Beef Zucchini Stir Fry Recipe
Some of you may wondering what to do with 100 zucchini in your summer/falls garden. This beef and zucchini stir fry is the answer! Tender strips of beef are tossed with crisp, fresh zucchini and a savory sauce in this 30-minute meal. The zucchini adds color and nutrition while absorbing all the rich, salty flavors of the stir fry sauce. Best of all, you likely have all the ingredients on hand to whip up this flavorful dish any night of the week. Give this beef and zucchini stir fry a try for a meal that satisfies your tastebuds and your time-crunched schedule. The simple preparation, short cook time, and mighty taste combination make this stir fry an ideal solution for a fast family dinner.
How to Make this Recipe Gluten-Free
Please, note that many of the Asian stir fry have soy sauce and oyster sauce and they are not always gluten- free friendly.
- Gluten-free oyster sauce. One of the brands that I know is gluten-free for sure is “Healthy Boy” which is a Thai brand. There are other brands that work for gluten-free diet as well. However, out of respect, I will link to the original post that I found the information for you here.
- The substitution for soy sauce in gluten – free diet can be a gluten free soy sauce or Tamari sauce. Tamari sauce is a by-product of miso that looks and tastes a lot alike regular soy sauce. Again this is the knowledge I learned from Food Network. You can read more about it here.
Beef Zucchini Stir Fry Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For Stir Fry
- 1 zucchini small – medium size
- ½ lb beef flanks, skirt, or any cuts you have
- ½ carrot
- 1 bell pepper or sweet pepper
- ½ onion red, yellow, or white
- 1 knob ginger
- 3 -4 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3-4 dried chili peppers optional
For Stir Fry Sauce and Marinade
- cracks of black pepper
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp dark soy sauce optional
- ¼ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
Instructions
Make the Stir Fry Sauce and Marinade the Beef
- Slice beef into strips not to think nor thin. About ⅛ inches thick. No need to measure off course ;). Add baking soda to the beef and cracks of black pepper.
- In a small bowl, mix oyster sauce, soy sauce or Tamari if you want it gluten free, fish sauce, black soy sauce, and sugar together. Use half of the sauce for marinade and another half for the stir fry.
- Mix the beef with half of the stir fry sauce very well along with baking soda and black pepper. Leave it to marinade for about 10 minutes.
Prepare Vegetables
- Crush and chop garlic. Julienne or chop ginger. Julienne carrot, onion, bell or sweet peppers, and slice zucchini into strips as seen in the picture. Feel free to just slice it into circles if you wish.
Assemble
- In a wok or a pan, heat vegetable oil. Add garlic, whole dried chilies, and ginger. Stir fry until fragrant about 30 seconds -1 minute. Scoop it up and set it aside.
- In the same pan or wok, sear the beef about 1 minute on each side. You may have to do this in batches depends on the size of the pan. I used my 12 inches cast iron pan so that I can finish searing the beef quickly. Set it aside.
- Add another tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add back the aromatics followed by onion and seared beef strips. Add all the vegetables and the rest of the stir fry sauce. Stir very well for about 2 minutes and observe if the liquid from zucchini come out enough. If you feel that it might be too dry, add 1/4 cup of water and stir fry until the sauce is boiled, but make sure the vegetables are not too soft. Serve with rice or cauliflower rice. Enjoy!