Vegan Mongolian Beef
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This Vegan Mongolian Beef is made from soy curls and has the best texture and flavor! Serve it with rice and your favorite veggie side dish.
This is one of my favorite soy curl recipes to date! They are marinated, tossed in corn starch and fried until crispy. Then they are cooked in a simple homemade sauce & dried chiles. Serve this vegan beef recipe over rice with a side of my Sautéed Garlicky Cabbage.
How to prep Vegan Mongolian Beef
This recipe does take a little bit of time, because the soy curls are marinated in vegan beef broth for one hour! If you don’t want to use this broth, you can sub it for your favorite or just use water. I recommend using the broth – it helps us achieve that “beef” flavor.
Once the soy curls are done marinating, drain any excess broth and toss them in corn starch. Set them aside and make the sauce – it is just a simple combo of soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and water.
How to cook Vegan Mongolian Beef
Heat some oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (I used avocado oil). In batches, add the soy curls and cook until fried on both sides. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan! Remove the soy curls and drain excess oil from the skillet.
Add fresh ginger and dried chiles to the skillet and cook for about a minute. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. Pour in the sauce and a corn starch slurry. Once the sauce is heated through and slightly thickened add the soy curls and green onions back to the skillet and toss until all of the sauce has been absorbed.
How to serve Vegan Mongolian Beef
Transfer the finished Vegan Mongolian Beef to a platter and top with sesame seeds. This is best served right away – to ensure extreme crispiness.
You can keep it super simple and serve it over hot rice. If you want to make a full meal, make a batch of my Sautéed Garlicky Cabbage. Some other veggie ideas are bok choy, broccoli or broccolini. You could also sauté some peppers in with the soy curls to make everything in one pan.
Need more recipe inspo? Check these out:
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE???
If you made this Vegan Mongolian Beef I would LOVE to hear what you thought. Be sure to drop a comment and a rating below! You can also tag me on social media if you snapped a photo. I LOVE seeing your recreations!
Vegan Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
FOR THE SOY CURLS
- 4 ounces soy curls
- 2 cups vegan beef broth*
- 3 tablespoons corn starch separated
- oil for frying
- 1 inch fresh ginger peeled and diced
- 10 dried chiles
- 2 cloves garlic diced
- 3 green onions cut in 1 inch chunks
- sesame seeds for serving
Instructions
- Add the dry soy curls and broth to a bowl and gently press down. Place in the fridge and marinate for 1 hour.
- While the soy curls are marinating, prep the sauce by combing all of the ingredients in a bowl. Also, prep the corn starch slurry by combining 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 1 tablespoon of water in a bowl. Set aside.
- Remove the soy curls from the fridge and drain off any excess liquid (no need to press the soy curls). Add 2 tablespoons of corn starch to the soy curls and toss to combine.
- Add about 1/2" of oil to the bottom of a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the soy curls and fry until crispy on both sides – working in batches so that the soy curls are only in a single layer. Lower the heat as needed. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
- Drain off excess oil from the skillet, so that there is only 1 tablespoon of oil left and place it on the stove over medium heat. Add the ginger & chiles and cook for about 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. Pour in the sauce and the corn starch slurry. Heat until the sauce starts to thicken, then add the soy curls and green onion back to the skillet. Toss until the sauce is fully stuck to the soy curls.
- Transfer to a platter, top with sesame seeds and serve hot.
Notes
Yum! I’ve had this one saved for a long time, but haven’t had the vegan beef broth to make it. Finally made this last night and its a new favorite! I will say it was pretty salty, but that’s not a criticism so much as something to be aware of, especially if you’re like us and used to using low sodium veggie broth for cooking. Sometimes you need a salty spicy dinner and this fits that bill for sure. We made broccoli and jasmine rice to serve it with and my husband wants me to make it again this week. Twist my arm! 😉
What kind of dried chilies are you referring too?
Hey Rene, Mongolian Beef was one of my favorites when I was a meat eater, so this recipe got my attention! Just wondering if you think maybe the curls could be crisped up in the air fryer, I have to restrict my oil consumption as much as possible. I “cheat” for the sesame oil which has to be there for the flavor. Thanks.
Hey Richard, Thanks for asking about air frying. I was wondering the exact same thing for the exact same reason. I’m going to try it because that’s how I cook them and tofu for other recipes. Experiment!!
Hey! I would go for baking over air frying. I have tried air frying soy curls and I feel they get dry. Marinate, then follow the baking instructions from this recipe and toss in the hot sauce!
https://www.thissavoryvegan.com/chipotle-soy-curl-tacos-with-tomatillo-salsa/
Hey Rene, thank you so much for your idea. Will give that a try!
You definitely can air fry them! I tried it & it came out delicious