Beef Chop Suey is a popular dish from Chinese restaurants. It features tender strips of beef and colorful vegetables in a rich, shiny sauce. This simple yet satisfying meal brings authentic flavors to your table with minimal effort.
In just 40 minutes, you can make this Beef Chop Suey. It turns simple ingredients into a tasty dish. It’s perfect for busy weeknight dinners! The combination of perfectly cooked beef, crisp vegetables, and savory sauce creates a meal that everyone will love.
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🗝️ Recipe’s key points
- Beef Chop Suey is easy to make at home. It has all the flavors you love from your favorite restaurant. You get tender meat, fresh vegetables, and a tasty sauce all in one dish!
- The meat stays tender thanks to a simple marinade, and the vegetables stay crunchy, making every bite tasty.
- You can have this meal ready in just 40 minutes, which is faster than ordering takeout!
This beef chop suey recipe is perfect when you want great Chinese food at home without the takeout price tag. It’s easy to make, tastes great, and your whole family will enjoy it.
🛒 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You’ll find the full measurements and instructions in the recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
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Main ingredients:
- Beef steak – Any tender cut works well. Look for rump, chuck, ribeye, or sirloin when they’re on sale.
- Garlic – Fresh is best, but pre-minced works in a pinch.
- Onion – Regular yellow onions are perfect for this dish.
- Broccoli – Fresh or frozen both work great in this recipe.
- Snow peas – Look for bright green ones that snap easily.
- Celery – Look for crisp, bright green stalks.
- Carrots – Cut into thin strips so they cook evenly.
- Bean Sprouts – Find these in the produce section. They should look fresh and crisp.
- Baby corn – You’ll find this in the Asian section or with canned vegetables.
- Mushrooms – Regular white mushrooms are perfect, or try shiitake for extra flavor.
- Cooking oil – Any neutral oil will do.
Marinade ingredients:
- Cornstarch – This will be combined with water to make a slurry that will help thicken the sauce.
- Light soy sauce – Regular soy sauce will work, too, if that’s what you have on hand.
- Chinese cooking wine – Mirin or rice vinegar will work as well.
- Brown sugar – This will sweeten up the sauce and give it a syrupy texture.
- Baking soda – Just a tiny bit makes the meat extra tender.
- Cooking oil – Any neutral oil works here as well.
Chop Suey sauce:
- Dark soy sauce and light soy sauce – if you cook Chinese food often, it’s worth it to have both on hand. You can also sub for regular soy sauce if you like.
- Oyster sauce – Look for this in the Asian section of the grocery store to add a salty and savory flavor to your sauce.
- Sesame oil – A little goes a long way! Try toasted sesame oil for even more flavor.
- White pepper – Black pepper works too, but you’ll want to use less since it has a stronger flavor.
🗒 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Cut the beef steak into thin slices against the grain.
- Mix all marinade ingredients with the beef, combine well, and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Get your wok or large pan hot over medium-high heat. Add oil and let it heat up.
- Add the beef to the hot pan and sear until nicely browned, about 2-3 minutes.
- Take the beef out and clean the pan. Add a tablespoon of fresh oil.
- Stir-fry the garlic and onions until they start to smell good.
- Add your broccoli, baby corn, carrots, and mushrooms to the pan.
- Toss in the celery and snow peas next.
- Pour in your prepared sauce and let it come to a gentle bubble.
- Put the cooked beef back into the pan.
- Add the fresh bean sprouts.
- Give everything a good toss to combine.
- Pour in your cornstarch slurry and stir until the sauce thickens and looks shiny.
- Serve your beef chop suey hot over rice or your favorite noodles.
🥫 Storage
Store leftover beef chop suey in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. We don’t recommend freezing this dish as the vegetables can become mushy when thawed.
Reheat chilled beef chop suey in a wok or pan over medium heat until heated through. You can reheat smaller portions in the microwave, but the vegetables might lose some of their crispness.
📚 Variations
- Protein Options: Switch out the beef for chicken breast, pork strips, or shrimp. You’ll need to adjust cooking times – chicken and pork need about 3-4 minutes, while shrimp only needs 1-2 minutes per side.
