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Beef and snow pea stir fry features tender beef and crunchy snow peas tossed in a thick, savory sauce. It takes 25 minutes to come together and it all happens in one pan!
25 Minutes, Only: Beef with Snow Peas
Beef with snow peas is a dish my mom used to make when we were growing up and it’s also a dish that’s pretty popular at Chinese restaurants. The thin slices of beef are tender while the snow peas give the dish a nice crunch and freshness. Everything is tossed together in a thick, savory, garlicky sauce that I sometimes love making extra of to drizzle over my rice. This all comes together so quickly too — in just 25 minutes!
The key is to use thinly sliced steak, which cooks fast, and to retain the crunch of the snow peas, you don’t need to cook them long either.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Swap or add in more vegetables. Not a fan of snow peas but like its sister snap peas? Feel free to swap her in! Additionally, adding more vegetables like sliced red bell pepper or broccoli florets would be a great way to amp up the vegetables.
- Make sure you don’t turn off the heat when you add the sauce. Cornstarch needs heat to activate in order to thicken the sauce.
- Don’t overcook the beef! Flank steak, especially sliced thin, will cook really fast and won’t need much time at all so take care to keep an eye on it.
- This dish comes together really quickly when it’s on the stove so make sure you have everything chopped and ready to go!
Suggested Beef Cuts to Use
Flank steak is the recommendation here because it’s lean, thin, and cooks fast. Skirt steak also works well. I wouldn’t recommend a stew beef or a chuck roast as those are better for pot roasts.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Allow leftovers to cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, use a microwave-safe bowl to reheat until warmed through or put into a skillet on the stovetop to warm through.
Beef and Snow Pea Stir Fry
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup (118 ml) low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup (59 ml) water
- 3 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine, see notes
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 10 ounces (284 g) snow peas, ends trimmed
- ¾ pounds (340 g) thinly sliced flank steak
Instructions
- In a measuring cup or bowl, whisk together soy sauce, water, cooking wine, brown sugar, and corn starch. Set aside.1/2 cup (118 ml) low-sodium soy sauce, 1/4 cup (59 ml) water, 3 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine, 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- In a skillet or wok, over medium-high heat, add vegetable oil. Once oil is heated, add minced garlic and cook until fragrant.1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 2 cloves of garlic
- Add the snow peas and cook until bright green, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside on a plate.10 ounces (284 g) snow peas
- Add the flank steak to the skillet and cook until mostly cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.3/4 pounds (340 g) thinly sliced flank steak
- Add the snow peas back into the skillet then pour sauce in. Let simmer and thicken for 3-5 minutes, stirring and tossing to incorporate everything.
- Serve with white rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Photographs by Jess Gaertner Creative
amazing!!!! made this for lunch just added 1/2 of a yellow onion and some crushed red pepper flakes and it was to die for….. going on my monthly list of must eats for sure thanks a bunch….
This Beef and Snow Pea Stir Fry is so delicious and easy to make. I used the San-J Tamari Soy Sauce that I bought at Karman Foods as an alternative for an added twist of flavor and reduced it to 1-2 tablespoons only; it’s perfect! Those who said it’s just too salty, you can always reduce the soy sauce amount or can either use Coconut Aminos Soy-Free Seasoning Sauce, instead.
Great amount, great thickness, but agreed that it’s just too salty, even with the low sodium soy sauce. I’d decrease that next time and think it would be better.
I used 1 lb of beef, 12 oz of snow peas, and 1 whole onion, and still there was more sauce than needed, and even with low sodium soy sauce, far saltier than needed.
did you use cornstarch to thicken?
@Julie Chiou, I did. The sauce was just overpoweringly salty. It drowned out the flavors of the beef and snow peas.
I’m sorry to hear that :(
So much flavour, excellent meal that I cooked last night. Changed it up and added some blanched broccoli, yue choy, some bean sprouts and sliced onion to veg mix. Cannot believe the flavour you get from the sauce. Also added a couple of dashes of worcheshire sauce. Definitely on the favourite list and will make again.
Just watch the sodium level…just a little Too salty for me.
Great recipe! Easy to make. ( A little salty)
This was AMAZING! Such great flavors that melded so well together. We doubled the recipe for our family of three (very hungry people), and ended up with just enough for me for lunch the next day – fighting my husband and daughter all the way for it ;) thank you!!!