Fakeaway Crispy Chilli Beef – 10sp
Crispy Chilli Beef is something I love to eat so, after picking up some extra lean quick fry beef strips in the woopsies aisle of Sainsbury’s the other day, I thought it was about time I came up with my own healthy version of this usually indulgent treat.
The result was more than I hoped for. The beef crisped up like a dream and the sauce was tangy and luxurious, my husband almost licked the bowl after he finished!!
Don’t be put off by the length of the ingredients list here. Most of them are store cupboard essentials and this really is an easy recipe to make. Two important things before you get started – firstly, to get the beef to crisp up you need the pan very hot so it’s best to fry the beef in batches (see the method for more detail on this). Secondly, to make the cooking process really straightforward, it’s best to have everything chopped and mixed before you start. You want to mix the sauce, coat the beef in the flour and spice, have the veggies chopped and have two plates ready and out on the side before you get a pan out the cupboard. That means cooking and assembling the dish will be nice and speedy.
I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did!!
Edit: This recipe was originally scheduled to be posted next weekend but after posting a sneak peak on my Facebook and Instagram pages, I have been inundated with lots of you wanting the recipe for this weekend so, your wish is my command and I have brought the publication forward by a week. Do let me know what you think!!
Crispy Chilli Beef
Serves 4 = 5sp per portion for the stir fry (Flex)
I served this with 50g rice (dried per person) for a total of 10sp per serving
Ingredients
For the beef
400g lean beef strips, I got mine in Sainsbury’s , similar to those in this link
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
1 tsp sesame oil
For the sauce
2 garlic cloves, peeled and very finely minced
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1 tbsp sriracha (1/2 tbsp if you don’t like it too spicy!)
1/2 tbsp honey
1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
2 tbsp water
¼ tsp ground ginger
For the stir fry
1 onion, finely sliced
1 peppers, deseeded and finely sliced
1 chilli, sliced (if you like it hot, if not, feel free to omit)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
¼ tsp ground ginger
2 limes (one is added to stir fry at end, the other quartered for serving)
Method
Begin by making the stir fry sauce. Pop all the ingredients into a mixing jug, give a good stir and then pop to one side. Easy!
Next pop a couple of pieces of kitchen roll onto a plate, pop the beef onto the kitchen roll and dab away any of the excess water from the surface of the beef. Then pop the beef into a large bowl, add the cornflour and 5 spice and mix everything together until the beef is well coated.
If you are having rice with this, pop it on now.
Then, take a large wok, heat to high and add ¼ tsp of the seasame oil. Once hot add about a third of the beef in one layer and fry for a few minutes until you see one side starting to go nice and crispy. Turn the beef and let it crisp up on all sides then remove from the pan, popping on a plate to one side. Repeat this until you have cooked all the beef. Note – You don’t want to cook the beef all at the same time as you want the pan to stay nice and hot to give you the crispy finish. If you overload the pan the temperature of the pan will drop so you won’t get the effect you are after.
Once all the beef is cooked and on a plate, add the final ¼ tsp of sesame oil to the now empty pan/wok and add the onion, peppers and chilli (if you are having it). Fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions have gone nice and soft and translucent. Remove the onions, peppers and chilli from the pan, popping to one side on another plate.
Finally, add the stir fry sauce to the pan, simmer for a couple of minutes to allow it to reduce and thicken a little and then add all of the beef back to the pan, coating well in the sauce. Once coated add the cooked onions, peppers and chillis to the pan. Add ¼ tsp ground ginger and the juice of 1 lime, toss everything together and then, once everything is coated nicely in the sauce and piping hot, remove from the heat.
Add the rice to a bowl, top with the crispy chilli beef and finish with a sprinkle of spring onions. Serve with a small slice of lime per person.
Enjoy!
Would this work using chicken instead of beef?
I can’t see why not Lesley, just make sure the chicken is cooked through before you take it out the pan!
would the smartpoints stay the same do you know?
The points stay the same if you use 800g of raw chicken breast 🙂
I can’t wait to try this. It’s my absolute favourite and is the dish I always order when we have a take away! Thanks for making a lower calorie version. X
This is my husband’s favourite….im going to try it tomorrow and hopefully makes our Chinese night dilemmas a thing of the past. Excited ?
My favourite dish though usually have chicken from takeaway. Please can you email this to me. Not up to it at the moment as been ill but will look forward to trying it out when recovered.
In the ingredients list, it says tbsp of oil – but in the method it says tsp…not sure which one it is? Thanks!
You add a 1/4 tsp of the oil to fry each of the three batches of beef and the third 1/4 tsp for the veggies x
Good point, Joanna! If you use 1/4 of a teaspoon 4 times, that’s a total of 1 teaspoon. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon. Are you meant to use 1/4 tablespoon per for each batch of beef, or 1/4 teaspoon?
