This EASY MONGOLIAN BEEF RECIPE is made in the air fryer to save cooking time and clean up time! No hot grease to deal with, but you still get crispy beef coated in a sweet and savory sauce!
Asian inspired cuisine is one of my favorite things to cook. Big, bold flavors are my jam!
One of my go to orders when we get take out is Mongolian beef – that crispy beef, that sweet savory sauce…yum!
We have had so much success with our air fryer, that we decided to try and make a few Asian inspired dishes in it. One of those was this Mongolian beef recipe.
If you’ve ever made Mongolian beef on the stove top, you know that it’s a bit of a process to fry all those individual strips of beef until they’re nice and crisp.
It is SO EASY with the air fryer! I didn’t even bother to work in batches – just tossed all the coated beef right in my air fryer basket and made sure to shake every few minutes.
How to make Mongolian beef:
- Slice your flank steak into thin strips, 1/4-1/2 inch is good.
- Put your steak in a large bowl with corn starch and toss to coat. Let the starch soak into the meat for 5 minutes.
- Spritz the steak with oil and cook in the air fryer for 8-10 minutes.
- Shake the basket every few minutes so that the beef crisps up all the way around.
How to make the Mongolian sauce:
- Heat oil in a large deep skillet, and add garlic and ginger. Cook this for 30 seconds.
- Add the low sodium soy sauce, water, and brown sugar to the skillet and stir well.
- Boil this for 6-7 minutes and stir occasionally until the sauce has thickened.
- Carefully add the cooked meat to the sauce, without splashing, and toss the beef. Allow it to cook for 1-2 more minutes.
Soy Sauce:
Be sure to use low sodium soy sauce! The sauce boils down and reduces a bit which means the flavors concentrate.
This is a good thing for a bold flavored sauce, but if you are starting with something that’s already quite salty and then you reduce it down, you’ll end up with an overly salty, inedible sauce.
Low sodium soy sauce can be found in most any grocery store, so keep an eye out.
Common Air Fryer Questions:
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You should not use non-stick spray from an aerosol can. It can damage the air fryer. Instead, just use an oil mister filled with your vegetable oil. My go to is avocado oil.
We use and love the OMORC 6 qt air fryer and it works great. It’s a nice price, it has a large basket, and it’s lasted me for nearly 2 years now. I absolutely love it! Plus it has over 2k 5 star reviews on Amazon!
More recipes you might like:
- This crispy cauliflower is great with a ranch dip!
- Homemade orange chicken finishes in just 20 minutes!
- Another quick and easy recipe is to cook frozen tater tots in the air fryer!
- A classic grilled cheese has never tasted better than when cooked by an air fryer.
- Crispy, air fryer egg rolls with a sausage filling.
Air Fryer Mongolian Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound flank steak
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Slice the steak into thin strips, cutting against the grain for the most tenderness, and place into a large bowl.
- Add the cornstarch to the steak and toss to coat. Let set in the cornstarch for 5 minutes.
- Heat the air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Add the steak to the air fryer basket and spritz generously with oil.
- Air fry for 8-10 minutes, shaking the basket every couple of minutes. Spritz with more oil halfway through cooking.
- While the steak is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet on the stove. Add the garlic and ginger and cook in the oil for 30 seconds.
- Add the soy sauce, water, and brown sugar to the skillet and stir well.
- Bring to a boil and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened.
- Carefully add the cooked beef to the sauce and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, tossing the beef in the sauce.
- Sprinkle chopped green onions over the top before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Kim says
Wow this is outstanding! I had to add more cornstarch to meat but other than that , I was extremely pleased! Make extra sauce😋
Lee says
Want to try this recipe. Do I cut the flank steak with or against the grain for most tenderness?
Karly says
You’ll want to cut it against the grain. Great question – I’ll add that to the recipe.
Carrie says
This dish is absolutely AMAZING! My entire family enjoys it and now it is one of the top requested dishes. I now have to double the recipe because everyone wants leftovers.
I use my air fryer all of the time and this is possibly the best dish I have made using it.
Karly says
Oh gosh, I love to hear that!! This recipe gets buried by newer ones and I’m happy to see it getting some love, because we love it so much too! Thank you for the review!
Monika says
This is one of the best things I’ve ever made! I’m kicking myself for not buying an air fryer sooner.
Karly says
Ah, so glad you gave it a try, Monika! 🙂
Aeil says
Recipe are awesome
I’m happy you make
It simple to duplicate
Thanks
Karly says
Thank you!
Cat says
Please make it so that we can print without the picture… wastes too much ink! Thanks!
Karly says
Hi Cat! If you want to print without the image, you can copy and paste into a word doc and print from there. 🙂
Cat says
Yes thanks, that’s what I ended up doing… but I’d rather be able to just print… 🙂
Karly says
Yeah, sorry. Most people like the photo. 🙂
Ann Fisher says
I like seeing photos. Thanks for the recipe looks amazing.
rick reed says
I don’t have an Air Fryer . Can I make in oven or frying pan? Whats the best type of air frying to puchase?
Karly says
Hi Rick! I linked to our preferred air fryer above. You could make this on the stove by frying the strips of beef in batches.