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Homemade Beef Stir Fry, made with thinly sliced steak, loaded with tons of fresh vegetables, and smothered in the most tasty sauce, is a quick and easy dinner. This recipes is best cooked in a wok but you can easily use a skillet. One this is for sure – your family will love this recipe!

If you love this recipe but want something more simple, you have to try my Beef and Broccoli recipe.

Beef Stir Fry recipe with rice
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Why this recipe works:

Steak Stir Fry is one of my family’s favorite wok recipes. It has everything you want in a dinner – protein, loads of veggies, and great flavor!

  • The steak is cut thin and seared. This makes every bite fork tender.
  • This stir fry recipe uses tons of fresh, flavorful, vibrant vegetables.
  • The sauce only uses two ingredients and couldn’t be more simple and flavorful!
  • Because this stir fry is cooked over high heat, it is a quick and easy dinner.

Equipment needed to make stir fry:

  • Wok pan – Traditional wok pans work best on a gas stove over a flame. I have an induction cook top so I had to buy an electric wok. I love it. I have since purchased a non-stick Scanpan wok that works fantastic with induction heat. The beauty of a wok is that the heat goes all the way up the side walls. This is what creates that super fast and quick cooking.
  • Sauté pan – Wok cooking is perfect for stir fry recipes because you want your meat and vegetables to be just cooked enough but also to get a really nice sear on them. If you don’t have a wok, you can use a basic sauté pan instead. Just be sure to not overcrowd the pan at an time.
  • Utensils to toss the food in the wok. I prefer wooden or bamboo spoons that are strong and can handle the high heat without transferring any taste or flavor to the food.
  • High quality knife and cutting board – lots of chopping and slicing!

Here’s how to make it:

Ensure meat and all vegetables are cut prior to cooking.

  1. Heat vegetable oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat. When oil is near it’s smoking point, cook and stir beef until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. It will continue cooking later, so it doesn’t need to be fully cooked at this point. You just want a nice sear on it. Transfer the meat to a separate plate.
  2. Add broccoli, bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, and green onion to the center of the wok. Cook and stir vegetables for 2 minutes.
  3. Add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes and stir well.
  4. Add beef into vegetables and season with soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame seeds. Continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender, about 2 more minutes.
step by step process photos of how to make beef stir fry

Cooking tips for best results:

  • Throughout entire recipe, do not overcrowd your wok. You’re better off cooking in small batches, setting aside, and combining everything at the end. You want everything to have a nice sear on it but not be soggy and overly cooked.
  • Ensure meat and all vegetables are cut prior to cooking.
  • Slice the meat and vegetables thin and bite sized.
top view of Beef Stir Fry with vegetables in wok with wooden spoons

Best steak for stir fry:

The best cut of steak for stir fry is something that is lean but still marbled with fat to make it tender. I prefer to use a sirloin steak because it is less expensive than a premium steak, but when sliced thin and cooked fast, produces flavorful and tender bites.

Other great options include ribeye, ranch steak, top round steak, or flank steak.

The trick to tender meat:

There are many ways you can make meat tender. One method is to pound it flat with a meat tenderizer. You can also marinate it so that the tissue breaks down a bit during the cooking process.

In order to make this recipe quick and easy, the only thing I did to ensure really tender meat was to slice it very thin against the grain.

Pro tip: A simple trick to make your slicing easier is to have your meat partially frozen. It needs to be thawed enough to easily get the knife through, but cold enough to hold up against the knife, thus making it easy to slice.

Beef Stir Fry with broccoli, zucchini, peppers

Stir fry sauce:

The secret ingredient: Fish sauce.

I know some people have been cooking with fish sauce their entire lives, but it’s newly adapted in our family. It truly does enhance the flavor of Asian dishes. Give it a try!

