This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

No takeout menu is needed for this speedy and saucy Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry! Tender sirloin steak and crisp veggies dance in a sweet and savory homemade teriyaki sauce for a dish that’s as scrumptious as it is nutritious.

A plate with Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry with Rice

Why You’ll Love This Easy Stir Fry

  • Healthy. Just like my Healthy Beef and Broccoli, this is a recipe that your entire family will love! If you order takeout Chinese beef stir fry with vegetables frequently, I urge you to give this wholesome version a shot. It’s packed with protein-packed beef, an array of healthy veggies, and a lightened-up version of teriyaki sauce.
  • Choose Your Own Adventure. How you serve this delicious dish is totally up to you! This healthy beef stir fry recipe is delighted to be served with noodles, rice, or even wrapped in side lettuce leaves.
  • Uses What You Have. Stir fries like Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry make me feel like a kitchen wizard. From the fridge, there is but a hodgepodge of on-the-brink veggies; from the pantry, a bottle of soy sauce. A spell of garlic and a flash of the pan later, and we have magic. Each stir fry is different, but they have core ingredients in common.
  • Master of Meal Prep. Healthy stir-fries are our favorite dishes to make ahead. From Pork Stir Fry to this beef stir fry recipe, they’re easy to prepare in advance and enjoy for days to come.
A black skillet with a healthy beef stir fry with steak and vegetables

5 Star Review

“Delicious! The sauce was amazing!! My teenage son absolutely loved it. This recipe is definitely a keeper. YUM!”

— Liz —

How to Make this Beef Stir Fry Recipe

The Ingredients

For the Stir Fry

  • Sirloin Steak. A sirloin steak cut of meat is teriyaki’s best friend. It’s the best, most tender beef for stir fry. It cooks quickly and will soak up the flavors you cook it in (like our beef stir fry sauce). However, you can also use flank steak or chuck steak to make teriyaki beef.
  • Beef Stir Fry Marinade. Soy sauce and black pepper are used to make our easy marinade for stir fry beef. This umami-rich marinade gives the beef deep flavor right from the start.
  • Vegetables. Anything you have around! A red bell pepper adds beautiful color to our stir fry. For the mixed vegetables, try teriyaki beef and broccoli, snap peas, or carrots. Only have frozen veggies on hand? No problem. You can make a beef stir fry with frozen vegetables (see tips below).
  • Water Chestnuts. The crunchy element you didn’t know you needed. Once you try them in your stir fry, you’ll never want to make one without them.
  • Green Onions. A delicious, fresh crunch and subtle bite to finish off your stir fry.

For the Teriyaki Sauce

  • Soy Sauce. The umami bomb ingredient that makes this teriyaki sauce so delicious.
  • Maple Syrup. To naturally sweeten the sauce. Honey would also work well here.
  • Rice Vinegar. Adds acidity to the sauce.
  • Garlic + Ginger. Subtle but powerful ingredients in a stir fry recipe.
  • Red Pepper Flakes. For a touch of spice.
  • Cornstarch. You’ll need a little dash of cornstarch to help thicken up the stir fry sauce recipe.

The Directions

  1. Marinate the Beef. Prepare the homemade teriyaki sauce.
  2. Brown the Beef. You want to cook it all the way through.
  3. Sauté the Vegetables. Use your favorites here!
  4. Put It All Together. Combine all the stir fry ingredients in the pan with the veggies. ENJOY!
A healthy beef stir fry with teriyaki sauce and vegetables

Storage Tips

  • To Store. Place leftover stir fry in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
  • To Reheat. Gently rewarm beef and vegetables in a skillet on the stove over medium-low heat. You can also reheat this dish in the microwave.
  • To Freeze. Store beef and vegetables in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Meal Prep Tip

Cut your beef up to 24 hours in advance, and store it in the refrigerator. Stir your sauce ingredients together up to 1 day in advance, and chop your vegetables up to 1 day in advance.

Chinese beef stir fry in a skillet

Leftover Ideas

For a spin on homemade Beef Lo Mein, toss beef stir fry leftovers with cooked lo mein noodles.

