board and use a meat mallet or the back of a skillet to pound the steak until it is 1/2-inch thick. Remove and discard the parchment paper, then slice the steak against the grain into 1/4-inch-thin pieces. Add the steak to a large bowl and sprinkle with the arrowroot starch, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.
step two: sear the steak
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the steak in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, until it forms a deep brown crust, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more. Transfer the cooked steak to a plate and set aside. Repeat until all the steak is cooked.
step three: add the aromatics
Add the garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes to the skillet and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour in the beef broth and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes. Continue to simmer for about 2 minutes, using the back of a spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the pan.
step four: stir in the green onions and build the sauce
Return the steak to the skillet. Stir in the green onions, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, and fish sauce and bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until the sauce has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
step five: make the bok choy
Heat the oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear the bok choy until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add the fish sauce and stir to combine. Season with pepper to taste.
step six: garnish and serve
Divide the cauliflower rice between bowls and top with the beef and bok choy. Garnish with sesame seeds.
recipe faqs:
Feel free to use cornstarch instead if you’re not doing Whole30!
You can use lime juice instead! The flavor works super well with the rest of the ingredients.
I hope you enjoy this Whole30 Mongolian Beef Stir Fry recipe as much as my husband and I do. Tag me on social @thedefineddish so I can see your final dish!
want more umami-packed recipes? try these!
Chicken and Scallion “Dumpling” Meatballs with Chili-Sesame Drizzle
Baked Mongolian Beef Meatballs
Sesame and Scallion Asian-Inspired Meatballs
Whole30 Mongolian Beef Stir Fry
Ingredients
For the Mongolian Beef:
- 1½ pounds skirt or flank steak
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons avocado oil
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 6 green onions, sliced into 1½-inch pieces (white and green parts)
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for serving
For the Seared Baby Bok Choy:
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 heads baby bok choy, rinsed, dried, and halved lengthwise
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Make the Mongolian Beef:
- Place the flank steak on a cutting board and use a meat mallet or the back of a skillet to pound the steak until it is 1/2-inch thick. Remove and discard the parchment paper, then slice the steak against the grain into 1/4-inch-thin pieces. Add the steak to a large bowl and sprinkle with the arrowroot starch, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.
- Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the steak in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, until it forms a deep brown crust, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more. Transfer the cooked steak to a plate and set aside. Repeat until all the steak is cooked.
- Add the garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes to the skillet and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour in the beef broth and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes. Continue to simmer for about 2 minutes, using the back of a spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the pan.
- Return the steak to the skillet. Stir in the green onions, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, and fish sauce and bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until the sauce has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Make the Bok Choy:
- Heat the oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear the bok choy until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add the fish sauce and stir to combine. Season with pepper to taste.
Serve
- Divide the cauliflower rice between bowls and top with the beef and bok choy. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I always wanted to like Mongolian Beef but I don’t like sweet and savory foods so with all the brown sugar in the sauce I just couldn’t eat it.
I don’t follow any specific diets but I happened by your recipe searching for one that didn’t contain brown sugar and I found yours and decided to give it a try. I did use thin sliced New York Strip instead of Flank Steak because I couldn’t find it in our grocery store and I had to order the coconut aminos, because no store in my rural area carried it, and the only single bottle I could find was the Big Tree Farm with Lime. It actually gave the dish a nice hint of lime flavor which was really tasty. I didn’t mind the very slight sweetness of the coconut aminos. It wasn’t anything like the overwhelming sweetness from brown sugar. And I have to admit I used my favorite brand of Asian sticky rice instead of the cauliflower rice, which I tried before but did not particularly care for, although those ingredients were the only changes to the recipe.
I have to say it was incredibly fantastic. I really enjoyed the flavor of it. Because of your recipe I can finally love a Mongolian Beef dish.
The Bok Choy with the fish sauce was excellent as well. The fish sauce gave it that something special that made it very tasty. It was the perfect side dish.
And for just myself and my wife we had leftovers for our dinner a couple of days later.
A whole 30 recipe worth the effort. I was slapping my kids hands away because they kept eating the browned meat. Then once the sauce was added I couldn’t keep them off it. They just asked me to make more … so this recipe is a keeper! Thank you so much for creating it and sharing!
That’s how you know it’s a winner! Love that this was a hit with your family. Thanks for the review!
It really is better than takeout! I love this recipe! So easy to make and delicious! We make this about once a week!
Yay! Thank you so much for the review
I received your first cookbook as a Christmas gift and have been working my way through some recipes. This one was AMAZING! The flavor was great and the hubby loved it! I will say it was a tad salty, but that was my fault for using regular beef broth that I had on hand, rather than the low sodium version that the recipe calls for. This will definitely be in our normal rotation now!
This is delicious, but far too oily as written! I’d either half the initial oil quantity or remove the remaining oil after frying the beef (perhaps even both?). The oil content was so high it separated into large clear oil puddles on reheat. With that modification, a lovely recipe we’ll be making again!
Entirely too salty. I have a major salt tolerance just way too much.
ALEX! This is SO good! My husband said several times “This tastes like takeout!” and “Never make another stir fry again. You’ve found the perfect one.” Only tweak was that I added a little Whole30 Yellowbird Sriracha because we love spice. Thank you so much for bringing yummy Whole30 asian-y food into our lives! And the best part – I don’t feel like crap after I eat it haha.
I need nutrition breakdown-am I missing it?
This was absolutely amazing! The flavors are restaurant quality and I’m so happy I stumbled across your site. Yay! One thing we added was a sliced onion, which I let sweat down and added to the sauce before the meat. All delicious! Thank you!
Fantastic!! Thank you so much, Christina! I am glad you found my site, too!! xoxo
If we aren’t doing W30 is soy sauce a good sub for coconut aminos?
yes– but just omit the fish sauce (as it will be too salty with both)
Could you sub a different cut of beef?