Ground Mongolian Beef with a sweet and spicy sauce that is crispy and tender without having to buy steak and it’s done in 20 minutes.
Ground beef recipe are a go to for us during the week and aside from the popular Korean Ground Beef we’re a big fan of Mongolian Beef, our favorite takeout copycat food.
How to make Ground Mongolian Beef?
- I like to brown the beef really well and keep the crumbles on the larger side.
- I add the sesame seeds while cooking to get more of a toasted flavor from them.
- If you want even more of a classic Mongolian beef flavor add more green onions cooked down in addition to garnishing with them.
- Top with spicy mayo or make it into a burrito (coming tomorrow).
We have been making ground meat versions of our classic Asian food favorites like Ground Kung Pao Chicken (1 Pan!), Ground Orange Chicken (1 Pan!) in addition to the ground Korean beef.
Why make them with ground meat? Well for one it takes a third of the time. Secondly if you brown the beef/chicken really well it still tastes crispy. No deep frying is needed and it makes a great easy meal served over rice with some vegetables.
Want more Asian Food Recipes?
- Crispy Sesame Chicken
- Cheesecake Factory Mandarin Cashew Chicken
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Panda Express Recipes… every single one in fact: Panda Express Recipes Index
- Many more options…
Tools used in the making of this Ground Mongolian Beef:
Sesame Oil: The flavor of sesame oil in this dish is unmistakeable and not really able to be substituted. Some Asian grocery stores will try and sell less expensive options that aren’t actually sesame oil, so just be sure the one you’re buying is authentic sesame oil.
Mirin: A sweetened Asian wine, if you don’t use this use white wine with a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.
Ground Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger , minced
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup lite soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
Instructions
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Heat a large pan over medium high heat.
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Brown the meat really deeply with sesame oil.
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Once browned, drain most of the fat, then add the garlic and ginger.
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Add the mirin, rice vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame seeds and red pepper flakes.
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Cook until the liquid has reabsorbed and the meat is shiny but not soupy.
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Top with green onions, toss together and serve.
Wow just made this and a big hit, thank you bloody divine will be a regular on my list
This is the third recipe I have tried from you so far, and it’s another winner! Hubby approved! I served it with some leftover rice from take-out and steamed broccoli on the side. Thanks for another great recipe.
Yay!! Thanks for coming back to let me know, Amanda. I hope you continue finding recipes you love.
I loved this recipe, hubby is a chef of a japanese/ peruvian restaurant, he loved it thank you for sharing your knowledge with all the housewife and everyone else that is into the cooking
Thanks so much for coming back to let me know.
This was amazing, I had never had Mongolian beef before and i enjoyed this immensely. I had to make a double batch the second time i made it because everyone enjoyed it so much.
Thanks for coming back to let me know, Sara. I appreciate the 5 star rating.
This turned out great!!! I modified it a bit to make it Keto friendly! Skipped the mirin, used swerve brown sugar (1/4 c), and gluten free soy sauce. I also added sriracha and sautéed veggies! Broccoli, onion, cabbage and red bell pepper! Served over cauliflower-rice! Yummmmmm!!
Thanks for all of the suggestions, Brooke.
Yummy dish I had for dinner & super easy to make. Then added more spicy rich flavorful dish on the rice.
Why are scallions listed on the recipe, yet aren’t in the instructions? This dish is amazing and I just ended up adding in the scallions during the cooking of the beef.
I mentioned them as green onions in step 6. They’re used as a garnish. Enjoy!
Awesome dish! Thank you Sabrina , looking forward to checking your other recipes out .
This is an easy recipe and the flavor is fabulous. I only give it two stars because the ground beer texture was terrible. With flank steak or pork it would be great. It seemed grainey just simply unpleasant texture wise. I will try this again with the flank steak or pork, but never again with ground beef!
For Mongolian beef recipe. So I heat the sesame oil first then add ground beef?
Yes 🙂
I don’t write many reviews, but this is one of the best dinners my wife ever made, and she is an excellent cook. So simple for such a great meal. My kids are picky, especially my son. They inhaled this meal and asked for more. We will have to make double or triple the recipe from now on. This is going to be a keeper.
I’m so happy to know that you loved it enough to want to leave a review. It really means a lot to me, Tom.
This is so flavorful and delicious! All my family loved it including my teen boys and 8 year-old. I wish I had tripled the recipe because it didn’t last long! A day or two later, I was asked to make it again soon.
Sounds like a winner to me!
Made this for lunch today with about half the sugar. Also added mushrooms and doubled the sauce so we could pour the extra over rice. 😉 It was delicious! Served with sauteed bok choy in oyster sauce. Family ate it all up. Thank you for such an easy yet delicious recipe!
You’re welcome, Alex.
My entire family loved this recipe. Would have liked more sauce though. What in the recipe should be doubled to add twice the sauce?
Sure 🙂
This was easy and delicious! I will make it again and again. Due to the shortage of meat at the store, I used carne asada instead of ground beef. It worked fine as a substitute. Thank you for a great recipe! I added some thinly shaved carrot on the side, with the green onion it was beautifully balanced in color and eye catching.
You’re welcome, Dana.
This is so easy and yummy! Just like you brought home carry out !
So glad you decided to give it a try, Joanne.
This recipe was extremely sweet for our taste buds. It was also too salty for my Hong Kong girlfriend. We didn’t have Mirin so we used the suggested white wine with 1/2 tsp brown sugar. Overall, this dish works very well with white rice, but can be overpowering with other dishes. Next time, I will probably cut the brown sugar and soy sauce in half. Thanks for the recipe! ?
I made this dish tonight and it was delicious. My only comment would be that it says it’s a main dish but is only feeds 3 “regular size” eaters (me and teenage daughter) and husband would have loved seconds but there was only enough to make these 3 plates. I will double it next time now that I know my family loves it. And you’re right very inexpensive and easy and quick to make
I’m so glad you liked it and yes, it’s an easy and inexpensive recipe to double! Happy to hear it made the repeat list 🙂
This is no where near to being Mongolian or Chinese…. this is more Japanese in flavors, since the chinese done use Mirin
I used Shaoxing cooking wine to help with that.
What a great recipe! Everyone in my home loved it. Thanks, Sabrina, for a great recipe.
You’re welcome! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Brilliant! I made this last night for my family and everyone devoured it. I love Mongolian beef but rarely make it because I don’t take the time to buy the proper cut of meat, etc. Using ground meat is such a great idea and I have to say that its very likely that I will only make it this way from now on. Thank you for this great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Lori!
Super easy to make and everyone loved it, I added some shemeji mushroom and it was just perfect! Thank you
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
This was a big hit in my family!!!
Thanks for recipe
You’re welcome Sandy! Glad you all enjoyed it!
What a great dinner option! I love the beef in there!
Thanks Krista!
This looks and sounds incredible!! I can’t wait to try it!!
Thank you Katerina!
Love that you made this with ground beef. Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Dee! I hope you enjoy it!
I made this dish last night, cutting it exactly in half, for my wife and I. I presented it on rice with steamed broccoli just as in the photo. It was very tasty and we both enjoyed it. Very quick recipe to make, Better have your sides ready when you start final steps!
So glad you both enjoyed it!
We loved this recipe. My hubby said to add this to our recipe list. Both of our kids loved it (ages 7 and 10). We put the meat over a rice bed and mixed it up.
It’s so awesome to know that the whole family loved it because I know how hard this can be at times! Love it!!
Love this idea for a more economical way to have Mongolian beef!
Thanks Amanda!
Bring on the beef! This looks so good!
Thank you Amy!