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This colorful 20 Minute Sticky Ginger Sesame Pineapple Beef is my secret to busy weeknight cooking. The ground beef is cooked in a spicy-sweet chili garlic sauce before adding fresh broccoli and chunks of sweet pineapple. Serve this simply with steamed rice and a cucumber salad. The Thai chili sauce and pineapple are the key ingredients. This dish is saucy, salty, tangy-sweet, and has just the right amount of spice!
You may not have noticed, but I’m really working to incorporate more beef recipes onto the website. I haven’t shared many beef recipes in the past. But many of you have requested that I work them into the lineup a bit more so I’m having fun with them!
Beef dinners can be so delicious, plus quick and easy too! I love to use ground beef, especially since it cooks up so quickly. I’ll make burgers, tacos, quick skillet stir-fries, and meatballs. So many new recipes to share!
I’ve been loving the combination of pineapple and beef, so I wanted to incorporate the two in a quick dinner served over rice. I wanted to add traditional stir-fry favorites like broccoli, cilantro, and basil.
This dinner takes just minutes to prep and minutes to cook. It’s wonderful to serve family and friends on busy nights.
Another huge bonus – I almost always have these ingredients on hand, either in the pantry or the freezer!! A great “I don’t know what to make, dinner”!
Here are the steps
Step 1: start the rice and cook the beef
If you’re not using leftover rice, start a batch of rice. Now, using a big skillet, brown the beef with chili flakes and black pepper. If you have them, I love to use Korean chili flakes for this recipe.
When the beef has browned, some of the fat should have rendered. I don’t usually have much fat, so I add a couple of tablespoons of butter. Next, add the garlic and ginger. I like to use pickled ginger (sushi ginger) for this. It’s so yummy and adds a special touch to the dish.
Step 2: mix in the broccoli and pineapple
When you smell the garlic and ginger, it’s time to add the broccoli and the pineapple. Mix those in. Next comes the sauce.
Step 3: mix in the sauces
I use tamari (soy sauce is a good substitute), then sweet Thai chili sauce, and a few tablespoons of juice from the pickled ginger jar.
Cook until the sauce coats the beef and the beef starts to get crispy. Now you can mix in the green onions and sesame seeds.
Step 4: make the salad
Mix pineapple chunks with chopped cucumbers, cilantro, basil, and peanuts. Then squeeze over the lime juice.
Hopefully, you either started some rice or have some leftover. Now take the beef, broccoli, and pineapple and spoon it over bowls of rice. Then top with the cucumber/pineapple salad.
A note
Since most store-bought sweet Thai chili sauce is full of sugar, I like to make my own chili sauce. I use a mix of honey, chili paste, a touch of ketchup, some garlic, ginger, and lime!! It’s really easy to mix up if you’re looking for a healthier sauce option.
These bowls come together so quickly and have so much flavor! I really appreciate all the color too – the best kind of recipe!
Looking for other quick weeknight dinners? Here are some favorites:
Chili Crisp Chicken Mango Cucumber Rice Bowl
30 Minute Caramelized Shallot Beef Ramen Noodles
Healthier Homemade One Pot Hamburger Helper
Coconut Popcorn Chicken with Sweet Thai Chili Lime Sauce
30 Minute Sticky Thai Meatballs with Sesame Noodles
Better Than Takeout Sweet Thai Basil Chicken
Spicy Chipotle Honey Salmon Bowls
Lastly, if you make this 20 Minute Sticky Ginger Sesame Pineapple Beef, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
20 Minute Sticky Ginger Sesame Pineapple Beef
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 497 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (or chicken or pork)
- black pepper and chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup pickled ginger (or 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger)
- 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
- 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Thai chili sauce (homemade in notes)
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 4 Persian cucumbers, chopped
- 2 cups cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup Thai basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/3 cup chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions
- 1. In a large skillet, combine the beef, black pepper, and chili flakes. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the meat as it cooks until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the butter, garlic, and ginger. Cook 2 minutes, until the butter browns and the beef gets crispy.2. Mix in the broccoli and 3/4 cup pineapple. Pour over the tamari, sweet chili sauce, and 1-2 tablespoons of ginger juice from the pickled ginger. Cook until the sauce coats the beef, 2-3 minutes. Mix in the green onions and sesame seeds. Remove from the heat. 3. In a bowl, toss 3/4 cup pineapple chunks with the cucumbers, cilantro, basil, lime juice, and peanuts. 4. Serve the beef and broccoli over bowls of rice. Top with the pineapple herb salad. Add the chopped green onions, and if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Homemade Sweet Thai Chili Sauce: Mix 1/3 cup honey, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1-2 tablespoons chili sauce, 2 teaspoons lime zest, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, and 1 clove grated garlic in a glass jar. Shake or stir well. Use as directed.
