Mongolian beef is a very mysterious recipe that came to us from China. You’ve probably seen it in Asian restaurants, especially Chinese takeaways.
The name of this recipe might make you think it’s from Mongolia – a country in East Asia, but no, it’s not a Mongolian recipe. It’s a delicious and popular dish in the Chinese and Taiwanese cuisines.
Usually, this dish consists of stir-fried flank steak slices with vegetables in a sweet sauce. The sauce is usually a combination of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, brown sugar and chili peppers. The dish is often served with steamed rice or noodles.
As you can see, many of these ingredients are not keto-friendly as they contain added sugars, gluten, and too many carbs. However, with a few simple ingredient swaps, you can still enjoy Mongilian Beef on a keto diet without sacrificing flavor.
We recommend serving the beef with a low-carb vegetable of your choice, such as sauteed spinach or steamed broccoli, instead of noodles or pasta.
Ginger is another spice used in this recipe that is commonly used in various Asian meals. It’s full of vitamins, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects so your meat not only wakes your taste buds up but also keeps you keto-healthy.
We use xanthan gum to thicken the sauce as a substitute for cornstarch. You can also use guar gum.
To make the sauce as sweet as the regular recipe, we add some erythritol. You can add your choice of keto sweetener, such as monk fruit, or feel free to not use any sweetener if you don’t like it sweet.
Let’s Do It!
Making the sauce: Add olive oil in a hot pan then add garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds. Add coconut aminos (or soy sauce if not strict keto), water, sweetener, and red pepper flakes in. Simmer for 3-4 minutes then remove from the stove and set aside.
Prepare and cook beef: Slice beef into finger-size strips then add in a zip bag (or a bowl) with xanthan gum and mix well. This will help thicken the dish.
In a frying pan, add olive oil in then stir-fry the beef until it becomes brown.
Add the sauce along with salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Make sure you stir constantly to avoid burning the meat.
Top with sliced scallions. Serve with steamed broccoli or cauliflower rice.
Related:
Keto Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 1 lb flank steak sliced into bite-size stripes
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup So Nourished Erythritol
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1-2 tsp xanthan gum to thicken the sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 scallion sliced (for topping)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat half of olive oil, add minced garlic and grated ginger, and fry for 30 seconds. Add water, coconut aminos, erythritol, red pepper flakes, and simmer on high for 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- Add xanthan gum and beef strips to a zip bag and toss well.
- In a frying pan, heat the other half of olive oil until hot. Add beef strips and stir until they begin to get brown. Set aside.
- Heat a clean pan over medium heat (or use the same pan with beef if you want to), add the beef and prepared sauce, a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for another minute stirring constantly.
- Divide between plates and garnish with sliced scallions. The beef can be served in a bowl of some steamed broccoli florets or cauliflower rice or any other side dish of your choice.
