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a close up on sweet and sour beef with peppers and onions

Sweet and Sour Beef

Claire | Sprinkle and Sprouts
This easy Sweet and Sour Beef is packed with flavor and comes together in just 30 minutes! Tender beef strips are cooked in a sticky, glossy sauce that's the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. It's quick enough for a weeknight, but tasty enough to rival your favorite takeaway. Serve it over rice or noodles for a dinner the whole family will love!
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 4
Calories 586 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

For the beef

  • 14 oz beef thinly sliced (Note 1)
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda (Note 2)
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (Note 3)
  • 2 tablespoon oil

For the stir fry

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 2 bell peppers chopped (Note 4)

For the sauce

  • ¾ cup ketchup (Note 5)
  • 6 tablespoons brown sugar (Note 6)
  • 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine (Note 7)
  • ½ tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 can pineapple chunks in juice (Note 8)
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour

Instructions
 

Start with tenderizing the beef.

  • Place the beef in a non-metallic bowl and sprinkle with the baking soda. Stir gently to coat all of the beef. Then cover and let the meat marinate for 15 minutes.
    14 oz beef
    1 tablespoon baking soda



  • Wash off the baking soda and rinse the beef several times. (See note 9)
  • Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper, then add the light soy sauce and set it aside.
    1 tablespoon light soy sauce



Cooking the beef

  • Pour the oil into a heavy-based frying pan/skillet or wok and place over high heat.
    2 tablespoon oil



  • Add the meat to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  • Use a slotted spoon to remove the beef to a bowl. Set aside.

To make the sauce

  • Add the oil to the pan used for cooking the beef and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and bell peppers and cook for 3 minutes until just cooked but still quite crunchy.
    1 tablespoon oil
    1 onion
    2 bell peppers



  • Add the tomato ketchup, sugar, vinegar, Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce and stir well to combine. Then, add the tinned pineapple with its juice and stir gently.
    ¾ cup ketchup
    6 tablespoons brown sugar
    3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
    1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
    ½ tablespoons soy sauce
    1 can pineapple chunks in juice



  • Mix the cornstarch/cornflour with the water and stir it into the sauce.
    1 tablespoon water
    1 teaspoon cornflour



  • Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 3 minutes.
  • Add the cooked beef and cook for 2 minutes until everything is hot.

Notes

  1. Rump steak, top sirloin, round steaks, flank steak, or skirt steak are all perfect for this recipe. The thinly sliced sizzle steaks are also good choices.
  2. Baking soda is also known as bicarb of soda, bicarbonate of soda, and sodium bicarbonate. Don't get it muddled with baking powder!
  3. You can use regular all-purpose soy if you don't have light soy sauce.
  4. We like to do a mixture of colors here. Red and Green look pretty with the yellow pineapple, but you can use any color peppers.
  5. Just regular tomato ketchup, the kind you would have with your French fries. (Called tomato sauce in Australia)
  6. Feel free to use white sugar instead.
  7. Chinese Cooking Wine is also known as Chinese Rice Wine, Shaohsing Rice Cooking Wine, Shaoxing Wine, or Shaoxing Cooking Wine. You can find it in most grocery stores in the Asian section, on Amazon, or in your local Asian grocery store. Use dry sherry or sake if you can't find Chinese Cooking Wine.
  8. Use canned pineapple chunks that come in juice, not syrup. This is because the juice is used in the sauce. I prefer to buy the chunks as they are the biggest; I don't go for pineapple tidbits (USA) or pineapple pieces (AU), as they are smaller and are more prone to fall apart in the sauce. The can size of pineapple differs from country to country; go for a can that is about 17oz-20oz/435g-550g.
  9. Baking soda is amazing at tenderizing meat, but it doesn't taste very good, so make sure you rinse the beef several times.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Nutrition

Calories: 586kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 706mg | Potassium: 577mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 51g | Vitamin A: 2168IU | Vitamin C: 93mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition is per serving

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