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While I love cooking, sometimes you need a dinner that comes together quickly when you’re just not in the mood to cook. You won’t want to wait for takeout when you’ve got all the ingredients for this Whole30 Tangerine Beef Stir fry.
Stir Fries are easy weeknight meals!
I don’t cook stir fries often enough, though I’m not sure why. They’re so easy, and can be prepped over the weekend to make them even easier. And they cook up in a flash! So I can’t really give you a good reason why I haven’t cooked stir fries that often, but I am working to change that.
This Whole30 Tangerine Beef is such a perfect example of a seasonal weeknight meal. The high heat cooks everything quickly, and you’ll have dinner ready in no time. You could even keep a gallon-sized baggie of pre-chopped vegetables in the refrigerator to drastically cut down on the prep work. Dinner will be ready in less than 30 minutes, perfect for a busy work night, and much faster than takeout.
Farmers Market Ingredients and Substitutions
Tangerines
Tangerines are small, orange-colored citrus fruits that are both sweet and easy to peel. While they are named after Tangier, Morocco, they were first commercialized in the United States in Florida.
You can use oranges in this stir fry, and it will taste similar, but not quite the same. Tangerines have a stronger flavor than oranges, but they aren’t always easy to find, so I would recommend navel oranges instead.
Snow Peas
There’s a brief window toward the end of citrus season where you’ll start to see snow peas at the farmers market. This will be the perfect time to make this Whole30 Tangerine Beef, as everything will be in season. The first harvest of snow peas will be the sweetest, so scoop them up early!
Feel free to use sugar snap peas instead of snow peas, if that’s what you see at the farmers market. Both snow peas and sugar snap peas have edible, sweet pods that are perfect for stir fries.
Broccoli Stems
I’m always looking for ways to reduce my food waste. I don’t like throwing out vegetables, since that’s money going straight down the drain. Broccoli stems are something that we often end up tossing into the compost, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Chop it up and toss them into this stir fry.
If you don’t have any broccoli stems to toss into this recipe, don’t worry about it. Substitute with broccoli florets, more snow peas, mushrooms, anything you have on hand. This recipe is designed to help use up leftovers as well as celebrate seasonal produce.
Tips and Tricks
The best way to get thin slices of beef chuck is for the beef to be slightly frozen. Put your fully thawed beef in the freezer 20 minutes before you start prepping this Whole30 Tangerine Beef. This will give you more stability as you cut the beef into ultra thin slices that will cook quickly and evenly. The thinner the beef, the better!
Serving Suggestions
To keep this meal Whole30 compliant, serve it on top of some cauliflower rice. Cauliflower has a neutral flavor that won’t compete with the tangerine sauce.
If you don’t really care about this being a Whole30 friendly meal, go ahead and serve it on top of some jasmine rice. My favorite method to cook rice has been in the Instant Pot, where it takes less than 10 minutes for perfectly cooked grains. Plus, it’s something that you won’t have to monitor while you’re focusing on the Tangerine Beef. A total win-win!
What about the leftovers?
Leftover Whole30 Tangerine Beef can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I recommend reheating it in the oven, covered, at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I have found that reheating on the stove causes the sauce to burn before everything is warmed up.
Whole30 Tangerine Beef
You won't want to wait for takeout when you've got all the ingredients for this Whole30 Tangerine Beef Stir fry.
Ingredients
- 10-12 oz chuck round beef, cut into thin slices.
- 2 oz snow peas, trimmed
- 1 cup broccoli stems, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch, packed
- 2 tangerines
- 3 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 3 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 1 cup cauliflower rice or jasmine rice, cooked
- 2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
Instructions
- Toss the thinly sliced chuck roast, snow peas, broccoli stems, and carrots with the arrowroot starch until everything is evenly coated. Set aside.
- Zest one of the tangerines into long thin strips, set this aside.
- Add the juice of both tangerines into a medium sized bowl with the rice wine vinegar, coconut aminos, garlic, and ginger. Set this aside as well.
- Heat up the avocado oil in a high-walled skillet or wok on medium high heat. Add the reserved tangerine zest, and fry until deeply fragrant. Remove the zest and set aside for later.
- Add the beef and vegetable mixture into the skillet, and fry until the beef is cooked through, stirring constantly. This will only take a couple of minutes, as the beef is thinly sliced.
- Once the beef is fully cooked, turn the temperature down to medium-low. Add the saved sauce to the skillet, and stir constantly to pick up the frond on the pan. Cook until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
- Serve over cauliflower rice (Whole30 compliant) or jasmine rice. Top with the chopped cilantro.
