Simple and delicious classic Chinese style easy beef stir fry with bell peppers, onions, spring onions, and savoury umami sauce. One of the best easy stir-fried beef recipes, you can make everything from scratch with cupboard-friendly everyday ingredients. Serve with a bowl of plain rice or noodles.
Stir-fries are our Asian family's staple and are always in our family meal rotations. We love stir fry steak and we've tried so many versions of it. If you love to cook restaurant-quality Chinese beef recipes at home, you must try our Easy Beef Chop Suey and Chinese Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry recipes.
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Why this recipe works
One of our much loved tried and tested, fail-proof beef recipes that anyone can cook at home.
When you cook it at home you can customize the vegetables and sauces to your preference. You can serve the whole family with a minimum budget. Skip the dried crushed chillies if you are cooking for children.
In this recipe, I am sharing our authentic Chinese-style juicy tender beef stir fry with colourful crisp vegetables and homemade delicious sauce. If you follow these simple cooking steps you will be a stir-fry master in no time! I can guarantee that!
What do we need
You will need beef steak, garlic, onion, ginger, a choice of stir fry vegetables, and pantry-staple sauces. Following is a quick guide with step-by-step photos and you can find the detailed measurements on the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
Beef - The secret of tender beef starts with choosing the right steak cut. You don't always have to use the expensive steak cut. It's good to go with rump, sirloin, chuck, ribeye steak, etc.
Garlic & ginger - Add freshly chopped garlic and ginger paste for the best flavour.
Vegetables - I used onions, bell peppers, and spring onions ( green onions ) in this recipe. Feel free to add your choice of stir fry vegetables.
Stir-fry sauce - Oyster sauce, light soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and Chinese cooking rice wine ( Shao Xing ) are essential sauces to make this sauce. I add cornstarch to create a thick and glossy sauce texture.
Crushed chillies - I love to add crushed dried chillies for a kick of heat.
How to cut and marinate beef
Slicing the beef is an important step and you need a well-sharpened knife to slice the beef into thin strips or slices. Make sure you cut the steak against the grain. The purpose of slicing against the grain is to cut through the meat fibres. It creates a very tender beef result and is easy to chew.
Once you've sliced all the beef, add them to a mixing bowl and start the marinating process. Add soy sauce, baking soda, cornstarch, sesame oil, and ginger paste.
Give it a good massage by using your hands and set it aside for at least 15 minutes. If you have more time you can leave it for up to 30 minutes. This process is a Chinese technique of marinating beef and is also known as meat velveting.
How to make this beef stir fry
Prepare the sauce and vegetables:
- Cut the peppers, and onions into thin slices and finely chop the garlic cloves. Cut spring onions into 2" pieces. Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
Stir fry the beef:
- Heat the large wok/pan over medium-high heat and add 3 tbsp of oil and add the marinated beef. Flatten the beef and let it sear for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom part is charred. Then flip the beef and continue to stir fry for another 1-2 minutes or until no longer pink.
- Then add chopped garlic and follow the crushed chillies, onions, and bell peppers.
- Next, pour the sauce into the wok and continue to stir fry for about 1 minute or until the sauce is glossy.
- Add spring onions and make a quick toss. Finish with toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately with plain rice or noodles.
Frequently asked questions
The purpose of adding baking soda to the marinade is to tenderize the beef and it keeps the steak juicy and tender.
This dish goes well with plain jasmine rice, egg fried rice, or plain chow mein noodles. You can also pair it with Tomato Egg Drop Soup, Singapore Fried Rice, or Chicken Siu Mai ( Shumai ) and make it a complete family dinner.
Do not recommend freezing but you can keep leftovers in the fridge in an air-tight container. You can reheat it in the microwave or in a pan until hot.
Overcooking can result in tough stir fry beef. So make sure not to overcook the steak and fry it in a large high-heat wok or skillet. It only takes 2-3 minutes for each side of the beef slices to be cooked. Do not forget the beef slicing and marinating process mentioned above.
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📖 Recipe
Classic Beef Stir Fry
Equipment
- 1 Large Wok Or pan or skillet
Ingredients
Beef & Marinade
- 250 grams Beef steak Rump, chuck, ribeye, sirloin, etc ( About 8.8oz )
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce Or regular all-purpose soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sesame oil Or vegetable oil
- 1 tsp Corn starch or potato starch
- ½ tsp Ginger paste Or grated ginger
- ¼ tsp Baking soda
Sauce Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce or vegetarian stir fry sauce
- 2 tsp Brown sugar or regular white sugar
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce thin soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine Chinese cooking rice wine ( see details in note )
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- ½ tsp Corn starch
Stir Fry Ingredients
- ½ Onion Cut thin slices
- 2-3 cloves Garlic Finely chopped
- ½ tsp Crushed chillies Dried chilli flakes ( optional )
- 1-2 Bell peppers Cut thin slices
- 2-3 Spring onions Cut 2" pieces
- 1-2 tsp Toasted sesame seeds For garnish ( optional )
- 3 tbsp Cooking oil Vegetable oil, sunflower, canola, peanut oil, etc.
