Perfect crispy strips of beef in a tangy spicy sauce. This is my favourite dish from the Chinese takeaway, so it has a lot to live up to.
I'm going to show you how to get that lovely craggly exterior and even better, we don't need to use the deep fryer!
This is one of my go-to dishes. Whenever I ask Chris what he fancies for tea, you can pretty much guarantee that he'll pipe up 'Crispy Chilli Beef!'.
It's actually my favourite meal from the Chinese takeaway too. We always order a portion, but it can be a bit hit-and-miss. Sometimes it's great, other times the beef is so crispy it's hard to tell if there's any beef in it all all.
I want my crispy coating, but I also want to taste the beef - which is why I prefer the homemade version. A crispy, craggly coating with tender beef inside - perfect every time!
📋 What do we need?
- I like to use thin-cut or quick-cook sirloin steak for the BEST flavour. You can replace with ribeye, or you can also use flank/skirt steak or rump steak. If you're using flank/skirt or rump steak, be sure to cut really thinly, as it can be chewy if sliced too thick. Always sliced AGAINST the grain.
👩🍳PRO TIP - Place the steaks in the freezer for around 30 minutes to firm up a little. This will make it much easier to slice the steak nice and thinly.
🔪 How to make Crispy Shredded Chilli Beef
**Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
- Place thinly sliced steak in a bowl and coat in one small egg.
- Add in cornflour, salt, pepper and white pepper and mix it all together. It will stick together, but be need that sticky coating for that lovely crisp exterior.
- Fry the steak in 2 batches in very hot oil. I prefer to shallow fry (so I don't have to dispose of a big pan of oil afterwards!) - so we only need about 4 ½ tablespoons of oil for the whole recipe.
- Remove the steak from the pan, then fry up slices of onion along with sliced red chilli, ginger and garlic.
- Now we're going to add the sauce to the pan. This is made up of rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, caster sugar, ketchup and sweet chilli sauce.
- Mix it all up in the pan and let it bubble for a minute, then add the beef back in and toss it all together to coat the beef.
Serve up with noodles, boiled rice or egg fried rice.
Want more sauce?
This recipe makes enough sauce to coat the beef, with a tablespoon or two of sauce left at the bottom of the pan.
If you want more sauce, you can double the sauce ingredients (double the ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup and sweet chilli sauce). It's a very rich sauce, so if you wanted it to be a little lighter, you can use half light soy sauce and half dark soy sauce.
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Crispy Chilli Beef
Ingredients
- 360 g ¾ lb thin cut sirloin steaks - - (approx 3 thin steaks) cut into thin strips *Note1
- 1 small egg
- 4 tbsp cornflour - (cornstarch)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
- 4 ½ tbsp sunflower oil - divided
- 1 medium onion - peeled and sliced into thin strips
- 1 red chilli - – finely sliced- discard the seeds if you don't like it too hot
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 3 garlic cloves - - peeled and minced
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato puree - (tomato paste)
- 6 tbsp caster sugar - or superfine sugar
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce - I use Thai-style
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the steak strips in a bowl and add the egg. Mix together to thoroughly coat the steak in the egg.
- Add the 4tbsp cornflour, ¼ tsp each of salt and pepper and ⅛ tsp of white pepper.
- Toss together to coat the steak. It will be a sticky mixture.
- Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan (skillet) or wok over a high heat until very hot.
- You will probably need to work in two batches, so when the oil is hot, add in half the beef - a strip at a time - and spread it out.
- Fry the steak until dark brown and crispy. Try not to move the meat around too much as this reduces the amount of crispiness you get. It generally takes about 5 or 6 minutes to crisp up the beef, with about 3 or 4 stirs during that time.
- Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the beef from the pan and place in a bowl lined with kitchen roll to soak up excess fat.
- Add a further tablespoon of oil and repeat - cooking the second batch of beef and then placing in the bowl with the first batch.
- Once you’ve removed all the beef from the pan, add the remaining ½ tbsp of oil to the pan and turn the heat down to medium.
- Add in the sliced onion and cook for 2 minutes until slightly softened.
- Add in the finely chopped chilli, 1 tsp minced ginger and 3 minced cloves of garlic and cook whilst stirring for 30 seconds.
- Add the 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 3tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 6 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp tomato ketchup and the 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce to the pan.
- Turn up the heat and let it bubble for a couple of minutes until the sauce starts to reduce a little.
- Add the beef back in, give it a stir and heat through for 1-2 minutes – until the beef is hot.
