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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Beef and broccoli over some brown rice is a wonderful dinner. A complete meal. Lots of ingredients and steps, but Jenn recommends prepping all in advance, and then it goes very quickly. I use whatever tender beef steak is available at the supermarket. A favorite recipe in the rotation.
I usually steer clear of steak dishes because my meat often tastes like an elastic band. This was fantastic. Thanks for the tip on the cut. I lucked out and found flat iron steak at the store. This also came together fairly quickly (after marinating the steak) which was great. My kids cleaned their plates and with broccoli involved I declare that a hit in my house.
Wonderful dish. Will use more
Chili garlic sauce next time. My husband even enjoyed the broccoli!!
Restaurant Quality!
That was my husband’s reaction after I made this. The sauce has a great umami flavor that I find hard to replicate. The technique for cooking the beef and veggies take make it perfect. We will definitely make this again.
I used what I had: subbed 16 oz sirloin for flat iron (flat iron would have made it more tender), added in some bell pepper and carrots because I only had about 1/2 the required amount of broccoli, used shallots because I was out of scallions. In the future, I think I could easily reduce the amount of beef to 10-12 oz and up the veggies. Thanks, Jen, for another great recipe!
Just made this again last night! I discovered your site recently and have been so grateful to have recipes that turn out great every time. It’s given me the confidence to invest in good, quality ingredients and try more adventurous recipes. I also received your cookbook as a gift for Christmas and have enjoyed adding new recipes to my family’s rotation.
For this recipe, I substituted thin strips of sirloin, so the cooking time for the meat was longer, but it still came out great. I think I’ve forgotten to add the sugar in the past, so it was a bit sweeter than before. Decided I might just leave the sugar out in the future. Also, I’m still having trouble mincing fresh ginger and have been using the paste. I wonder if a garlic press would work for ginger as well?
Glad you liked this and have been enjoying the recipes from the blog! Unfortunately, I think ginger is too hard to work in a garlic press. I do have a tutorial on how to mince and grate ginger. Hope you find it helpful!
Thank you so much! That is really helpful! ❤️🎶
Great Chinese take-out alternative! My husband asked why we order Chinese when we can make it even better at home. I used Mirin instead of the Chinese cooking wine because that’s all I had on hand and it still turned out delicious. I also used flank steak. Served over some rice with a side of bell peppers and dinner was done.
Made this….it was very good…restaurant quality!
Made this tonight and my entire family loved it. Everyone went back for seconds! Definitely a keeper. Thanks for the fabulous recipe.
I would love to make this recipe, however the sodium is way too high. My father is on a low salt diet. If I used low-sodium soy sauce, what would be the total sodium per serving? Any other way to lower it? Thanks
Hi Belinda, If you use low-sodium soy sauce, it looks like it will bring the sodium down to 1197 mg. I see online there is also lower-sodium oyster sauce, so you could give that a try. Hope that helps!
This is sooooo good and so worth the effort! I used pregrated ginger in tube and sirloin steak because there was no flat iron. Still great.