Beef and Broccoli
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Tender strips of steak with crisp broccoli in a rich brown sauce, beef with broccoli is a weeknight favorite.
Beef and broccoli, or tender strips of steak and crisp broccoli florets in a rich brown sauce, is a popular Chinese restaurant dish, but it’s easy to make at home too. At most American Chinese restaurants, the dish is made with flank steak that has been tenderized with a baking soda solution and marinated, but when I make beef and broccoli at home, I prefer to use flat iron steak. It’s an affordable cut of meat that does not require tenderizing or marinating, and it’s ideal for high-heat, quick-cooking methods like sautéing. This recipe comes together in just 40 minutes with ingredients found at most supermarkets. Make some rice and dinner is done!
What you’ll need to make Beef and Broccoli
Step-by-step Instructions
Begin by slicing the beef into 1/4-inch slices. Add 1 tablespoon each soy sauce and Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry) and let marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
While the beef marinates, chop the scallions, garlic, and ginger. It’s important to do this before you start cooking because the dish cooks very quickly.
Next, prepare the sauce by combining the the remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce with the cornstarch, and stir with a fork until the cornstarch is dissolved. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry), oyster sauce, chicken broth, sugar, and sesame oil. Stir and set aside.
When you’re ready to cook, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan or wok over high heat until smoking. Add the broccoli and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the water. Cover the pan with a lid (or tightly with foil) and lower the heat to medium; steam the broccoli until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Wipe any excess water out of the pan. Increase the heat to high and heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan until smoking. Add half of the beef, so that it is in a single layer. Cook without moving until the beef is well seared, about 1-1/2 minutes. Continue cooking while stirring until the beef is lightly cooked but still pink in spots, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat until smoking. Put in the remaining beef and cook without moving until the beef is well seared, about 1-1/2 minutes.
Next, add the garlic, ginger, and scallion whites. Cook, stirring constantly with the beef, for about 30 seconds. Return the reserved beef and broccoli to the pan, along with the reserved sauce and scallion greens.
Bring to a boil and cook, tossing and stirring constantly until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 45 seconds. Serve with rice and enjoy.
Note: The sauce for this recipe (not the method) is adapted from one of my favorite food columns, The Food Lab on Serious Eats by J. Kenji López-Alt.
Video Tutorial
YOu may also like
- Vietnamese-Style Meatballs with Chili Sauce
- 30-Minute Hoisin Beef Bowls
- Broiled Asian-Style Flat Iron Steak
- Mongolian Beef
- Beef Bulgogi
- Fried Rice
- Orange Chicken
Beef and Broccoli
Tender strips of steak with crisp broccoli in a rich brown sauce, beef with broccoli is a weeknight favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 pound flat iron steak, cut into ¼-inch thick strips (flank steak, skirt steak or hanger steak may be substituted, but won't be as tender)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup oyster sauce
- ⅓ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Asian/toasted sesame oil
- 4 scallions, whites finely sliced, greens cut into ½-inch segments on the diagonal, reserved separately
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger (see note)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound bite-size broccoli florets, from about 1½ pounds broccoli crowns
- ⅓ cup water
- Rice, for serving
Instructions
- Combine the beef with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of the Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry) in a bowl and toss to coat. Let marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature or 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- Meanwhile, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce with the cornstarch and stir with a fork until the cornstarch is dissolved. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry), oyster sauce, chicken broth, sugar, and sesame oil. Stir and set aside.
- Combine the scallion whites, garlic and ginger in a bowl and set aside.
- When you're ready to cook, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan or wok over high heat until smoking. Add the broccoli and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the water. Cover the pan with a lid (or tightly with foil) and lower the heat to medium; steam the broccoli until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes, then transfer to a paper towel–lined plate.
- Wipe any excess water out of the pan. Increase the heat to high and heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan until smoking. Add half of the beef, so that it is in a single layer, and cook without moving until the beef is well seared, about 1½ minutes. Continue cooking while stirring until the beef is lightly cooked but still pink in spots, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat until smoking. Add the remaining beef and cook without moving until the beef is well seared, about 1½ minutes. Add the scallion whites, garlic and ginger mixture and cook, stirring constantly with the beef, for about 30 seconds.
