Made with a homemade stir-fry sauce and ready in 30 minutes, this ground beef stir fry recipe is perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. Plus, it’s super versatile, so you can use any fresh or frozen veggies you like.
If the aisle of stir fry sauces has got you stumped for a healthy choice, you’re certainly not alone. While there are lots of good store-bought stir fry sauces – and reading the ingredients can help you figure this out – it’s so easy to make at home, and you can save a lot of money in the process!
With some pantry staples, you can easily create a homemade sauce that is nutritious and delicious. Plus, you can make a double or triple batch and store it in the fridge for a couple of weeks until you’re ready to turn a humble pound of ground beef into tasty ground beef stir fry.
Why You’ll Love It
- Quick and Easy – Ready in 30 minutes, this ground beef stir fry is perfect for a weeknight dinner.
- Made in One Pan – This easy recipe keeps prep time and cleanup to a minimum.
- High in Protein – Made with extra-lean ground beef, these bowls have over 30 grams of protein per serving.
- Versatile – This stir-fry is great for a fridge clean out dinner as you can use any frozen or fresh veggies you like.
- Keeps Well – Leftovers keep well in the fridge and freezer, making it a great meal prep idea.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Ground Beef – To add some animal protein, you can use regular, lean, or extra-lean ground beef. While the recipe is designed for ground beef, but it works equally well with ground pork, ground turkey, or ground chicken.
- White Rice – To add some carbohydrates. The recipe calls for white rice, but you can use brown rice or cauliflower rice if preferred, or serve the stir fry over ramen noodles instead.
- Vegetables – To add some fiber and micronutrients. The recipe calls for bell pepper, snap peas, and broccoli, but green beans, mushrooms, green cabbage, bok choy, or water chestnuts would also work well. I opted to use fresh vegetables, but you can use frozen vegetables if needed; see the notes section of the recipe card for details.
- Soy Sauce – To add some saltiness and make the homemade sauce. I use regular soy sauce, but low-sodium soy sauce will work just as well.
- Sesame Oil – You can use regular or toasted sesame oil, or use olive oil instead.
- Rice Vinegar – To balance the flavors of the stir-fry sauce.
- Chili Paste – To add some spice. The recipe calls for chili sauce, but gochujang, sambal, and sriracha all work well, or you can use red pepper flakes instead.
- Brown Sugar – To add a hint of sweetness to the sauce. You can swap it for maple syrup or brown sugar if you like.
- Garlic and Ginger – To flavor the sauce. The recipe calls for fresh ginger and garlic, but you can use ground ginger and garlic powder if needed. See the notes section of the recipe card for details.
- Green Onions – To flavor the beef and serve, although optional.
- Sesame Seeds – To serve, although optional.
Dietary Adaptions
To Make it Gluten-Free: Swap the soy sauce for tamari or coconut aminos.
To Make it Dairy-Free: No adaptations are needed; this recipe is dairy-free.
Red’s Nutrition Tip
Using extra-lean beef in this recipe helps to increase the protein content while keeping the calorie content to a minimum due to the limited fat. Using low calorie, high protein foods is particularly helpful for people on a weight loss journey trying to create a calorie deficit.
Serving Suggestions
When served with rice, this ground beef stir fry is a balanced meal with protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and fats. That said, you can easily adapt it to meet your personal dietary needs. For example:
- To make it lower in fat, drain any excess fat from the pan before adding the veggies, or swap the ground beef for ground turkey or ground chicken.
- To make it low carb, swap the rice for cauliflower rice.
- To make it higher in fiber, swap the white rice for brown rice.
- To make it low sodium, use low-sodium soy sauce.
Storage + Reheating
To Refrigerate: Allow the ground beef stir-fry and rice to cool completely, then add them to containers, combined or separately, and store them in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
To Freeze: Once cooled completely, transfer the stir fry and rice to airtight containers, combined or separately, and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To Reheat: Once thawed, reheat rice and beef stir-fry in the microwave for 2-3 minutes or until warm.
More Ground Beef Recipes:
- Firecracker Ground Beef Meal Prep Bowls
- Korean Crispy Beef Bowls
- Tex-Mex Ground Beef Skillet
- Teriyaki Beef Bowls
- Burger Bowls with Special Sauce
- Korean Beef Meal Prep Bowls
Ground Beef Stir Fry
Ready in 30 minutes and with over 30 grams of protein per serving, this veggies-loaded ground beef stir fry is perfect for a quick, easy, and healthy dinner idea.
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Prep Time: 15 minutes -
Cook Time: 15 minutes
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Total Time: 30 minutes
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Yield: 4 servings 1x
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Category: Dinner
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Method: Stovetop
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Cuisine: Asian
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine:Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white rice, dry
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 pound extra-lean ground beef
- 2 green onions, white parts, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup snap peas
- 2 cups broccoli florets
Stir Fry Sauce:
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili paste, plus more as desired
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, or maple syrup
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
- 1 inch ginger root, finely minced or grated
To Serve:
- Sesame seeds
- Green onions, green parts
Instructions
- In a pot, combine the rice with 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and allow to cook covered for 15 minutes, or as per package directions, until it can be fluffed with a fork.
- In a small bowl, add the sauce ingredients: soy sauce, chili paste, rice vinegar, sesame oil, brown sugar, minced garlic, minced ginger, and whisk until well combined. Taste and adjust the spice level as desired, then set it aside.
- In a large skillet on medium-high heat, add the onions (white part only) and ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula, and cook for 5-6 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Once cooked, transfer the ground beef to a plate and set aside.
- In the same pan on medium heat, add the bell peppers, snap peas, and broccoli florets and cook, stirring occasionally, for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Once the veggies are cooked, return the cooked ground beef to the pan, pour in the stir-fry sauce, stir to combine with the vegetables, and allow to cook for a final 2-3 minutes until the sauce has reduced and has been absorbed.
- The ground beef stir fry can be served immediately over rice with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and green onions. Any leftovers can be cooled and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
To Use Brown Rice: Swap the white rice with brown rice and increase the cooking time to 40 minutes or as per package directions.
To Use Onion Powder: Swap the white parts of the green onions for 1/2 teaspoon onion powder and add it to the stir-fry sauce.
To Use Garlic Powder: Swap the garlic cloves for 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
To Use Ground Ginger: Swap the ginger root for 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
To Use Frozen Vegetables: Swap the red bell pepper, snap peas, and broccoli florets for 4 cups of frozen stir-fry vegetables. Add them, still frozen, in step #4 and increase the cooking time to 6-7 minutes or until warmed through.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 495 calories
- Sugar: 7 grams
- Fat: 9 grams
- Carbohydrates: 68 grams
- Fiber: 4 grams
- Protein: 34 grams
This is one of my favourites. I substituted with ground turkey. Easy peasy and quick. Stores really well and reheats like a champ.
Thanks for sharing, Rob!
A favorite dish at home. It’s quick and easy to make and very flavourful.
Thanks, Anne!
Ever since I tried it once I find myself craving it often and it’s easy to make and delicious too 😄
Very simple, but delicious. Love it!
Simple enough, nutritious and tasty! A winning combination! Thanks Stephanie
Happy you liked it, Eva!
This is phenomenal, thank you Stef
This recipe is now on high rotation in our house. My boys love it! Freezes well so great for a quick dinner instead of takeaway. Super-simple to make & healthy with lots of veg. It’s a winner!
Thanks for sharing, Nicole. 🙂