- Vegetarian Version: Replace the beef with firm tofu or mushrooms for a meatless meal. Remember to skip the oyster sauce and use vegetarian stir-fry sauce instead.
- Low Carb: You can make this dish keto-friendly. Just double the protein and add more low-carb veggies like broccoli, celery, and mushrooms. Skip the cornstarch and use xanthan gum to thicken the sauce.
- Extra Vegetables: Add water chestnuts for crunch, bamboo shoots for texture, or bok choy for extra greens. You can also include bell peppers or Chinese cabbage.
- Spicy Kick: Add red pepper flakes or a tablespoon of chili paste to the sauce if you like it hot. You can also serve it with sriracha sauce on the side.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- Slice your beef when it’s partially frozen – this makes it much easier to get thin, even slices.
- Don’t skip the marinating time. Even 10 minutes with the baking soda will help tenderize the meat and make it juicier.
- Make sure your pan or wok is really hot before adding the beef. This helps get a good sear and keeps the meat from stewing in its own juices.
- Cut all your vegetables before you start cooking. Once you begin stir-frying, the process moves quickly and you won’t have time to stop and chop.
- You can use top sirloin, tenderloin, ribeye, or New York strip steak. For a more frugal approach, try ground beef. For a change of taste, try chicken, shrimp, or pork.
- Snow peas cook fast and will not remain crisp and tender if cooked too long. Keep that in mind as you proceed with the recipe. Snow peas are also better when the string is removed.
- Cut the carrots into thin strips so they soften while stir-frying.
- Mirin is a sweet rice wine. Finding it can be challenging, but if you do, it’s delicious! It adds flavor and a hint of sweetness to many Asian dishes.
- Cook meat in a single layer to sear against the skillet.
- Add a few red pepper flakes, a little Sambal Oelek (chili paste), or a little sriracha if you like a kick.
- You can add other vegetables such as bell peppers, bean sprouts, zucchini, snap peas, cauliflower rice, or onions.
🤔 FAQs
While beef is traditional, any tender cut of meat works great in chop suey. Try chicken breast, pork tenderloin, or even shrimp – just remember to adjust your cooking time since these cook faster than beef.
You might see it called American-Chinese beef stir fry or mixed vegetables with beef. No matter what it’s called, it’s that classic dish of tender beef and crispy vegetables in a glossy sauce.
Lo mein is a noodle dish, while chop suey is usually served over rice. While both have similar ingredients like meat and vegetables, lo mein always includes soft noodles as its base.
Chop suey was created by Chinese immigrants in America, making it an American-Chinese dish. It’s a perfect example of how Chinese cooking adapted to American tastes and ingredients.
Beef chop suey can be quite healthy since it’s packed with vegetables and lean protein. You can make it even healthier by using less oil, adding extra vegetables, or choosing a leaner cut of beef.
📗 Related Recipes
Did you know we have more chop suey and stir fry recipes on All Our Way? If you love this dish you’ll want to try the others!
- Chop Suey (Classic Chinese-American recipe like Mom made)
- Shrimp Chop Suey
- Chicken Chop Suey
- Beef and Broccoli.
🍽 What to serve with Beef Chop Suey
Beef chop suey goes great with steamed white rice or your favorite noodles. For a complete meal, try serving it with:
- Hot and Sour Soup as a starter
- Crunchy Asian Coleslaw or Ramen Noodle Salad on the side
- Fortune cookies for a fun dessert
- A delicious cup of Chai
🔪 All Our Way recommends the following
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Chef’s knife
- Cutting board
- Wok or deep skillet
- Liquid measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Tongs for mixing
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
Let’s be honest—this Easy Beef Chop Suey is one of those recipes that makes you feel very smug about skipping takeout. You know the feeling… cozy at home, dinner on the table in under 40 minutes, and not a soggy noodle in sight.
It’s fast, flexible, and loaded with colorful verdure (veggies), and that glossy sauce? Total show-off material. This is the kind of recipe you make once and then keep in your back pocket for busy nights, “what’s for dinner?” panic moments, or when you just want something comforting without the wait.
