Beef Stir Fry is loaded with mushrooms, zucchini, and bell peppers. The easy 3-ingredient beef stir fry sauce adds amazing Asian BBQ flavor. Serve this with a side of steamy white rice and you’ll satisfy any craving for takeout.
Just like Chicken Stir Fry, or Shrimp Fried Rice, this is a one-pan, easy dinner that is better than going out.
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Beef Stir Fry Recipe
Stir fry is the ultimate quick dinner. This recipe is cooked in just 20 minutes. High-heat cooking results in tender and juicy beef caramelized with the beef stir fry sauce. This recipe moves fast so be sure to have all of your ingredients sliced up and ready to go before you fire up the stove.
I learned how to make this recipe on a blogging retreat hosted by Camp Chef. One of their chefs was cooking for everyone Hibachi style and when I inquired about the sauce, he didn’t hesitate to share it with me. It shocked me that it could be so simple with just 3 ingredients, but so tasty! I couldn’t wait to recreate this easy recipe in my backyard. I have since used a variation for this sauce to make a Ground Beef Stir Fry, and it worked amazingly well.
What Kind of Beef is Used for Stir Fry?
Good news: you don’t need the most expensive cut of beef for tender beef stir fry. Top sirloin is our favorite beef for stir fry because it is relatively inexpensive and produces juicy results). These are generally the best beef cuts for stir fry:
- Top Sirloin Steak (or go-to)
- Chuck Steak
- Ribeye
- Tri-tip
- Flank Steak
How do you Ensure Tender Beef?
The right cut (see recommendations above) is critical. Also, be sure to:
- Thinly Slice your beef
- Cut steak against the grain
- Sear over high heat (sealing in the juices)
- Don’t crowd the pan which cools the pan quickly and results in chewy beef
The Best Beef Stir Fry Sauce
A great stir fry is all in the sauce (which is why our Beef and Broccoli is so popular)! The ingredients for this beef stir fry sauce will surprise you and you probably already have them in the refrigerator. The combination is sweet, savory and smoky. It caramelizes on the beef for a tantalizing Asian BBQ flavor.
Keep in mind if you use a sweet BBQ sauce, the sauce will be considerably sweeter which is why we opted to use an original BBQ sauce. Also, use Tamari soy sauce to make this a gluten-free beef stir fry!
Which Vegetables are Best for Stir Fry?
You can change up the vegetables for variety or to use up what you have on hand. Veggies are important for bulking up a stir fry and making it a meal in one pan. The best vegetables for stir fry cook fast when thinly sliced. You can substitute with any of these:
- Bell Peppers
- Mushrooms
- Zucchini (green or yellow squash)
- Snap peas
- Carrots (sliced into matchsticks)
- Onion
- Asparagus
- Broccoli cut into florets
How to Make Stir-Fry Sauce
1. Stir together 3 Tbsp BBQ sauce, 3 Tbsp real maple syrup and 2 Tbsp soy sauce. Set aside.
How to Make Beef Stir Fry
1. Heat a large heavy pan or wok over high heat with 1 Tbsp oil. Add thinly sliced beef to the hot pan in a single layer and sauté undisturbed 2-3 mins. Stir and sauté 2 min or until nearly cooked through. Season lightly with salt and pepper, add ginger and garlic and sauté 1 minute.
2. Drizzle beef with sauce to taste (I added 5 Tbsp) and stir-fry another 1 min or until fully cooked through. Remove beef to a plate and cover to keep warm. Wipe the pan clean with a damp paper towel.
3. Place the same pan over high heat and add 1 Tbsp oil. Once hot, add mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper and stir fry until golden (5 min) then remove mushrooms to the plate with beef.
4. Add 1 Tbsp oil, sliced onion and vegetables and stir fry 8 minutes or until softened and golden.
5. Combine vegetables with beef and mushrooms, drizzle in more sauce to taste (I added another 2 Tbsp) and stir fry just until hot.
Which Oil is Best for Stir Fry?
Since you are cooking over high heat, use an oil with a high smoke point. Our favorite is extra light olive oil (we use it for everything from baking to stir-fries because it is neutral in flavor and has a high smoke point). Other good options include canola oil, grape-seed oil, avocado oil or peanut oil.
You’ll find this Beef Stir Fry recipe on your list of recipes to repeat. It’s especially fun to cook it over a flat cooktop outdoors, Hibachi style!
More Asian Copycat Recipes
We love to recreate our favorite restaurant copycat recipes because it is so easy to make them at home and is often healthier. From Fresh Spring Rolls to crispy Egg Rolls and all kinds of stir-fry recipes, I hope you find some new favorites here.
