A simple and flavour packed beef dish that is cooked in just 10 minutes. Perfect for those busy weeknights, this Sticky Ginger Beef recipe is a quicker and healthier alternative to ordering a takeaway and it is easy to adapt with extra vegetables for some extra nutrition. Crispy beef mince smothered in a easy sauce of soy, sweet chilli, honey, sesame oil, garlic and ginger and mixed with tenderstem broccoli for a green boost.
You would be amazed at what you can cook in 10 minutes, and this is one of our favourites. Quicker than ordering a takeaway and the sauce is made with ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen if you are used to making your own stir fries. It is easy to adapt though if you don't have everything, or to suit your own tastes.
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Why you will love it
- Cooked in just 10 minutes
- Homemade sauce using store cupboard ingredients
- Cheaper, healthier and quicker than takeaway
- Easy to adapt with different vegetables
- Freezes well
Ingredients needed
- Onion - This is the base of the dish and we have used a small brown onion. If you wanted to give it a sweeter taste then you could use 4 shallots instead.
- Garlic and ginger - We have used a tube of garlic and ginger paste to save time (this is a 10 minute meal after all). We always have some in the fridge as it's perfect for adding lots of flavour to stir fries without adding lots of calories. You could crush garlic cloves and grate ginger instead if you like. If you don't have any fresh ginger, then you could use ground, but you would need a lot less as it has such an intense flavour.
- Chilli flakes - We love a kick of spice in our meals and some red chilli flakes does this. We have used half a teaspoon and it gives it a nice punch of spice, but you could use less or just leave it out completely. Equally you could use more if you love chilli.
- Beef - We used a lean beef mince as it is quick cooking. However, you could swap it for strips of steak that would get really crispy edges.
- Sesame oil - You could swap this for vegetable oil, but we would highly recommend using sesame oil because the flavour is incredible. We always have a bottle of it, as it is perfect for cooking stir fries is.
- Soy sauce - We used light, reduced salt soy sauce as not only does it reduce the salt levels of the whole dish but it means it isn't overpowered by the soy sauce and you can still taste the beef. If you don't have reduce salt, then just reduce the amount of soy sauce you use.
- Chilli sauce - Yes, more chilli! We used a sweet chilli sauce, as it's fairly mild and helps with the stickiness of the sauce. However feel free to use your favourite chilli sauce. Sriracha works really well in this recipe too.
- Honey - This is where the sauce gets most of its stickiness from. Try to use the best quality honey you can, as you will be able to taste the difference. We used runny honey.
- Rice vinegar - We love the flavour that rice vinegar gives this, however if you don't have any then you can just use a regular white vinegar instead.
- Broccoli - We used tenderstem broccoli as it is our favourite and looks really nice when served up. However if you want to keep the costs of this meal down then you could chop up a regular head of broccoli in the small pieces so they cook quickly.
Recommended equipment
These are some of the items we used to make this dish and we can recommend them all.
Chopping board
Knife
Frying pan
Small mixing bowl
Step by step
One: Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onion. Cook for 2 minutes until softened.
Two: Add the garlic and ginger paste and chilli flakes and stir.
Three: Add the beef mince and use a wooden spoon to break it apart. Cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes, until browned, stirring regularly.
Four: Whilst that is cooking, mix together the sesame oil, soy sauce, chilli sauce, honey and rice vinegar.
Five: Add the sauce to the pan with the tenderstem broccoli and mix well. Continue cooking on a medium heat for 3 minutes, until the beef is cooked.
How to adapt it
An easy way to adapt this ginger beef recipe is to change or add to the vegetables that we have used. They key is to use vegetables that cook quickly, or those that you don't mind still having a bit of bite to them as this is a 10 minute recipe. You could always grate them to make them super quick to cook.
You could cook some thin sticks of carrot and bell pepper at the same time as the onions, as well as some courgette (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant) or mushrooms. Different texture mushrooms like shiitake, oyster and chestnut would work well.
Why not give the dish an extra green boost by stirring in some kale and/or pak choi at the same time as the broccoli?
What to serve it with
In an ideal world we would always cook rice from scratch ourselves. But, life gets in the way and most weeknights we are exhausted. This is a 10 minute meal, so whatever we serve it with has to be ready in less than 10 minutes too. We served this with a packet of microwave rice and it was delicious.
You could also serve it with some quick cook noodles. Or, if you have some extra time that go ahead and cook up some rice yourself.
We then topped the whole dish with some sesame seeds and slices of spring onion for crunch, but that is totally optional. If you are a real lover of spice, then some slices of red chilli would be a good addition, and add a nice pop of colour for serving too.
