This crispy orange beef is tangy, sweet and utterly delicious. An easy Friday-night fakeaway – ready in 25 minutes!
I love to serve this up with a big bowl of fluffy rice or some stir-fried noodles.
Yes, we’re using steak for this recipe, which is a little bit extravagant, but it means we’re getting tender meat, cooked in extra-quick time, with a lovely steaky flavour – rather than chewy meat (which is what you can get with cheaper cuts of beef).
I love the tanginess of this recipe. The sauce soaks into the rice beautifully – meaning lots of flavour in every bite!
📋 What do we need?
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳PRO TIP Place the steak in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before slicing. This will make it firmer so it’s easier to slice thinly.
Make this and I guarantee every plate will be clean within 10 minutes!!
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Boiled rice
- Egg fried rice
- Onion fried rice
- Or serve it up as part of a banquet with Prawn Toast, A Noodle Salad, Spare Ribs and Crispy Duck
Want to make it spicy? 🌶
Add a tablespoon of sriracha to the sauce and sprinkle with a few chilli flakes before serving.
🍲 More fantastic Chinese-takeaway inspired recipes
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Crispy Orange Beef
Ingredients
Crispy Orange Beef
- 3 tbsp oil
- 500 g (1.1 lbs) beef steak I use sirloin, chopped into strips*
- 2 tbsp cornflour cornstarch in the US
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 1 large onion peeled and sliced
- zest of half an orange
- juice of 2 large oranges (approx. 120ml or 1/2 cup or orange juice)
- 5 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp ginger paste
To Serve:
- boiled rice
- 4 spring onions (scallions) chopped on the diagonal
Optional – to thicken the sauce:
- 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 3 tbsp cold water to form a slurry (cornstarch in the US)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying over a high heat.3 tbsp oil
- Pat the beef dry with some kitchen roll, then mix the cornflour (cornstarch) with the salt and pepper and toss the beef in the cornflour until completely coated.500 g (1.1 lbs) beef steak, 2 tbsp cornflour, 1 pinch salt and pepper
- When the oil is hot, tip the beef in and fry until crispy. Try not to move the meat around too much as this reduces the amount of crispiness you get. It should take about 5-6 minutes to crisp up the beef, with about 3 or 4 stirs during that time.
- Once the beef is crispy and cooked through, remove the beef using a slotted spoon, and place it in a bowl lined with kitchen roll to soak up excess fat.
- After the beef has been removed from the pan there should still be a little oil left. Turn the heat down to medium and add the sliced red pepper and onion.1 red pepper, 1 large onion
- Fry for 2-3 minutes (so they're hot but still crunchy).
- While the peppers and onions are cooking, mix the orange zest, juice, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, and ginger and put to one side.juice of 2 large oranges, zest of half an orange, 3 tbsp caster sugar, 5 tbsp soy sauce, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp ginger paste, 1 tsp rice vinegar
- Pour over the orange sauce. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 minute.
- Then add the beef back in. Give it a stir and heat through for 1 minute. If your sauce is looking too thin, you can stir in a little cornflour slurry to thicken.1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 3 tbsp cold water to form a slurry
- Once bubbling and thick, serve up with boiled rice. Garnish with the spring onions (scallions).boiled rice, 4 spring onions (scallions)
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. You must ensure you use the correct amount of orange juice and sugar though, otherwise the tamari can overpower the flavours.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. Nutritional Information is per serving and does not include the serving suggestion of boiled rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally published September 2015. Updated May 2018 and then again in March 2023 with new photos and a video, plus extra tips.
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.
Equipment:
- A good Kitchen knife. I have recently bought this Dalstrong one and love it.
- Chopping Board
- Zester or microplane
- Juicer
- Measuring Spoons
- Garlic Press
- A wok or if you dont have a wok then a frying pan/skillet will do
- Wooden or Silicon Coated Spoons. We have just bought these and love them.
- Rice Steamer.
This looks absolutely amazing! Like I want to eat it now! Thanks for sharing!
Nicky, this looks amazing! That beef is just mouthwatering. I love stir fry dishes like this. And the flavors are amazing, love the orange!
Love your new video, it is great to see the person behind all these fab recipes. I have made this in the past and the whole family loved it.
Well Nicky, since I discovered your website a couple of weeks ago, I have downloaded loads of your delicious recipes. Friday night hubbie cooks dinner and we had your crispy orange beef. A big success!! I had made rhubarb tiramasu for dessert (I hate the coffee version) so a very nice meal tonight. I look forward to the next “nicky” recipe!
Thanks for coming back and letting me know Julie, I’m so glad you like the recipes 🙂
Living in northern Alberta, Canada, my husband is a hunter. We currently have some fresh elk meat in the freezer and I’m always looking for new recipes to use with the wild (game) meat. This looks wonderful and I will try this soon. One question – what is caster sugar and can I substitute it with coconut palm sugar?
Wow, I’ve never tasted elk! I bet that would be awesome!! I’ve never tried replacing the caster sugar with coconut palm sugar, but I can’t see a problem with it. It’s similar to brown sugar if I remember correctly? so that should work just fine. Hope you enjoy Patti 🙂
Hi Nicky I am definitely going to try this you make the types of foods my daughter and I love, usually take-outs but now I shall try yours. Thanks for your lovely pics and recipes…
Thanks so much Lorraine, glad you like the recipes 🙂
This looks terrific. Those are some really spectacular photos…my mouth is watering just looking at them! I also appreciate your sense of humor. Normally, I just skip ahead to the ingredients, but the read is half the fun! Hmm…I’m thinking I could swap out the beef for chicken and it would work the same way. What do you think? Thanks.
Thanks Rob, glad you like it 🙂
Yes, you can swap out the beef for chicken. In fact I do the recipe here: https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/sticky-orange-chicken/
It’s similar to the beef recipe, except I marinate the chicken for a deeper flavour. It’ll still taste great without marinading too.
Wondering if you meant corn meal instead of cornflour? Anxious to try this recipe, it is almost beautiful to look at.
Hi Casey,
We call is cornflour in the UK. It’s the one with the flour-type textur (not the grainy one). I think you might know it as corn starch? I’ve updated the ingredients to make it more clear. Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
nice asian meal, I will try it as soon as possible, red pepper is always giving great decoration on any recipe, it is a nice choice
Thanks for stopping by, glad you like the recipe 🙂
This looks utterly wonderful!! I love “fake-out” dishes, so much better for you than a real takeout and you can make it exactly as you want! Need to try this! 🙂
Thanks Annie – I agree. One of Chris’s favourites is the crispy chilli beef I do at home – he won’t order it in a restaurant now – he says mine is better (he knows how to get in my good books :-))