Mongolian Ground Beef
This Mongolian ground beef is a flavorful and cost-effective alternative to the classic. It’s a healthier soy-free alternative that’s paleo, whole30, and AIP friendly.
Mongolian beef is made with steak (usually flank steak) that is coated in a starch (like corn starch or arrowroot) to make it crispy and then combined with a soy sauce-based sauce and green onions. It’s a flavorful and hearty dish that tastes great with rice and veggies!
However, I don’t have Mongolian Beef as often because of the expensive steak cuts that are used. I always have the much cheaper and easier to work with ground beef on hand and decided to modify this recipe to be made with ground beef.
It’s cheaper, it’s easier, and it’s just as yummy! This recipe is a healthier alternative made paleo, gluten-free, soy-free, whole30, and AIP.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s flavor-packed! It has all of the flavors you love about Mongolian beef!
- It’s cost-effective. Ground beef is a cheaper alternative to steak, making this a much more cost-effective meal.
The Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground beef. To make this Mongolian beef cheaper and easier for a weeknight meal!
- Coconut aminos. This a soy-free alternative to soy sauce. If you can tolerate other alternatives, those will also work.
- Broth . You can use a broth of your choice, but I think chicken broth works best.
- Arrowroot starch. This a grain-free thickener that helps to thicken the sauce. I haven’t tried tapioca starch as it’s a bit gummier, but I do prefer arrowroot for sauces.
- Green onions, ginger and garlic. These add tons of flavor to the dish and I recommend using fresh ingredients rather than dried.
How to make Mongolian Ground Beef
- Cook the ground beef. Brown the ground beef on medium heat, adding salt and pepper. Once the beef is browned, set aside, leaving about 2 tbsp of fat in the pan.
- Prep and cook the sauce. Whisk together the coconut aminos, broth, apple cider vinegar, coconut sugar, and arrowroot starch. Set aside. Using the same pan, bring the heat to low-medium heat and add the garlic and ginger to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Pour the sauce into the pan and stir. Allow to heat and thick for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the ground beef back to the pan and stir well to coat with the sauce. Add the green onions and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened.
Tips & Tricks
- Add more broth to thin out the sauce. This sauce winds up being thick like traditional Mongolian beef. If you prefer a thinner sauce, add a bit more beef broth.
What to serve with Mongolian Beef
- Roasted bok choy. I love adding bok choy as a veggie compliment to a myriad of Asian dishes.
- Cauliflower rice (or rice if tolerated)
- Stir-fried vegetables. I like having stir-fried vegetables like these with recipes like this.
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Mongolian Ground Beef
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: One Pot
Description
This Mongolian ground beef is a flavorful and cost-effective alternative to the classic. It’s a healthier soy-free alternative that’s paleo, whole30, and AIP friendly.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper (omit for AIP)
- 1/3 cup coconut aminos
- 1/4 cup broth
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp coconut sugar (omit for whole30)
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp arrowroot starch
- 1 thumb ginger, grated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 green onions, sliced into 1” slices
Instructions
- Using a large skillet, brown the ground beef on medium heat, adding salt and pepper. Once the beef is browned, set aside, leaving about 2 tbsp of fat in the pan.
- In a seperate bowl, whisk together the coconut aminos, broth, apple cider vinegar, coconut sugar, and arrowroot starch. Set aside.
- Using the same pan, bring the heat to low-medium heat and add the garlic and ginger to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant.
- Pour the sauce into the pan and stir. Allow to heat and thick for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the ground beef back to the pan and stir well to coat with the sauce. Add the green onions and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened.
- Serve fresh over cauliflower rice or with vegetables of your choice.
Notes
All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Nutritional information does not include optional ingredients.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 166
- Fat: 3.6g
- Carbohydrates: 4.9g
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Protein: 27.3g
This recipe was originally published is 2019 and updated in 2023. Photos by Modern Food Stories.
This is such a great recipe! Super simple for week nights but not skimping on flavor. We added bokchoy and served over rice. We’ll definitely be making this one again
This was delicious and very easy. My husband said “THIS is paleo?!” When he took his first bite, he loved it. I served over cauliflower rice and added some stir fried bell peppers to the beef.
YUM! So glad you enjoyed!!
A hit with the family. Nice to have an easy meal thats AIP friendly and enjoyed by all. Keep them coming! 🙂
So glad your family enjoyed!
I’m making this again tonight, made it a few months back and it was SO delicious! Subbed the coconut aminos for gluten free tamari (less salt) as my coconut aminos bottle had only a few drops left in it!! It’s a hit with all 3 of my kids, so that’s a win for me! Delicious and saucy, so amazing!!
Loved this recipe for a quick and easy weeknight meal! The flavor is amazing and me and my husband both loved it. I know I will be making this again and again. We served it over cauliflower rice and a side of air fried green beans. This is soooo yummy!
This was delicious! The flavor was perfect.
OMG This was so easy to whip up and the flavor was amazing! I will be making this often.
So glad you liked this recipe!!
Thank you for a delicious AIP recipe! I am new to this, and am already over the meat and veggies for every meal. This makes me look forward to lunch even more!
Thank you so much, Kari!! So glad you like it!!
I didn’t have coconut sugar and used honey. I had lean meat so I used coconut oil for the reserved hamburger oil. One of those make the sauce very gooey. I’ll use regular sugar next time. Otherwise, I loved the flavor.
This was delicious but omg the salt! I’m glad I didn’t add the sea salt otherwise it would’ve been inedible. Next time I’ll try it with water instead of broth and less coconut aminos. I mixed it with basmati rice and broccoli.
I loved this recipe. I accidentally used 1 TB instead of 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar and it still tasted great. Thanks for continuing to provide good recipes.
Delicious, will make again. Thank you so much. Added a little crushed red pepper for heat.
I made this for mu family a few days ago and am now going to add it to my rotation…it is that good!! I used the cauliflower base as suggested and my wife who doesn’t like cauliflower at all, said that it wasn’t that bad. Win/win!! Next time though I am going to add some red pepper flakes for some heat. Thank you, I look forward to trying some of your other recipes!
We had this for supper tonight with cauli-rice and stir fried veggies. It was delicious and I will certainly make it again. I did add more broth than the recipe called for but that just gave us more sauce to pour over the cauli-rice and veggies. Thanks for the great recipe!
Amazingly good and easy to make!! Thank you so much for this excellent recipe!