Beef and Broccoli
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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
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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
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- 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.
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I made this. Was super easy. Surprisingly it turned out very well. Tasted very authentic. I kinda wished there was measurements, but I managed
Hi Sammy, So glad you enjoyed this even without the ingredient amounts! I actually do have a full recipe for it — If you scroll down a bit to under the pictures on the page, you’ll find the recipe. Alternatively, at the very top of the page, under the recipe name, you’ll see an orange/red button that says Jump to Recipe – if you click on that, it will take you directly to the recipe. Hope that clarifies! 🙂
I truly look forward to my weekly emails from Jen and love her cookbook. I previously made this recipe with beef and found it to be my best ever effort at preparing a stir fry. I made it with chicken last night and with the recommendation of cooking the chicken for a shorter amount of time, it resulted in the perfect chicken and broccoli recipe! As a caution to the gluten free cooks, please be advised that oyster sauce has gluten in it. I am unaware of a grocery store variety without wheat.
Oh my gosh this is heaven! I followed the directions precisely and I can tell you this is the best beef with broccoli that I’ve ever had. Thank you Jenn!
I have made this a number of times and it is, without fail, a HUGE hit. I read through some of the more recent reviews and took a reviewer’s suggestion to substitute hosin sauce for the oyster sauce. I like a sweeter sauce and this did the trick, though the original recipe is also outstanding. I pan fried some tofu coated in Chinese Five Spice as well and then added it for volume. I also cooked some sliced orange peppers along with the broccoli. Jenn, you continue to be my go-to for all my meal planning. Thank you for being such a consistently delicious resource for this working mama.
❤️
This was easy and tasty but WAAAAAY too salty. Next time I will use water instead of chicken broth and hoisin instead of the oyster sauce.
My husband and I really enjoyed this beef and broccoli recipe. I was thinking I would like to replace the beef with chicken. Please advise.
Glad you enjoyed it. The method and timing would be the same for chicken. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
I plan on making the Beef with Broccoli, and I see that I can substitute dry sherry for the Shaozing wine. Can you tell me if dry sherry is the same as Sherry cooking wine (Holland House brand)? I love your recipes and can’t wait to try this one!
Glad you like the recipes, Jackie! Generally, I avoid “cooking wine” as I just don’t love the quality. But I think you should be fine with it here as calls for a pretty small amount. Hope you enjoy the dish! 🙂
Will rice vinegar or white wine work as a sub? Thanks!
Hi Hilary, it will provide a bit of a different flavor, but white wine should work here. Hope you enjoy!
I have been searching for three years for a decent beef and broccoli recipe. This is the best one…hands down.
THIS!!! Is a spectacular flavored dish. It does not disappoint. Flavors/seasonings are great. Next time I’m going to dble the ingredients for the sauce. I like “sauciness” 🙂. Thank you Jenn for you sharing such wonderful recipes ; I’ve not prepared one yet that isn’t tasty ! I appreciate the time you put into sharing the tips/recipes. And my family thanks you too 🙏🏻
This is an outstanding recipe. Very flavorful, served over rice it was a complete meal. The first time I was not as prepped as I should have been, so it seemed more difficult. This time around much easier following your directions to have everything prepped and ready to go. Plenty of sauce so having leftovers was great. This is as good as the chicken and cashews recipe. Thank you for so many good recipes with specific instructions.