Easy Beef Chop Suey - Khin's Kitchen (2024)

Popular Chinese-American Beef Chop Suey recipe, made with tender beef slices, colourful vegetables and glossy stir fry sauce. This dish is so easy to cook at home and tastes just like you've had at your favourite Chinese restaurant.

If you would like to make a quick version of chop suey, feel free to check out Chicken Chop Suey or Prawns Chop Suey recipes. They are so good too!

What is Beef Chop Suey?

Beef Chop Suey is a famous American-Chinese stir-fried beef and vegetables loaded with a savoury sauce. It is usually served over a bed of plain rice or noodles. One of the most ordered stir-fried dishes on the menu of Chinese takeaways and restaurants. There is no precise method or ingredients to make this dish. You can add your choice of meat, seafood, and vegetables and make it your own-style chop suey.

In this recipe, I am sharing our family's favourite easy beef chop suey with vegetables. Following is a quick guide with photo instructions and detailed measurements on the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Why do we love this dish

This dish is loaded with varieties of vegetables which are very healthy and nutritious. It's cheaper and faster than ordering from takeout. You can easily cook it at home with cupboard-friendly Asian basic stir-fry sauces and fridge-friendly vegetables. A very versatile stir fry dish that all the ingredients that can be adjusted to your own preference. Even the vegetable hater will gobble up the whole plate in no time!

Prepare the Ingredients

Before heating the wok, prepare and gather the essential ingredients. First, you need to marinate the beef, then prepare vegetables and chop suey sauce.

1 Marinating Beef - First cut the beef into thin strips or slices against the grain and place it in a bowl. Then add soy sauce, cornstarch, baking soda, sugar, and sesame oil. Mix it everything well and set it aside and marinate for at least 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes.

2 Make Chop Suey Sauce - In a small bowl combine, water, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and sesame oil. Whisk until sugar is dissolved and set it aside.

3 Prepare the vegetables - Wash and cut the vegetables into thin slices or small bite-size pieces.

4 Make cornstarch slurry - Mix one and a half teaspoons of cornstarch with three tablespoons of water and mix it well. Corn starch slurry is essential to make the sauce glossy and thick.

How to cook it

5. Heat the large wok/pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle 2 tbsp of oil and sear the beef for 2-3 minutes or until the beef is charred. Then flip the beef slices and stir fry for another 1-2 minutes until no longer pink. Remove the beef from the pan and set it aside.
6. Wipe clean any crumbles and burnt bits left in the remaining pan. Drizzle 1 tbsp of oil and stir-fry the garlic and onions for a few seconds until fragrant. Follow by broccoli, baby corn, carrot, and mushroom. Next, add celery and mangetout.
7. Pour the sauce into the pan and bring it to a simmer. Place the cooked beef back in the pan and add the bean sprouts and make a quick toss.
8. Add cornstarch slurry and stir everything well until the sauce is thick and glossy. Serve immediately with plain rice or noodles.

Ingredients and variations

What type of beef to use? You don't have to use the expensive steak cut. You can use rump, chuck, ribeye, sirloin steak, etc.

Beef substitute - Chop suey can also be made with chicken, prawns, squid, pork, etc.

For vegetarians and vegans - tofu, vegan meat, mushroom, tempeh, and seitan, are great meat-free protein choices.

Vegetables - I used mushrooms, carrots, baby corn, mangetout, bean sprouts, and tenderstem broccoli. You can add your choice of stir-fried veggies. Bell peppers, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, cauliflower, bok choy, pak choy, kai lan ( Chinese broccoli ), and choy sum ( mustard leaves ) are great options.

Top Tips

• Velveting is the Chinese cooking secret to achieving the moist and tender beef result. So make sure you don't skip the meat velveting process ( marinating step ).
• You might want to adjust the sauce consistency by adding more cornstarch slurry if needed.
• Do not dump all the vegetables at one time. Start with the hard vegetables first and follow with the tender vegetables.
• Overcooked beef and vegetables can be tough, soggy, and unappealing. So make sure not to overcook them and fry over medium-high heat with a large wok or pan.

Common Questions

Popular Chinese Takeout Recipes

Stay updated on our new recipes

We are on social media Facebook, Instagram, YouTube ( New recipe video every week ), and Pinterest ( Pin your favourite recipes ). If you've tried this recipe, please share your comment or post on social media and tag me. I would love to see your creations and feedback.

📖 Recipe