Beef with Snow Peas is a classic Chinese stir-fry that belongs in every home cook’s weeknight rotation. Tender, savory slices of marinated flank steak meet crisp, sweet snow peas in a glossy, umami-rich sauce. It all comes together in under 30 minutes!
Serve it over a bowl of steamed white rice and you’ve got a complete, satisfying meal that tastes like it came straight from a Chinese restaurant.
How to Get Restaurant Results
There are several recipes out there for this dish, but many of them are missing key ingredients, have too much soy sauce or sugar, or skip important steps. This recipe will get you a restaurant-quality result every single time.
If you’ve ever ordered a beef stir-fry at a restaurant and wondered how they get the beef so silky and the sauce to coat every bite, the answer lies in a few key techniques: velveting the beef with baking soda and cornstarch, cooking on screaming-hot heat, pre-searing the meat, and adding a cornstarch slurry at just the right moment. This recipe walks you through all of it, step by step.
Beef with snow peas is a dish that hits all the right notes — savory, slightly sweet, deeply aromatic — while remaining approachable enough for a Tuesday night dinner.
Whether you’re cooking this for your family or just meal-prepping for the week, it’s the kind of recipe that earns a permanent spot in your repertoire.
All About Snow Peas
Snow peas are at their peak from spring through early summer — think April through June — so if you’re making this during those months, you’re in for a treat. (That said, you can make it year-round!)
You can swap in snap peas here as well. But for me, snow peas — flatter, more delicate — are the bigger treat.
Now, here is my biggest pet peeve, and I say this with love: please, please trim and de-string your snow peas. I have eaten at restaurants — nice restaurants! — where this step was skipped, and the difference between a properly prepped snow pea and a neglected one is the difference between a dish you’re savoring and one you’re chewing through.
To do it right: pinch off the stem end and pull the string down the length of the pea. Then do the same from the other end. Yes, both sides. This double de-stringing is what gives you that perfectly tender, snappy bite — and once you get a rhythm going (especially with a helper or two), it goes faster than you’d think.
Alright, let’s get cooking!
Beef with Snow Peas Recipe Instructions
In a medium bowl, add the sliced beef, oyster sauce, water, cornstarch, oil, and baking soda. Mix to evenly coat the beef, and set aside for 30 minutes (or overnight, if making ahead).
Then prepare the sauce mixture. In a measuring cup, mix the warm water (or stock), light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar.
To process your snow peas, pick off the tough stem end, and remove the fibrous string along the length of the pea. Do the same from the other end, so that the strings on both sides of the snow pea are removed. Wash the snow peas and drain.
Heat your wok over high heat until it’s lightly smoking. Spread 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter to coat. Add the beef, and use your metal wok spatula to spread it in one even layer. Sear for 1 minute. Turn the beef to sear the other side for another 30 seconds. Stir-fry. At this point, the beef should be about 90% done. Turn off the heat and remove the beef from the wok.
Next, with the heat back on high, add the remaining tablespoon of oil and the garlic. Cook for 10 seconds, and add the Shaoxing wine, followed by the snow peas. Stir-fry on the highest heat for 30 seconds.
Stir in the prepared sauce mixture and add the beef back to the wok. Gather everything in the center of the wok.
When everything comes back up to a simmer and the sides of the wok begin to super-heat, stir-fry everything in a circular motion so the beef and snow peas hit the sides of the wok. Pour the cornstarch slurry in the center of the wok while stirring. The sauce will immediately thicken. Work fast to stir everything together for another 20 seconds to coat everything in the sauce. Serve immediately.
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Recipe
Beef with Snow Peas
Ingredients
For the beef:
- 12 ounces flank steak (sliced ⅛-inch/3mm thick into 2-3 inch/6-7cm pieces)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
For the rest of the dish:
- ½ cup warm water (or beef stock or chicken stock)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (or mushroom-flavored dark soy sauce if you have it)
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 10 ounces snow peas (about 3 cups)
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil, divided)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 tablespoons water)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the sliced beef, oyster sauce, water, cornstarch, oil, and baking soda. Mix to evenly coat the beef, and set aside for 20 minutes (or overnight, if making ahead).
- Then prepare the sauce mixture. In a measuring cup, mix the warm water (or stock), light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar.
- To process your snow peas, pick off the tough stem end, and remove the fibrous string along the length of the pea. Do the same from the other end, so that the strings on both sides of the snow pea are removed. Wash the snow peas and drain.
- Heat your wok over high heat until it's lightly smoking. Spread 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter to coat. Add the beef, and use your metal wok spatula to spread it in one even layer. Sear for 1 minute. Turn the beef to sear the other side for another 30 seconds. Stir-fry. At this point, the beef should be about 90% done. Turn off the heat and remove the beef from the wok.
- Next, with the heat back on high, add the remaining tablespoon of oil and the garlic. Cook for 10 seconds, and add the Shaoxing wine, followed by the snow peas. Stir-fry on the highest heat for 30 seconds. Stir in the prepared sauce mixture and add the beef back to the wok. Gather everything in the center of the wok.
- When everything comes back up to a simmer and the sides of the wok begin to super-heat, stir-fry everything in a circular motion so the beef and snow peas hit the sides of the wok. Pour the cornstarch slurry in the center of the wok while stirring. Stir everything together for another 20 seconds to coat everything in the sauce. Serve immediately.
