This easy sesame beef stir fry is incredibly flavorful and easy! Serve with authentic ramen noodles, over rice, or in a lettuce cup for a lower carb version!
Chinese takeout is something we all love right? Sesame Beef Stir Fry is a guilty pleasure and takes so little time to arrive to your door! But what if I told you that you could make something every bit as tasty, in just about the same amount of time… and YOU get to control the ingredients? Sounds amazing right?
Sesame Beef Stir Fry
Sesame Beef Stir FryHey guys, it’s Amanda from The Chunky Chef, a recipe blog that focuses on comforting family recipes, and Smart Skinny Recipes. Healthy weight watcher recipes with bold flavors. I’m a self-taught home cook who loves whipping up fabulous comfort food that everyone loves… like this easy beef stir fry!
IS STIR FRY GOOD FOR YOU
In many ways, yes! The tender crisp vegetables actually retain more nutrients by cooking quickly in a wok or skillet than they would if they were boiled. This particular stir fry uses two different kids of oils, but in relatively small amounts, which is much healthier than cooking in a large amount of oil (like most takeout Chinese restaurants do – at least in my area).
WHAT DO YOU PUT IN A STIR FRY
Just about anything you want! The basics of a stir fry are as follows:
- Protein – beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, tofu, etc.
- Vegetables – snow peas, mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, water chestnuts, etc.
- Sauce – broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and oil. Play around with added flavor by adding garlic, ginger, green onions, etc.
WHAT FOOD GOES WITH A STIR FRY
Usually stir fries are served with rice or noodles. But two great healthy options are lettuce cups and cauliflower rice! For this particular beef stir fry recipe, I chose some authentic ramen noodles (not the ones from a packet, which is why they’re not curly).
TIPS FOR MAKING SESAME BEEF STIR FRY
- Slice the flank steak when it’s still partially frozen. This lets you get the slices super thin, with minimal effort!
- Make sure to slice the steak against the grain. When you look at the flank steak, you’ll see thin white lines running across it. By slicing perpendicular to the lines, you make the steak super tender, instead of chewy and tough.
- Prepping ahead is key for a stir fry. Stir fry’s cook SO quickly, the best thing you can do to stay stress-free is to have all the veggies chopped and sauces whisked.
I hope you all give this skinny slow cooker loaded potato soup a try, I’m sure you’ll love it! Hope to see you around The Chunky Chef and Smart Skinny Recipes too!
Looking for more stir fry recipes? Try these!
Ingredients
BEEF MARINADE
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 2 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
STIR FRY
- 1 lb flank steak, thinly sliced
- 1 cup snow peas, sliced in half across
- 1/2 cup sliced carrots
- 8 green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup beef broth
- 2 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1-2 Tbsp honey or light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (for cooking)
Instructions
- Combine marinade ingredients in bowl and add flank steak. Set aside 15 minutes.
- Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in large skillet over MED HIGH heat. Remove excess marinade from steak and cook in a single layer, for 2-3 minutes, stirring to cook both sides. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in batches. Remove steak to plate.
- Heat remaining 1 Tbsp vegetable oil, then add peas, carrots and green onion and cook stirring often, 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk together broth, soy sauce, honey/brown sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, fresh ginger, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes. Add steak and sauce to skillet, stirring to combine. Sauce will thicken.
- Stir in cooked ramen noodles if using, and serve!
Liz Crosby says
thanks so much, a winner at our place!
Erin says
This was to die for. Leftovers taste even better!!
Justin says
Incredible. Followed the recipe exactly except I used sugar snap peas (couldn’t find snow peas in my store) and added sliced mushrooms to the veggie mix. The flavor was outstanding, the beef was some of the most tender I’ve eaten in a while. We ate this over jasmine rice which was excellent. I’m going to make this again as I have more of everything left over and this time going to use ramen noodles as the carb. So glad I found this!
