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 last night and it was a hit. I think it was a little salty so I will try low sodium soy sauce next time. I also used top round beef already sliced from the grocery store. The package said for fajitas or stir-fry. It was perfect.
Hi, would it be a problem marinating the beef for longer than 1 hour in the refrigerator, say for about 4 hours? The timing and prep time would work better. Thanks
No Andy- that would not be a problem at all!
Love this recipe. I used extra veggies I had on hand & dumped them in there. Delicious.
Would this work in the slow cooker?
Hi Tori, Yes, I think this would work in the slow cooker. I haven’t used a slow cooker a ton, so I unfortunately can’t tell you if the recipe would need to be modified at all :(. You could review here for some potential tips: http://www.epicurious.com/archive/howtocook/primers/slowcooking_adapting
Made this last night and it was really good. Definitely will make this again. My husband thought it was a little too salty so next time I will use low sodium soy sauce and also cut down a little on the fresh ginger.
Made this with London broil. This was so amazingly tasty!!! Made a double portion & used Costco frozen broccoli that I partially cooked in microwave; then I only used 1/2 amount of water & cut steam time by half. I also used the chinese wine. My husband loved it!!! He asked to have grape tomatoes added at the end when the liquid was added. The consistency of the sauce, the smell, the look…..it looked & tasted better than any chinese restaurant! I also used an enamel lined cast iron large pot to cook it instead of a pan or wok. Very easy to follow directions. Will absolutely make this again!
I followed the recipe as is and everyone loved it. I plan to make it again.
This is the closest thing I’ve been able to make to the real thing, very delicious. However, I feel like the ginger was incredibly potent. Is it really supposed to be a whole tablespoon? It was so strong it was almost burning my mouth. I did mince it pretty darn fine. Is there something I’m missing? Again, I love all the recipes here, and this one was delicious, but did anyone else feel the ginger was a bit intense? Thanks!
Hi Jen, My family and I love all your receipes I have made, which are many!! I want to try this Beef and Broccoli but I’m having a hard time finding flat iron steak 🙁
Any suggestions?? Thanks so much
Hi Vicky, You can use flank steak but try this tenderizing technique first: http://forkranawaywiththespoon.blogspot.com/2013/04/baking-soda-as-tenderizer.html. Please let me know how it turns out and glad you are enjoying the recipes!
Think you Jen!! It was delicious. I used the flank meat and used the baking soda as a tenderizing technique and it definitely worked! I can’t thank you enough for all your wonderful receipes. I’m so inspired every night to cook!! Any suggestions for a wild rice receipe as a side dish?
Hi Vicky, So glad that worked! I’d keep the rice as simple as possible so as not to compete with the beef 🙂
This Beef with broccoli recipe is the best home made beef with broccoli I have ever tried and tasted. I have tried many and even tried to create my own concoction. I don’t need to look anymore. To me, it is better than restaurant quality.
I made the beef and broccoli stir fry. It was better than take out from Chinese restaurant. The whole family lived it, even my picky 10 year old son. I will definitely be making this again and again. Everything I made from your recipes have been great. I look forward to making more of your creations.