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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This recipe is absolutely fabulous, and really quite easy! I had never heard of flat iron steak, but it is delicious, and I think it tastes even better than what you get in a Chinese restaurant, where they sometimes tenderize the beef too much! Thank you!
Another great recipe. It’s always difficult pleasing an extremely picky 10 year old but you had this mama smiling from ear to ear when he cleaned his plate. Thank you
Jenn,
The only thing holding me back from making this is the oyster sauce…we’ve got a shellfish allergy in our house. Can I just increase the amount of chicken broth or would you recommend a different substitute?
Many thanks!!!
I would try hoisin sauce instead.
We keep Kosher. Jenn recommended hoisin sauce and it was delicious. Thanks Jenn!
Alison
Yay! Thank you!!!
It has been almost a month since I said I wanted to try this recipe! I FINALLY made it last night…but with chicken rather than beef.
Of course it was fabulous. Thanks to the various allergies in our family we haven’t had Chinese food in years. This was quick and very yummy. Definitely worth the wait and I will definitely make this again.
Thanks, Jenn!!!
Thank you, thank you. I’ve been trying to find a recipe for beef & broccoli and have tried other recipes, but this is the closest I have come to finding one that tastes authentic. Just found your site and will be checking your other recipes. I think I`m going to try the asparagus one next, as I am a huge fan of asparagus.
Hi Jenn,
Your Beef With Broccoli recipe is so delicious! I’d love to make it when we have guests. Can the recipe be prepared ahead and reheated?
We love all your recipes and your photos help a lot. Thanks so much!
Thanks, Barbara! Unfortunately, this one is really best made and enjoyed fresh. Reheated won’t be bad — just not quite the same. Sorry!
Another successful recipe from onceuponachef. Greatly appreciated the tip to prep everything ahead of time because the cooking time went by really fast. I followed the recipe exactly and found it a bit salty so I will probably substitute low sodium soy sauce next time (there will definitely be a next time!). I also want to try with different veggies and maybe shrimp. My husband and teen daughter loved it. We had enough for me to have leftovers for lunch the next day.
I make new recipes all the time but this one is a keeper. Served with brown rice. First time I’ve ever used flat iron steak (found at Whole Foods) and it was perfect in this dish. I used low-salt soy sauce and low-salt chicken broth because the oyster sauce is plenty salty. I used thickish asparagus cut into 1 1/2″ lengths, cooked exactly the same way as the broccoli. I’m going to make it again this week with chicken.
This is a delicious and easy recipe. I appreciated the tip about having everything ready to go when you start cooking. It is a very fast meal to cook. I added red pepper as well as the broccoli and it was great.
Just tried this recipe, wonderful, easy to prepare, I used low sodium spot sauce because I have to watch my sodium intake, still delicious.
made your beef and broccoli a couple of days ago. the whole family LOVED it. my husband didn’t want beef stir-fry because he says it’s always tough. the flat-iron steak was amazing and he agreed. my 6 year-old practically needed a shovel to get it in and then she told her dad he couldn’t have seconds because she wanted it in her thermos for lunch the next day. i have tried dozens of your recipes and loved them all.