PF Chang’s Mongolian Beef Copycat Recipe
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This copycat recipe is so easy to make in 30 min or less (start to finish) and tastes 100x better!
Let’s just say this isn’t any kind of Mongolian beef dish here. It’s almost an exact replica of PF Chang’s, a takeout favorite. With thinly sliced, crisp-tender beef swimming in that oh-so-heavenly garlicky, sweet/savory sauce.
It is incredibly easy to make right at home in 30 minutes or less start to finish, and it tastes so much better than the restaurant-version, mainly because you get to control your salt and sugar content.
Plus, the leftovers are even better for lunch the very next day.
PF Chang’s Mongolian Beef Copycat Recipe
This copycat recipe is so easy to make in 30 min or less (start to finish) and tastes 100x better!
Ingredients
- 1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced across the grain
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
for the soy sauce mixture
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine flank steak and cornstarch.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet. Working in batches, add beef and fry until browned and cooked through, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; discard excess oil.
- Add beef and soy sauce mixture to the skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in green onions.
- Serve immediately, garnished with sesame seeds, if desired.
for the soy sauce mixture
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and vegetable oil. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Set aside.
Did you make this recipe?
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My family loves this recipe! It is one of our favorites!! Because of low sodium soy sauce, I believe that it tastes better than when ordered in the restaurant. I serve this rice cooked with a can of coconut milk combined with beef stock. To make this a one dish meal, I blanch broccoli and toss it in the pan when adding the sauce to the meat.
Oh my goodness this is BETTER than restaurant quality!! I’ll never order Mongolian Beef when I’m out again–nothing else compares. My only note is that it did seem to need a LOT more cornstarch than the recipe called for to adequately coat the beef strips (maybe 3/4-1 cup total). I wasn’t having luck with the bowl method, either. For me, the best method to coat the beef evenly was to put a good bit of cornstarch in a paper bag. Adding the beef in batches, just shake to coat. Replenish corn starch in bag as needed. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe for this delicious dish!
Excellent recipe, thank you so much . I always wanted to cook it at home since it’s my favorite Chinese dish . Since we are from the Middle East, I added pomegranate molasses to the sauces and reduced the sugar amount, it was great .
My family loves this meal! The only change I make is to use flatiron steak. Thanks so much for a terrific recipe!!
I made this tonight following the recipe exactly and it was amazing! I don’t mind a sweet sauce and found it was perfect! Have to write a review on the orange chicken which was amazing as well! I highly recommend this dish!
I absolutely loved this dish. I added some some broccoli and mushrooms before adding the beef back in with the sauce and it turned out amazing. Very easy and quick to make. Thank you for a great recipe.
Everyone loves it! I serve it over white rice! It is great leftover
So yummy and a great change from our normal dinner. This is a keeper and we are so happy we tried it. This recipe was easy!
This was definitely a hit for my family! I didn’t have corn starch. I just used flour and thinly sliced beef. It was delicious and we will definitely be saving this recipe!
Excellent recipe. It was done by my young son and came out absolutely delicious .
Excellent recipe. It was done by my young son and came outabsolutely delicious .
This was so beyond fabulous! I am still dreaming of it two days later. I made a second, veggie version for my husband with Seitan, and he was over the moon, too!
Amazing and so easy!! Due to what I had on hand… I used strip steak rather than flank, coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, used grated ginger instead of fresh and tossed in some sautéed red bell peppers at the end. What a hit! Thank you thank you thank you!
Sooo delicious, whole family (even my picky eater) enjoyed and will definitely be making again!!
For those saying it’s too salty: be sure you’re using the low sodium soy sauce! That’s all I ever use and I don’t add any salt to the rice being served with this or any other recipe using soy sauce.
Wow – copycat recipes are rarely this spot on! This was delicious, and my whole family loved it. Thank you for a much less expensive way to enjoy P. F. Chang’s at home!
The recipe is really eat and straight forward but it was too sweet for my preference. I also added twice the amount of gree onions and loved that aspect.
I just made this with thin chicken breast. I am still dancing around my kitchen because it was so delicious! I never quite get Chinese food at home right but this was AH-MAZING and so easy. Every single recipe of yours turns out perfectly. Thank you again for another successful recipe!
Amazing recipe! I’ve made it out of venison twice now and it is picky-eater approved! I’d like to make this in a large batch for a church pot luck. Any suggestions on how to go about doing that? I was thinking brown the meat, make the sauce, then combine and keep hot in a crock pot. Does that sound feasible?
Wow! I realize I’m a bit late to the party because I see this recipe was posted YEARS ago! But all I can say is “wow”. I made it tonight for dinner for my husband and myself and it was just so very delicious. I used venison loin cut into thin strips. My husband walked into the house and smelled the sauce simmering and said how yummy it smelled. I cooked brown rice and broccoli to serve with it. I will certainly be making it again. And I will probably change it us a bit…using beef, pork or chicken at times. I’m hooked on your recipes now! Hopefully I can find this “orange chicken” everyone is talking about here. 🙂
Can I give this ten stars? Just made it for dinner (currently eating). This is SO good! It doesn’t taste identical to PF Chang’s, but it tastes much better! I love being able to control the amount of sugar and the calories overall, unlike at the restaurant. I can’t recommend this recipe enough – it’s taking more willpower than you can imagine not to eat the leftovers right now!
While I liked the flavors, the sauce was far too sweet for my preference and from what I remember the P.F. Chang’s Mongolian beef tastes like. I will make it again though, and halve the sugar. When I made it and it was too sweet, I added some rice vinegar to balance the flavors a bit more. I may try that again since it added another layer of flavor.