Easy Beef Stir Fry with Noodles Recipe for Saucy Tender Stir Fried Beef

This quick and easy beef stir fry with noodles recipe makes a saucy stir-fried beef in a classic Cantonese style just like your favourite Chinese restaurant makes, with a couple of tweaks. The beef is tender thanks to the Chinese velveting technique, the capsicums bring sweetness, the mushrooms earthiness, and the slippery noodles hold everything together.

This recipe for beef stir fry with noodles makes the best single bowl, grab-the-chopsticks, lazy night, lets-eat-on-the-sofa-while-watching-Netflix kind of dish. You’ll love this saucy stir fried beef with bean thread noodles if you’re a fan of old-school Chinese restaurant food and making those quick and easy stir fries that are on the table in minutes.

These stir fried beef noodles could also be served as one of an array of dishes for a Chinese feast if you’re feeding a crowd or casual gathering of friends. You could make fried spring rolls, pork and chive dumplings or pot-stickers, chicken with cashews, leafy greens, Chinese fried rice, and egg foo young. We have recipes for both the original Cantonese egg foo young and Chinese-American egg fu young with gravy.

Please don’t be deterred by the long list of ingredients – half the ingredients make the marinade and stir fry sauce. Vegetables can be substituted if you want to treat this as a bit of a clean-out-the-fridge-veggie-drawer dish. In place of onions, capsicums and mushrooms, you could use scallions, carrot batons and baby corn, for instance.

I have some tips to making this beef stir fry with noodles recipe below, but if you’re looking for more cooking inspiration we have many hundreds of recipes in our archives and you can save your favourites in a private account. Just click on the heart on the right of each post to create an account and save. Now let’s tell you more about our stir fried beef noodles recipe.

Beef Stir Fry with Noodles Recipe for Saucy Tender Stir Fried Beef

This quick and easy beef stir fry with noodles recipe makes my take on another nostalgic dish from my childhood growing up in the western Sydney suburbs when Thursday’s ‘late night’ shopping was nearly always followed by family dinner at our favourite neighbourhood Chinese restaurant – or Pizza Hut.

No matter what my parents ordered – ‘short’ soup (with wontons), ‘long’ soup (with noodles), sweet corn and crab soup (my favourite!), fried rice, lemon chicken, sweet and sour pork, Mongolian beef, and stir fried beef with oyster sauce were all family favourites – the meal always ended with fried ice cream!

On other weeknight evenings, for a couple of years there while mum studied accounting at evening college, dad cooked dinner – usually from one of the best-selling cookbooks of the time, often in a crock-pot or wok, and nearly always some kind of Asian food – everything from Chinese stir fries to ‘Indian’ curries (in the orange crock-pot).

Dad was a great cook. He was also self-taught. My parents had a French restaurant for a couple of years and dad cooked alongside a French chef. But a few years later, mum was the one making beef Bourguignon and coq au vin and dad, who loved spicy food, was getting creative with Asian recipes. Keen’s curry powder was his favourite ingredient!

This beef stir fry with noodles isn’t difficult but I have some important tips to making this delicious Chinese restaurant classic.

Tips to Making this Beef Stir Fry with Noodles Recipe

Please don’t be put off by the number of steps as the process for making this recipe for beef stir fry with noodles is straightforward: make the marinade and stir fry sauce, marinate the beef, prep the noodles, stir fry the beef and let it rest, stir fry the vegetables, combine the lot for a final quick stir fry, and serve, all in less than an hour including 30 minutes marinating time.

Make the Marinade and Stir Fry Sauce

After prepping all your ingredients, the first thing to do is make the marinade and stir fry sauce. I make each in a small bowl using a small whisk to well combine the ingredients then set the stir fry sauce beside your stove and wok and set the marinade aside, while preparing the beef.

Preparing the Beef

You could use rib eye, rump, flank, or sirloin – but you can also use the very affordable ‘beef stir fry’ supermarket packs because the Chinese velveting technique will ensure that whatever you use is tenderised.

If you’re buying a hunk of beef or beef steaks then you need to make sure you cut the beef against the grain, and slice the meat into long thin strips that are no bigger than 2-3 cm wide and 5-6 cm long.

If the beef pieces are larger than that, and you may well want to use bigger pieces if you’re using a quality cut of meat, then you need to stir fry them for a longer time than specified in our recipe.

If you buy a supermarket pack of pre-cut beef for stir-frying and you have a range of sizes, just separate the beef pieces into big and small pieces, or even small, medium and large, and stir fry the pieces in two or three batches.

The Chinese Velveting Technique

The beef remains tender in this stir fry no matter what cut you use, thanks to the Chinese cooking method called velveting. There are two steps to the Chinese velveting technique: marinating and tenderising the beef, and quickly pre-cooking the meat before stir-frying the meat in a stir fry sauce and vegetables.

