This beef chow mein is full of tender beef, crispy fresh vegetables, and finished off with a delicious savory sauce! This easy one-skillet recipe cooks up a meal that rivals anything you’d order from your favorite restaurant. Ditch the takeout this week and cook up this fun and flavorful homemade beef chow mein instead!
What Makes This Beef Chow Mein So Good
- It yields the most tender and juicy beef ever! You’ll start by leaving the beef to sit in a bit of baking soda to tenderize it. Then, toss it in a savory marinade to make it juicy and delicious!
- It’s super easy to customize! Feel free to swap out the veggies in this dish for whatever you have on-hand. This beef chow mein recipe is a great way to use up any leftover produce you have sitting in your fridge.
- It’s a restaurant-quality meal that’s fun and easy to cook up in the comfort of your own home! Simply start by marinating and cooking the beef. Then stir fry your veggies, throw in the noodles and sauce, then enjoy!
Key Ingredients for Beef Chow Mein
Flank Steak – Flank steak is a lean cut of beef that works perfectly in this recipe. When tossed with a pinch of baking soda, the fibers in the steak soften, making it super tender. If you can’t find flank steak, skirt steak or thinly sliced sirloin would also work in this recipe. Also, if you don’t eat beef, this can easily be turned into a chicken, veggie, or pork chow mein recipe! Simply thinly slice chicken breast, mushrooms, or boneless pork chops for each of those variations if you’d like.
Chow Mein Noodles – Either fresh or dry chow mein noodles will work in this recipe! Feel free to use whichever you prefer or whichever you can get your hands on. And if you can’t find chow mein noodles, spaghetti or linguini would work similarly in its place.
Chef’s Tips
- Don’t skip marinating the beef in this chow mein recipe! Even just 20 minutes in the marinade will do the trick. Also, if you have the time, feel free to leave the beef to marinate for up to 8 hours in the fridge if you’d like.
- My biggest tip when making any stir fry is to have your ingredients chopped and ready before you get started on the recipe. Stir fried veggies take only a few minutes to cook before it’s time to move to the next step. Therefore, to avoid any overcooked ingredients, have everything prepped and ready to go ahead of time.
- This beef chow mein is best served immediately after cooking. There’s just something so comforting and exciting about a steaming hot plate of stir fried noodles. Though if you have any leftovers, I recommend storing them in an airtight container in the fridge for just one or two days.
Other Delicious Stir-Fry Recipes
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Beef Chow Mein
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Large skillet
- Small bowl
Ingredients
For the Beef
- ½ pound flank steak thinly sliced against the grain
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
For the Sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon black or white pepper
For the Chow Mein
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
- ½ onion sliced
- ½ cup carrots julienned
- ½ cup celery thinly sliced
- ¼ cup sliced green onions optional
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- 6 ounces chow mein noodles cooked according to package instructions
Instructions
- Mix together the sliced steak and baking soda in a bowl, then cover and let sit in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Mix all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Remove steak from fridge and rinse under cold water, then cover with two tablespoons of sauce. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 20 minutes – 1 hour.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the steak in a single layer and cook for 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned then remove and set aside.
- Add in remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil along with the onion, carrots, and celery. Stir and cook until just soft, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the green onion and cook for 1 minute before adding back in the beef, shredded cabbage, cooked noodles, and remaining sauce.
- Reduce heat to low and cook for 3-5 minutes or until cabbage has wilted and sauce has thickened.
Notes
- Make it Gluten-Free: Use 6 ounces of rice noodles in place of the chow mein noodles to make this a gluten-free beef chow mein recipe!
Nutrition
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Hi! I’m Sam, a travel, food and fitness enthusiast from the New York metro area. I love creating new and inventive recipes, and my favorite part is sharing them with others. My love of food goes all the way back to my early childhood, I grew up cooking alongside my mom and Nonna – the two best cooks I know! When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m either planning my next vacation, spending time outdoors (preferably on a beach), or bingeing Netflix’s latest docu-series. My passion for eating and living well led me to create the blog and Instagram account, Sam Does Her Best, where I health-ify my favorite comfort foods. I’m a big believer that good-for-you food can still be exploding with flavor and (most importantly) easy to make. I’m thrilled to be here at 40 Aprons doing what I do best – creating, photographing, and sharing delicious recipes with you all!
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