When you're wanting an all-in-one meal that's low budget, quick, and delicious, nothing beats a stir fry! This recipe combines ground beef, several fresh veggies, and a tasty Asian sauce. Serve it over rice or a bed of lettuce for a healthy meal!
This Asian style beef stir fry is a nod to my childhood. My parents made stir fry quite often. Mostly because it is a low budget way to combine a lot of nutrition, protein, and flavor in a short amount of time. Since childhood, I tended to make the same type of stir fry with similar flavors as growing up.
By adding a little sweetness, a tiny tang, and some ginger zip, this recipe is just a little different from what I had growing up. I added more vegetables and kept it super easy with ground beef for a family friendly, and time friendly recipe.
I'm always looking for more ground beef recipes. Something that's not baked, not a hamburger or meatloaf, and on the healthy side. This stir fry is such a quick meal that's a hit for the whole family. It's so easy to add more of the flavors you love also. I wanted to let the flavors of the vegetables shine through so the flavors of the sauce aren't overpowering!
Ingredients for this Ground Beef Stir Fry
- Ground Beef
- Brown Rice
- Red Leaf or Romaine Lettuce
- Sauce: liquid aminos, blackstrap molasses, ginger, garlic granules, apple cider vinegar, arrowroot powder, water
- Carrots
- Yellow Onion
- Green Bell Pepper
- Water Chestnuts
- Broccoli
- Red Pepper
- Umeboshi Paste
Steps for Making this Stir Fry
- Brown the meat
- Sauté the vegetables
- Bring sauce to a simmer in a separate saucepan
- Combine meat with vegetables
- Add the sauce
- Serve over rice and/or large leaf lettuce
- Garnish with sesame seeds, red pepper, umeboshi paste
Make this Recipe Sweeter
It's super easy to add more of what you want in this recipe! Increase sweetness with more molasses, or add some honey at the end of the cook.
Increase the Salt
Add more liquid aminos or soy sauce to your taste. I intentionally left this recipe low sodium for health reasons. Also, my family all likes something different. I like to add more flavors and heat with red pepper and my husband and daughter love umiboshi paste, which is innately super salty.
Increase Flavors
If you're a fan of ginger you'll get a hint of it. If you want more, make it a total of 1 ½ -2 tsp. Adding it at the end of the dish also increases flavor.
There's already a lot of fresh garlic in this recipe, but garlic granules always adds a stronger flavor. You can easily add more garlic granules to taste!
Try More Ground Beef Recipes
- Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Hearty and Healthy Spaghetti
- Cheeseburger Skillet Pizza
- Easy Taco Filling (3 ways)
- Chili
Asian Style Ground Beef Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 ½ lb ground beef
- sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic granules to taste
For the Sauce
- ¼ cup liquid aminos
- 1 tablespoon water
- 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
- ½ teaspoon garlic granules
- 1 ½ teaspoon arrowroot powder
For the Vegetables
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 2 ½ tablespoon garlic minced (4 large cloves)
- 2 cups carrots sliced into thin sticks
- 1 ½ cups thinly sliced bell peppers
- 1 ½ cups thinly sliced yellow onion
- 2 cups broccoli crowns halved long ways
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 8 oz. can water chestnuts (1 cup with liquid drained)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil to add at the end
- 2 additional tsp liquid aminos added at the end
- 5 large leaves of lettuce either red leaf or Romaine
- optional red pepper (ground or flakes)
- optional umeboshi paste
- Add more liquid aminos to taste
Instructions
- Cook ground beef on medium-low heat in a large skillet for 15-18 minutes to brown, chopping to a preferred texture during cook. Drain fat/juices and transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Start the sauce in a separate small saucepan. Combine all ingredients and heat to medium heat to bring to a simmer until slightly thick (about 6-8 minutes). Remove from heat to thicken slightly more. Set aside.
- In the same skillet you used for browning the meat, add 1-2 tablespoon olive oil (I use 2 with a cast iron pan, you could get away with 1 tablespoon for non-stick pan.
- Once hot, add garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add carrots, bell peppers, onion, and broccoli. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup water and cover again for another 5 minutes. Add water chestnuts and freshly grated ginger and cook another few minutes. Decrease heat to low and add meat and sauce. Cook for another 5-10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon sesame oil and an additional 2 teaspoon liquid aminos, stir, and turn off and let sit for a few minutes with lid off to let the sauce set a little before serving.
- Serve over cooked rice and/or a bed of large leaf lettuce. Top with sesame seeds, optional red pepper, and optional umeboshi paste.
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