Copycat PF Chang's Mongolian Beef tastes just like PF Chang's version, but is made much healthier, and cheaper, at home!
A couple weeks ago during girl’s weekend, my Mom and I decided to pop into PF Changs for a delectable dinner out.
Right away we agreed to split an entree, as they’re usually plenty big enough for two. One order of my Mom’s favorite Chinese dish of all time – Mongolian Beef – comin’ right up!
The first bite was simply sensational. The thinly sliced beef melted in our mouths, while the consistency and taste of the subtly-sweet sauce was spot on.
It was nearly, dare I say, perfect.
Only nearly perfect though, because the teeny-tiny plate sitting on our table was hardly enough for one, AND it was overflowing with 5 times as many green onions as pieces of beef!
“Where’s the BEEF?!” we wanted to shout!
“I’m going to write a letter.” my Mom declared, in between bites of delectable but hard-to-find meat unearthed from an endless supply of green onions.
My Mom’s a letter writer. If you mess with her, she will totally tell someone about it.
“Mom, don’t write a letter.” I tried to reason with her. “This is clearly a travesty, but nobody at PFC’s really cares what we think,” knowing she’d write one anyways.
Which, obviously, she did. And, obviously, got a $25 gift certificate in the mail because of it!! “Uh-HUH!” she exclaimed when she ripped open the letter.
This recipe’s for you, Mom.
May you never have to write another Mongolian Beef related letter ever again.
Why buy overpriced, undersized, nearly non-existent Mongolian Beef (chicken, or salmon!) at a restaurant, when you can easily make it at home?!
Ingredients
- 1 lb flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2-1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1/2 bunch asparagus, trimmed then cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3 garlic cloves, grated or finely minced
- 1 inch knob of ginger, peeled then grated or finely minced
- 1/2 cup gluten free reduced-sodium Tamari, or soy sauce if not gluten free
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3 green onions, cut into thirds
- cooked rice, for serving
Directions
- Toss the flank steak with cornstarch in a plastic bag until all the pieces are coated. Empty the beef into a colander then shake off excess cornstarch. Set aside.
- Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add asparagus then saute for 1 minute. Add garlic and ginger then saute until extremely fragrant, 30 seconds, being careful not to let the garlic burn. Add Tamari, water and brown sugar then turn heat down to medium and let the sauce simmer for 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into a bowl then set aside.
- Heat remaining 1-1/2 Tablespoons oil in the same skillet over high heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring every so often, until it is just barely cooked. Some pink still showing is ok. Add the sauce with asparagus back into the skillet, turn the heat down to medium-low, then simmer until sauce reaches your desired thickness.
- Stir in green onions then serve over cooked rice.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
That recipe looks amazing! I will have to try it soon. It reminded me of something I make pretty frequently that is super easy and delicious: .
Also, my mom is a letter writer too. She’s impressive, and I kinda want to learn her skills…
I love Mongolian Beef from PF Changs! I am definitely going to have to try your recipe to replicate it! :) I am a total letter writter if I am unhappy about something. It’s worth giving your opinion.
The spoon in with the pans is something that my husband would totally do, too! Hilarious! I also am a dishwasher rearranger!!
I think I would also fall into the clean house, messy car category…my hubby often questions how this can be and I honestly never have a good response :)
I guess letter writing has its perks!
Yum, that looks good! I made home made cashew chicken tonight. :)
O.M.Yum!!! I love mongolian beef! Thanks for this!
My sister is a big letter writer to complain about bad service/product. I do it once in awhile when I am truly disturbed or its that time of month when I get agitated easily. My favorite was complaining to Krispy Kreme that the chocolate glaze was so unevenly distributed amongst the doughnuts we got – some barely had any some were so overloaded – I even took pictures. Ended up getting a free dozen! Sometimes it is just nice to let them know what there stores are doing wrong, so they can fix it.
OMG, I love this one!!
Adorable, hilarious post. Love it.
I am also OCD about home and office cleanliness. But couldn’t care less about car clutter! I think we all need at least one “tidy-free zone”! :)
Seriously. If you want a new profession and don’t mind moving to both AK/MI for the year I’d love to have you as our personal chef. Amazing. Again =)
i am just like you. Clean house dirty car. it gets sooo bad and i could care less. my bf actually cleans it cuz it will get to a point he cant stand. in an interview once i was told intelligent people have clean home and messy cars….i`ll go with that!
Ok I like this kind of rationalization. I’ll go with it!
Ok, so I’m the letter writer here. ha. Emails sometimes. And for the longest, my husband just shook his head at me when I threatened to make companies know I was not happy.
Until. ;)
We were trying to get work done on the van at Sears and our Sears is SO SLOW. Omg. I hate so bad going there. So we’re there, in line forever, and Sears staff is just chatting away and slacking. I see this little Sears-dedicated computer sitting to our side, so I tell my husband, “I’m going to complain. Brb.” And he’s laughing. So I go over there and start pounding out my fury and hit “Send.” Well, I kid you not, about a minute later, employees come pouring into the area! Even the manager whizzes through! It was probably a coincidence, but I just gave my husband a cocky look and he was super impressed by me. hahaha
And now my husband has a new-found respect for my complaining skillz. Now every time I get bothered, he goes, “Gonna complain?” You bet I am.
Ok that is awesome. Go you!!
I love seeing the unique ways my bf loads the dishwasher, it is pure entertainment some days!