- Return the reserved beef and broccoli to the pan, along with the reserved sauce and scallion greens. Bring to boil and cook, tossing and stirring constantly until the sauce is lightly thickened, about 45 seconds. Transfer to a serving platter and serve with rice.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 369
- Fat: 21g
- Saturated fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 17g
- Sugar: 6g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 28g
- Sodium: 1523mg
- Cholesterol: 77mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I’ve always liked making Chinese recipes because of the flavors and the speed of cooking. Your beef and broccoli recipe is unmatched. The only change I made was to use low salt soy and stock. A new go to recipe. Thank you.
I made this for Valentine’s Day for my husband and 3 teenage boys. I cannot tell you how much they LOVED it! They told me it was one of my best dinners EVER! So tender. So flavorful. So awesome! I will make this for my dinner club.
After reading other reviews I opted to make this with low sodium soy sauce and low sodium chicken broth and it was fantastic! Will definitely be making again! Plus I discovered a new cut of meat (the flat iron steak) and learned an easy way to steam vegetables that I hadn’t done before.
Hi,
Love your site! Keep up the great work! How can I adapt this for chicken and broccoli?
Hi K, The method would actually be exactly the same. I’d love to know how it turns out!
Beef and Broccoli is my go to order at any Chinese place. If their beef and broccoli isn’t good I don’t want to eat there. Over the years, I’ve tried several recipes to replicate beef and broccoli but the sauce never turns out and never has the flavor that I want. I found Once Upon A Chef about a year ago and absolutely everything that we’ve tried has been fantastic! I decided to see if Jenn’s beef and broccoli recipe would make the Chinese restaurant cut. It absolutely does!!! I think it’s even better than what you can get in restaurants. This is my go-to beef and broccoli from now on. No need to even go out to eat.
I made this recipe with few substitutions.
– used tri-tip steaks cut into strips as directed , low sodium soy sauce, water instead of chicken broth due to being salt sensitive and mushroom sauce instead of oyster sauce. It turned out delicious. My family loved it. The recipe was easy to follow and less time to make it. No more Beef & Broccoli take outs. Thank you Jenn for posting the recipe. Feel confident to make again and again.
One of my all time favorite dishes to make! Jenn’s recommendation to use flat iron steak made for an incredibly tender bite (we live in Georgia and my local Publix always has them available). The sauce is easy to assemble yet so flavorful and delicious!! For my family of 5 (3 teens) I always double recipe and serve with steamed jasmine rice. You won’t want to order take out again, it’s that good!
This recipe looks delicious and I’d like to try it with chicken instead of beef. Are there any changes that you would recommend, or can I just make the substitution while leaving everything else as is? I’ve made so many of your recipes since I discovered your site 2 years ago and they have all been delicious. Thank you!
So glad you’re enjoying the recipes, Donna! Chicken would be fine here; no changes necessary!
I could see how people would think this is salty. I love salt and I didn’t go out of my way to use low sodium ingredients. Different brands have different salt content, so it’s something to pay attention to! My boyfriend and I are really good home cooks (I’m almost modest. Both worked in commercial kitchens) and I made this as an easy weeknight meal. I was surprised to hear my boyfriend say that it was one of his favorite things I’ve ever made! Considering we’ve been cooking for each other almost daily for the past 4 years, that’s huge. I just wanted to leave a review to say that you’re my absolute favorite food blogger! Your recipes are fresh and sophisticated without being pretentious and you don’t use canned crescent dough, etc regularly. I first came to your site while looking for a Caesar dressing recipe (the. best.) and have since made several things. It’s clear you know what you’re doing and that you test the recipes. I enjoy that you post photos of important steps and don’t share 700 photos of just the finished product. Anyway, I’m done gushing and need to find a recipe to make for dinner, but wanted to let you know that I can’t wait for your cookbook!
Thanks for the sweet note, Hannah– you made my day! (And glad you enjoyed the Beef with Broccoli 🙂
I’ve been looking for a beef and broccoli recipe for a while so I was glad that I found this one. I actually use low-sodium soy sauce in addition to low-sodium chicken stock and I found that the salt level was not overwhelming and it came out tasty.