Air Fryer Crispy Beef (Better than Takeout!)

By Lucy Parissi

5 from 5 votes

, Updated Nov 17, 2025

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Make Chinese Crispy Beef in the comfort of your home using my quick and easy Air Fryer Crispy Chili Beef recipe! These deliciously crisp beef strips smothered in a tangy sticky sauce will become your new obsession…

Love this recipe? Check out my Air Fryer Orange Chicken!

I adore Crispy Chili Beef and I always order it whenever we get Chinese takeaway. Sadly, I am frequently disappointed. More often than not, the beef is incredibly chewy and tough – maybe this dish just doesn’t travel well?

To satisfy my Crispy Beef cravings I set out to recreate the recipe at home, in my trusty Air Fryer of course! I was so thrilled with the results that we now have Crispy Shredded Chili Beef on the reg – no messy deep frying involved.

Here’s What You’ll Need

This recipe uses easy-to-find ingredients. I will also provide alternative options to make cooking easier. Just as with many Asian recipes you will need to have everything prepped and ready to go as it takes minutes to cook!

• BEEF: sirloin or ribeye steaks are perfect for this recipe
• MARINADE: Cornflour (a.k.a cornstarch), baking soda, soy sauce and sesame oil
• COATING: Cornflour and rice flour for extra crispy results! If you don’t have rice flour you can use potato starch or plain flour
• SAUCE: sesame oil, onion, carrot, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ketchup, sriracha, honey, cornflour, water
• AND FINALLY: sesame seeds, chilies and spring onions to serve

How to Make Air Fryer Crispy Beef

PREPARE THE BEEF

1. Place the steaks in the freezer for 30 minutes to make them easier to slice (this is helpful but not essential). Slice the beef into thin strips, using a sharp knife and cutting against the grain.

1. Place the cornstarch, baking soda, soy sauce and oil in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the beef strips, toss to coat and leave to marinate for 30 minutes while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.
2. Toss the marinated beef in more cornflour until well coated and a bit sticky. Add the rice flour and toss again. Separate the beef strips, laying them flat on a plate. Mist well with oil (sesame or vegetable oil).

AIR FRY THE BEEF

1. Preheat the air fryer to the maximum heat setting for three minutes (my Ninja goes up to 240°C/ 465°F). Spread the strips in a single layer in the air fryer basket and air fry for about 7 minutes. Shake the basket once or twice so that they crisp up evenly.

MAKE THE SAUCE

TOP TIP: the sauce cooks quickly – you will need to multitask and get it ready while the beef strips are in the air fryer. If that stresses you out, can prep the sauce first, take it off the heat, and have it ready before your air fry the shredded beef.

1. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the sliced onion and carrot strips and stir fry over high heat for about a minute.
2. Add the minced garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Pour in the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ketchup, sriracha and honey and bring to a boil. Finally stir in the cornflour slurry.

NEARLY THERE…

1. Final step! Add the crispy beef into the sauce, while it is simmering, and stir to coat evenly with the tangy sticky sauce. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds, chili if using and finely sliced spring onions and serve!

Recipe Tips

• Make a meal out of this crispy beef by serving over a bowl of sticky rice. My son also loves this with noodles…
• The sauce is more tangy-sweet than spicy so even kids will love it. Dial up the heat by adding a bit more Sriracha and red pepper flakes to the sauce and serve with sliced green or red jalapenos.
• This is not a truly authentic Chinese crispy beef recipe, rather a more Westernized version. You can find this recipe as Crispy Shredded Beef, Crispy Chili Beef, Asian Crispy Beef and so on.
• If you can find Chinese cooking wine (also known as Shaoxing or Shaohsing rice wine) buy a bottle! You can use it in so many Asian recipes, adding depth of flavor to many sauces. I have added it as an optional ingredient in the recipe card below. You can substitute it with dry cooking sherry.
• Use low-sodium soy sauce to control the salt levels in this recipe.

YOU WILL ALSO LIKE…

• Crispy Air Fryer Pork Belly
• Air Fryer Pork Belly Bites
• Air Fryer Garlic Shrimp
• Korean Fried Chicken

HAVE YOU MADE MY AIR FRYER CRISPY BEEF RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day! If you have any questions send me a message on Instagram and I will do my best to reply quickly.

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5 from 5 votes

Air Fryer Crispy Beef (Better than Takeout!)

