Thinly sliced beef, fried until crispy, and coated in a sweet and sticky honey garlic sauce. Crispy Honey Garlic Beef takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, and it is a wonderfully and budget-friendly main. Serve with rice and steamed veggies for a complete meal!

It’s no secret that I have an addiction to Asian-inspired dishes. I love any chicken, pork, or beef that has been fried until crispy and tossed in a delicious sauce. In fact, I have many of those types of recipes on my site already. One of the most popular, my 30 Minute Ginger Beef, starts with the same frying technique as this Crispy Honey Garlic Beef.
Late last year, just before I got started with my Christmas baking, I was eating food like this at least once or twice a week. Remember my General Tso’s Chicken, and my Sweet Jalapeno Pork? I ate so much of those two! Like those, this is one of those dishes that comes together quite easily. It might look like there’s a lot of steps, but they’re really quite simple and fast. To be honest, if you put aside the actual cooking of the beef, it’s the prep that takes up the most time.
Crispy Honey Garlic Beef will completely put aside any misconceptions you have about making Asian-style takeout food at home. This dish can compete with the best of them! And, in comparison to takeout prices these days, you’ll get way more beef for your buck if you make it at home yourself.

THE RIGHT BEEF FOR THE JOB
Anytime I use beef in a recipe such as this, I always use the cheapest cut I can find. Save your good beef for the grill. Ideally, the best beef choices for this recipe is either skirt steak or flank steak. Both of these cuts are often used interchangeably, because they are both tough cuts of beef. But, sliced thinly against the grain, they are tender and delicious.
If you can’t find skirt of flank steak, you can certainly use other cuts of beef as well. I’ve used beef tenderloin for this recipe a few times and it works perfectly. Just be sure to cut the slices against the grain. The beef will be fried until crispy on the outside, but you want it still tender on the inside. Cutting against the grain will ensure it’s still tender.
We shop at an Asian grocery store quite often. They stock thinly sliced beef that is primarily used for bulgogi or ramen dishes. It’s a little more expensive pound for pound, but it’s thinly sliced rib eye and it works very well for this recipe as well.

GET THE PREP DONE FIRST
Can you prepare Crispy Honey Garlic Beef ahead of time? Yes, you most certainly can! The beef can be sliced thin and covered tightly before refrigerating overnight or even for two days. I would not recommend tossing the beef with the cornstarch until you are getting ready to fry the beef.
When you’re ready to fry the beef, toss it well with the cornstarch and remember that it will take about five minutes for the oil to get hot enough. You should never drop cold meat into hot oil. Remove the beef from fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before you start to fry.
Additional prep can be done as well. Prepared your sauce mixture ahead of time and store it in the fridge in a mason jar. Just be sure to give it a good shake to disperse any ingredients that might have settled at the bottom of the jar. Keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook.

THIS IS WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR THIS RECIPE:
- Steak – Once again, skirt of flank steak is a great choice, but beef tenderloin will do just nicely too.
- Cornstarch – This is used to coat the beef before frying. Cornstarch is much better than flour for a dredge. It’s crispier and lighter.
- Garlic – Use freshly chopped garlic. Four cloves seems like a lot, but this is a garlicy dish. Don’t worry, the pungency of the garlic will be cooked off.
- Soy Sauce – There’s just a little bit of soy sauce in this recipe. I use low sodium whenever possible to keep the dish from getting too salty.

- Sesame Oil – Because I cook a lot, I have a bottle of sesame oil on hand at all times. If you have it – great! If you don’t, just skip it. It’s basically used for finishing and a little bit of flavour. The dish will not be altered greatly if you don’t have it.
- Brown Sugar – Yes, you will need to use it. It helps to add a sweet, caramel flavour to the sauce.
- Honey – The honey is the major component of the sauce and is what gives the dish that stickiness and shininess.
- Spices – Regular ground black pepper and salt is used. Red chili flakes can be used for heat, but can be omitted completely.
- Sesame Seeds – These add flavour and texture, but can be omitted as well if you don’t have any.
- Green Onions – For garnish as well as flavour.
- Vegetable Oil

HOW TO MAKE 30 MINUTE GINGER BEEF
- Toss the steak with the corn starch in a large bowl and set aside.
- Over medium heat, fill a heavy-bottomed pot just under half full with vegetable oil. Bring the oil to 350 degrees F.
- Once the oil is properly heated, and working in batches, shake the excess corn starch off the beef and fry each piece in until crispy. This process takes about 3-4 minutes. Drain the fried beef on paper towels.
- Once the beef is fried, add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large skillet. Over medium heat, add the garlic and cook until the garlic has turned a light, golden brown colour.
- Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, black pepper, salt, and chili flakes (if using). Stir to combine.
- Continue to cook until sauce has thickened.
- Add the cooked beef and toss to combine.
- Turn off the heat and drizzle over the sesame oil, if using. Add the sesame seeds and green onions. Toss once again. Serve immediately.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
I love to serve Crispy Honey Garlic Beef with rice and steamed broccoli. Since this recipe brags about being ready in about 30 minutes, I often use instant or minute rice. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might recall that I cannot cook “real” rice to save my life. I always resort to instant rice whenever possible.
Also, I think rice is a great side to help soak up any extra honey garlic sauce that might otherwise be left behind on the plate. It’s just too delicious to let it go to waste! I also wanted to make mention that if you like a little bit of spice, you can add some dried red chili flakes to the sauce mixture. If I’m preparing this for myself, that’s exactly what I do.
Serving this dish with simple steamed broccoli is a great addition to the rice. Since Crispy Honey Garlic Beef is a little heavy, I tend to feel less guilty about eating a second portion of it if I serve it with broccoli. It’s also pairs very well with fried noodles. Yum!

LEFTOVERS – IF BY CHANCE YOU HAVE ANY LEFT!
Before we get to the recipe, there’s just one more thing I have to tell you about – freezing. When I first made this recipe, I was the only meat-eater in our home. I would make a big batch of this beef and freeze it.
Here’s what you should do: Portion the completely cooled beef into food safe containers. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the container and place on the lid. The water is important to prevent the beef from drying out during the re-heating stage.
Allow the beef to thaw at room temperature for 2-4 hours before you plan to reheat it. To reheat, simply remove the lid and transfer the contents to a skillet. Place a lid on the skillet, and over medium heat, allow the beef to heat up. The water will steam the beef and keep it moist. The beef should be fully re-heated and ready to eat in five minutes. The crispiness will be gone, but the tender, flavourful beef will still be there!


Crispy Honey Garlic Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pound skirt steak, sliced thinly (flank steak or beef tenderloin will work too)
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried red chili flakes, optional
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil, optional
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Toss the steak with the corn starch in a large bowl and set aside.
- Over medium heat, fill a heavy-bottomed pot just under half full with vegetable oil. Bring the oil to 350 degrees F.
- Once the oil is properly heated, and working in batches, shake the excess corn starch off the beef and fry each piece in until crispy. This process takes about 3-4 minutes. Drain the fried beef on paper towels.
- Once the beef is fried, add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large skillet. Over medium heat, add the garlic and cook until the garlic has turned a light, golden brown colour.
- Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, black pepper, salt, and chili flakes (if using). Stir to combine.
- Continue to cook until sauce has thickened.
- Add the cooked beef and toss to combine.
- Turn off the heat and drizzle over the sesame oil, if using. Add the sesame seeds and green onions. Toss once again. Serve immediately.


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