What to Serve with Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry

Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry topped with green onions
Beef teriyaki stir fry with vegetables on a blue plate with rice

Recipe Tips and Tricks

  • Use Frozen Veggies. One of the best parts about easy stir fries like this one is the ability to use frozen vegetables. They won’t be as crisp as fresh ones, but they’ll still be delicious if prepared correctly. The secret to good stir-fry vegetables is letting them thaw completely before adding them to the stir fry, and patting away any excess moisture prior to adding them.
  • Size Matters. How you cut your veggies makes a big difference. Make sure to cut your vegetables so that they all cook in roughly the same amount of time (harder veggies like carrots should be cut smaller and thinner than softer ones like asparagus, for example).
  • Get the Pan HOT. Using a pan that’s nice and hot is the secret to a successful stir fry. Both the teriyaki beef strips and the veggies need a hot, non-crowded pan to sear and caramelize properly. The sear ensures that the stir fry ingredients will have excellent texture and flavor.

Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry

4.89 from 95 votes
This healthy Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry comes together quickly and features tender beef in an easy homemade teriyaki sauce with any of your favorite vegetables.

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 30 minutes

Servings: 3 servings

Ingredients
  

For the Stir Fry:

  • 1 pound sirloin steak cut into thin, bite-sized pieces
  • 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil divided
  • 1 red bell pepper cored and cut into thin slices
  • 3 cups chopped mixed vegetables of choice such as broccoli, snap peas, or carrots
  • 1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts drained
  • 3 medium green onions finely chopped; divided
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds optional
  • Prepared brown rice white rice, quinoa, noodles, or cauliflower rice — for serving

For the Teriyaki Sauce:

  • 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes plus additional to taste
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions
 

  • Place the beef in a bowl and top with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and black pepper. Stir to coat then set aside to marinade while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
  • Prepare the sauce: In a medium mixing bowl or large measuring cup, stir together the soy sauce, water, maple syrup, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and cornstarch. Set aside.
  • Continue with the stir fry: In a large, deep sauté pan or wok, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot but not smoking, add the beef. Cook until the beef is browned on all sides and fully cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove the beef and any juices that have collected in the skillet to a plate and set aside.
  • Heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil. Add the bell pepper and other vegetables. Cook for 4 minutes, or until slightly softened and lightly browned.
  • When the vegetables are ready, add the water chestnuts and return the beef and juices to the pan. Pour in the sauce and toss to coat. Let simmer 3 to 4 minutes to thicken and warm the beef through. Stir in about half of the green onions. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and remaining green onions over the top. Serve warm, with additional red pepper flakes and/or soy sauce as desired.

Video

Notes

  • TO STORE: Place leftover stir fry in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
  • TO REHEAT: Gently rewarm beef and vegetables in a wok on the stove over medium-low heat. You can also reheat this dish in the microwave.
  • TO FREEZE: Store beef and vegetables in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Nutrition

Serving: 1(of 3); about 1 2/3 cup of stir fry per serving (without rice)Calories: 436kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 39gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 92mgPotassium: 1119mgFiber: 6gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 1978IUVitamin C: 136mgCalcium: 151mgIron: 5mg

Join today and start saving your favorite recipes

Create an account to easily save your favorite recipes and access FREE meal plans.

Sign Me Up

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Make Beef Super Tender for Stir-Fry?

Here are the 3 rules of stir-frying beef so it’s not tough or chewy:
1. Slice Across (not with) the Grain. When cutting your beef, slice thinly across (perpendicular to) the grain to make it tender. This helps break down the fibers and is how you make stir-fry beef so it’s tender.
2. Don’t Overcook It. Overcooking your beef will make it tough and unpleasantly dry. In this recipe, as soon as the strips of beef are no longer pink, they are ready to serve.
3. Marinate It. For this recipe, our beef teriyaki marinade not only flavors the beef, but it helps it tenderize as well. Even the few minutes while you prep the remaining ingredients can make a big difference.

Why Is My Stir Fry Meat Tough?

Overcooking is most likely why your stir-fry beef is chewy. If your beef isn’t overcooked, see the FAQ above for other suggestions.

What Are the Best Vegetables for Beef Stir Fry?

We love using a red bell pepper and some mixed vegetables. For the mixed vegetables, broccoli, snap peas, snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, eggplant, bok choy, or baby corn would all be tasty.

More Delicious Beef Recipes

From the two best beef and broccoli stir fry recipes to a delicious pepper steak, there’s something for everyone!

Did you try this recipe?

I want to see!

