Cosy up with this tender, slow-cooked Chinese beef curry in a rich, savoury sauce with garlic, ginger, and five-spice. Perfect for meal prep, or a make-ahead family meal. This beef curry is freezer-friendly and packed with flavour. Serve it over rice or noodles for a comforting, fuss-free fakeaway at home.
Nicky’s Recipe Notes
I’ve been making this dish for about a decade now. It started out as a big batch meal when the family used to all pile into my grandad’s little house and take turns cooking for about 15 of us. I thought it would be useful to share it with you as a meal for four-to-six people (I usually serve 4 people then put two portions in the freezer) that we make again and again because it’s so simple and so flippin’ tasty!
- It’s make-ahead friendly – easy to prep and cook in advance, then reheat when needed. The flavour deepens over time too.
- It’s a family favourite – a hit with kids and adults. The curry itself is mild, but you can adjust the spice level or or add chillies on top for those that like a bit of heat.
- It’s freezer-friendly. Make a double batch and freeze in portions for a quick dinner in the week.
- It’s great to make for a crowd. You can easily double or even triple the recipe.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients
- I like to use dark soy sauce in this for a rich sauce. Paired with the brown sugar you get a nice balance of savoury with a tiny touch of sweet.
- The braising beef (also called stewing beef, diced beef, beef cubes) is perfect for slow cooking, becoming tender and flavourful. You can also swap for pork (chunks of pork shoulder work best) too.
- The Chinese five-spice is an absolute must for that signature Chinese curry sauce flavour. The addition of the garlic and ginger gives the sauce a rich, aromatic base.
Pro Tip
If you’re serving to people with different spice palates, serve up the mild portions first, then stir in a teaspoon of chilli flakes or a good dash of hot chilli sauce and serve to the people who like it a little hotter.
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Chinese Beef Curry
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lbs) braising beef chopped into bitesize chunks
- 3 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 large onion peeled and roughly diced
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tbsp minced ginger (or ginger paste)
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice
- 500 ml (2 cups + 1 tbsp) beef stock
- 60 ml (4 tbsp) dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 200 g (7oz) mushrooms thickly sliced (I like chestnut/cremini mushrooms but sue your favourite)
To Serve:
- egg fried rice or boiled rice
- prawn crackers
- sliced spring onions (scallions)
- chilli flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C/325F (fan).
- Add the chunks of beef to a bowl with the flour, salt and pepper and toss together to coat.1 kg (2.2 lbs) braising beef, 3 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour, ½ tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper
- Heat the oil in a dutch oven or large, heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat. When hot, add the beef and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown all over.2 tbsp oil
- Turn the heat down to low and add the onion to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to soften.1 large onion
- Add in the garlic, ginger and five spice and stir though for 30 seconds.3 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp minced ginger (or ginger paste), 1 tsp Chinese five spice
- Add the beef stock, soy sauce, brown sugar and the mushrooms. Bring to the boil, stirring a few times to release any remaining crispy bits from the bottom of the pan.500 ml (2 cups + 1 tbsp) beef stock, 60 ml (4 tbsp) dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp soft brown sugar, 200 g (7oz) mushrooms
- Place a lid on the pan and cook in the oven for 3-4 hours – stirring a couple of times during cooking – until the meat begins to fall apart. You can add a little more water or beef stock if it starts to look too dry. Alternatively you could transfer to a slow cooker and cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours, or, you could cook on a low heat, on the hob, with the lid on for 2-3 hours.
- Serve with rice and prawn crackers and top with chilli flakes and spring onions if you like.egg fried rice or boiled rice, sliced spring onions (scallions), chilli flakes, prawn crackers
Notes
Storage & Reheating
Cook, then cool as quickly as possible before refrigeration or freezing.- Refrigeration: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Freeze for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheating: Warm gently in a lidded pan on the hob (stovetop) or in the oven at 180C/375F (fan) until piping hot. Stir a couple of times during reheating. You may need to add a few splashes of water or stock to loosen up the sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This Chinese Beef recipe was first posted in September 2016. Updated in July 2025 with additional information, new photos and a few tweaks to the recipe.
? Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! After browning the beef, sautéing the onions and adding all of the sauce ingredients, transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
Yes, double all of the ingredients (make sure your pan is big enough) and cook in the oven for the same amount of time. It will take around 10 minutes longer to fry everything off initially due to the increased volume of ingredients.
I use fairly inexpensive braising/casserole or stewing steak – often known as chuck steak, which comes from the forequarter. Usually, this consists of parts of the neck, shoulder blade, and upper arm. It’s a tough but very flavourful cut of meat. It has a lot of connective tissue, which needs longer cooking to break down and become tender.
🍲 More fantastic Chinese-style favourites
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Hello, this recipe looks lovely. I’m hoping to make it this week. I wanted to ask about what vegetables you suggest would bulk out this dish as well as how strong the flavours are. We like quite a bit of heat in our dishes – how would you suggest stepping up the spice?
Sorry for the late reply. I hope you enjoyed the recipe. Yes this is quite a mild recipe, so you could certainly add in from fresh chopped chillies or chilli powder.
I would add in chopped peppers, green beans or chopped courgette (zucchini). Possibly some tenderstem broccoli and/or mangetout (snow peas) could be added in in the last 10-15 minutes for a bit of crunch.
What can I say, but AMAZING. My son’s favourite ever dish, a regular on our recipe rotation.
This is an excellent recipe. Tastes amazing and easy to load it up on veg. I’ll be making this very often, thank you!
A GREAT TASTY RECIPE….WELL WORTH TRYING I WILL DEFINITELY MAKE IT AGAIN
Delish! Thanks for sharing.
Hi there,can this be prepared in full and frozen for say a week?
Hi Catriona,
Yes this is fine to freeze. Once its cooked, cool, cover and refrigerate/freeze the leftovers. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat in a pan until piping hot throughout.
Thanks
Chris
Made this recipe for a Chinese-themed dinner and everyone loved it! The fresh ginger made the recipe.
Hi Nicky,
Just about to make this with just under 1kg (lastminute.com!) and wondered if it is with light or dark soy sauce and I have no brown sugar so going to use white.. do you think it will still be okay with white sugar?
Thanks – it looks delicious!
Ita
🙂
Hi Ita, it should be fine with less beef and using white sugar.
I use dark soy sauce (Amoy).
Hope you enjoy it 🙂
“…on the hob…”? Not helpful, really.
How would I cook it in a slow cooker?
Can this be frozen??