- Serve with rice or noodles.
Video
✎ Notes
Can I make it gluten free?
Yes! Replace the soy sauce with tamari. I've done this lots of times and it works really well.Also check your tomato puree, ketchup, sweet chilli sauce and rice vinegar, so make sure they're gluten free
Can I freeze it or make it ahead?
This recipe works best when made and served right away. Freezing/chilling then reheating means the beef won't be crispy.However, it does still taste really good. So if you did want to freeze it, then cool, cover and freeze. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat thoroughly in the wok or a microwave until piping hot throughout. You can add a splash of water if it's a little dry. Ingredient swaps This recipe also works great with leftover roasted meat - you can use cooked and sliced/shredded pieces of chicken, duck, roast beef or my personal favourite - roast lamb in this dish.
Cook in the same way as you would the raw steak (you need to cook it for the same amount of time to get the coating nice and crispy). Nutritional information is per serving and doesn't include rice or garnishes
Nutrition
This post was first published 19th April 2014. Updated March 2021 with new photos, video, tips and recipe tweaks.
If you came to this page looking for the crispy tangy chilli beef with broccoli, you can find it here (click on the image).
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Duncan says
This has now become a family favourite, always asked when I'm making it again.....10/10 for ease
Davina Graham says
This sauce is the bomb. First time I made it, I used leftover beef roast joint which was I thought was tough. I sliced it across the grain and followed recipe. Super tasty and tender... but the beef wasn't crispy 🤔 I'd used too much egg versus cornflour. My 10 yo son raved about it so I tried it again 2 days later but only then I didn't have an egg. Made it without the egg. My son thought it was even better. And yes it had gone crisper without the egg wash. Trying it again tonight with chunks of cooked stewing steak that have been cooked on low for 2.5 hrs. Here in UK, takeaway crispy chili beef is a conundrum bc the pieces are so small you don't know if you're even eating beef. This recipe for the sauce comes out brilliant and consistently good too. Only thing I'd mention is to add 1/4 cup of water bc it gets thick fast.
Ann says
Delicious easy recipe - didn’t have any fresh ginger or garlic but powdered was just as good also added some chilli flakes for more of a kick
Lesley Ann Jamieson says
This was an easy recipe to follow and doesn't require too many ingredients. I thought it was better than the crispy beef from the takeaway. The sauce was delicious and tasted quite rich. I made some boiled rice to go with it. Clean plates all round and polished of quickly so cant really say fairer than that. This will go on my regular meal planner list.
Col says
Absolutely fantastic crispy chilli beef 🥩, I can almost taste it, before I make it.
Our Nicky has got me hooked on her recipe’s
Les Gagg says
Best home chinese meal I've ever cooked
Excellent, thank you
Nicolle says
Delightful! Disagree with the comment below that it was too much runny sauce, I actually ended up doubling the recipe and found it perfect with the called for amount of beef. I halved the amount of sugar and subbed sweet chilli for garlic chilli. Better than Chinese takeaway!
Eva says
Tiktok brought me here! This was SO easy and SO good! Honestly taste better than ordering from our usual Chinese takeaway! Will 100% be making this again! Highly recommend. 🙂
Gary Dunleavy says
Hi Nicky, just finished making your crispy chilli beef and I've got to say it was delicious, got to be the best one yet that I've tried from your recipes (and I've made a few) so much better when it's homemade as you know all of the ingredients that are added, this was so sweet and sticky, paired with egg fried rice just excellent
Ps for afters I made your tea loaf recipe which I've never had before but will now be a must have, so moist and with best butter and a nice strong brew........ heaven !!!
Stephanie says
Wayyyy to much sauce. I don’t know if the recipe should call for tsp instead of tbsp. It was drenched in thick black sauce.
Nice flavour however amount of sauce ruined it.
Jordan says
This dish is gorgeous! Full of flavour, it’s sweet and sticky just how you want it, honestly better than the Chinese! Thank you
Christopher says
The crispy beef is a really delicious meal. I cooked it a couple of weeks ago and have been dying to cook it again, so having it tonight! The recipe is easy to follow and most of the ingredients are in the pantry anyway. Cooking time is minimal once all the preparatory work is done. Must dash and start cooking, my mouth is watering…………
Julie says
Really nice turned out great will make again
Don says
Would I be able to pre-mix the sauces ahead of time? So that all I need to do is fry the seasoned beef and toss it in a pan with the pre-made/pre-mix sauce?