This Beef Stir Fry is loaded with juicy beef and crispy vegetables coated in an easy healthy stir fry sauce. A restaurant-quality dinner recipe that comes together in 30 minutes!
Serve with brown rice, quinoa, or over cauliflower fried rice for a low carb meal.
Table of contents
Beef Stir Fry Recipe
Beef stir fry is Chinese inspired take out right at home! This way you’re able to control the amount of sugar and sodium and avoid all of the MSG.
Thinly sliced pieces of tender juicy beef and crisp veggies are tossed around in a sweet and savory teriyaki sauce. A low carb, high protein meal that comes together in minutes.
Stir fry is one of the best healthy and quick dinners if you plan a bit ahead. Other stir fry recipes we keep on regular dinner rotation are chicken stir fry, Korean ground beef bowls (inspired) and teriyaki shrimp stir fry. They’re customizable and a great way to add in veggies that everyone likes!
Ingredients for Beef Stir Fry
- Beef: Sirloin, ribeye, tri-tip, tenderloin, flank, or shoulder steak. Thinly slice against the grain.
- Vegetables: Sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, and white onion.
- Stir fry sauce: Soy sauce (I use Bragg’s liquid aminos). Beef broth or water. Maple syrup, honey or brown sugar. Cornstarch.
- Minced garlic and ginger: I also have used dried ginger many times. Flavour is not as great as freshly grated but saved me a trip to a grocery store!
- Oil for frying: Best to use one at a high smoke point. A healthy choice would be avocado oil. For ultimate Asian inspiration, you can also use sesame oil.
- Garnishes: Sesame seeds for an added earthy, nutty crunch. But it also looks pretty!
Tip: It is not the end of the world if you replace maple syrup or honey with brown sugar if that’s all you have on hand. I prefer sugar to honey in beef and broccoli recipe because it makes crispy beef extra saucy, almost like deep fried.
How to Make Beef Stir Fry
- Prep: Chop and dice your veggies and slice your beef. You want to get everything ready ahead of time because making a stir fry happens quickly.
- Make the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients for the sauce and set aside while you get everything else going.
- Preheat: If you haven’t got out your skillet yet, do that. You want to get the pan nice and hot on medium heat, so preheat it and add a bit of oil. Once it’s nice and hot you can add just half of the beef.
- Cook beef in batches: Cook uncovered until nicely browned on all sides. Because the beef is sliced thin, it won’t take too long to cook through. Watch you don’t overcook it, the last thing we want is tough meat. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with remaining beef. Cooking in batches will help with even cooking. It will also help all the meat to brown nicely without overcrowding.
- Cook veggies in stages: Return the skillet to high heat and add the mushrooms. Cook until brown. Mushrooms produce a lot of water, so cooking them on their own will help avoid the other veggies getting mushy. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Return the skillet to high heat once again and add the remaining oil. Cook bell pepper and onions, stirring a couple of times. The residual brown bits from the meat, as well as the high heat, will help give the veggies a bit of a char. So good!
- Add the sauce: Return the skillet to medium heat and add the broccoli. Grab the bowl of stir fry sauce and give it a good stir. The cornstarch has probably settled by now. Once stirred, pour it into the skillet. Stir and let the sauce come to a boil. Cook until thickened, stirring often.
- Combine and garnish: Grab all of your cooked ingredients that have been waiting patiently and invite them back into the party. Stir everything together gently. Turn off the heat, garnish with sesame seeds and serve it nice and hot!
Make-ahead tip: Cut and refrigerate vegetables covered for up to 2 days. Then toss them in when you’re ready. Or to speed up dinner, buy pre-cut stir fry vegetables or a bag of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot mix.
Tips for Best Stir Fry
This beef stir fry recipe is super easy and even more delicious. There are a few things you can do to get great results. Below are my tips that will get you the BEST stir fry ever!
- Be ready: “Stir fry” means to cook small pieces of food quickly on high heat while stirring constantly. So make sure all ingredients are prepped before you light the stove.
- Avoid mushy veggies: Add stir fry sauce before vegetables look cooked to avoid mushy stir fry.
