Description
This Mongolian ground beef recipe swaps budget-friendly ground beef in for the traditional sliced beef, but keeps the same sticky-sweet restaurant-style sauce that makes it a crowd favorite.
Ingredients
Scale
For The Beef:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 pound learn ground beef (I like 93% lean)
- 1-2 green onions, sliced at a diagonal
- Optional: sesame seeds or red pepper flakes
For The Mongolian Stir-Fry Sauce:
- 6 Tablespoons low sodium gluten-free tamari*
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch*
Instructions
- Cook Beef. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook 8-10 minutes, or until fully cooked through and the interior reaches at least 145 degrees F. Drain any excess fat, as desired. (If you’re using super lean beef, like I am, I don’t bother to drain it!)
- While Beef Cooks, Make The Sauce. In a liquid measuring cup, combine tamari, water, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, black pepper, and cornstarch. Whisk until evenly blended. (It should look cloudy!)
- Combine. When the beef is cooked through, pour the sauce into the skillet and cook 4-5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. (It’ll go from thin and cloudy, to thickened, glossy, and translucent.)
- Garnish. Remove the beef from the stove and garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds or red pepper flakes, as desired.
- Serve & Store. Enjoy with rice or cauliflower rice and store leftover in an airtight container in the fridge 3-4 days.
Notes
- Ground Beef. I prefer using extra lean ground beef for this recipe so I don’t need to drain any fat later. I usually choose 93% lean, 94% lean, or even 97% lean beef, but you can use what best suits your dietary needs.
- Tamari/Soy Sauce. I recommend LOW sodium tamari here to help moderate the salt content. Another good choice is coconut aminos, which is soy-free and naturally lower in sodium. If you’re using soy sauce, be sure to choose low sodium soy sauce. If you are already salt sensitive or tend to find stir fry sauces salty, you can reduce the tamari to 1/4 cup and add 2 tablespoons extra water instead.
- Cornstarch. If you’re Paleo or need to avoid cornstarch, you can use arrowroot instead of cornstarch.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 Recipe
- Calories: 291
- Sugar: 16.3 g
- Sodium: 816.5 mg
- Fat: 10.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.5 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 25.2 g
- Cholesterol: 71.2 mg