Stir Fried Orange Beef & Vegetables

Cook the Book: Introducing a More Please series featuring favorite recipes from my cookbook collection.

Stir fried orange beef is a homestyle stir fry. The sauce is delightful, flavored with the warm zest of Chinese five-spice powder. It’s the recipe that caught my eye from The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook by Sharon Kramis and Julie Kramis Hearne, 2nd edition published 2013.

I make this recipe every winter. My cue is the pile of oranges on the counter that comes over enthusiastic fruit shopping. The orangey sauce complements pan fried strips of beef and lots of vegetables for an enticing blend of sweet and savory.

The original recipe calls for flank steak which is beefy and delicious but expensive. So I opt for a top sirloin steak as it tends to be more affordable. Either cut benefits from careful slicing against the grain. Another thrifty option is to use a small steak (about 8 ounces) and pump up the vegetables (also a good strategy for eating less meat and more plants).

I like to load up on vegetables in a stir fry, onions and bell peppers to start, with snap peas and/or broccoli for heft. Snap peas have a nice crisp bite, but they’re not consistently available in winter months. So I’ve been using broccoli instead (although not pictured as of yet).

Served over steamed Basmati rice, stir fried orange beef is a quick and satisfying meal, packed with vegetables. It’s perfect for a weeknight. Plus it smells so good! Bring the heat with your favorite hot sauce.

I often jump right into cooking, doing prep as I go, attempting to save time by multi-tasking. But with a stir fry, it’s best to get your “meez” in place! The French culinary term “mise en place” means gathering and preparing all ingredients and tools before you start cooking.

The reward of thorough prep in advance is two-fold. First, you feel like a rock star in the kitchen, smug with the satisfaction that comes from planning ahead and organizing neat little piles of separate ingredients. And secondly, the food looks and tastes better!

Stir Fried Orange Beef with Vegetables

Stir fried orange beef is a homestyle stir fry. The orange sauce is sweet and gently spiced with Chinese five-spice powder, a nice complement to savory strips of pan fried beef and loads of vegetables. It's adapted from a recipe in The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook. Served over steamed white rice, stir fried orange beef is a quick and hearty weeknight meal. As with any stir fry, gathering and preparing all ingredients and tools in advance is key.

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Author Margie

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings 4 people

EQUIPMENT

• 1 large non-stick frying pan

Ingredients

  

Sauce

• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
• 1.5 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon five-spice powder
• 1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Stir Fry

• 12 oz. top sirloin beef steak
• 1 small pinch salt
• 6 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 cup broccoli florets or snap peas bite size pieces
• 1 green pepper diced
• 1 red pepper diced

Instructions

 

• Make the sauce. Combine orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, crushed red pepper flakes, sugar, sesame oil, cornstarch, five-spice powder, and orange zest. Stir well and set aside.
• Slice the beef. Cut steak against the grain into thin strips (roughly 1/4 inch). Toss beef with a small pinch of salt.
• Cook the beef in 2 batches. Heat about 2 teaspoons olive oil in large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half the beef strips and cook about 3 – 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until beef is done and starting to brown. Remove cooked beef to clean plate. Add another 2 teaspoons olive oil to pan and fry remaining beef for about 3 – 4 minutes minutes until it's done and starting to brown. Remove cooked beef and set aside with first batch.
• Cook the vegetables. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened. (Cover the pan for about 2 minutes if using broccoli.)
• Give the sauce a good stir and pour into the pan with vegetables. Add the beef back to the pan. Cook everything for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until sauce boils and starts to thicken.
• Serve over steamed white rice.

Notes

1. The original recipe calls for flank steak which is beefy and delicious but expensive. I opt for top sirloin steak which is usually more affordable. For lean cuts of beef like these that are less tender, it’s helpful to slice against the grain. 
2. Another thrifty option is to use an 8 oz. steak and pump up the vegetables, perfect when there’s a good price on a small ribeye or strip steak.
3. Five-spice powder is a Chinese spice blend usually including cinnamon, star anise, and fennel seeds. It’s worth seeking out for its distinctive flavor (Penzeys is a good source). But I’ve also made a homemade version in a pinch.
4. One large navel orange usually yields enough juice for the recipe, though sometimes more might be required. 
5. Broccoli works well in this recipe but doesn’t get as tender as more quick cooking vegetables. Covering the pan for a couple minutes after adding the vegetables helps soften the broccoli somewhat. Uncover and resume stirring the vegetables frequently during final minute(s).