Alright folks! This recipe marks my second round of McCormick’s Go 4 Gourmet challenge, in which McCormick presents you with 4 ingredients and challenges you to see what deliciousness can result. As I mentioned with my chorizo and brussels sprouts soup recipe last month, it’s all very “Chopped”-esque, which I love.
I also happened to love this month’s 4 ingredients — ground ginger, veggie broth, shiitake mushrooms and fresh kale.
Those ingredients are all regulars in my kitchen. So I decided to whip them up into one of my favorite quick and easy weeknight dinners — a beef stir-fry! Wait, make that a ginger beef, mushroom and kale stir-fry!
I was actually telling my mom about this recipe yesterday after I made it, and mentioned that I imagined it would be right up my dad’s alley since he used to order a ginger beef dish every single Saturday for my ENTIRE childhood at our favorite local Chinese restaurant. I was telling her that had this really yummy ginger sauce that covered tender steak, a bunch of mushrooms and kale—-
—-when she stopped me.
“Dad doesn’t do the ‘k’ word,” she whispered.
Apparently he overheard her on the phone.
“Nope,” I heard him say in the background. “No kale!”
This is one of those moments when I wish we didn’t live 3 hours apart. Because had I been there, I would have marched these leftovers right over to their house to make him sample a bite. Because I’m pretty positive that even the “kale-ambivalent” folks out there would LOVE it in this dish! That includes you, Dad. ;)
I don’t know if I had ever used kale in an Asian-flavored stir-fry before, but I’m so glad McCormick threw it into the mix, because it was a fantastic addition and softened up perfectly along with all of those mushrooms. And the flavor of those greens, paired with the beef and mix of mushrooms and that heavenly ginger sauce made for a fantastic lunch. And dinner.
And it all came together in less than 30 minute (including time for the beef to marinate)! Definitely a perfect meal for a busy weeknight.
Here’s the scoop:
As I mentioned, here were the Go 4 Gourmet four ingredients for this round.
First, you just whip up a very simple ginger marinade. Takes about a minute. And then toss it with the beef in a ziplock back or large bowl, cover it, and let that delicious ginger do its work.
Meanwhile, prep your veggies. I decided to do a mix of mushrooms, tossing in some larger button mushrooms with the shiitakes for a little different texture and flavor. And then chop up that kale, baby! (Or you can be like me and get in the habit of buying pre-chopped kale. Perfect for kale chips too!)
Then saute them up!
The beef gets perfectly cooked and tender, the mushrooms are cooked and delicious, the kale wilts down and softens, and that sauce — oh that sauce — is perfection. I served mine over some brown rice, but you could also serve this over quinoa or noodles or just eat it plain.
Be sure to check out McCormick’s Go 4 Gourmet site to see what other recipes folks created with these ingredients! Creativity and deliciousness abound, trust me. :)
Ginger Beef, Mushroom & Kale Stir-Fry
Ingredients
Marinade Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup soy sauce (if making gluten-free, be sure to use GF soy sauce)
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or chicken/beef broth, or water)
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Stir-Fry Ingredients:
- 1 lb. thinly sliced flank steak or sirloin, cut diagonally across the grain into thin strips
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 ounces baby portobello or button mushrooms, halved
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, halved
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
To Make The Marinade:
- Add all marinade ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour marinade into a large bowl or ziplock bag, then add in the steak and gently toss to combine. Cover/seal and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
To Make The Stir-Fry:
- Once steak has marinated, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Remove steak from marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving the marinade, and add to saute pan with garlic. Saute for about 2-3 minutes until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove steak with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Then add in the mushrooms, kale, and reserved marinade, and stir to combine. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the kale is wilted, the sauce has thickened and come to a boil, and the mushrooms have cooked, stirring regularly so that sauce does not burn. Add in the steak, and toss to combine.
- Serve immediately over rice or quinoa, garnished with chopped green onions.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Disclaimer: This was a sponsored post with McCormick. All opinions are 100% my own as always, and I loved being a part of this one! Thanks for supporting the brands that help make this site possible.
Very good recipe. I had Chicken on hand so I used that instead of beef and I only put 1tbsp cornstarch because I don’t like my sauce too thick. It was delicious, fast and my family liked it.
How am I just now finding this recipe?! Holy cow, this was amazing!!! I added carrots for some crunch and we loved it! My boyfriend even said “There was kale in there?! I had no idea!” when I told him. Thanks for always having great recipes. Whenever I tell my boyfriend I’m making something from your blog he gets excited because he knows it’ll be great!!
We’re so happy you and your boyfriend enjoyed it, Stacy! :D
Aloha
Much Mahalo for this recipe, I have been dairy free for 11 Years and my dr just recently suggested I cut out Gluten as well.
I was really dreading this process. However, I found this recipe and made it for my first dairy free – gluten free meal and it was just wonderful! Now I’m dreading the process way less! :) Very Tasty!!!!
You’re very welcome, Barbea! We’re so happy you enjoyed this! :)
Wow. this was delicious, it’s good to know I can substitute ingredients if I wanted to. I can almost taste the shrimp and broccoli with this sauce. Thanks for this recipe!
Thanks, Carmen — we’re so glad you enjoyed it!
I just made this and it is delicious. However, upto now, i used to discard the marinate which contained the meat. Just split the marinade in two from the beginning and used half for the meat and half for the actual cooking.. Is it safe to reuse the marinade that we used to marinade the meat???
I’ve always been told that if the marinade comes back up to a boil, it’s safe to eat. But you’re welcome to use half for the marinade, and make a double batch for the cooking if you’d like!
I loved this! My hungry boyfriend did too!
Although I made a few variations…
I used minced garlic & 1 whole red chili (will use more next time)
Added finely chopped broccolini and finely sliced carrot
I wilted my kale in the microwave while the mushrooms & veg were sautéing
Also doubled the marinade as it was so tasty & used minced ginger for a more full on flavour
Left out the green onions on top because I forgot & I don’t really like onions
And to alter one last thing, we had it on soba noodles because I suck at cooking rice!
10/10 would cook again. Thanks for the idea!
Thanks for sharing, Claire! We’re so glad you and your boyfriend enjoyed this, and we think your variations sound great! :)
Don’t like kale so I would use fresh spinach!
Hello, I was wondering if it makes a big difference whether broth is used or water. And which is preffered and why.
Also reading the comments, I saw that someone had replaced kale with broccoli and that is something I was interesting in trying. Any suggestions?
Thank you!
Hi Dana! Broth is ideal just because it has more flavor. And we think this would be so yummy with broccoli! We’d suggest just chopping it into small florets and sautéing for about 5 min or so (until it’s tender and bright green — just be careful not to over-cook). We hope you enjoy! :)
Serving size, calories, fat, carbs, sodium, etc.? Thanks
Hi Sheree! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
Hello there! Any way this could be cooked via crockpot?
Thanks,
A brand, spankin’ new cook!
Hey Ali! We’re not sure how this would work as a slow-cooker meal, as we haven’t tried it — we think it works best as a stir-fry (it’s super easy and fast though)!