- Kung Pao Chicken
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Vegetable Stir Fry
- Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Chicken Chow Mein
- Teriyaki Meatballs
Easy Beef Stir-Fry Recipe with 3 Ingredient Sauce
Ingredients
Ingredients for Beef Stir-Fry:
- 1 lb Top sirloin steak, thinly sliced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 medium yellow zucchini, sliced on the diagonal
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1/2 lb mushrooms, thin sliced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
- 1/2 Tbsp sesame seeds, for garnish
- 3 Tbsp Oil to Saute, *
Ingredients for Asian BBQ Sauce:
- 3 Tbsp original BBQ Sauce, we used Stubbs brand
- 3 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce, we used Tamari brand – gluten free
Instructions
- Stir together the 3 sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat a large heavy pan or wok over high heat and add 1 Tbsp oil. When oil is hot, add beef in a single layer and sautee undisturbed 2-3 mins. Stir and sautee another 2 min or until nearly cooked through. Season lightly with salt and pepper, add ginger and garlic and sautee 1 min.
- Drizzle beef with sauce to taste (I added 5 Tbsp) and stir-fry another 1 min or until beef is fully cooked through. Remove beef to a plate and cover to keep warm. Wipe pan clean with a paper towel.
- Place clean pan over high heat and add 1 Tbsp oil. Once oil is hot, add mushrooms, season lightly with s & p and stir fry until golden (5 min). Transfer mushrooms to the plate with beef.
- Add 1 Tbsp oil along with sliced onion and veggies and stir fry about 8 min or until soft and golden.
- Combine vegetables with beef and mushrooms, drizzle in more sauce to taste (I used another 2 Tbsp) and stir fry just until hot. Serve over steamy white rice.
Notes
This recipe also works well with pork strip loin or tenderloin.
*Use a high smoke-point oil such as: extra light olive oil, avocado oil, canola.
Nutrition Per Serving
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This is the BEST stir fry! Sooo much flavor and so simple to make! I can never get tired of it!
Great! I am so glad to hear you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Hi! How do you go about choosing a type of beef for your dishes? When i go to a store to buy beef i get confused about the different parts of it and what they are best for.
I’m the same way – I try to look up recipes online to see what cuts are recommended and if 2 out of 3 mention a specific cut, that’s the one I go for! If I didn’t figure it out before going to the store, I’ll stand with my phone and be googling. 🙂 I do lots of research before I post a recipe and not just research but testing. Some cuts are better for certain dishes because they are marbled. For this one, because it’s thinly sliced against the grain, it’s ok if the steak isn’t super marbled so a chuck steak or a sirloin would work great. You could also use a flank steak – it’s my favorite for stir fry’s but it is a bit spendy compared to the other 2. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much for the detailed reply!
My pleasure Alena! 🙂
Frank steak is the best for stir fry.
Did u cook your beef all at once? I had to cook it in 3 batches because it would steam and not sear if I put it all in the pan.
Lena, my pan is large enough to accommodate 1 pound of beef. If you are using smaller pans, I would recommend using two pans or cook it batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.
Made this for dinner last night.. the barbecue flavor was way to overpowering for us but I used sweet baby rays BBQ so maybe that’s why? I ended up adding more soy sauce and also some sesame seeds oil to give it more of an Asian flavor. Was very tasty.
Hi Valentina, yes if you use a sweet BBQ sauce, it definitely makes the recipe more sweet which is why I recommend using an original bbq sauce. I’ve actually tried a sweet one before and also had to add more soy sauce to balance it. I’m glad you liked it 🙂
I made this tonight and everybody loved it. Will do it again next week.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Doubled on the garlic and ginger to my preference! Delicious! Will definitely rotate with the other stir fry u have . 😋
Tonya, I’m glad you enjoyed it, thank you for the wonderful review. It’s always so nice to hear from you 😁.
Hello Natasha,
I’m from Bangladesh. I like your each and every recipes. I tried it last night. It was yummy. Thanks a lot for this lovely recipe.
You are very welcome Nishat and thank you for the great review 😀.
OH MY! I made this dish last night for dinner, and it turned out amazing!! The meat was not rubbery, and was almost melting in my mouth! Im sure I can also do this recipe with chicken!! Thank you Natasha!!
Zhanna, thank you for such a nice review on the recipe and you are very welcome 😀.
I made this tonight, followed every step but meat turned out rubbery :(. maybe it needs to marinade before its cooked..?
