Mongolian Beef - the ultimate fakeaway dish that you don't need to keep for just weekend. Tender Strips of Beef in a Thick Sweet Asian Sauce.
So I've had the ingredients for this version of the ever so popular Mongolian Beef floating around in my head of recipe ideas for a quite a while. But was holding out for some flank steak to put it to practice.
Flank steak is definitely the best cut of beef for this dish, but another thin frying steak should work okay too. I have to say though if you can get the flank steak, it's definitely worth it and when I finally spotted some at a local grocery store, the last one too (it seems everyone is buying it), I quickly grabbed it up into my basket, excited about making my version of this dish.
Mongolian Beef generally comes with a sweet sticky sauce made with heaps of brown sugar and various other ingredients that can load on the calories and so I really wanted to create a yummy Slimming Eats version of this dish, that still tasted amazing, but kept that delicious sweet thick sauce that you expect with any amazing Mongolian Beef recipe.
Some versions of this add a spicy kick to the recipe by adding some chilli flakes, I kept the spice out of my version because my kids are not really digging spicy foods at the moment. If you want spicy feel free to add some chilli flakes for that spicy kick.
This is by far my favourite recipe of the year, it's definitely going to be featured regularly in my meal plans. Actually sitting here typing up the recipe, I find myself craving it all over again.
There are two ways you can cook the Mongolian beef, either on the stove top or in a Tefal Actifry, The added bonus of course about the Actifry is that you don’t need to rotate the beef to get an even browning, the actifry does it all for you.
The Actifry is a great option for foods that you would usually be deep fried. Perfect Chips and I love cooking my sausages for breakfast in mine too, it means they get a nice even colour.
We have the Tefal Actifry 1.7kg family size, because being a family of 4, we need that extra capacity and some of my favourite recipes are:
- Hoisin Chicken
- Actifry Sweet and Sour Chicken Bites
- Actifry Breakfast Hash
- Crispy Air Fryer Potato Chip Chicken Goujons
- Salt and Pepper Chicken
or head on over to my FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 800+ delicious Slimming Eats Recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients etc.
How can I add Vegetables to this Mongolian Beef?
I served with some stir fried shredded carrots, broccoli and cabbage, but you could also swap out regular rice for some of this Roasted Cauliflower Rice or Chicken Fried Cauliflower Rice instead of serving with regular white rice. You could even just serve with some stir-fried veggies, bean sprouts are one of my favs.
What Kitchen Items do I need to make this Mongolian Beef?
- Non Stick Frying Pan or Actifry
- Kitchen Scales
- Measuring Jug
- Measuring Spoons
- Wooden Spoon
- Santoku Knife (perfect knife for chopping veg)
- Chopping Board
- Blender or Immersion Stick Blender
- Saucepan
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Recipe Card
Mongolian Beef (Stove Top and Actifry) | Slimming Eats
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, paleo, Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers friendly
Gluten Free - use a gluten-free soy saucePaleo - use coconut aminos and arrowroot or tapicoa
Ingredients
- ½ tbs of oil of choice (I used avocado oil)
- 600g of Flank Steak, visible fat trimmed
- 1 tbs of cornstarch (or arrowroot or tapioca)
- 4 tbs of soy sauce
- ¾ cup (180ml) of water
- 150g of fresh pear, peeled
- 2 tbs of maple syrup
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- optional: pinch of chilli flakes
Instructions
- Slice the beef into thin strips.
- Pat dry with some kitchen paper, add to a bowl with the starch and toss to coat.
- Add this to the actifry with the oil and cook for 8-10 mins until browned
- (If you haven't got an actifry, divide the oil in two and fry the beef in two batches, until lightly brown. Set aside)
- Add the pear, soy sauce and water to the blender and blend till smooth.
- Add this to saucepan with the maple syrup and let it bubble on a high heat, whisking/stirring as you do. The liquid will be a creamish colour, to begin with, but as it reduces down and thickens, it will turn into a deep sweet dark sauce. Once the sauce is reduced down and thicken (takes a few minutes).