Instructions
Prepare the beef and stir fry sauce
- First, cut the steak into thin strips or thin slices against the grain by using a well-sharpened knife.
- Place the beef slices in a bowl and add soy sauce, sesame oil, baking soda, corn starch and ginger paste. Mix everything evenly and massage with your hands. Set it aside and marinate for 15-30 minutes.
- Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
Stir fry the beef
- Heat the large wok/pan over medium high heat and add 3 tbsp of oil and add the marinated beef. Flatten the beef and let it sear for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom part is charred. Then flip the beef and continue stir fry for another 1-2 minutes or until no longer pink.
- Then add chopped garlic and follow by the crushed chillies, onions, and bell peppers.
- Next, pour the sauce in the wok and continue stir fry for about 1 minute or until the sauce is glossy.
- Add spring onions and make a quick toss. Finish with toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately with plain rice or noodles.
Jim Rivera says
Made this tonight for dinner. Omg this was as good if not better than take out. Thanks so much. I would attach a photo but I don't see the option.
Anyway thanks again
Khin says
So happy that you enjoyed it, Jim. You can share photo on my Instagram Or Facebook. Thank you so much for trying it out and sharing the feedback.
O. says
My husband picked out some meat at the grocery store and I had to be a bit creative with using already chopped up steak. This recipe turned out FANTASTIC!! Both him and I loved it. Can't wait to make it again Monday night.
Khin says
Glad to hear it, O. Thanks for trying it out and sharing your feedback.
DianneG says
Thanks for a recipe that my whole family will eat. Delicious! I add extra vegetables like broccoli and carrots, but it’s great either way.
Khin says
Sounds so delicious with broccoli and carrots. So glad that you enjoyed it, DianneG.
Maryann says
Hi can we use rice vinegar in place of cooking wine?
Khin says
Hi Maryann, yes, you can use rice vinegar as a substitute for this recipe. You can also use 0% alcohol halal Mirin ( rice cooking wine ), available in Wai Lin brand.
Sarah Courtice says
Amazing
Julie says
this was really good and easy! Even my picky granddaughter liked it
Khin says
Happy to hear it, Julie. Thank you for trying it out and sharing your feedback.
Holly Stephens says
I made a double batch of sauce,to be sure it wasnt dry,and omitted the cooking wine. This recipe is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS😋😋😋
Khin says
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Holly. Glad that yu enjoyed it.
Sarah says
Hi, I made this last week with 1 lb of meat and it was amazing! However, it was difficult for me to measure everything and equate it to 1 lb. It turned out well but I think I got lucky simply by eyeballing the measurements of everything. Can you please provide recipe (with exact measurements for everything) and for 2 lbs this time (when I increase the serving option, the measurements are still difficult for me to interpret). I hope you can help. I’m new to cooking. Thanks!
Khin says
Hi Sarah, you can tap on the serving size number on the recipe card and slide the bar to increase the portion. All the ingredients including the sauces will increase. 2lb of beef is equivalent to 900 grams beef. Hope this helps.
Imogen Rose says
So yummy! Best stir fry I've ever made. Will absolutely be adding this to the weekly rotation of meals. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
De Ware says
10 Stars I used flank steak, sherry wine and triple the ingredients for a gathering and everyone was please.
Barbara Archer says
Can I use tartaric sauce instead of oyster ?
Khin says
Hi Barbara, for this recipe you can use hoisin sauce or vegetarian stir fry sauce (mushroom sauce) as an oyster sauce substitute. Do not recommend tartar sauce as a substitute.
Alison says
I have just made this lovely beef stir fry tonight. Using your marinade for the beef made it the tenderest beef stir fry I have ever made. it was delicious! A great hit with the family!
Khin says
So glad that you enjoyed it, Alison. Thanks for trying it out and sharing your feedback.
corrine says
comes out good:)
Khin says
Thank you for trying it out. Glad that you enjoyed it, Corrine.
Peter says
Super tasty and quick and easy…!
Khin says
Thanks, Peter. Glad that you enjoyed it.
Lisa Hutton says
Just made for dinner, didn't have rice wine so used rice vinegar. Really flaversome 😁
Khin says
Glad that you enjoyed it, lisa.
E Scott says
Delicious flavors that marry well to make a fiesta in the mouth even if cooking sherry is substituted for Chinese wine and sesame seeds omitted.
Used chuck eye steak that is easily sliced when mostly frozen.
Also stir-fried the scallions in the sauce to warm them up before dressing the dish.
Khin says
So glad that you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback.