Beef Stir Fry (Video)

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Cook vegetables. Move beef to the side of the wok and add remaining oil and veggies. Cook 3-4 minutes.
4. 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

• Healthy beef and broccoli
• Healthy peanut chicken soba noodles
• Salmon stir fry
• Instant Pot stir fry
• Buckwheat stir fry

Beef Stir Fry

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 6 reviews

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.

• Author: Olena of ifoodreal.com
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Stove
• Cuisine: Asian

Scale 1x2x3x

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

1. In a small bowl, whisk together Beef Stir Fry Sauce ingredients and set aside.
2. In a wok, toast cashews on medium heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
3. 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.
4. Add cashews, pour sauce and stir. Cook stir fry until vegetables are tender and sauce has thickened, about 3 – 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. 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.

1 1/3 cups4029.6 g1121.1 mg18.5 g19.6 g39.3 g89.2 mg

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