- Cornstarch settles: Whisk sauce once again before adding it to the wok to blend the cornstarch that has settled.
- Best oil for stir fry: When you cook on high heat the best oil to use is the oil with a high smoke point. The healthiest choice is avocado oil with a smoke point of 520 degrees F. You can also use toasted sesame oil to give it an awesome Asian flare! Here is a table outlining oils and their smoke points.
- Best veggies for stir fry: You want veggies that will cook quickly when sliced thin. Bell peppers, zucchini, snow peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, and broccoli are great. You could also try cabbage, asparagus, mushrooms, bok choy, water chestnuts, and garlic.
- Cookware: To get a good sear on beef and veggies, I recommend using a large ceramic non-stick skillet. I find a wok does not sear food well on a residential stove but rather steams it with its high walls. But use what you are used to.
- Dark coloured sauce: If you would like dark stir fry sauce, use brown sugar. I use an organic one and alternate between maple syrup and honey.
- Browning the meat: There are a couple of ways to help give the meat a nice brown exterior. One is to sear on high heat to trap all the juices on the inside while browning the outside. Another way is to toss the sliced beef in a bit of cornstarch and let it sit for a bit before cooking – I do so with beef and broccoli. This is just part of a process that many Chinese restaurants do in which they let the meat marinate in cornstarch, soy sauce, and egg white. Tender meat is a must!
Variations
- Frozen veggies: You can use a frozen veggie mix or the package labeled “stir fry blend” vegetables. I always use one for Instant Pot chicken stir fry. Just cook until veggies are heated through and to your preferred doneness. Keep in mind frozen veggies are already somewhat “cooked” by the freezing process. They also contain a bit more water, so you might need to drain the extra liquid before adding the sauce.
- Additions: Optional add-ins for both texture and flavour could be 3/4 cup toasted cashews, sliced almonds, or bean sprouts.
- Less meat: If you’re aiming to eat less red meat, use only 1 lb of meat.
- Like a little heat? Toss in some red pepper flakes. Some might even enjoy sliced jalapeno.
- No soy sauce? Try using Bragg’s liquid aminos or coconut aminos. You may need to adjust the salt with coconut aminos because they tend to have less than soy sauce.
- Dried ginger: If you don’t have any fresh ginger, you can substitute it with 1 tsp of dried ginger instead. Or just omit.
Serving, Storing, and Reheating
Serve: There are plenty of options to serve with a good stir fry. Brown rice, quinoa, and brown rice vermicelli are just a few options. You can also serve over whole wheat spaghetti, steamed white rice, or cauliflower fried rice. To keep it light and low carb, serve all on its own or with a small side salad.
Store: This dish will keep in the fridge covered for up to 2 days. Leftovers will be just as tasty the next day.
Reheat: Simmer on the stovetop with a splash of water or broth until heated through. Stir occasionally to enjoy this dish all over again. If you’ve packed it for lunch at work, you can also reheat it in the microwave.
More Stir Fry Recipes
- Salmon stir fry
- Chicken and broccoli stir fry
- Buckwheat stir fry
- Mushroom stir fry
- Chicken and cauliflower stir fry
Beef Stir Fry {Healthy 30 Minute Recipe}
Ingredients
Beef Stir Fry Sauce:
- 1/4 cup soy sauce I used Bragg liquid aminos
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth or water
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, maple syrup or honey
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 inch ginger minced
Beef Stir Fry:
- 1 1/2 lbs beef sirloin, ribeye, tri-tip, tenderloin or shoulder steak thinly sliced
- 1 large white onion thinly sliced
- 2 large bell peppers sliced
- 6 oz mushrooms sliced
- 1 lb broccoli chopped
- 2 tbsp oil for frying
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Cut the vegetables and beef. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, beef broth, brown sugar, cornstarch, garlic and ginger. Set aside.
- Preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat and add 1 tbsp of oil. Add half of beef, cook uncovered for 3-4 minutes per side or until browned, and transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining beef. Set aside.
- Return skillet to high heat and mushrooms. Cook for 3 minutes or until browned, transfer to a plate. Set aside.