Follow @wellplated on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag it #wellplated. I love to know what you are making!

You May Also Like

Free Email Series
Sign Up for FREE Weekly Meal Plans
Each includes a grocery list, budget, and 5 healthy dinners, helping you save time, save money, and live better!

Erin Clarke

Hi, I'm Erin Clarke, and I'm fearlessly dedicated to making healthy food that's affordable, easy-to-make, and best of all DELISH. I'm the author and recipe developer here at wellplated.com and of The Well Plated Cookbook. I adore both sweets and veggies, and I am on a mission to save you time and dishes. WELCOME!

Learn more about Erin

Leave a Comment

Did you make this recipe?

Don't forget to leave a review!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating





106 Comments

Leave a comment

    1. Hi! Did the water come out while you were cooking it? Did you use the marinade before starting the recipe? I hope you still enjoyed the recipe!

      1. It came out while we were cooking it. We did use the marinade beforer starting the recipe. I noticed that you said to add back in the juices from the beef so we did that but the sauce did not thicken as much as we expected. We enjoyed the recipe though; thank you!5 stars

  1. Followed recipe and enjoyed this dish very much! I especially liked that it was a “from scratch” recipe and didn’t call for bottled Teriyaki sauce. I doubled the amount of sauce. Great recipe!5 stars

  2. I love the teriyaki receipie! I will never buy bottled again. This is so versatile, you can use veg on hand, frozen whatever you like. For the beef I used the tails from whole beef tenderloin. It was excellent over spaghetti that I had on hand at the time. I will definitely prepare this again. Thank you!5 stars

  3. I liked this recipe! I’d make it again but next time I’d add less red pepper flakes or none at all, I found it almost to spicy for me personally! 5 stars

  4. This is a great recipe. I used a copious amount of vegetables and my steak of choice was New York. I know that sounds like a high end cut for this dish but we purchased it from the mark down bin in the meat department and oh was it worth it. The sauce is not overly salty and provided a wonderful spice in part due to the fresh ginger. Will definitely make this again.5 stars

  5. I enjoyed cooking this dish especially making everything fresh from scratch. It tasted great. I will be cooking this again.5 stars

  6. We have decided to try each and every Reader Favorite Recipe 2020 and this was our kickoff recipe. We will definitely be adding it to our monthly rotation. It was very easy and delicious. We used sirloin steak and quinoa, and frozen Asian style vegetables. Thank you so much for the helpful tips. We pulled the vegetables out to thaw, prepped the meat and marinated it, then chopped the garlic, ginger and green onions. Winner winner!5 stars

  7. Very good stir fry meal! We liked the flavors in the sauce. I made it exact to the recipe. I used a good quality top round steak, carrots, red bell pepper, green onions, and broccoli. I used celery for crunch since I didn’t have any water chestnuts and it was delicious. I’ll add more red pepper flakes next time. Thanks for this yummy, healthy recipe.5 stars

      1. Fantastic recipe – perfect flavours. I make a vegan version using Gardein Beefless Tips – I marinate and cook just like beef – delicious! Thanks for the inspiration.5 stars

    1. Hi Wendi! I’ve only tried this recipe with the recommended marinade, so you’d be experimenting. If you decide to play around with something else, I’d love to hear how it goes!

  8. This was delicious!! I used a bit more beef as my steak was larger than called for. My vegetables were broccoli and cauliflower which I chopped up and carrots that I julienned. My husband is a bit fussy but we both cleaned our plates. Happy that we have leftovers!5 stars

  9. Really a great recipe. Enjoyed it immensely. Used really good meat, snow peas and red bell pepper. Worked well.5 stars

  10. Very tasty! I substituted apple cider vinegar and a gluten free soy sauce alternative made from coconut. Veggies were broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and onion. I marinated the meat for an hour or so, and it was tender and flavorful. Thank you for sharing this recipe! I will definitely make it again.5 stars

  11. Yum yum! I made a mistake and put the meat in the teriyaki sauce instead of a separate bowl with soy sauce. I just drained the meat, cooked it, then removed the meat and cooked the teriyaki sauce in the wok. (There was already some juice in the pan and sauce that had clung to the meat.) I then moved the sauce to a different container, rinsed my wok and added a bit more oil to stir fry the vegetables. After they were cooked, I added the meat and sauce back to the pan. It worked out well. I really enjoyed this dish and will make it again for sure.5 stars

