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Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

January 22, 2020

Enjoy Mongolian beef stir fry, loaded with veggies and without the soy, gluten, and processed sugar!

Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

A little walk down memory lane…

So I was driving in Grand Rapids not to long ago, near a spot that I haven’t been by in a very long time. I noticed that a restaurant that my now husband and I used to go to as a very rare, broke college kid date night, and was so sad to see it gone! Mongolian Bar-B-Que…locals do you remember it?! I know, I know, it is probably the furthest thing from traditional or authentic Mongolian meals, but the all you can eat, make your own stir fry bowls to two starving college kids in love was seriously heaven. I remember thinking it was *the* best food in the world. Pretty much anything tastes amazing when you don’t know how to cook and are just starting out, eh?!

Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

A little Mongolian re-make!

My girls were in the van as we drove by, and I told them about our memories there. I decided to try to re-make what I remembered being my favorite flavors there, and this Mongolian beef was born. I was probably so starved of nutrients back then, because I remember craving that beef stir fry like it was air!

Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

The brown sugar dilemma

Most Mongolian beef recipes that you find use brown sugar as the main sweetener for the sauce. While I’m all about using (organic) sugar in moderation with baking and special times, I want to be able to have Mongolian beef on my menu rotation way more frequently than that! Did you know that brown sugar is just sugar and molasses mixed together?! Yep, whenever I need brown sugar for a cookie recipe, it’s just 1 cup of sugar to 1 tablespoon of molasses and you’ve got that warm sweetness in seconds! In the Mongolian beef sauce recipe here, I chose to use real honey and molasses, and the result is out of this world! You’ll never miss the processed sugar!

Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!
Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!
Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

Let’s talk about the starches

I absolutely love using potato starch for anything that I want to get crispy. I use it to dredge the steak in this recipe because it works so well to give the texture you want in a Mongolian beef stir fry. Corn starch, tapioca, or arrowroot will work, but I just really love the result with potato starch. I use tapioca in the sauce recipe, because I prefer how that thickens sauces. The potato starch would work here as well, but again, I just prefer the texture result with the tapioca.

Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

Heat preferences

If you have little ones at home, be sure to stick to more of the “pinch” of red pepper flakes versus going all out on the ½ tsp. While I love me some heat, some little kids aren’t quite there yet! I do have one that loves some heat, but because of one of my other girls, I tend to keep any heat to minimum. You can add a pinch or two of cayenne or red pepper flakes your individual plate if you would like some extra heat.

Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

Serving ideas!

We are definitely team white rice here, but there are so many other options for serving your Mongolian beef! If you prefer brown rice go for it! If you are in a season of needing to avoid grains, I adore this sauce, beef, and veggie combo on top of a baked potato or sweet potato. It is fantastic just plain as well. You can beef up the veggies a bit more by adding shredded cabbage (my favorite), or more of the veggies already listed.

Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

Mongolian Beef and Veggies :: Soy Free, Gluten Free, and Naturally Sweetened!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • ½ cup coconut aminos
  • 4 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 tbsp raw honey
  • 3 tsp molasses
  • 2 tsp tapioca starch
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • Pinch to ½ tsp red pepper flakes depending on your heat prefrence

FOR THE STIR FRY:

  • 4 tbsp ghee for cooking in, divided (butter, olive oil, tallow/lard, or avocado oil would work too)
  • 1 lb grassfed skirt/flank steak or round steak cut into thin strips
  • 2 tbsp potato starch
  • 1 small onion cut into strips
  • 1 red bell pepper cut into strips
  • 1 yellow bell pepper cut into strips
  • 1 head of broccoli florets cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 handful sugar peas
  • 1 recipe of the above sauce

Instructions

  • Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, and set aside for later.
  • Put 2 tablespoons of ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat. While your skillet warms up, pat dry your strips of steak and then toss them with 2 tablespoons of potato starch. Place the coated steak into the hot ghee and cook until browned and almost crispy. This takes about 5 minutes. Take the steak out of the pan and set aside for later.
  • In the same skillet, warm another 2 tablespoons of ghee over medium heat, and add the onion, peppers, broccoli, and sugar peas from above. Cook the veggies over medium heat for a few minutes, until bright in color and still bite tender.
  • Add the cooked beef and the sauce into the skillet with the veggies, and simmer until the sauce thickens and the veggies are cooked to your liking, about 5 minutes or so. The sauce is plenty seasoned, but you can season to your taste if you wish.

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7 Comments

  • Reply Kristy January 25, 2020 at 3:44 pm

    Already made it Thursday night.😉 My entire family loved it and the kids took it in their thermos for Friday’s school lunch! I love that it has mineral rich molasses in it and zero soy and brown sugar. Great job and thank you for sharing!❤️✨

    • Reply Renee Kohley January 27, 2020 at 6:25 pm

      Hi Kristy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  • Reply Katie February 2, 2020 at 12:24 pm

    So yummy! I’ve been looking for a Mongolian Beef recipe that doesn’t use tons of sugar and this is perfect. I doubled the recipe so we’d have leftovers and they were even better the next day. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!

  • Reply Gluten Free Asian Stir Fry with Crispy Fish - Raising Generation Nourished February 24, 2020 at 11:50 am

    […] Mongolian Beef & Veggies […]

  • Reply Erin March 3, 2020 at 11:57 am

    Made this last night and the family loved it!! I finally caved and purchased molasses because you call for it in everything, haha! Thank you for your continued commitment to putting out clean recipes that are relatively easy to make and delicious!

  • Reply Chantille March 24, 2021 at 6:28 pm

    I’m confused it doesn’t say how or where to cook the beef. It just says add it

    • Reply Renee Kohley March 29, 2021 at 10:37 am

      Hi Chantille! In step 2 it tells you how to season and cook the beef 🙂

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