Quick and easy go-to for a weeknight dinner! Lots of fresh ingredients pack this with lots of flavor. Definitely keeping this in the rotation.
Hey Melissa,
Fantastic!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and appreciate you making it! Xx
This looks and sounds delicious! Do you have nutrition info?
Thanks so much!! Unfortunately, we only have the estimated calorie count at this time, so sorry! Let me know if you give this dish a try! xT
Hi there,
Regarding the Homemade Sweet Thai Chili Sauce ingredients…
What exactly do you mean by chili sauce? At first I thought it’d be a heat source for the recipe (like sriracha or hot chili oil) but I looked at the stores and all I see are bottles of
“sweet chili sauce” so I’m assuming that’s what you’re calling for in the recipe, but I just want to be sure!
Thanks!
Hi there,
If you are making the homemade recipe, you’ll want to use something like sriracha. if you want to skip making the sauce from scratch, you can just buy Sweet Thai Chili Sauce. I hope this makes more sense:) xT
Got it, thanks so much!!
Delicious! Perfect combination of flavors, and a quick way to add something a little different to the weekly menu!
Thank you so much Lainey! xT
Delicious! I made this for myself since my husband is out of town. I will definitely be making it again.
Thank you for giving this recipe a try! Hope you have a great rest of your week! 🙂 xT
This was very tasty. I might try this with thinly sliced beef next time as an option.
Thank you so much! xT
This was amazing! My family loved the combination of flavors. The homemade Sweet Thai Chili Sauce is delicious.
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and leaving a comment! Have a wonderful week! xT
Delicious! I cooked the broccoli longer than the recipe said and it still wasn’t cooked enough. Is that how the recipe is meant to taste?
Just made this recipe with some tweaks to make it Whole30 compliant. I used a combination of 1 lb. ground pork and 1/2 lb. ground beef. I added some chopped scallions, grated ginger, 1 tsp. ground black pepper and 1 tsp. Himalayan pink salt to the meat. Mixed well and let marinate at room temperature while I prepped everything else.
In short it took an hour from start to finish. Meat never got “crispy” and definitely took more than 20 minutes to cook. Would I make it again? Don’t know but one thing’s for sure … I’ll be eating leftovers the rest of the week.
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try! Hope you have an amazing New Year! 🙂 xT
Cucumber, cooked/raw pineapple, cooked brocolis, dont mix well! I won’t be redoing this recipe! I didn’t finish my plate… 🙁
Sorry to hear this!
I did this recipe for a crowd at my work place, and it was an utter crowd pleaser.
I had two people ask me for the recipe. 🥳
Only one comment is, I got mixed up where the Thai chilli sauce was meant to go, because its called tamari, sweet chili sauce in the method. (I had a bit of a blonde moment and added them in as two ingredients (Soy sauce & sweet chilli) rather than the actual premade sauce). So I just added the remaining sauce in to the recipe at the end, I dont believe anyone noticed a difference.
Hey Georgia,
Happy Wednesday!! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this dish, thanks a lot for trying it out! xT
outstanding. light, herbaceous, fresh…just incredibly delicious. another hbh keeper. <3
Thank you so much for trying out this recipe! Hope you enjoyed it 🙂 xT
This recipe uses rice, but rice isn’t listed as one of the ingredients when you go down to the recipe section. I had to make two trips to the store instead of one.
Hey Jessica! I’m so sorry about that! Thanks for the feedback!
Amazing recipe!!!
Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try! Have a great day! xT
i didn’t have ground beef so i made it with ground turkey (it was fine, but when i make again, i won’t use ground turkey bc i could pick up on the hint of gaminess or something). i served over cauliflower rice instead of jasmine. my husband gives the recipe 5 stars. i give it 4 bc of the turkey (which i realize is my fault as the recipe doesn’t call for ground turkey). i will share a comment when i make with beef. thank you- great recipe (although, i am slower to prep than you!!! took me a total of 40 minutes start to finish).
Thank you sooo much for giving the recipe a try! I am so glad you enjoyed it! xT