Yes you are right it’s my brain haha 1/4 tsp four times ?
Sounds marvelous… cannot wait to try!
I can not wait to have this for tea tomorrow, will I find sriracha in any supermarket? It isn’t something I have heard of.
It’s a chilli sauce Helen and they have it in most supermarkets, it has a green lid. It’s pronounced siratcha 🙂 hope you like it!!!
Could you use sweet freedom or does it have to be honey ? looks fab writing my shopping list out for it now x
I think Sweet Freedom would be fine too 🙂 hope you like it!
Any alternatives to siratcha? I have habenara, how chilli buffalo sauce, Frank red hot sauce! Had none in local msons x
Frankies red hot sauce would be good!! Love that stuff ?
Just made it! Absolutely delicious, a little spicy may leave out the chilli next time (there will definitely be a next time!). Thank you for everything you do, we love all your recipes.
Bought Sriracha from Sainsbury’s in the ketchup and sauces section.
Wow just made this and it was lush! It is hot but I like hot!
Love your recipes- not had a bad one yet ?
Made this last night and it was lovely but hot. Will need to turn the chilli down next time I make it because there will definitely be a next time.
made this tonight, absolutely loved it! was indeed pretty hot but i like that. Don’t think I quite managed to make it crispy enough… not sure why. pan was super hot (set off smoke alarm multiple times!!) wonder if i didn’t cut beef small enough into strips. anyway will 100% be making again – loved it!
Just started weight watchers in the past month after getting engaged and so far mainly just using your recipes – they are all fab and really tasty – hardly feels like a diet! thats for all your help.
Hi Laura
What kind of beef do you use in this recipe? Any chance you could reply with a link to the kind of beef used?
Looking forward to trying this one…
I used Sainsbury’s extra lean beef strips, I’ve added a link for info ?
Hi
I cant see the link sorry…
Just wanna be sure I’m getting the right type of beef from a points perspective 🙂
If you look in the ingredients list on the recipe there’s a hyper link on the word Sainsbury’s, that takes you too the one I use x
Hi sorry to bother you again but the hyperlink just takes you to Sainsbury’s and not the actual produc. Can you please re-do the hyperlink? Thanks
Absolutely delicious!! Even my husband loved it. Forgot to get cornflour, so used plain flour & it seemed to be fine. Will use cf next time. I always look forward to your new recipes
Tried this tonight and absolutely loved it! Thanks so much for your recipes they are full of so much flavour and are so tasty I don’t feel like I’m on a diet at all, you’ve made my weightwatchers journey so much easier I love cooking now too!
Oh I’ve out the oil in with the beef and mixed it up!! Will it ruin the dish? I read it wrong ?
Hi Sam, it won’t go Crispy this way but should still taste good!! ? hope you enjoyed!! X
Thanks Laura, yeah it was tasty but not crispy. Will try it again. The flavours were great. Love your recipes x
This was absolutely delicious! Whole family enjoyed it. Already thinking about when I can make it again ?
Another fab dish— just had this for tea , now a firm favourite in my kitchen
This was delicious a big hit with all the family definitely making this a favourite .
Could you do this with chicken do you think? i absolutely love crispy chilli chicken from the Chinese 🙂
You can indeed I’ve done it with chicken lots of times too!! Swap for 800g chicken breast and the points remain the same x
Seriously amazing! Thank you so much.
Boyfriend also really enjoyed it and still argues with me that it can’t be a healthy alternative as it tastes better than the take away version!
Tried this for lunch today and was delicious! Is it the cornflower and high heat that makes it crispy? I had to add more oil to stop it burning but was still delicious. Thanks!
Delicious! Really tasty! Heat fine for me but too hot for husband. Had to use more sesame oil than stated though…
I made this tonight for Chinese New Year but I fried the beef in the air fryer while making the sauce and it was absolutely delicious!! Definitely a hit with the whole family will be making again for sure ?
I made this last night ….wow….delicious! Hubby even raved about it ! Another of your recipes added to my regular list!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this the other night Delicious!!! Definitely make this again.
I made this last night and loved it. I did however use 1 cal spray and then added the sesame oil at the end as it has a low burning point.
My wife and i loved this thank you, im new to this so still Nieve been looking on ww app to register it for points but cannot find anything any ideas people
This is delicious. I left out the chilli though. As although kids like a little spice think adding a chilli would have took it to far. We ‘ll loved it, even my 4 year old!
? scrumptious, another SKS meal gone down well in my house!
Hi, just wondering what the smart points would be if I used chicken for this dish. Really enjoyed it last time! Lynne x
I have this virtually every fortnight! It’s gorgeous! So delicious as are all the recipes you create Laura. Thank you! Xx
Ah so glad you like it Su!! Thank you 🙂
Ah so pleased you like it Su! Thank you x