- Add the ginger and garlic (plus chilli flakes if using) into the actifry with the beef and let the blade rotate for a few seconds just to coat the beef, then pour in the sauce, sprinkle with the spring onions and continue to cook in the actifry for a minute or so just till the beef is all coated in the sauce and heated through (you can follow these steps in a frying pan if you don't have an actifry)
- Serve and enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1 servingAmount Per Serving Calories 380Total Fat 8.4gSaturated Fat 2.7gSodium 905mgCarbohydrates 16.2gFiber 2.3gSugar 10.1gProtein 60g
Thelma says
Hi.
Love the look of this recipe , but I'm confused!
150g of pear, and it has syns, is this because its a fresh fruit and as such it's being synned because of cooking.
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Thelma, fruit is syn free when in it's raw form, as soon as you blend, cook or puree it becomes synned. Hope that helps.
Claire says
I was going to ask the very same thing! Thanks for the answer.
Marie says
I made this today & it was a huge hit for my friends who came round for lunch. I will double up ingredients in future so I’ve got leftovers as it was so tasty. I love your recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Cindy says
My FAVOURITE recipe by far.. Can't fault it!. Could have went for a second & third bowl .. lucky for me my husband ate it all before I got there .. Another keeper !!
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
thank you, Cindy, for such a lovely comment. It is definitely one of my favourites at the moment too.
Kerrie says
HI, Does the whole mixture end end up in the actifry? or is the beef taken out once its cooked in there?
Thanks
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
yes that is correct.
Daria says
Hi. Can this be cooked in a slow cooker please?
Love your recipes!
Thank you
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
I haven't tested this in a slow cooker yet. It doesn't take long to cook so is best cooked in an actifry or stove top.
Ruth Seddon says
best meal i have had in ages - cooked on stove top
Tricia says
Cooked this and it was delicious, has now become one of my favourite dishes. Thank you
Linzi Henderson says
Hi, I was wondering if this dish could be frozen? Thanks!
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
It is best eaten when cooked, but all the ingredients are fine for freezing.
Deborah says
Hi you use a lot of maple syrup in your recipes, is it possible to substitute it to make the recipes even lower syns ? Thanks
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Deborah, I am not a fan of artificial ingredients/sweeteners etc, I prefer to use real natural ingredients where possible and it really isn't a huge amount of syns once divided up. Plus for certain recipes you need the real stuff to get the caramelisation/sticky sauce that you just won't get with sweeteners. By all means replace it with sweetener if that's what you prefer to do to save a few syns, but bare in mind the end result might not be as tasty or as good. 🙂
Flix says
Recently discovered your recipes and so far so good, no complaints! With this recipe could Xanthum Gum be used instead of cornflour to bring the syns down even more or is the cornflour needed to get the coating on the beef?
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
I would not use xanthum gum, as it won't work the same. You definitely need the cornflour.
Helen says
Made this for the first time this evening. It was delicious. Definitely something to have again.
Kimberley jacobs says
Hiya,
Was this all made in the actifry. Also do you know of what I can use instead jd flank steak as in the uk it doesn’t seem easy to find: thank you kimberley
Milly says
Hi,
Do you cut the flank steak against the grain. I use flank steak a lot, but I usually fry the whole piece, then slice against the grain. I wondered if it’s the same before it’s cooked. Sorry that’s long winded.
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
yes always against the grain to keep it nice and tender.
Milly says
Hi,
I made this last night. My other half and fussy 18 year old loved it. It was a tad sweet for me, so when I make it next time (which I definitely will be doing) I may minimise the maple syrup.
Thanks for the recipe.
M
Anne says
This looks lovely but I don't generally keep maple syrup in and don't want to buy a bottle just for one recipe - could you use honey, or can you suggest another alternative?
Thanks x
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
yes honey is fine to use in place of maple syrup.
Hilary Knight says
I’ve made this a few times now - it’s become a family fav.