  12. Made tonight – 10/10 would recommend! The teriyaki sauce was perfect esp with the fresh ginger.5 stars

  13. I just made this dish! I did snow peas instead of broccoli. It was perfect! And very easy to make! I paired it with Jasmine steamed rice and a cabbage Chinese salad with almonds that came in a bag! It took me approximately 45m total time and my family loved it!5 stars

  14. I used no yoke lo mein noodles and doubled the sauce recipe and my husband said “It’s absolutely amazing!”
    Thank-you5 stars

    1. Tried today and was a hit with family! Husband made teriyaki sauce (so followed recipe completely) and I pulled the stir fry together. We will be using this recipe on repeat. Due to ingredients I had on hand, we did a mix of fresh and frozen vegetables (I did stir fry separately) and it turned out lovely. I can see this working with a variety of veggies and we’re considering trying the sauce on chicken skewers~ it’s one of those sauces that you want to think of more ways to use it 😉
      Thanks for this user friendly recipe!5 stars

      1. For the sauce can I substitute something else for the maple syrup? I don’t like maple! Would honey work instead

  15. This was delicious! Highly recommend! Fairly quick and easy. I used the vegetables I had on hand: broccoli, carrots, and yellow squash. The slight alterations I made were using sesame seed oil instead of olive oil (it adds a nice almost nutty flavor) and to only use a few red pepper flakes (my family doesn’t handle spicy foods well.) I also forgot to put the green onions in at the end, but I’ll definitely add them next time. This will be a regular meal in my house for sure.5 stars

  16. This is like the best thing I have ever eaten. My husband kept praising it the whole time while he was eating it. He was so happy for the leftovers that he’ll eat for lunch. Thank you for this helping as it helped me brought a smile on my husband’s face.

  17. My husband and I love this recipe. It is going into our regular meal rotation. One pet peeve I have is the confusion and subsequent misuse of the terms marinade and marinate. The sauce you pour over the meat to flavor and/or tenderize it is the marinade. The act of doing this is to marinate. Not a deal breaker since the recipe is so amazing!!! But it’s a simple fix in your cooking lexicon.5 stars

  18. Loved this recipe, home made sauce was delicious! And marinating the meat in soy sauce and pepper while chopping and prepping made it so tender!5 stars

  19. Thank you for the welcoming, easy push. I came upon your page and the more I read, the closer I came to putting together a delicious dinner. So not fussy. Thank you so much, lyn5 stars

  20. This was so good! Love your homemade teriyaki. I used the pepper, broccoli, onion.
    My husband and I really enjoyed it! Thank you!5 stars

  21. I didn’t have cornstarch, so the sauce was runny but my 21 yo picky son said this recipe was a keeper. I only got a few bites! The other change I did was I oven roasted the peppers because I am working 12 hour days, so that saved me time standing in front of the stove.5 stars

  22. We really enjoyed this recipe! Much simpler and healthier than our usual teriyaki recipe. We used broccoli, carrots, celery, snow peas, bell pepper, mushrooms and a shallot with top sirloin that cooked up perfectly. We’ll definitely be making this again.5 stars

  23. I followed the sauce recipe except subbed sugar free maple syrup. Used other veggies that were in my fridge. Tasted great, will be keeping this recipe. Thanks5 stars

  24. Delish!!! I didn’t put in the peppers, green onions (I used vidalia) or water chestnuts (forgot to buy them 😀) and it was just yummy!!! I think I’d add more ginger next time…will add to the dinner rotation! Enjoy.5 stars

  25. Awesome stir fry! Very easy to put together and cooks up a fast delicious dinner!!! I used New York strip loin steak. Will be making this dish again!!!5 stars

  26. This was delicious! Made with udon noodles and the kids enjoyed slurping up extra sauce with the noodles. Key not to overcook the sirloin. My very picky husband devoured it! Doubled recipe for our family (4 people).5 stars

  27. Omg! This is amazing! I just made it for the second time and my husband and I love this recipe! Has a nice little heat to it. I double the marinade. Thank you for a great recipe!5 stars

  28. Incredible!
    This recipe is SO delicious and very easy to make.
    The only thing I’d say is that the prep time is a little more than 15mins if you are dicing the ginger, garlic, green onions, etc. but totally worth it and 100% recommended.5 stars