30 Minute Mongolian Beef–tender beef in a rich, sweet-and-savory garlic soy sauce in just 30 minutes—perfect for busy weeknights.
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30 Minute Mongolian Beef
This Mongolian beef comes together quickly, which is always a win on busy nights! The shaved steak was on sale at Smith’s (Kroger) so I picked some up, and it worked great for this recipe. I’ve actually never used this product before, but it’s perfect when you want to cook meat really fast since it browns in no time and stays tender. The sauce is both sweet and savory, which makes it super satisfying, but if you want it a little less sweet you can easily reduce the brown sugar to 1/4 cup instead of 1/3 cup. I served it over brown rice, which you can make easily in the Instant Pot, and it made for such an easy, delicious meal!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Vegetable oil–or canola
- Beef shaved steak–or 16 oz lean ground beef
- Minced ginger–or 1 tsp ground ginger
- Minced garlic–jarred or fresh
- Red pepper flakes
- Low sodium soy sauce–or tamari
- Water
- Brown sugar
- Cornstarch
Steps
Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the shaved steak and brown.


While the meat is browning stir together the ginger, garlic, red pepper, soy sauce, water and brown sugar.

Stir the soy sauce mixture into the pan and turn heat to medium. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

If you want a thicker sauce then make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together cornstarch with equal parts water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the pan and let the sauce thicken.
Turn off the heat. Serve meat and sauce over hot cooked rice.

Notes/Tips
- Serve over white or brown rice with a side of roasted broccoli or steamed broccoli.
- For extra flavor, finish with sliced green onions or sesame seeds.
- The garlic amount (4 Tbsp) is pretty bold. It was perfect for me because I love garlic, but you could reduce to 2–3 Tbsp if desired.
- This recipe can be gluten free if you use gluten free soy sauce.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with soy sauce are Instant Pot Honey Garlic Pork and Instant Pot Panda Express Chow Mein.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
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30 Minute Mongolian Beef
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Tender beef in a rich, sweet-and-savory garlic soy sauce in just 30 minutes—perfect for busy weeknights.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 14 oz beef shaved steak
- 1 Tbsp minced ginger
- 4 Tbsp minced garlic
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the shaved steak and brown.
- While the meat is browning stir together the ginger, garlic, red pepper, soy sauce, water and brown sugar.
- Stir the soy sauce mixture into the pan and turn heat to medium. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
- If you want a thicker sauce then make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together cornstarch with equal parts water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the pan and let the sauce thicken.
- Turn off the heat. Serve meat and sauce over hot cooked rice.
Notes
Instead of steak you can use a pound of lean ground beef.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Stove
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More recipes to try…
Instant Pot Sesame Beef with Zucchini
Tender chunks of beef with bites of zucchini in an easy stir fry sauce.
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Better than Chinese takeout! Saucy tender bites of beef with a savory and sweet sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds and scallions.
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef Noodles
An easy recipe for savory (and slightly sweet) ground beef and linguine noodles. This recipe comes together quickly and will be consumed quickly as well!
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.




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