- Return skillet to high heat, add remaining 1 tbsp oil, bell pepper and onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring once or twice and transfer onto a plate. Set aside.
- Return skillet to medium heat, add broccoli, whisk stir fry sauce well (cornstarch settles fast at the bottom) and add to the skillet. Stir, let sauce come to a boil, then cook for a few minutes until thickened, stirring often.
- Return cooked beef, mushrooms, onion and bell peppers to the skillet. Stir gently, turn off heat and garnish beef stir fry with sesame seeds.
- Serve hot over quinoa, brown rice, brown rice vermicelli or whole wheat spaghetti.
Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 2 days.
Reheating: To enjoy warm again, reheat by simmering stir fry on the stove with a splash of water or broth until heated through. Stir occasionally and enjoy all over again.
Video
Notes
- Be ready: “Stir fry” means to cook small pieces of food quickly on high heat and stirring constantly. So make sure all ingredients are prepped before you light the stove.
- Avoid mushy veggies: Add stir fry sauce before vegetables look cooked to avoid mushy stir fry.
- Cornstarch settles: Whisk sauce once again before adding to the wok to mix in settled at the bottom cornstarch.
- Best oil for stir fry: When you cook on high heat the best oil to use is the oil with high smoke point. The most healthy one is avocado oil with smoke point of 520 degrees F.
- Frozen veggies: You can use frozen veggie mix or even labeled “stir fry blend” vegetables. Just cook until veggies are heated through and to your preferred doneness. Keep in mind frozen veggies are already somewhat “cooked” by freezing process.
- Cookware: To get a good sear on beef and veggies, I recommend to use large ceramic non-stick skillet. I find wok does not sear food well on residential stove but rather steams it with its high walls. But use what you are used to.
- Dried ginger: If you don’t have any fresh ginger, you can substitute it with 1 tsp of dried ginger instead. Or just omit.
- Dark colour stir fry sauce: If you would like dark stir fry sauce, use brown sugar. I use organic one and alternate between maple syrup and honey.
- Additions: Old recipe contained 3/4 cup toasted cashews.
- Less meat: To make even more healthy beef stir fry, use only 1 lb of meat.
- If using water: You will need to add 1 more tbsp of soy sauce.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes anywhere including social media, print and all world wide web. Nutritional info is provided for informational purposes only and to the best knowledge.
Thanks very much this was a winner in my house with fussy eaters we don’t always get to have a beef stir fry but everyone loved it even went back for seconds and the wok was empty.
I add carrot to ours.
I am so happy to hear this was a hit with your family, Vannessa!
I make stir frys all the time (have you noticed how much the Bragg’s has risen in price?!), but I have to ask – what’s wrong with fried onions? I make those often, too! With pork chops, steak, perogy’s, too. I cook them so long they become caramelized. Yummy! I didn’t make this recipe, but instead of sugar, I put in some Hoison sauce which adds some sweetness. From a CDN in Calgary 🙂
Everything goes up in price all the time sigh. I am not sure what you mean about fried onions, sorry.
Where is the recipe with the zucchini, peppers, cashews. This is not the recipe as pictured.
Recipe has been updated last month to current version. Old recipe contained 3/4 cup toasted cashews, new sauce is even healthier with less sodium. You can use your favorite veggies. Notes of teh recipe will help. Enjoy!
Can you please send me a copy of the old recipe? It was one of my favorites. I tried the new sauce but I liked it much better without the broth and so much cornstarch. Thanks.
Done!
Yes how do I get the old recipe, I do not enjoy this one as much. Thank you!
I agree with Bryna, the old recipe was better. This is too much liquid.Please post the former recipe. Thanks
I will post it here in the comments when I get to the office on Tuesday.
My mom and I followed this recipe and we loved it! Delish. It ended up taking us a little over 1 hour. The chopping of the vegetables took us awhile. Perhaps we will be quicker next time or, if we do some prep before that will cut the time down. But it was well worth it!
My husband and I really enjoyed it!
Thanks Olena!
You are very welcome Mary!