Marinating and tenderising the meat can be a two-step process in itself, involving pre-coating the meat with a tenderiser such as bicarbonate soda, and washing it off before marinating the meat. However, you can also include a tenderiser such as corn starch in the marinade, eliminating a step, which is what I prefer to do.

Traditional Chinese marinade ingredients usually include a combination of Shaoxing cooking wine or Chinese rice wine, oyster sauce (I’m using Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce), soy sauces (both light soy sauce and dark soy sauce), an oil (I love sesame oil), perhaps white pepper, maybe sugar, and, finally, corn starch as the tenderiser. Marinating and tenderising the beef takes as little as 30 minutes.

Due to the shape of beef steaks, the pieces will be a mix of sizes no matter how much you try to cut them to the same size. So I separate the pieces into two lidded containers in batches of big and small pieces, and divide the marinade between containers, stirring it through to ensure the pieces are fully coated. Then put the lids on and refrigerate the beef pieces for 30 minutes.

The second stage of the Chinese velveting method involves pre-cooking or par-cooking the meat, which is either done in oil in a very hot wok or under water, which is called water-velveting. For our beef stir fry with noodles recipe we opt for the quick wok-fry in a very hot wok, as I prefer the taste and texture. More on that below.

Prepare the Noodles

While the beef is marinating, prepare the noodles. I love using bean thread noodles, which are also called glass noodles and often labelled ‘vermicelli’. The noodles are thin, white and crinkly when dried, and after soaking the noodles are transparent. Follow the packet instructions to prepare them, but expect to either soak or cook the noodles until they’re tender and glassy.

Stir Fry the Vegetables

While the beef is marinating and noodles rehydrating, stir fry all the vegetables except the mushrooms. Normally Chinese cooks will stir fry all the veggies together, but I love to hold the mushrooms and stir fry them in the wok after the beef, so the mushrooms have a beefy flavour. But if you’re tight on time you could eliminate a stage and stir fry the mushrooms with the other vegetables.

Stir-frying vegetable is easy: to the wok, over high heat, you’ll add the vegetable oil, heat the oil until shimmering, add the garlic, onion and capsicums, stir fry the veggies for a few minutes, then transfer them to a bowl and cover.

I use a stainless steal bowl with a plastic lid, and the reason I cover the vegetables is so they soften. When you’re done, reduce the heat to medium and if needed wipe out the wok with a paper kitchen towel.

Finish the Noodles

The noodles should be ready now: they should be tender and transparent. First, use a fine mesh strainer to drain the noodles. Then, to the same wok, over medium heat, add a tablespoon each of sesame oil and oyster sauce, and the noodles.

Stir fry the noodles for a minute or two until any excess water has evaporated, the noodles are browned by the sauce, and coated in sesame oil, which is what keeps the noodles separated. Then transfer the noodles to a bowl and cover to keep warm. Use a paper kitchen towel to wipe the wok removing any noodles that might have stuck.

Stir Fry the Beef

Next you need to quickly stir fry the beef in the same wok and I indicate in the recipe below how long to stir fry the beef for, which is not long at all. So this is where I need to say that if you don’t have a wok and you love cooking Asian food, you really need to invest in a good wok.

A wok is an Asian kitchen essential and a must for stir-frying meat and vegetable dishes, as well as noodle dishes. We recommend a cast iron wok with a long handle, because for effective stir-frying you really need high heat. A compromise is a round flat-bottomed non-stick wok, which we also use in our kitchen. I actually use it more than I use a frying pan.

Another Asian kitchen essential that is handy if you don’t already have one is a mortar and pestle. For this recipe, you can use it to pound the garlic as well as the peanuts. My favourite is the hand-crafted KROK mortar and pestle made by artisans in Thailand.

Stir Fry the Mushrooms

As I said above, I love to stir fry the mushrooms after the beef so they brown and take on the beefy flavours. You’ll need to add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the wok and use the spatula to scrape any meaty pieces off the wok and combine them with the oil. Then add the mushrooms, stir-fry them in the beefy oil over high heat, then transfer them to the vegetables.

Stir Fry the Lot

To finish the dish you need to give the beef that second stir fry it needs and combine it with the  vegetables and stir fry sauce for a final quick stir fry. First, remove the wok from the heat, reduce the heat to medium, and use a paper kitchen towel to wipe out the wok, especially any beefy bits left from the mushrooms.

Then you’ll add the stir-fry sauce to the wok, return the beef and vegetables, stir fry them until well combined, then add the noodles and stir fry the lot to combine well. Lastly, sprinkle on the sesame seeds and roasted peanuts, stir to combine, and transfer your beef stir fry and noodles to a serving plate, and serve immediately.

