A simple and flavour packed mince beef recipe 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.
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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.
A really easy beef mince recipe and it is easy to adapt though if you don't have everything, or to suit your own tastes. This is a real family favourite too.
If you are looking for more mince recipes, then why not try our comforting Slow Cooker Bolognese, spicy Mexican Beef and Potato Bake or our super easy Chilli Con Carne?
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Ingredients and Substitutions
A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- 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 and makes this a healthy mince recipe. 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.
Variations
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. Peas and green beans go well in this too.
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?
How to Make Ginger Beef
- Step 1: Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onion. Cook for 2 minutes until softened.
- Step 2: Add the garlic and ginger paste and chilli flakes and stir.
- Step 3: 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.
- Step 4: Whilst that is cooking, mix together the sesame oil, soy sauce, chilli sauce, honey and rice vinegar.
- Step 5: 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.
Serving Suggestions
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. If you have more time, then try our Perfect Microwave Rice or Oven Cooked Rice.
You could also serve it with some quick cook noodles or try our Soy Sauce Noodles.
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.
Dannii's Top Tips
- If you don't have reduced salt soy sauce, then just reduce the amount 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.
- To make a vegetarian version of this, you can use a beef mince alternative.
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 into 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 Mince
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.
Recipe Tips
- 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.
- To make a vegetarian version of this, you can use a beef mince alternative.
Nutritional Information
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The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.
Emma says
Great flavour but quite watery not sticky & pretty stingy 4 person - was more of 3. Would benefit from some more veg if we made again.
Dannii Martin says
The finished dish should not be watery. Perhaps it was cooked too low - you can always cook it for a little longer so the liquid absorbs and it's more sticky. With rice and broccoli, we find this is plenty for 4 adult portions, however we don't eat big portions of meat for health/budget reasons. If you are used to larger portions of meat, then you can always increase it.
Bronwen Lafferty says
Lovely recipe but agree tiny portions, I can easily eat more than 62g beef. We did the recipe between 2 and 125g lean beef each is still low calorie and gives a good protein hit. Totally understand everyone’s needs are different though
Dannii Martin says
I am happy to hear that you enjoyed it :) As a healthy eating website, reducing meat intake is a big part of that. To double the portions, that would make it over 500 calories, and then adding rice on to that would be too high for a meal for ourselves, but everyone has different nutritional needs. We find this is plenty of meat when served with the sides suggested.
Ana Miller says
Great flavor and so easy! I added snow peas and red pepper. Added my chopped cabbage salad mix to leftovers the following day.
Brigid McKevith says
Made this for my family and it was a thumbs up all round. Quick and easy and lots of flavour. This will be on rotation going forward!
Jenny says
Gorgeous recipe
H says
Average recipe
Emma says
The ingredients states 3 tablespoons of ginger and garlic. Is that 3 tablespoons of each or 1.5 tablespoons each?
Dannii Martin says
It's garlic and ginger paste - so it's 3 tbsp of that.
Sharon says
I would interpret that at 3tbsp of each but you could do 1.5 of each and if it doesn't taste like there isnt enough, you could add more.
Sheila Roscoe says
Do you cook the broccoli first or straight in??
Dannii Martin says
I just add it straight in, as I like some bite to mine.
Carly says
So Tasty!