Easy Beef Stir Fry Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make stir fry beef so it's tender? ›

According to Food & Wine, ketchup is the ultimate way to take the flavor of homemade stir fry up a level, thanks to its sweet and sour flavor profile. It just might be the easiest cooking hack to elevate your home cooking to that of your favorite take-out.

The first is to cook your protein and your vegetable separately, and combine them only after both are fully cooked. A second rule of thumb for stir-frying: Choose one vegetable per stir-fry. Finally, always remember to add liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking.

The key to stir-frying is to constantly stir. Your veggies must have enough room to move around in the wok. A -crowded wok will lead to veggies that are soggy instead of crunchy. If your wok is getting too full, cook your meat and then veggies in batches.

Tenderize: In a bowl, sprinkle a small amount of baking soda over the beef and coat evenly with soy sauce, salt, starch, and oil (and optional ingredients, if using). Marinate: After sitting in the mixture for 15 to 30 minutes in the fridge, your beef is ready for stir-frying!

How to make beef stir fry tender? For tender beef stir fry, choose a lean cut like skirt steak or flank steak and slice it thinly against the grain. Velvet the beef by marinating it in a mixture of oil, starch, baking soda, and soy sauce for 15 minutes, then quickly pan sear it in a hot pan with oil.

Aromatic ingredients like garlic, ginger, green onions, chilies and spices. These ingredients are typically added to the oil first to infuse it with flavor. You won't need much; a few teaspoons to a tablespoon of total aromatic ingredients per person adds a serious amount of flavor.

When to put soy sauce in stir fry? ›

Adding soy sauce too early can burn it. Remember, timing is key. Add soy sauce midway for that perfect cook.

Whether hosting a holiday cookout, serving up some stir-fry or tackling game meats, baking soda is the go-to meat tenderizer to help make your steak, chicken or turkey silkier, juicier and yummier.

Salting. Most cuts of steak benefit from being salted up to an hour in advance of cooking, but especially tougher cuts. In addition to seasoning the steaks, salt helps break down proteins and make the meat more tender. Liberally salt the steaks up to an hour before cooking, then proceed according to your recipe.

Allow the meat to soak in the baking soda solution for 15 minutes. Remove the meat from the liquid and briefly rinse the meat in plain water to strip off the baking soda solution (or as much of it as possible). Cook as desired.

Mechanical tenderization includes using sharp tools to break apart the meat's connective tissues. Thermal tenderization uses heat to break does the meat's connective tissues, and enzymatic tenderization uses enzymes from fruits such as pineapple or fig to break down the meat's connective tissues.