Frequently Asked Questions
We have used beef mice as it is quick to cook. However you could use thin strips of steak which would get really crispy. This would change the cooking time though, although if you like your beef rare it wouldn't change it that much. This is a pretty forgiving recipe, so you could use cheaper cuts of beef, but they might need cooking longer.
This does have a bit of a kick of spice to it, as we have used red chilli flakes and then put some chilli sauce in the sticky sauce mixture. You could leave out the red chilli flakes and use a mild chilli sauce if you don't like a lot of heat. You can also leave out all the chilli completely if you prefer.
If you have leftovers of this, then you can store it in an air tight container and it will keep in the fridge for 2 days. You can then either reheat it in the microwave or frying pan. You might need to add a little water before cooking if it looks a bit dry.
Yes, this freezes well which is why we tend to make a bigger portion than we need so we can freeze it. Wait until it has cooled and then transfer in to freezable container and put them in the freezer - it will keep for 2 months. Defrost it in the fridge over night and then to reheat it you can add it to a pan with a couple of tablespoons of water so it doesn't dry out and heat through.
More beef recipes
If you’ve tried this ginger beef recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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Recipe
10 Minute Sticky Ginger Beef
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 250 g (0.5 lb) Lean beef mince
- 1 Onion - small; peeled and diced
- 3 tablespoon Garlic and ginger paste
- 0.5 teaspoon Red chilli flakes
- 2 tablespoon Sesame oil
- 60 ml (0.25 cups) Low salt soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon Sweet chilli sauce
- 2 tablespoon Honey
- 1 tablespoon Rice vinegar
- 150 g (5 oz) Tenderstem broccoli
- Sesame seeds and spring onion - for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon Olive oil in a large frying pan and add 1 Onion. Cook for 2 minutes until softened.
- Add 3 tablespoon Garlic and ginger paste and 0.5 teaspoon Red chilli flakes and stir.
- Add 250 g Lean beef mince and use a wooden spoon to break it apart. Cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until browned, stirring regularly.
- Whilst that is cooking, mix together 2 tablespoon Sesame oil, 60 ml Low salt soy sauce, 2 tablespoon Sweet chilli sauce, 2 tablespoon Honey and 1 tablespoon Rice vinegar.
- Add the sauce to the pan with 150 g Tenderstem broccoli and mix well. Continue cooking on a medium heat for 3 minutes, until the beef is cooked.
- Serve topped with Sesame seeds and spring onion.
Notes
- If you don't have reduce salt, then just reduce the amount of soy sauce you use.
- You can leave all the chilli out of this if you prefer, or leave the chilli flakes out and use a mild chilli sauce.
- You could make a vegetarian version of this with tofu or a meat alternative.
- If you are going to use other vegetables in this, then make sure they are quick cooking ones, and thinly slice them so everything is ready in 10 minutes.
- You can serve this with either rice or noodles.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
So quick and delicious and so good for weeknights when you crave something tasty.
Dannii
Such a quick meal isn't it.
Mara
Can I use toasted sesame oil instead of regular sesame oil?
Dannii
Yes, you can.
Liz
You had me at 10 minutes haha. Sometimes our evenings are so crazy we just need a really quick recipe and this one is great!
Natalie
I love your quick meal ideas Danii! This ginger beef is one of my favorites, thank you!
Ieva
Made this dish last night and both really enjoyed it! Such a flavoursome and filling dish, and so quick! Minimal washing up as well! Great recipe when you're in a hurry!
Mahy
So sticky, sooo goood! This is definitely my favorite type of beef - it just tastes incredible!
Una
This was so easy, so good, and I’m so saving it to my favourite recipes
Dannii
So glad you enjoyed it!
Jill
Such great flavor and I couldn't believe how quickly it came together. Thanks for the recipe!
Faizal
Cooked this last night on a double portioned recipe and replaced the broccoli with multi coloured Bell peppers. Not as healthy, but great crunch and colour. Great quick recipe that I will definitely rely on in the future.
Dannii
So glad you enjoyed it and peppers sound like a great addition.
Jessica Formicola
Any time I can have dinner ready in 10 minutes, I'm sold! This ginger beef is delicious and I can't wait to make it again!
Sue
I love how easy and fast this is - need to give it a try for sure!
Beth
This is such a delicious and tasty dish! I can’t wait to make this again!
Irina
I will make your recipe since it reminds me of a beef meal with added ginger that was amazingly delicious. WOW! I cannot wait to give it a try!