Olga, what kind of meat did you use and was the meat cooked over high heat to sear in the juices? Also its very important to slice the meat as thinly as possible against the grain. A thinned sliced beef cooked over high heat will be cooked very quickly. Overcooked beef will be hard to chew.
I am drooling over this one! I love stir-fry, beef, pork, shrimp…anything stir-fry! And yes, definitely eat it with rice. Rice is a staple in the Philippines as potatoes are in the US. My hubby once told me that he’s never had this much rice all his life lol! Anyways, will definitely try this! 😉
I bet you have some creative recipes for rice! 🙂
We really don’t have much rice recipes except variations for fried rice, porridge, steamed rice. However, some of the rice recipes are the sweet delicacies which involves using sweet sticky rice. I will share to you some of them when I get around to making them. I’m planning to make some around 1st wk of Nov since those delicacies are popular there during that time because it’s like our memorial day Nov. 1-2. 😊
That sounds great! Thank you Sheila! 🙂
Hi – I plan to make the beef stir fry. What kind of oil do you recommend using for the beef?
Hi Jessica, I totally missed that little detail in the post. Sorry about that! I’ve updated 🙂 Pick an oil with a high smoke; extra light olive oil (the one we use), avocado oil, canola, etc.
Glamping – the only way I’d consider camping lol. This stir fry looks so good. I’m always a fan of super simple, I have to say! Your photos are mouthwatering 🙂
Thank you Natasha and your photos are mouthwatering as well 😀!
Hi! Natasha.I want to try this but i dont have maple syrup.what can i substitute to it?
Hi Gretchen, it will alter the flavors a little bit but honey would be a good substitute.
Thank you very much Natasha! Tomorrow I’ll try it! 😊😊😊
Hi Natasha, its looks so delicates and very colorful. I will do it some day. We love veggies with meat…. You are really chef and good cook!!!!! Blesings to you and family.
Thank you so much Nina!! 🙂
Thanks! I simmer by adding water,is that what you do? My favorite meat is chicken and pork,but my husband started to like beef,so trying to cook this thing right way. God bless you!! Thanks for the wonderful recipes.:-)
I wouldn’t simmer beef in water. Simmering it in water will dry it out. Are you following a recipe that is telling you to do that? I’m curious! 🙂
Title is misleading. Definitely not a three ingredient sauce 🙂
Hi Mary, I’m not sure what you mean. There are only 3 ingredients in the sauce:
3 Tbsp original BBQ Sauce
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
The BBQ sauce alone has at least 5 ingredients😉 That’s what I meant
Hi Mary, true! But I figured most people have BBQ sauce in their fridge. I think folks would run away if I added another 10 ingredients to make your own, but you definitely can if you like. We love practical shortcuts and it works really well! 🙂
DUH!!!!! so specific. i am sure you are counting every strip and every weight you put in our body.
Hi Natasha,
My husband is allergic to bell peppers. Do you have any idea of substitute ?
Thanks
Hi Maria, you could just double the zucchini or add broccoli or snap peas. It’s pretty easy to substitute and get creative with different vegetables 🙂 I hope you love it!
yuuummmm:):) on my list!! will try to make it tonight, thank you for your hard work. And beautiful pictures by the way 🙂 you guys do an amazing job, love your web site.
Just on a side note: I will be searching and searching on different web sites for new recipies and then at the end I just end up going to your site and picking out something easy and fast :):) lol and I know I’m not the only ones who says that, so keep on doing what your doing because your good at it 🙂 thnx again for your hard work.
Alena, I’m so happy to hear that our blog is a blessing to your family. Thank you so much for sharing that with us 😀.
I do that, too. Natasha’s recipes are AMAZING!
My goodness looks so good!! It’s going on my cooking list! 😊😜 Thank you for the recipe ❤️
You are welcome Natasha, let me know how it turns out 😀.
Good evening,Natasha. This looks good. How long do u cook your beef? I fry it first,then I simmer it for about 3 hrs. and the meat is still chewy,I cook it again for some time? Why, is it cause we bought the meat from the farm. Do u think that’s why? I’m not to good of preping out of beef.
Hi Olga, it really depends on the cut of beef and the cooking method. Beef in a slow cooker works best when it’s on low for eight hours. In a stirfry like this one, if you slice the meat very very thin against the grain, it will be easy to chew even though it is cooked quickly. Also, in a stirfry, it is important to cook the beef over high heat to see her in the juices. You don’t want to cook beef two lawn with the stirfry like this one or it will become chewy. When you say that you simmer beef for three hours, are you simmering it in some sort of liquid or sauce and are you using something like a Dutch oven with the lid to seal in moisture? There are so many variables when it comes to beef, I hope that answer helps somewhat.