Whole 30 compliant Paleo Mongolian Beef | 10 ingredients, gluten, sugar, & soy free | Ready in less than 30 minutes!
I get excited about all the recipes I share on here because, um, hi I like food and I want you to like it too. But I’m extra excited about sharing this paleo Mongolian Beef today because it’s just so. damn. good.
Better yet – it’s Whole 30 compliant! Which I’m also really excited about because I don’t think I’ve seen many paleo Mongolian beef recipes that don’t use sugar of any kind – including honey. I could be wrong, but my brief google search didn’t yield any matches.
So let’s do this!
Paleo Mongolian Beef
Ok so first things first – what do we use to sweeten this recipe? If you’ve ever had Mongolian Beef than you probably know it’s a perfect combination of sweet and salty. Usually that means you’re working with sugar and soy sauce. Not today! Taking inspiration from my Whole 30 Cashew Chicken I shared ages ago, I used dates! Two of them! Chopped up and blended with 1/3 cup water. It works as the perfect sweetener to balance out the fieriness of the ginger/garlic. In place of the usual soy sauce sauce we’re going to use coconut aminos – the paleo go to for Chinese inspired cuisine.
Altogether this recipe takes about 25 minutes to put together. Since the beef is cut up into thin, bite sized strips it only needs a couple of minutes to cook. The sauce itself only needs about 10 minutes to simmer and thicken on the stove top.
This makes for a perfect weeknight dinner when you’re wanting something quick and easy. It also makes for a great weekend meal if you’re in the mood for a little takeout fake out.
Seriously. It’s so good!
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- 1 1/2 lb flank steak sliced against the grain in 1/4 inch bite sized pieces
- 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon tapioca flour or arrowroot flour divided
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon water divided
- 2 medjool dates pits removed
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 1 tablespoon garlic chopped
- 1/3 cup coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
- coconut oil for frying
- 2 large green onions sliced on the diagonal into one-inch lengths
- sesame seeds for topping
- Place the flour in a shallow bowl and dip the steak pieces in the flour, lightly coating the sides of each piece. Let the beef sit while you prepare the sauce. This will give time for the tapioca/arrowroot to stick.
- Remove the pits and roughly chop your dates before adding them to a blender or food processor with 1/3 cup water. Blend on high until the dates are broken down and mixed into the water. Set aside.
- In a medium sized sauce pan, warm 2 teaspoons coconut oil on a medium low heat. Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and sauté for a minute or until they become fragrant. Gently pour the date water into the pan along with the coconut aminos and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir and turn to a medium heat, bringing the sauce up to a gentle boil for about 5 minutes. Stir every so often to prevent burning.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon water with 1 tablespoons tapioca/arrowroot starch. Whisk until no lumps remain and then gently add it to the sauce to thicken. Taste ans season as you go - add more salt to your preference. Coconut aminos aren't as salty as soy sauce so you may want to add more.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside while you prepare the beef.
- In a large wok or skillet, heat up enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add the beef piece to the wok and sauté for a couple of minutes or until the edges start to turn a darker brown. Flip over and saute the other side for about a minute. After all of the beef has been cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the wok. Place on a paper towel lined plate and drain the oil from the pan.
- Return the wok to the stove top and add the beef back in. On a low heat, stir and warm the beef for a minute. Pour the sauce over the top and add the spring onions. Cook for another two minutes before removing from the heat.
- Serve over rice or cauliflower rice and enjoy!
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Sarah
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Hello! This looks amazing!! How might it taste with chicken or pork?
That would work! You might need a little more time for the pork but I don’t see why not!
I made this recipe tonight and it was excellent. I didn’t coat the meat with the arrowroot till I fried it and I didn’t use very much. When I added the meat back to the wok I added cut green onions and cooked it a bit to infused the flavor in the meat then added the sauce.
Thanks so much for coming back to let me know what you thought! So glad you enjoyed it!
I messed up and started with almond flour and then added tapioca starch. That worked. I used all of the ingredients for the sauce but forgot to saute the ginger and garlic first. That was ok, too. I omitted onions because I don’t like them. Also, I didn’t have sesame seeds. They would have been good. I kept the sauce separate from the meat and layered cauliflower rice, meat then sauce. So, mine was maybe eight ingredients. This is delicious and apparently forgiving. I’ll make it often.
That’s awesome! Really glad you enjoyed it and glad it worked out with the changes – that’s really helpful to know! Thanks for coming back to let me know what you thought 🙂
Hi there. Is there another type of flour that would work here? I don’t have the ones listed in the recipe
You could try it with corn flour is you don’t need it to be paleo!
would you recommend tapioca or arrowroot?
I personally prefer tapioca
I really wanted to like this recipe. Unfortunately, the arrowroot gave the beef a very slimy, gummy texture. It was quite unappetizing.
Sorry you felt that way! If you were wanting to try making this again in the future you could always try tapioca starch or even corn starch if you don’t need to keep it paleo
I just made this with high hopes. I used tapioca flour/starch and had the same problem. It was slimy and gooey. Not appetizing at all. There must be something to the amount of starch or the technique because mine was horrible.
Hi Angel – sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you!
Made a double+ batch of this last night for friends. It was amazing, adults and kids couldn’t get enough of it. Bye-bye Panda Express.
Yay! That’s fantastic – so happy everyone enjoyed it 🙂
Can you make this in the crockpot?
I haven’t personally made this in crockpot yet, but I have been tagged on instagram by a couple people who have – I believe 2-3 hours on high or 4-5 on low should do it
Excellent recipe. It was a tad sweet but tempered with Siracha sauce. Husband and kids loved it. Thank you for the recipe!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment!
Nutrition info?
According to MyFitnessPal this dish per serving is: Calories: 413 Carbs: 13 grams Fat: 17 grams Protein: 48 grams Sugar: 12 grams
This was great cooking the meat was a pain with everything popping. I may nix the floured meat next time. I wonder if you coukd slow cooker the meat then add the sauce and green onions near the end.
Glad you liked it! Slow cooking should be easy enough, though you may want to slow cook it in the sauce so that the meat doesn’t dry out. 2-3 hours on high or 4- hours on low should do it
Looks great! Looking forward to making this for a personal chef client next week.
Hope they like it!