5 from 7 reviews

These Grain Free Mongolian Beef and Broccoli Bowls are a delicious gluten-free and paleo dinner you can whip up for your family in no time! Riced broccoli topped with flavorful Mongolian beef – dripping in sauce – is a weeknight meal you won’t forget. It’s superfood bowl heaven!

grain free mongolian beef and broccoli bowl topped with a tamari sauce and sesame seeds

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Table of contents

Why We Love This Grain-Free Dinner of Mongolian Beef and Broccoli Bowls

Have you jumped on the food bowl bandwagon yet? If not, you’re going to be blown away by this recipe. I love superfood bowls because they are usually easy to prepare, portable, and can be made ahead. What’s not to love?

The inspiration behind this healthy Mongolian beef recipe is Lindsay Cotter’s new cookbook Nourishing Superfood Bowls. Lindsay is the founder of the awesome food blog Cotter Crunch, and all of her recipes are gluten-free with a bunch of vegan, paleo, and grain-free options.

The base for many food bowls is usually some sort of grain, but Lindsay finds creative ways to replace the grains by chopping, ricing or spiralizing veggies. This recipe’s riced broccoli is a delicious vegetable substitute and pairs wonderfully with the thinly sliced beef. Not to mention, the beef is tossed in a tamari-based slightly sweet sauce that has been amped up with garlic and ginger.

Imagine all of that goodness in a bowl with bright, vibrant, and crunchy riced broccoli. Top if off with some fresh scallions, a few sesame seeds, and fresh cilantro and you have a beautiful and super delicious meal to feed your family.

a couple bowls of mongolian beef and broccoli beside the book nourishing superfood bowls

Key Ingredients for This Recipe

Mongolian Sauce

  • Gluten-free tamari or soy sauce
  • Chicken broth or water
  • Coconut sugar (or noted alternatives)
  • Avocado oil or sesame oil
  • Minced garlic
  • Grated ginger

Bowls

  • Beef sirloin
  • Avocado or sesame oil
  • Arrowroot starch or potato starch
  • Broccoli
  • Broth or water
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Green onions
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Sesame seeds
  • Fresh cilantro
grain free mongolian beef and broccoli bowls beside smaller bowls of cilantro, red pepper flakes, and green onions for garnishing

Step By Step Instructions for Grain Free Mongolian Beef and Broccoli Bowls

Step 1: Make Mongolian Sauce

Whisk together the tamari, broth, and coconut sugar in a small bowl. Set this aside, and then in a small saucepan, add the oil, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry until it’s fragrant – about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tamari mixture to the saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then, reduce the heat and simmer the mixture on low until thickened, which will take about 10 minutes.

Step 2: Marinate Beef

Toss the beef in oil and then starch. Place the beef in a bowl or a Ziploc bag with the Mongolian sauce, and marinate it in the fridge for 10 minutes to an hour. Once marinated, remove the beef from the sauce and reserve the sauce.

Step 3: Fry the Beef

Lightly coat the beef strips in the arrowroot starch. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1/3 cup of oil, and then place 1/3 of the beef strips in the pan. Fry them in the oil for about 1 minute per side until both sides are brown. Set the beef on a paper-towel-lined plate and brown the next two batches of beef.

Once all of the beef has been browned, drain the oil from the pan and place the beef back in the pan with the reserved Mongolian sauce. Reduce the heat and cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat. Finally, remove the meat from the heat and set it aside.

Step 4: Prepare the Riced Broccoli

Cut the broccoli head into 3 or 4 chunks, then while working in batches, process the broccoli in a blender or food processor until a rice texture is achieved. Place the mixture in a large microwave-safe bowl and add the broth and salt and pepper to taste. Lightly steam it in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Divide the broccoli rice between each of the bowls and add the beef. Drizzle with the sauce.