Anita Lynch says
Thank-you for a lovely dinner. My husband and I thought it was delicious. I live in Melbourne Australia and we have just started a six week stage 4 lockdown. I needed some new refreshing cooking ideas so I am not just doing the same stuff. I am having trouble having most takeaways as my body is very sensitive and just can’t handle it, so I need and want to cook. This is my first visit to your site and Im already a fan. Thank-you so much for sharing your passion of cooking and sharing food. Already a fan!
Rachel M says
I just finished this recipe adding more vegetables and some other spices. Thank you so much for this recipe. It was fabulous. Probably a little more time consuming then I would have liked, but well worth it…
Stephen Warren says
Excellent recipe. I messed with the quantities – modified the veg (broccoli, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts instead of snow peas) and doubled the sauce to compensate. Also replaced the red pepper flakes with same quantity of cayenne to add more heat. Served over chow mein noodles fried in beef au jus. Made it two weeks ago and again today, but over Jasmine rice. Thanks for this recipe! It’s a gift that keeps on giving!
Nancy says
Yum! This turned out so good. Thank you for the recipe!
Kim says
Do you have the carb count for
this without any rice or noodles?
Elizabeth Korbut says
Made this dish for dinner tonight, delicious! Added some lime juice but other followed the recipe, will definitely make this again, thanks Karina
Frankie says
Thanks for this. It was a really easy recipe to follow and it turned out awesome. https://i.imgur.com/4pJC5tF.jpg
Morgan says
This is so good! I didnt have Chinese spice so omitted that ingredient. I used the Japanese mixture of veggies in the frozen food section which was perfect and did rice instead of noodles. Definitely will be making this again!
Steph says
Just tried this! Amazing ? made it with jasmine rice instead of noodles and was Sooooo good! Keeping this in my folder
Alison says
Made this for the first time, halved the qty as only 2 people. BIG success! Will definitely be making this again!
I am so pleased to have found this web site, Karina your recipes look easy and tasty, can’t wait to make more of them!
Thank you!
Victoria Won says
Very tasty. I doubled the sauce and added broccoli, celery, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and Napa cabbage, since we don’t eat enough veggies. I also used whole wheat noodles and it was perfect. This will be in our monthly rotation. I found it easier to do all the prep in the AM so it was ready come dinner time.
Kari says
Excellent. Really good. We used vermicelli noodles, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, wine vinegar and cut the Chinese five spice. Next time we are going to double the sauce recipe.
Tay says
I use this all the time ??
Tiina says
Made this tonight. Changed the veggies based on family preference and what I had on hand, and doubled the sauce. Best stir fry/lo mein ever, way better than takeout! Thanks!
Karina says
Hi Tiina,
Very happy to hear that!
Aileren Aul says
I love your recipes they are so easy to follow and they are great tasting . Thank you
Zoe says
What a great recipe! I’m not that great of a cook, but it was easy to follow and turned out great. My family loved it. Quite a bit of prep time though, but it was so worth it. I will definitely be making this again in the future. And for times sake I didn’t the big no-no of adding spaghetti, but it wasn’t too bad—will be using actual authentic noodles next time.
Village Bakery says
Great recipe, Karina! We found this post on Pinterest and knew we had to make it. It came out really, really good!
Trish Day says
Yum! This looks delicious. What kind of ramen noodles did you use?
Karina says
I choose the authentic ramen noodles, not the ones from the bag. That is why they are not curly. Hope that helps and you are able to make this stir fry soon! Thanks so much for following along with me!
Allymae says
I absolutely loved this recipe! It was my first stir fry and I’m still amazed on how delicious it was. I also had it the next day and it tastes just as amazing as the first day! Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!♡♡♡
Karina says
That is great to hear! I am glad that you loved it! Thanks so much for following along with me!
Ivory says
This is amazing. I finally made this dish using your amazing recipe, and it’s yummy. Thank you so much.
Karina says
YAY!! That is great to hear! Thanks so much for following along with me!