The only other ingredient in my stir fry sauce is soy sauce.

raw vegetables on cutting board for Beef Stir Fry recipe

Best vegetables for stir fry:

Always use fresh vegetables when cooking stir fry. Frozen vegetables never work as well. For my recipe, I used:

  • Broccoli – If buying broccoli crowns, look for tight bright green crowns and chop into bite sized pieces. If buying pre-cut bagged broccoli, trim the bottoms.
  • Red Bell Pepper – Stem and seeds removed and sliced thin.
  • Carrots – Peeled and sliced into thin sticks. These are easiest to grab with a fork or chopsticks.
  • Zucchini – Leave the peel on and slice into small sticks.
  • Green Onions – I sliced these thin but you can also chop into 1-inch pieces
  • Garlic and Ginger – These need to be minced. You can use fresh or buy frozen cubes (my preference)

Other vegetables used in stir fry could include: Sugar snap peas, other varieties of bell pepper, mushrooms, or baby corn. Water chestnuts and chopped peanuts can also be added for additional flavor and crunch.

Beef Stir Fry in bowl with rice

Other Asian dinner recipes:

My entire family loves all of these tasty and easy dinner recipes, and I’m confident you will too!

Beef stir fry recipe video below!

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Beef Stir Fry

Prep10 minutes
Cook15 minutes
Total25 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Beef stir fry, loaded with tons of fresh vegetables and a tasty sauce, is a quick and easy dinner best cooked in a wok that your family will love.

Video

Equipment

Ingredients 

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil or other high heat oil
  • 1 pound beef sirloin cut into thin strips, see note
  • 2 cups broccoli fresh florets
  • 1 red bell pepper cut into thin strips
  • 2 large carrots peeled and cut into thin strips
  • 1 small zucchini thinly sliced
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp garlic minced
  • 1/2 tsp ginger freshly grated
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds toasted
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Instructions 

  • Ensure meat and all vegetables are cut prior to cooking.
    raw vegetables on cutting board for Beef Stir Fry recipe
  • Heat vegetable oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat. When oil is near it's smoking point, cook and stir beef until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. It will continue cooking later, so it doesn't need to be fully cooked at this point. You just want a nice sear on it.
  • Transfer beef to a plate. Add broccoli, bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, and green onion to the center of the wok. Cook and stir vegetables for 2 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes and stir well.
    Beef Stir Fry cooked vegetables
  • Add beef into vegetables and season with soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame seeds. Continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender, about 2 more minutes.
    Beef Stir Fry in wok
  • Serve hot over rice or noodles.

Notes

Slicing meat that is partially frozen or very cold is easiest. Slice against the grain to get the most tender bite.
Cooking tip: Throughout entire recipe, do not overcrowd your wok. You’re better off cooking in small batches, setting aside, and combining everything at the end. You want everything to have a nice sear on it but not be soggy and overly cooked.

Nutrition

Calories: 279kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 28g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 62mg, Sodium: 1324mg, Potassium: 863mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 7420IU, Vitamin C: 87.4mg, Calcium: 113mg, Iron: 3.7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this? Leave me a comment below

This recipe was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don’t worry – the recipe hasn’t changed!

Hi! I’m Krissy.

I love to create the BEST versions of your favorite recipes. If you love to cook, love to eat, or just have a deep appreciation for good food, you're in the right place! Stick around... I have hundreds of recipes for you to make.

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15 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Just made this and it was absolutely delicious. I’ll definately be making this again 😊

    1. You can just leave it out. I use it to enhance the flavor, but this recipe works well without it. You can add a bit more soy sauce if it needs a boost.

    1. Hi Ashleigh, I use oyster sauce a lot but it is very different from fish sauce. That being said, I think you could use it, but I would use a very small amount and add more, if needed. Enjoy! Krissy

  2. 5 stars
    Made for my family last night. They couldn’t stop raving about how good it turned out!! (PS: I love it too).

    1. Hi Jean, Fish sauce can be found in the Asian food section of just about any major food store (near the soy sauce). I must warn you – it stinks! But it’s like it has magical powers or something because it really enhances the flavor and doesn’t make it taste fishy at all.

      1. 5 stars
        Sandy, you might want to try using salt free soy sauce since that is the only thing in this recipe with salt.