This Beef Stir Fry is loaded with vegetables, tender juicy beef and healthy beef stir fry sauce. Homemade Chinese restaurant style dinner that comes together in 30 minutes.
Serve with brown rice, quinoa or over cauliflower fried rice for a low carb meal.
Beef Stir Fry
This beef stir fry is better than restaurant’s because you control the amount of sugar, sodium and omit MSG. Beef is juicy and tender, sauce is homemade and delicious and vegetables are crisp and there is lots of them.
Stir fries are one of the best healthy and quick dinners if you plan a bit ahead. Another good one is our healthy chicken stir fry we keep on regular dinner rotation.
This beef stir fry recipe is super easy. However, there are a few tips for the end result – tender browned meat with crisp vegetables coated in a delicious Asian sauce.
Let’s talk about everything for the best stir fry!
Best Vegetables to Stir Fry
Look for firm vegetables that cook quickly when sliced thinly (if necessary).
Make ahead tip: Cut and refrigerate vegetables covered for up to 2 days. Or to speed up dinner, buy pre-cut stir fry vegetables or a bag of broccoli, cauliflower and carrot mix.
- Bell peppers
- Zucchini
- Snow (snap) peas
- Carrots
- Onions
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Asparagus
- Mushrooms
- Bok choy
- Water chestnuts
- Garlic
What Is the Best Meat for Stir Fry?
- Tender cuts like sirloin, ribeye, tri-tip, tenderloin, shoulder part can be cut into thin strips.
- Make sure to cut against the grain – find the direction of the grain (meat lines lengthwise) and then slice across.
- I used wild meat, venison, many times because my mom’s family is into hunting. It is a bit chewy but works like a charm. Again, depends which part.
Healthy Stir Fry Sauce
Our healthy stir fry sauce consists of the most clean and simple ingredients you probably have on hand right now:
- Soy sauce
- Maple syrup or honey
- Cornstarch
- Fresh garlic and ginger
- Salt and pepper.
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 also have used dried ginger many times. Flavor is not as great as freshly grated but saved a trip to a grocery store.:)
What Is the 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.
However, my favourite oil to use for stir frying is toasted sesame oil because it’s so Asian. I do switch between both, to be honest.
Here is a table with all oils and their smoke points.
How to Make Beef Stir Fry
- Prep the sauce and toast cashews. In a small bowl, whisk together stir fry sauce ingredients. Toast cashews in a wok or large skillet. Set both aside.
- Stir fry beef in the same hot wok or skillet until brown and crispy, for about 10 minutes. You want to stir often and drain juices, if necessary, so beef crisps up.
- Cook vegetables. Move beef to the side of the wok and add remaining oil and veggies. Cook 3-4 minutes.
- Combine everything. Add cashews, pour sauce, stir and cook until sauce has thickened.
Tips for Best Stir Fry
- “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.
- Use well-preheated wok.
- I also love to use large ceramic non-stick skillet. Its low walls allow meat to brown more than in a wok. Truth about homemade stir fries.
- Add stir fry sauce before vegetables look cooked to avoid mushy stir fry.
- Whisk sauce once again before adding to the wok to mix in settled at the bottom cornstarch.
More Healthy Stir Fry Recipes
PrintBeef Stir Fry
This Beef Stir Fry is loaded with vegetables, tender juicy beef and healthy beef stir fry sauce. Homemade Chinese restaurant style dinner that comes together in 30 minutes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients
Beef Stir Fry Sauce:
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used Bragg liquid aminos)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 5 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 1 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
Beef Stir Fry:
- 2 lbs beef sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 medium bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 large zucchini, cut into quarters
- 9 oz snap (snow) peas
- 3/4 cup cashews, unsalted
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame or avocado oil, divided
- 3 large green onions, chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together Beef Stir Fry Sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In a wok, toast cashews on medium heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
- Return wok to high heat and add 1 tbsp sesame oil. Add beef and cook until brown and crispy, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Move beef to a side of the wok and add remaining sesame oil, bell pepper, zucchini and snap peas to the centre of the wok. Cook vegetables for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add cashews, pour sauce and stir. Cook stir fry until vegetables are tender and sauce has thickened, about 3 – 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Garnish with green onion and serve hot over brown rice, quinoa or noodles of choice.
Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 24 hours.
Notes
“Stir fry” means to cook small pieces of food quickly on high heat and stirring constantly. So make sure all beef stir fry ingredients are prepped before you light the stove.
Use well-preheated wok.
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. However, my favourite oil to use for stir frying is toasted sesame oil because it’s so Asian. I do switch between both, to be honest.
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.
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!