Few dishes can match the vibrant, savoury-sweet appeal of Teriyaki Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry. This quick and satisfying meal delivers tender, flavourful beef, crisp vegetables, and a glossy, umami-rich sauce. It’s the perfect balance of textures and tastes, making it a favourite for both busy weeknights and special occasions.
The key to achieving restaurant-quality stir-fry at home is velveting, a technique that makes the beef incredibly tender. Many Chinese takeaways use this method to create silky, melt-in-your-mouth meat, and once you try it, you’ll never cook beef stir-fry the same way again. Paired with fresh vegetables and a simple homemade teriyaki sauce, this dish is guaranteed to impress.
Table of Contents
- Ingredient Breakdown
- Velveting: The Key to Tender Beef
- How to Stir-Fry Like a Pro
- The Teriyaki Sauce
- Serving Suggestions
- Adapting Teriyaki Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry
- More Teriyaki Recipes
Ingredient Breakdown
- Sirloin steak: Tender and flavourful, this cut of beef is perfect for quick cooking, ensuring a juicy, satisfying bite with every piece.
- Vegetable oil: Essential for achieving a high-heat sear, vegetable oil helps cook the beef and vegetables quickly and evenly, locking in their natural flavours.
- Baking soda: Used for velveting, baking soda tenderises the beef, giving it a soft, silky texture, similar to what you’d find in restaurant stir-fries.
- Garlic paste: Adds depth and aromatic richness, infusing the dish with a savoury base that complements the other flavours.
- Ginger paste: Brings warmth while adding a touch of freshness, enhancing the dish with a zesty kick.
- Red and yellow bell peppers: These sweet and crunchy peppers contribute vibrant colour and texture, perfectly balancing the tender beef.
- Tenderstem broccoli: Slightly bitter, this veggie balances the sweetness of the sauce, offering a crunchy contrast.
- Spring onions: Provide a mild onion flavour and freshness, enhancing the dish without overpowering the other ingredients.
- Corn starch: Optional, but when used, corn starch thickens the sauce, giving it a glossy texture that coats the beef and vegetables.
- Light soy sauce: The base of the sauce, adding saltiness and umami, while complementing the sweetness of the other ingredients.
- Mirin: A sweet rice wine that enhances the teriyaki glaze, balancing the saltiness of the soy sauce while adding a subtle sweetness.
- Sugar: Balances the savoury elements, providing the teriyaki sauce with its signature sweetness and rounding out the flavours.
Velveting: The Key to Tender Beef
Velveting is a simple but powerful technique that transforms the texture of beef. If you’ve ever wondered why the meat in Chinese stir-fries is so soft and silky, this is the reason. In this recipe, the beef is tossed with baking soda and left to rest before cooking. This breaks down the proteins, preventing the meat from becoming tough when exposed to high heat.
After 20-30 minutes, the beef is rinsed and dried, leaving it with a slightly redder appearance. This is completely normal. The result? Incredibly tender, juicy beef that soaks up the teriyaki sauce beautifully.
While this method is commonly used for beef, it works just as well for chicken, pork, or even prawns. Once you start using velveting, you’ll never go back to regular stir-frying.
How to Stir-Fry Like a Pro
Stir-frying is one of the fastest cooking methods, but getting it right requires a few key techniques. Teriyaki Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry comes together in minutes, so having everything prepped before you start is essential.
- Use a hot pan: A wok or large frying pan needs to be very hot before adding ingredients. This ensures a quick sear and prevents steaming.
- Cook in batches: Overcrowding the pan lowers the temperature, making the beef tough and the vegetables soggy. Cooking the beef separately allows it to brown properly.
- Keep everything moving: Stir-frying is all about speed. Once the ingredients are in the pan, you should stir them constantly to prevent burning and ensure even cooking.
- Don’t overcook the vegetables: Bell peppers and tenderstem broccoli should remain crisp. Stir-frying them for just 2-3 minutes keeps them vibrant and slightly crunchy.
Master these simple techniques, and every stir-fry you make will taste as good as your favourite restaurant’s.
The Teriyaki Sauce
Teriyaki sauce is more than just a mix of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. It’s a carefully balanced combination of flavours and textures that coat ingredients perfectly. Understanding the science behind the sauce helps explain why it’s so satisfying.