I actually made this in my Instant Pot. I sautéed the beef first, removed it and then sautéed all of the veggies and removed them, turned off sauté. Then I returned the beef to the instant pot, added the sauce and 3/4cup of beef broth. Pressure Cook high for 5 minutes.
QPR, thicken the sauce and add the vegetables back in. My husband enjoyed and he’s not really a stir fry/ vegetable person.
That’s so great. Thanks for sharing Michelle!
Total cook time on meat seems like alot. 10 minutes by itself, 3-4 more with vegetables and the 3-4 more after sauce is added. Is that correct?
Yes, the recipe has been tested as written! When cooking the vegetables, push the meat to the side of the wok.
This is the second time I’ve done this recipe. First time was excellent, even with my dark, thick soya sauce that darkened everything…
Tonight, I did it with my Bragg Liquid Amino and cooked everything to perfection, no overcooking.
It was amazing! And colourful! And healthy! Definitely as good as, if not better than, in a good restaurant! 😋
Thank you for sharing your amazing feedback Marie!
So delicious!! Love how the ingredients are simple and the recipe easy! Thank you!!
You are very welcome Lucinda!
This stir fry is absolutely delicious, my husband even likes it. The sauce has a great taste and I know it’s healthy. The first time I made it I used garlic powder because I didn’t have fresh garlic. I have made this recipe several times and changed up the vegetables and used chicken thighs instead of beef; delicious every time. Thank you for this recipe.
You are welcome Heidi. Many thanks for taking the time to write this wonderful review!
Thank you, so healthy n meaty. Yummm
Glad the stir fry was enjoyed Sheila 🙂
It sounds yummy and super easy!
Thanks for the clear instructions and great pictures!
A fellow Canadian north of Toronto in Woodbridge Ontario.
Some of my dear friends live in beautiful Victoria too!!
Love it when I visited a few years ago!!!
Much milder and less snow than Woodbridge!
Happy Sunday!
Be well and stay safe during these unprecedented times!!
THIS IS DELICIOUS!! We don’t have to go to fancy Asian restaurants anymore:D
I have been looking for websites to find healthy recipes. They’re either not tasty or hard to do it! Olena, I really wanted to thank you with all my heart. I’ve lost 4.5 kg in one month with your healthy recipes! Me and my husband are eating healthy again!! As a young and newly married couple, it’s so hard to cook every week when you have a busy schedule. But your recipes made our lives easier! I’ll keep following:)
Thank you for sharing your experience with my recipes. I am so thankful that my recipes are making it easier for you to enjoy healthy eating and cooking at home.
Another 5 stars Olena, this recipe is sooooo good?. Hubby approved?
Got leftovers and looking forward to eat it.
My only problem resides in my soya sauce, it’s so dark, and thick, that it really darkens everything and makes the meal less appealing to the eye. I was waiting to finish my bottle before buying the Bragg Liquid Aminos. That’s it, my soya sauce is in the garbage! Bragg is in tomorrow!
I’m so happy to read this! Thanks for your positive feedback, Marie! Haha, perfect. Too funny but my husband made this last night too as it was is turn to cook and he loves this recipe. I even treated everyone with udon noodles in the freezer instead of brown rice.
Funny indeed! And with a treat!
No treat here, we ate it as is..?
Yummy!!!!
This is a delicious recipe! I followed it exactly with no changes. It was a hit with my family. I served it with brown rice & egg rolls I got from Costco. Very yummy!! Thanks for the recipe!
You are welcome Alicia!
It just states make the sauce….how do u make the sauce for this
Hi Bridget! I think you may be looking at the general write-up I do for each recipe. The full list of ingredients and complete instructions are listed below in the recipe card. Just keep scrolling down. Hope this helps!
Best stir fry recipe ever I make it for friends always gets great revit
So great to hear Avril!
I do this recipe often. My family loves it.
This was DELICIOUS! My family was happy. I had half of the products for stir fry but I didn’t reduce sauce. Loved it. Thank you!
Glad your family enjoyed this recipe Zarina!
