Beef Stir Fry With Vegetables

Stir fry is easy to make once you learn the basics. Start with this delicious beef stir fry with vegetables and you’ll gain confidence quickly.

Making stir fry is something I think every cook should know how to do. Why?

• Easy: Once you know the basics, making a stir fry is easy.
• Fast: Everything cooks very quickly in a stir fry, making it a perfect choice for weeknight dinner. The veggies and the sauce can be prepped ahead of time.
• Healthy: Lean protein + tons of veggies + rice = balanced and healthy meal. Choose brown rice if you can resist the sweet fragrance of jasmine rice. Stir fries can be served with noodles, too. For something different, try coconut rice. Classic white rice always works, too.
• Versatile: You can use up any veggies in your fridge with any kind of meat you have on hand. 

Once you know the basic formula, it is so easy to throw together a quick stir-fry. Easy as pie. Or, easy as stir fry? ‘Cause pie is hard to make. Easy to eat though.

Looking for more Chinese restaurant favorites? Try air fryer egg rolls or air fryer crab Rangoon. Try making your own orange chicken or bourbon chicken. These spicy Asian chicken wings are finger-lickin’ good.

What You’ll Need For a Stir Fry

Protein

• Beef: Use a lean cut such as flank steak. Cut against the grain. This recipe calls for beef but any protein can easily be substituted.
• Chicken: Boneless dark meat or white meat, cut into bite-sized pieces, thinly sliced, or even ground meat.
• Pork: thinly sliced or ground. Try egg roll in a bowl, a variation of a stir fry, that is made with ground pork or chicken.
• Shrimp: Use fresh or frozen shrimp (thawed).
• Crispy tofu: For crispy cubes, try air fryer tofu or all purpose baked tofu. Either method is easy to make and can be done ahead of time.

Vegetables

The possibilities for vegetables really are endless. Here’s a list of some of the most popular vegetables used for stir fries: carrots, broccoli, onions (yellow, red, green onions), sugar snap peas or snow peas, green beans, celery, mushrooms, cauliflower, kale (thinly shredded), bean sprouts, eggplant, and so on.

Sauce

This recipe includes a tangy brown sauce made with soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, and ginger. Sauces are pretty much interchangeable in stir fry recipes so don’t be afraid to mix and match sauces.

Enhance the flavor of your stir fry and/or sauce by adding grated ginger or minced garlic. To make your stir fry spicy, add red pepper flakes to taste.

Cornstarch is essential to thicken the sauce so that the sauce really coats everything. Arrowroot starch is a good gluten-free alternative.

If you’re in a hurry or are a beginner, buy your favorite pre-made sauce from the store. I prefer homemade but there are lots of great options on the store shelves.

How To Make This Stir Fry

After perusing the above list, I bet you’re coming up with ideas for all sorts of fantastic stir fries. I’d encourage you to try this recipe; I modestly think it’s the best beef stir fry. There are more of my stir fry recipes listed below.

Prep all the ingredients: Begin by prepping and assembling all the ingredients you’ll need. It’s important to have everything ready before you turn the pan on. Once you begin cooking your stir fry, things proceed at a rapid pace.

Start cooking the rice. If you want to serve rice, get that started right away. Don’t worry if the rice happens to get done before your stir fry does. Leave the cover on the pan and let it steam. It will be perfectly fine.

Stir up the sauce. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the sauce ingredients: soy sauce, dark brown sugar, rice vinegar, fresh ginger (grated), red pepper flakes, minced garlic, and cornstarch. Set that aside for now.

Slice the beef. Slice the beef thinly against the grain. In a medium sized bowl, mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with salt and pepper. Add the beef slices and toss until the beef is coated with the cornstarch mixture. This little trick helps seal in the juices and gives the meat a crisp brown exterior. Set the meat aside while you prep the vegetables.

Cut up the veggies. Peel and slice the carrots and onion. Wash the broccoli and cut it into bite size florets. Wash and trim the peas, removing any tough strings. If you are garnishing with green onions, prep those too.

Stir fry the meat: Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. When it’s hot, add a tablespoon of oil. I usually use olive oil but avocado, sesame, peanut, or grapeseed oils are good choices too. Add the beef to the pan. Cook, stirring the beef frequently, until it’s done, about five minutes. Dump the meat out of the pan into a bowl or on a plate.

Stir fry the onions and carrots: Put the pan back on the heat, and add the onions and carrots. They should sizzle when they hit the pan.

Stir fry broccoli: Stir fry them for just a couple of minutes; then add the broccoli. Again, you should see some sizzle! If you don’t, turn up the heat or wait a bit longer before adding anything else. Stir fry the broccoli for a few minutes.

Add the sauce: Give the sauce a quick stir to make sure the cornstarch hasn’t settled to the bottom. Add the sauce to the pan, stirring constantly, along with the peas and the beef, and any accumulated juices.

The sauce will cook very quickly. It will bubble and turn clear in just a minute or two.

Serve: Your stir fry is ready to serve! Wasn’t that fast? Serve the beef and vegetables over a mound of steaming jasmine rice. Sprinkle sliced green onions on top for a garnish.

FAQs

Tips For A Successful Stir Fry

• Preparation: Make sure everything is prepped, and ready to go before you turn your pan on. Stir fry moves quickly so you’ll want to have everything ready. That includes your sauce ingredients.
• Preheat: Have your pan sizzling hot! Keep the heat high so that every ingredient gets cooked at a high temperature.
• Plan: Cook items with similar cooking times together; don’t throw everything in the pan all at once. For example, in this recipe, I start with the beef and remove it when it’s cooked, then I add the carrots and onions, which take a little longer to cook, then the broccoli, stir the quick-cooking peas, and the beef in at the very end.

Make-Ahead Ideas

Prep your vegetables and meat up to a day ahead and store in covered bowls or zip top bags. Remember to keep the vegetables separated according to when you’ll add them to the stir-fry, i.e. longer cooking vegetables together, fast cooking vegetables together. Stir together the sauce ingredients up to a day ahead and store in the refrigerator.

Storage & Reheating Tips

Refrigerate: Promptly refrigerate leftover stir fry in a covered container. It will keep for three to four days. I find it’s works better to store the stir fry with the leftover rice and reheat them together.

Freeze: Stir fry can be frozen in a freezer safe container or bag for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the fridge for best results.

Reheat: Microwave individual portions until heated through. Try not to overheat the mixture. If you have a larger amount, reheat mixture in a skillet over medium heat.

More Stir-Fry Recipes

• Sweet chili chicken stir-fry
• Chicken stir fry with ginger and basil
• Sweet and sour chicken stir fry
• Shrimp and vegetable stir fry with lemon and garlic
• Sesame beef and vegetables
• Shrimp and broccoli stir fry
• Egg roll in a bowl — a different type of stir fry!

Interested in a weekly meal plan (it’s free!) that includes this stir fry recipe? Take a look at my Meal Plan (#4) or Meal Plan (#12). You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week!

We’ll be adding a new meal plan weekly. If you’re interested, browse all of our meal plans.