Soy sauce provides umami, the savoury depth that makes food taste more complex. Mirin, a sweet rice wine, balances this saltiness while adding a slight tang. The sugar enhances both elements, thickening the sauce as it caramelises. The combination of these ingredients creates a glossy, sticky glaze that clings to the beef and vegetables, ensuring every bite is packed with flavour.
The key to a perfect teriyaki sauce is the right reduction. Cooking it for a few minutes allows the sugars to caramelise and the liquid to thicken slightly. If needed, a small amount of corn starch slurry can help achieve the ideal texture. A well-made teriyaki sauce enhances every component of the dish, bringing everything together harmoniously.
Serving Suggestions
This Teriyaki Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry is delicious on its own, but pairing it with the right sides can take it to another level.
- Steamed jasmine rice: A classic pairing that soaks up the teriyaki sauce beautifully.
- Garlic fried rice: Adds extra flavour with minimal effort.
- Soba or udon noodles: Perfect for a more substantial meal.
- Stir-fried greens: A simple side of bok choy or pak choi rounds out the dish.
For a final touch, sprinkle toasted sesame seeds or chopped spring onions over the dish for extra flavour and crunch.
Adapting Teriyaki Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry
One of the best things about Teriyaki Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry is how easy it is to adapt for different dietary needs. With a few simple swaps, this dish can fit a variety of eating styles without losing its delicious flavour and texture.
- For a vegetarian or vegan version, replace the beef with firm tofu or tempeh. Pressing the tofu before cooking helps it absorb the sauce, ensuring a rich flavour. You can also add mushrooms for extra umami. Instead of fish-based mirin, opt for a plant-based alternative or increase the sugar slightly.
- For a gluten-free option, use tamari instead of soy sauce and check that your mirin and corn starch are gluten-free.
More Teriyaki Recipes
If you’re looking for more recipes that pack the same punch as these Teriyaki Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry, then here you go:
- Teriyaki Wings: Crispy chicken wings baked to golden brown perfection and coated in a delicious homemade teriyaki sauce. What more could you want?
- Teriyaki Ribs: Sweet, sticky and delicious! These melt-in-your mouth baby back ribs are incredibly easy to make. They’re slow-cooked until super tender then coated in a tasty homemade teriyaki sauce.
- Spicy Teriyaki Tofu Burger: This bold creation combines crispy sesame-crusted tofu, a rich and spicy teriyaki glaze, charred pineapple, and a tangy sriracha slaw, all packed into a toasted bun.
See how I make these recipes and more over on my Instagram!
Teriyaki Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry
Bursting with delicious flavours, tender beef and crisp vegetables, this tasty stir-fry is sure to be a hit with friends and family.
The secret to making a Chinese restaurant-style stir-fry at home is velveting. Velveting is a technique used in Chinese cooking to tenderise meat. There are different variations. The method I’ve used in this recipe consists of tossing the beef in baking soda and letting it sit for 20 to 30 minutes. It makes the beef incredibly tender, just like it is in your favourite Chinese takeaways. It’s a game changer!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Meat
Ingredients
- 300 g thin-cut sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
- vegetable oil
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 1 heaped teaspoon garlic paste
- 1 heaped teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 150 g tenderstem broccoli, halved or quartered lengthwise
- 2 spring onions, chopped
- ½ tbsp corn starch (corn flour), optional
- 4 tbsps light soy sauce
- 4 tbsps mirin
- 2 tsps sugar
Instructions
- Add the beef strips and baking soda to a bowl and toss to coat. Let sit 20 to 30 minutes. This technique is called velveting – it tenderises the beef, giving it the soft, velvety texture you find in many Chinese restaurant stir-fry dishes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the teriyaki sauce ingredients until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Use the remaining velveting time to prep your ingredients. Once you get cooking, the dish comes together very quickly, so it helps to have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go.
- Rinse the beef and pat dry with kitchen towel. You’ll notice that it’s now a vibrant reddish colour – don’t be alarmed, this should happen.
- Heat a splash of vegetable oil in a large wok or frying pan over high heat. Add the beef and spread out. Leave it undisturbed for 1 minute, to get some browning, then stir-fry until no longer pink. Transfer the beef to a plate.
- Add another splash of vegetable oil. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the bell peppers, broccoli and spring onions and stir fry for a further 2 minutes.
- Return the beef to the pan, add the teriyaki sauce and toss to combine. Stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
- Optional: to thicken the sauce further, you can combine the corn starch with 2 to 3 tbsp of water. Stir to make a slurry, add it to the sauce and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasoning then serve with steamed rice – enjoy!