By Lucy Parissi | Supergolden Bakes

Make Chinese Crispy Beef in the comfort of your home using my quick and easy Air Fryer Crispy Beef recipe! These deliciously crisp beef strips smothered in a tangy sticky sauce will become your new obsession…

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

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Video

Equipment

• Ninja Megazone Air Fryer
• Microplane Zester
• Victorinox Slicing Knife
• Spray Bottle
• Chinese Rice Wine
• Damascus Chef Knife

Ingredients

FOR THE BEEF AND MARINADE

• ▢ 1 lb (450g) sirloin steaks , remove large pieces of fat
• ▢ 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• ▢ ¼ tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• ▢ ½ tbsp soy sauce (light or all-purpose)
• ▢ 2 tsp sesame or vegetable oil
• ▢ 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine (optional)

FOR THE COATING

• ▢ 3 tbsp cornstarch (cornflour)
• ▢ 3 tbsp rice flour
• ▢ 1 tbsp sesame or vegetable oil (in a spray bottle)

FOR THE SAUCE

• ▢ 1 tbsp sesame oil or vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 onion , sliced thinly
• ▢ 1 carrot , cut into thin strips
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves , minced
• ▢ 1 tsp minced ginger
• ▢ 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
• ▢ 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• ▢ 5 tbsp ketchup
• ▢ 2 tsp Sriracha , or more to taste
• ▢ 3 tbsp honey
• ▢ 2 tsp cornstarch (cornflour) diluted in 2 tbsp cold water

TO SERVE

• ▢ 2 spring onions , finely sliced
• ▢ 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• ▢ 1 jalapeno , sliced (optional)

Instructions 

PREPARE THE BEEF

• Place the steaks in the freezer for 30 minutes to make them easier to slice (this is helpful but not essential). Slice the beef into thin strips, using a sharp knife and cutting against the grain.
  1 lb (450g) sirloin steaks
• Place the cornflour, baking soda, soy sauce, oil and Chinese wine in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the beef strips, toss to coat and leave to marinate for 30 minutes while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.
  1 tbsp cornflour, ¼ tsp baking soda, ½ tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp sesame or vegetable oil, 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
• Toss the marinated beef in more cornflour until well coated and a bit sticky. Add the rice flour and toss again.
  3 tbsp cornstarch, 3 tbsp rice flour
• Separate the beef strips, laying them flat on a plate. Mist well with oil (sesame or vegetable oil).
  1 tbsp sesame or vegetable oil

AIR FRY THE BEEF STRIPS

• Preheat the air fryer to the maximum heat setting for three minutes (my Ninja goes up to 240°C/ 465°F). Spread the strips in a single layer in the air fryer basket and air fry for about 7 minutes or until crisp and browned. Shake the basket twice so that they crisp up evenly.

MAKE THE SAUCE

• NOTE: the sauce cooks quickly – you will need to multitask and get it ready while the beef strips are in the air fryer. If that stresses you out you can prep the sauce first, take it off the heat, and have it ready before your air fry the shredded beef.
• Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the sliced onion and carrot strips and stir fry over high heat for about a minute.
  1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 tbsp sesame oil
• Add the minced garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Pour in the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ketchup, sriracha and honey and bring to a boil. Finally stir in the cornflour slurry.
  3 garlic cloves, 1 tsp minced ginger, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, 5 tbsp ketchup, 2 tsp Sriracha, 3 tbsp honey, 2 tsp cornstarch (cornflour)

NEARLY THERE…

• Final step! Add the crispy beef into the sauce, while it is simmering, and stir to coat evenly with the tangy sticky sauce.
• Sprinkle with the sesame seeds, chili if using, and finely sliced spring onions and serve!
  2 spring onions, 2 tbsp sesame seeds, 1 jalapeno

Notes

• Make a meal out of this crispy beef by serving over a bowl of sticky rice. My son also loves this with noodles…
• The sauce is more tangy-sweet than spicy so even kids will love it. Dial up the heat by adding a bit more Sriracha and dried chilli flakes to the sauce and serve with sliced green or red chillies.
• This is not a truly authentic Chinese crispy beef recipe, rather a more Westernized version. You can find this recipe as Crispy Shredded Beef, Crispy Chilli Beef, Asian Crispy Beef and so on.
• If you can find Chinese cooking wine (also known as Shaoxing or Shaohsing rice wine) buy a bottle! You can use it in so many Asian recipes, adding depth of flavour to many sauces. I have added it as an optional ingredient in the recipe card below. You can substitute it with dry cooking sherry.
• Use low sodium soy sauce to control the salt levels in this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 438kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 1283mg | Potassium: 555mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 2725IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 78mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.

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