This quick and easy Chinese Orange Beef boasts perfectly balanced flavors and can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes on the stove top with basic pantry ingredients. It’s a great week-night dinner that’s even faster than take-out! Serve it with white rice or another favorite grain and a vegetable side for an easy dinner everyone will love.
Ingredients Needed
- zest of one orange
- fresh orange juice
- dark brown sugar
- rice vinegar
- soy sauce
- Asian chili sauce
- fresh ginger
- cornstarch
- vegetable oil
- flank steak – one steak that weights about 1.5 pounds. We’re using flank steak here and since we need it cut super thin, it really helps to pop it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before you cut it. You don’t want it completely frozen through, just firm enough to add some resistance so you can slice it as thin as possible. Make sure to cut your steak “across the grain” for a tender bite. See this post if you’d like a more detailed description of that process.
- green onions
- hot white or brown rice – for serving
How to Make Quick and Easy Chinese Orange Beef
This is a simple overview of the recipe, you’ll find a full printable recipe below!
- Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Brown the beef in batches in a lightly oiled skillet, then transfer to a bowl.
- Add the sauce to the skillet and cook until thickened.
- Return beef to the pan, toss to coat, and serve over rice with green onions.
Storage & Other Tips
- Allow any leftovers to cool briefly, then store in an airtight container within two hours. It stays safe and flavorful in the fridge for 3 – 5 days.
- To reheat, you can pop it in the microwave, but for best results, I love to reheat it on teh stovetop. I find it has a better texture!
Frequently Asked Questions
We highly recommend it. It’s lean but filled with flavor, takes to sauce well, and cooks quickly. We know it’s more pricey, but this meal is worth it.
Cooking in batches ensures the beef browns properly and prevents the pan from steaming. It also gives you room to reduce the sauce without over-crowding.
We recommend fresh, as nothing can match it’s brightness. Bottled juice can work, just keep in mind the flavor may be sweeter and less vibrant.
Yes, somewhat. You can mix the sauce and thin the beef ahead of time to make sure it comes together as quickly as possible. If you’re preparing it fully ahead, reheat it gently on the stovetop to keep a nice texture to the sauce.
Quick and Easy Chinese Orange Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2-3 teaspoons grated orange zest I just zest 1 whole orange
- ½ cup fresh orange juice
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Asian chili sauce
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- vegetable oil for pan
- 1 ½ pounds flank steak trimmed and sliced thin across grain and lightly sprinkled with salt and pepper (to clarify: that’s one steak, that weighs about 1.5 pounds)
- 3-4 green onions sliced
- hot white or brown rice for serving
Instructions
- Whisk orange zest and orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, chili sauce, ginger, and cornstarch together in a bowl.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Drizzle pan with oil and tilt to coat. Add half of beef, breaking up any clumps and let cook without stirring for one minute. Stir beef and continue to cook until browned, about 2 minutes; transfer to a bowl and cover. Repeat with remaining beef and transfer to bowl.
- Whisk sauce to recombine, add to now-empty skillet, and cook over medium heat until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Return cooked beef, with any accumulated juices, to skillet and toss to combine. Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.
Questions & Reviews
Made this tonight and served it over coconut jasmine rice. It was amazing! I’ve been suffering from a case of meal boredom recently and I’m so glad I decided to branch out with this recipe. It was way better than Chinese takeout. The orange zest and fresh juice take this dish over the top. I’ll definitely add some broccoli next time to round out the dish and to make it go a little further on my budget. It will be a miracle if I don’t make this again next week. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I am always looking for recipes with beef and this one looks delish!!!!!!!!!!! We eat too much chicken.:)
My boys(husband & son)tend to love recipes with an asian-sweet kick to it!!!
I will be tryig this recipe soon.
Thanks Sara!
So, I’m guessing if I use HOT chili sauce, it will be way spicier than you intend by suggesting SWEET chili sauce? Or can they be interchanged?
hmm, I’m not sure, but I bet you’re right! I’d start with a little and go from there 🙂
I haven’t made this –YET!!! But to anyone wondering if thry could freeze this: According to my friends on a Yahoo Foodsaver group site, they freeze everything! I’m waiting for my Foodsaver to get here and then I can cook to my heart’s content — or until I’m tired. I live alone so making my own dinners from “leftovers” will be wonderful. My Foodsaver friends say that everything they’ve “Saved” tastes like “just made”. No, I’m NOT a Foodsaver representative. Just a wannabe — soon-to-be user. SOOOOO — if it can be vacuum frozen, why not ziplock bag frozen?
Not sure Kathie, you’d have to try it!
Just finished eating this and I loved it! Couldn’t find the chili sauce, so I used shichimi to add a little kick in its place. Beef is super expensive here, so thinking of replacing half the meat with veggies next time. Thanks!
I made this last night and it was delicious! It tasted better than take-out, and much healthier. I served it with rice and broccoli. My entire family loved it – even my three-year-old. It was so quick and easy to put together too!
Can you make this as a freezer meal? I try to see which ones of ya’lls meals can be freezer mea;s but only a couple have directions to freeze. I am in a meal swap group for freezer meals and your website come up alot in my head to get ideas from. but i wish they all had directions for freeing them! I never know whether or not to cook the meat then freeze or leave it raw..etc.
Made this a couple weeks ago and the hubby LOVED it…today I was wanting a crock pot recipe to throw in before church and decided to give this a shot. SO DELICIOUS! I doubled the sauce to make sure it didn’t dry out, cooked it on low all day, threw in the orange peels for extra flavor, and the beef was melt in your mouth amazing!! Plus, the whole house had an awesome orange scent all day 🙂
This looks yummy and I’m going to try it this weekend but can you substite chicken breast or thighs for the steak?
I’m sure you could, you’ll just have to experiment, but either one should work. Enjoy!
I made this with some thinly sliced leftover roast beef, and wow was it ever good! That sauce is amazing, and my husband agreed it was way better than any takeout!