30-Minute Korean Beef Stir Fry

When it comes to easy dinners, stir frying is one of my favorite techniques! It's such a great way to clear out the fridge in a delicious way. This recipe pairs a stir fry beef (such as skirt, flank, or sirloin steak) with lots of peppers and onions. But the star of the show is the Korean Stir Fry Sauce. Although you could easily use a homemade sauce, this Korean sauce is SO EASY! Serve it over rice and dinner is served!

The Korean Stir Fry Sauce is very similar to the one used in my easy 15-Minute Korean Ground Beef Bowls. You probably have all the ingredients in your pantry already!

What You'll Need for the Stir Fry Sauce:

• Soy Sauce (I prefer using low sodium)
• Brown Sugar (I used light, but dark works too!)
• Red Pepper Flakes. I wouldn't call this spicy AT ALL. The red pepper helps balance out the sweetness. But you can omit or adjust amount.
• Ground Ginger
• Minced Garlic. Because isn't everything better with a little garlic 🙂

First, make the sauce. Just mix up the above ingredients in a small bowl. I usually just use a fork in the liquid measuring cup that I used to measure the soy sauce. One less dish to wash = a win. Now get stir frying! It's important to not crowd the pan, so use the BIGGEST skillet you have. I love this giant cast iron skillet from Chrissy Teigen's collection at Target. It's a whopping 13.25 inches in diameter giving you lots of surface area.

Even with a big pan, you'll still want to cook the peppers/onions and beef separately. Start with the peppers and onions cooking them in the HOT pan with some canola oil (or other high heat oil). Once cooked and even a little charred in places, remove and do the same with the beef strips. Add the sauce to the skillet and let it simmer a bit to thicken up. Then add back in the veggies, lots of green onions and sesame seeds, and you're good to go!

 
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Recipe

Korean Beef Stir Fry

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Seared beef, stir fried peppers and onions, and all tossed together with an easy homemade Korean stir fry sauce. An easy dinner that that tastes even better than takeout! Ready in under 30 minutes! Recipe at KathleensCravings.com #KathleensCravings #stirfry #koreanbeef #ricebowls #stirfrysauce #peppersandonions #30minutemeal

• Author: Kathleen
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Stove
• Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

Korean Sauce

• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 cloves garlic (minced. About ¼-⅓ cup)

Stir Fry

• 2-3 tablespoons canola oil (or other high heat, neutral oil)
• 1-1.5 lbs stir fry beef (cut into bite size strips. Such as skirt, flank, or sirloin)
• 3 bell peppers (sliced)
• 1 large yellow onion (sliced)
• 6 green onions (thinly sliced)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seed
• Cooked white rice (for serving)

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Instructions

1. Start cooking your rice according to package directions.
2. For the stir fry sauce - mix all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat a large skillet (I like cast iron for the high heat) over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon or so of the oil. You want to coat the bottom of the skillet. When the oil is shimmering and hot (but not smoking), add the peppers and sliced yellow onion. Cook for about 5 minutes until just tender. Remove from skillet and set aside.
4. Add another tablespoon or so of the oil to the skillet. Add the beef pieces in an even layer and cook undisturbed for 2-3 minute. Stir/flip pieces and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the sauce and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until it thickens and the steak is cooked.
5. Add veggies back to the skillet and the green onions. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute more.
6. Remove from heat and serve with cooked white rice.

Notes

Using a high heat oil is important to so it doesn't smoke and burn.

Keywords: Beef Stir Fry, Korean Beef Stir Fry