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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.
“This is a new fave. Easy to make and loaded with flavor. The only addition I made was to add red pepper flakes (we love heat) Can’t wait to make again!”
Nicky’s Notes
This crispy orange beef is one of those “better than the takeaway” dinners that feels a bit special, but still lands on the table fast (perfect for a Friday-night fakeaway when everyone’s hovering in the kitchen asking what’s for tea).
Yes, we’re using steak, which is a little bit extravagant, but it’s so worth it here. Because everything cooks super quickly, a tender cut means you get that lovely steaky flavour and a gorgeous bite, rather than beef that turns chewy before you’ve even got the rice on the table.
The real star is that sweet-tangy orange sauce. It’s bright, sticky, and properly moreish – and it soaks into the rice in the best possible way (aka: nobody’s leaving a single grain behind). I like to keep the veg with a bit of crunch too, so you get that satisfying mix of crispy beef + glossy sauce + fresh bite.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients for Orange Beef
Abbreviated Recipe
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Heat oil in a wok over high heat, then pat the beef dry and toss in seasoned cornflour until fully coated. Fry until crispy(about 5–6 minutes, with just a few stirs), then lift out onto kitchen roll. Stir-fry pepper and onion for 2–3 minutes, pour in the orange sauce and bubble for 1 minute. Add the beef back in to coat and thicken, then serve with rice and a sprinkle of spring onions.
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!!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItWant to make it spicy? 🌶
Add a tablespoon of sriracha to the sauce and sprinkle with a few chilli flakes before serving.
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Boiled rice, Egg fried rice or even Onion fried rice
- Or serve it up as part of a banquet with Prawn Toast, A Noodle Salad, Spare Ribs and Crispy Duck
📺 Watch how to make it
Orange Beef Recipe
Ingredients
Crispy Orange Beef
- 3 tbsp neutral oil (such as avocado oil)
- 500 g (1.1 lbs) beef steak I use sirloin, chopped into strips*
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 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 neutral 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 (cornstarch), 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.
This Orange Beef Recipe was originally published September 2015. Updated in March 2023 with new photos and a video, plus extra tips. Updated since with improvements and for housekeeping reasons.
🥡 More Chinese-takeout inspired recipes
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.
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This is the best orange beef recipe I have ever made. Next time I will double it.
Love this recipe. Mine came out so good my hubby asked me to make again.
DELICIOUS! I’ll definitely make this again!
This was soooooo good! I love it, I used sliced Chuck steaks. the Crispy beef was bomb! It did get a lil soggy as it set but I don’t mind at all it was so good!
Wow Nicky I just made this for tea tonight. It was fantastic! Much better than takeaway. Have tried a fair few of your recipes and haven’t come across one we don’t like so thank you.
Very quick to prepare and it is delicious!
We are new to wok cooking but this turned out great! It was pretty easy to make and we loved it!
It turned out great
Beef could be cooked a little slower it was a little tough
One of my favorite Asian recipes. Love the crispy part.