Scrumpdillyicious
Dead easy recipe to follow, delicious with simple ingredients, easy to halve the recipe for smaller portions, really looking forward to heating and eating the leftovers…not something I usually enjoy.
Thanks for the hints you give in your recipes….you are expanding my culinary expertise!
Thanks for making me day with this positive review 🙂
Really yummy and easy. Thanks for the great recipe
You are welcome Jacqui!
I like your presentation! Its fresh and real food and easy to make. I have a dinner called chicken chowmein. Stir fry chicken with onion and garlic and celery, then I add some Chinese veggies to. Make a well in the center and stir in an egg and toss. Cook rice separately. Top off with lightly roasted crunchy chowmein noodles. Soy sauce on the side. Yum!
This was easy for me but cut it back in quantities as there is only two senior to serve. who doesn’t like stir frys.
also I don’t use salt….love pepper.
Really good. I was looking for an easy, healthy weeknight recipe that was within my dietary requirements but was still delicious for the rest of the family, and this was it. The only real changes that I made were to use sugar-free syrup (I’m diabetic), and because even low sodium soy sauce has a lot of salt, I didn’t add salt to the sauce. No one complained about (or noticed) either change and the leftovers were quickly claimed. Will definitely make again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Christine! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Thanks! This reminded me to look in my cupboard and use my toasted sesame oil. Completely changed the flavor of our stir-fry. Yea!
Thank you for your wonderful review, Carol.
Thank you for the hints! No fun cooking stir-fries on an electric range but your advice for a low-sided pan sounds like it could help a bunch. Another fave high-heat point oil = grapeseed. A fave stir fry from when I was a kid (thank you mom): leftover roast beef or chicken, celery, green onions, almonds (whole or slivers) , oil (duh) and a little soy sauce.
Sounds delish! 🙂
very beautiful dinner and the most important thing is that a man can cook it ???
YESS LOL
I’ve been married 32 years and my husband said this is the best stir fry I’ve made in all of those years. And I make a lot of stir fry. The secrets are to use sesame oil and her sauce. Mmmmmmm.
Yay! So happy to hear my beef stir fry is your husband approved.:)
This turned out great, thank you! It was a dynamic combination of flavors.
You are very welcome, Chelsea!!! Beef stir fry is so perfect for weeknights.
We love stir fry and this one is awesome! Healthy, hearty and great mix of flavors! We will definitely make this again.
That’s awesome, Cynthia! We love this one too!
Can we double this recipe and have it come out just as good?
I don’t see why not.:)
So good!
This was so-so good! Love the addition of cashews! Thank you!
I tried this recipe tonight and loved it. My kids liked it too. I’ve been looking for a great stir fry recipe using fresh, real ingredients. At last, my search is over!
Glad to hear that, Carmen. I totally understand – so many great stir fry recipes use store bought sauce or sugar laden homemade one. Enjoy!
I just tried this recipe yesterday night, I have to say it was very easy, fast and delicious. I didn’t used to make stir fry due to soy sauce, but now that I’ve found one that at least seems to be good for my body, I’m trying different recipes and is awesome, always with a lot of colour and flavour.
Great! Non GMO or better organic say sauce is good in reasonable amounts! All real food is good in moderation.
I can’t find snow peas anywhere. What’s a good substitute? 🙂
Snap peas.
I can’t get enough stir fry in my life! Gorgeous photos and recipe. Love the sugar snap pea addition too -I eat those by the handful. And cashews make everything better! I too buy raw and toast them myself 🙂
I have a hard time finding local snow peas! Thank you:)
Your photos are incredible! Do you use a filter to get the colors so vibrant?
Hi Michelle. Thank you! No I don’t. I adjust the colours in Photoshop just enough to bring the colours to real life. As soon as you take the picture, the food doesn’t look the same, right?! I learnt that certain foods photograph better and natural light plays a huge part in good quality pictures. You are on the right track. Just keep practicing! Your tiramisu looks great!
could you make this dish with chicken instead of beef?
Yes. Check out my chicken stir fry recipe as well.
will do thank you I actually made this dish with chicken and its one of my fav thank you so much love your site