I like to garnish the dish with another sprinkle of sesame seeds and serve with bowls of more crushed peanuts and either fresh coriander sprigs or sliced spring onions so guests can add as they like. This recipe will make you four main size servings. Enjoy!

Beef Stir Fry with Noodles Recipe

Classic Beef Stir Fry with Noodles Recipe for Cantonese Stir Fried Beef

AuthorLara Dunston

This easy beef stir fry with noodles recipe makes a saucy tender stir-fried beef in a classic Cantonese style. Don’t be deterred by the list of ingredients – most make the marinade and stir fry sauce. The process is straightforward: marinate the beef, prep the noodles, stir fry the beef, let it rest, stir fry the vegetables, combine it all and serve – in under an hour including 30 minutes marinating time.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Marinating 30 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Main

Cuisine Chinese

Servings made with recipeServings 4

Calories 442 kcal

Equipment

Carbon Steel Wok

Silicone Spatula Set

Fine Mesh Strainer

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

Marinade

• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine - or dry sherry
• 3 tbsp sesame oil - or neutral oil of your choice
• 2 tbsp corn starch

Stir fry sauce

• 4 tbsp oyster sauce
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar - optional

To Cook

• 500 g beef steak - such as rib eye, rump, flank, sirloin, cut against the grain into long thin strips no larger than 2-3 cm wide and 5-6 cm long.
• 200 g bean thread noodles - often labelled as Chinese vermicelli
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil - divided, or another neutral cooking oil
• 4 garlic cloves - pounded with a pestle, roughly chopped
• 1 onion - cut into slices same width as the beef
• 1 red capsicum - cut into slices same width as beef pieces
• 1 green capsicum - cut into slices same width as beef pieces
• 200 g button mushrooms - medium-sized, each cut into 3-4 slices
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp roasted peanuts - pounded a little in a mortar and pestle

Instructions

 

• Make the marinade: in a small bowl use a small whisk to combine the marinade ingredients and set aside.
• Make the stir fry sauce: in a small bowl use a small whisk to combine the stir fry sauce ingredients and set beside your stove.
• Marinate the beef: due to the shape of beef steaks the pieces will be a mix of sizes; separate them into two lidded containers in batches of big and small pieces. Divide the marinade between containers, stir through to ensure the pieces are fully coated, put the lids on, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Prepare the noodles: follow the packet instructions, which usually call for soaking the noodles until tender and transparent.
• While the beef is marinating and noodles soaking, stir fry all the vegetables except the mushrooms: to the wok, over high heat, add the vegetable oil, heat until shimmering, add the garlic, onion and capsicums, stir fry for a few minutes (or a little longer if you prefer), then transfer to a bowl and cover. Reduce the heat to medium and if needed wipe out the wok with a paper kitchen towel.
• Finish the noodles: drain the noodles in a fine mesh strainer. To the same wok, over medium, add a tablespoon each of sesame oil and oyster sauce and the noodles, stir fry for a minute or two until any excess water has evaporated and the noodles are browned by the sauce and coated in sesame oil, and transfer the noodles to a bowl and cover. Use a paper kitchen towel to wipe the wok removing any noodles that stuck.
• Stir fry the beef in batches: increase the heat to high, when the wok is very hot and just starting to smoke, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, swirl to coat the wok, and add the batch of bigger beef pieces. Use a spatula to separate the pieces, let the beef piece sit and sear for a minute or so to colour and even char a little, then stir fry the beef for another minute or so; let the pieces sit and sear again for another minute or so, then transfer the pieces to a bowl to rest. Repeat with the second batch of smaller beef pieces – note that they’ll cook faster – then transfer them to the bowl.
• Stir fry the mushrooms: add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, use the spatula to scrape any meaty pieces off the wok and combine with the oil, add the mushrooms, and stir-fry in the brown beefy oil over high heat for a few minutes until brown, then transfer the mushrooms to the bowl of vegetables.
• Stir-fry the lot: remove the wok from the heat, reduce the heat to medium, and use a paper kitchen towel to wipe out the wok. Add the stir-fry sauce to the wok, return the vegetables and beef to the work, stir fry until well combined and fully coated in the sauce. Add the noodles and stir to combine well with the vegetables and beef, sprinkle on the sesame seeds and roasted peanuts, and stir to combine. Transfer to a serving plate and serve immediately.
• Garnish with more sesame seeds and serve with dishes of crushed peanuts and fresh coriander or sliced spring onions for guests to add as they like.

Nutrition

Calories: 442kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 8gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 2556mgPotassium: 728mgFiber: 5gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 2084IUVitamin C: 83mgCalcium: 68mgIron: 3mg

Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our beef stir fry with noodles recipe, as we love hearing how our recipes turn out for you.