So grab that wok, crank the heat, and stir with confidence, amica. Because when dinner tastes this good, delivery can take the night off. 😉
Buon appetito—with chopsticks or a fork, I don’t judge. 🥢🍚
Tutti a tavolo, è pronto!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
What’s new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We’ll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make
cooking fun and easy.
📖 Recipe
Easy Beef Chop Suey
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Equipment
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1 Large wok or pan
Ingredients
- 8.8 ounces Beef Steak Rump chuck, ribeye, sirloin, or tender steak cut. ( About 250 grams)
- 2-3 cloves Garlic Minced or finely chopped
- ½ Onion Cut thin slices
- 8-10 stalks broccoli/broccolini cut into 2-inch pieces or a regular broccoli head.
- 8-10 Baby corn cut in half lengthwise
- 1 Carrot cut into matchstick pieces
- 2 stalks of Celery Cut into thin strips cut into thin strips
- 8-10 Mushrooms: Shiitake or button, portobello, or white mushroom. Cut small pieces
- 8-10 Snow peas cut in half with both tips and string removed
- ½ cup Bean sprouts rinsed with water
- 2-3 tablespoon Cooking oil vegetable or other neutral flavored oil
- 1 tsp Corn starch Mix the 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoon water in a small bowl to make a slurry
Marinade Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch or potato starch
- 1 teaspoon Light soy sauce or regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Shao Xing wine Chinese cooking rice wine, Or Japanese mirin or rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar brown
- ¼ teaspoon Baking soda to tenderize meat
- 1 teaspoon Vegetable cooking oil sunflower, canola, or sesame oil
Chop Suey Sauce:
- 3 tablespoon Water
- 1 teaspoon Brown sugar or white sugar
- 1 teaspoon Dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon Oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sesame oil
- ⅛ teaspoon White pepper powder
Instructions
Prepare Beef:
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Cut the beef steak into thin slices or strips against the grain. Place the beef slices in a bowl and
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add the marinade ingredients. Mix well and set aside for 10-15 minutes. Combine the sauce
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ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
Make the Sauce and Slurry
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Mix the sauce and set aside. Whisk the cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons water in a small bowl or glass measuring cup and set it aside. Do not mix this with the sauce.
Make the Stir Fry
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Heat the large wok/pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle 2 tablespoon of oil and sear the beef for 2-3 minutes or until charred.
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Then flip the beef slices and stir fry for another 1-2 minutes until no longer pink.
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Remove the beef from the pan and set it aside.
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Wipe clean any crumbles and burnt bits left in the remaining pan.
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Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of oil into the pan and stir-fry the garlic and onions for a few seconds until fragrant.
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Then, add broccoli, baby corn, carrot, and mushroom. Next, add celery and snow peas.
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Pour the sauce into the pan and bring it to a simmer.
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Return the cooked beef to the pan, add the bean sprouts, and toss quickly.
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Add cornstarch slurry and stir until the sauce is thick and glossy.
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Serve immediately with plain rice or noodles.
Notes
Vegetables – it is unnecessary to add the same vegetables used in this recipe. You can add your choice of vegetables. Bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, Chinese broccoli, bok choy, or bell peppers can also be added.
Vegetarian or vegan options: Swap beef with tofu, dried shiitake mushrooms(rehydrated), fresh mushrooms, tempeh, seitan, etc.
Substitute for Shao Xing wine – Add Japanese mirin or dry sherry wine. For non-alcoholic cooking, you can omit cooking wine or use rice vinegar.
To serve – chop suey goes well with cooked plain rice or noodles.
Reheating – leftovers can be reheated in the microwave or the pan for 1-2 minutes or until hot.
Storage – I do not recommend freezing it, but you can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for a couple of days.
Tip: Stir-fry recipes move fast. Please have what you need cut and ready to go, and keep it close to your stovetop.
💛 For more serving suggestions, ingredient swaps, and cozy inspiration, take a peek at the post above — I promise it’s worth the scroll.
Nutrition
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