Mongolian beef meal prep is a healthier version of everyone’s favorite take out recipe! This Mongolian beef recipe is perfect for a weeknight dinner or a meal prep lunch! Refined-sugar free and easily made gluten-free.
I love it when you guys come up with recipe ideas for me, and I love it even more when you introduce me to new foods!
We do not eat much beef at our house, but after a reader requested some Mongolian Beef meal prep bowls, I was intrigued! I had never actually eaten Mongolian beef!
First, we tried a popular Mongolian Beef recipe. Oh my word, delicious but SO much sugar and SOOOO much oil. I was kind of horrified. I cut the oil way back but it was still a ton of oil for us. The sacrifices made for the sake of recipe testing…ha ha!
Second round, I reduced the oil even more. A LOT MORE. I replaced the sugar with honey and reduced the quantity of sauce. You still get a nice amount of sauce but you only need a 1/4 cup of honey this way. I also added hoisin sauce, because I liked the extra flavor it gave.
And ta-da! Healthier Mongolian beef and it not only is great for a weeknight dinner but re-heats nicely for a meal prep lunch as well!
Don’t forget to pin this recipe to save it for later!
How is Mongolian Beef prepared?
There are three main steps involved in preparing this Mongolian beef recipe.
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- Coat thinly sliced flank steak in cornstarch- for 3/4 lb of flank steak I only needed 1.5-2 tablespoons of cornstarch, as compared to 1/4 cup called for in the original recipe. Working in two batches and using tongs works well for this step.
- Cook your steak- I cut WAY back on the oil, and this recipe is not deep fried. Just a quick sear and transfer it to a clean plate.
- Get saucy- the sauce for this Mongolian Beef consists of honey, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger and garlic. Shake it up, add it to the pan, return the beef to the pan, and cook until it thickens
How to cook Mongolian Beef with vegetables- I simply sauteed the broccoli and zucchini in a bit of oil before cooking the beef. If you are serving immediately, I would add the broccoli to the pan with the beef so that it warms back up, but if you are serving as a meal prep recipe I wouldn’t worry about that.
How to make Mongolian Beef gluten-free- This recipe is almost GF! Simply swap the soy sauce for tamari and the hoisin for a gluten-free brand. Tada!! Gluten-free Mongolian Beef! If you swap the cornstarch for arrowroot powder you’ve even got yourself some paleo Mongolian beef.
Can I make this Mongolian beef low carb? I haven’t tried, but a reader has suggested that you could swap the honey with monk fruit sweetener. You would need to start lower than 1/4 cup (she suggested 1 tablespoon) and adjust to taste. Serve over cauliflower rice and you have yourself some low carb Mongolian beef!
Want to mix this Mongolian beef recipe up? Here are some swaps you could make to make it your own:
- swap the beef for chicken or tofu
- swap the broccoli for carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers, or any stir-fry worthy vegetable
- swap the rice for cauliflower rice, or lettuce and serve as lettuce wraps
Tips to get your perfect healthier Mongolian Beef
- To get nice, thin slices of flank steak, use a good sharp knife. I invested in this knife
earlier in the year and LOVE it! - It’s OK to undercook your veggies as you will be re-heating them in the microwave
- To keep things really easy, I cook my rice in this rice cooker while I’m cooking the Mongolian Beef.
- Looking for more stir fry meal prep recipes? Check out these Honey Sesame Chicken Lunch Bowls, these Healthier Firecracker Chicken Lunch Bowls, or these Vegan Ginger Teriyaki Lunch Bowls
earlier in the year and LOVE it!
while I’m cooking the Mongolian Beef.
Healthier Mongolian Beef Meal Prep
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (reduced sodium)
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger finely chopped
Beef
- 3/4 lb flank steak
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3-4 tablespoons oil
- 1/4 cup green onions sliced
For Lunch Bowls
- 4 cups broccoli chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 3/4 cup uncooked rice (I use basmati)
Instructions
- Shake together all sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch thick slices.
- Working in two batches, toss the steak in the cornstarch and allow it to sit for 10 minutes.
- Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. I preferred my ceramic non-stick pan over a stainless steel skillet.
- Working in 3 batches, cook the beef for 2 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate while you work on the other batches.
- After all the beef is cooked, carefully wipe excess oil from the pan with a paper towel. Pour the sauce into the pan, return the beef and simmer for 1-2 minutes, until thickened.
- Scatter green onions over the beef and enjoy.
Meal Prep
- To serve as a meal prep lunch, cook the broccoli for 5-7 minutes in the pan before cooking the beef.
- Divide the rice, broccoli and Mongolian beef between four 2-cup capacity storage containers.
- Storage- store in the fridge for up to 4 days.Reheat- heat in the microwave until steaming hot.
Fawn
Have you tried freezing the lunch portions and then reheating in microwave once it has thawed out?
Denise
Hi Fawn! I haven’t tried for this particular recipe, but I do think it would freeze well. I find stir fry recipes freeze/thaw great!
mari
how many oz of meat,how many oz of g of broccoli 1/2 CUP OR 1 CUP OF RICE? foo
Denise
Hi Mari, 3/4 lb is 12 oz so roughly 3 oz of beef per serving. I don’t measure my broccoli in oz, but as the recipe says, 1 cup of broccoli florets. Rice: 3/4 cup uncooked which works out to roughly 1/2 cup cooked rice per serving.
Daniel
What can I replace the Hoisin sauce with?
Denise
I originally made it with just soy sauce and it worked pretty well…I found the hoisin added a little extra pizzaz but you could replace it with extra soy sauce 🙂
Julia at Home on 129 Acres
I made this for dinner tonight and it was awesome. Very quick to make and tasty! My husband’s exact words were, “I’m impressed.” I used venison steak (because we have lots on-hand) and a bit of dry ginger in place of fresh. As a new Mom, I appreciate how quickly this came together. Thanks for a great recipe. i will definitely be saving this sauce to use it again.
Denise
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review, Julia! <3