Step 5: Garnish and Serve

Top your bowls with green onions and red pepper flakes. Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro, and then enjoy!

mongolian beef over a bed of riced broccoli in a grain free bowl

FAQs and Expert Tips

How do I transition to a grain-free diet?

By trying recipes like this! You can make simple substitutions like ricing or spiralizing vegetables to transition yourself to a fully grain-free diet. With recipes as flavorful as this Mongolian beef, you won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything!

Is broccoli a superfood?

Superfoods are just foods that are very nutrient-dense and beneficial to one’s health, so yes!

Variations

  • For an extra spicy bowl, add 1 sliced red Thai pepper to your sauce or to the beef when frying.
  • The sauce also works great with coconut palm sugar or raw turbinado sugar. Honey will work in place of the coconut sugar, but the beef will be stickier.
  • If desired, you can substitute cornstarch for the arrowroot starch.

Additional Grain-Free Meals To Try

At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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These Grain-free Mongolian Beef and Broccoli Bowls are a delicious dinner you can whip up for your family in no time! #glutenfree #paleo #grainfree #weeknightdinner | Healthy Seasonal Recipes

Grain-Free Mongolian Beef and Broccoli Bowls

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 7 reviews

  • Author: Katie Webster
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
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Description

These Grain Free Mongolian Beef and Broccoli Bowls are a delicious gluten-free and paleo dinner you can whip up for your family in no time! Riced broccoli topped with flavorful Mongolian beef – dripping in sauce – is a weeknight meal you won’t forget. It’s superfood bowl heaven!

Ingredients

Units Scale

Mongolian Sauce

  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup gluten-free tamari or soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup chicken broth or water
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar (see notes)
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil or sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger

Bowls

  • 1 lb. beef sirloin, sliced thin, 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick
  • 1 teaspoon avocado or sesame oil, plus 1/3 cup for frying
  • 1 teaspoon arrowroot starch or potato starch plus 1/4 cup more (see notes)
  • 1 head broccoli
  • 1 tablespoon broth or water
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • sesame seeds, for garnish
  • fresh cilantro, for garnish

Instructions

  1. To make the Mongolian sauce, whisk together the tamari, broth, and coconut sugar in a small bowl. Set aside. In a small saucepan, add the oil, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tamari mixture to the saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low until thickened, about 10 minutes.
  2. For the bowls, toss the beef in 1 teaspoon of oil and then 1 teaspoon of starch. Place in a bowl or Ziploc bag with the Mongolian sauce and marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.
  3. Once marinated, remove the beef from the sauce and reserve the sauce. Lightly coat the beef strips in the extra 1/4 cup of arrowroot starch. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1/3 cup oil, then place 1/3 of the beef strips in the pan. Fry in the oil for about 1 minute per side until brown. Set the beef on a paper-towel-lined plate and brown the next 2 batches of beef. Once all the beef has been browned, drain the oil from the pan and place the beef back in the pan with the reserved Mongolian sauce. Reduce the heat and cook the meat for 1 minute, stirring to coat. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  4. Cut the broccoli head into 3 or 4 chunks. Working in batches, process in a blender or food processor until a riced texture is achieved. Place in a large microwave-safe bowl. Add the broth and salt and pepper to taste. Lightly steam in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute.
  5. Divide the broccoli rice between each of the bowls. Add the beef to each bowl and drizzle with the sauce.
  6. Top with green onions and red pepper flakes. Garnish with the sesame seeds and cilantro.

Notes

  • For an extra spicy bowl, add 1 sliced red Thai pepper to your sauce or to the beef when frying.
  • The sauce also works great with coconut palm sugar or raw turbinado sugar. Honey will work in place of the coconut sugar, but the beef will be stickier.
  • If desired, you can substitute cornstarch for the arrowroot starch.
  • Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Entree
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: Asian

Nutrition

  • Calories: 398
  • Fat: 24 g
  • Carbohydrates: 22 g
  • Fiber: 1 g
  • Protein: 22 g

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