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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After doing my homework on reviews and recipes, I decided to give this one a try. A couple of initial reasons I felt confident to try this one were, the step by step pictures (greatly appreciated), the reviews, and simplicity of the ingredients. Okay, now for the moment of truth. One hour before my son’s football game, needed to start dinner and make sure it was ready before the game. Took me 1 hour from start (literally getting ingredients from refrigerator etc) to complete, ready to eat. My family and I are what you would call “gourmet eaters”, very picky, very critical etc…. My 10 year son, my husband (who does most the cooking since his dad was a chef in an Italian restaurant forever!) and me, Chinese food snob, LOVED IT! Used low sodium chicken broth and soy sauce and followed directions (and pictures) step by step. Amazing dish, will definitely make over and over! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Jenn! I love your recipes! Can you sub rice wine vinegar in for the rice wine? I would think not but just checking. Thanks 🙂
Hi Cher, I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s no great substitute for the wine/sherry. You could try replacing it with chicken broth. Also, one reader used sake and was happy with the results. Hope that helps!
So delicious and easy! Good call on the flat iron steak, it was very tender. The sauce was just thick enough and so tasty. I’ve never cooked broccoli that way before and it turned out perfectly.
I made this last night and my husband and I thought it was delicious. I read the reviews about it being salty, so I used half low sodium soy sauce and half regular. I thought it was perfect, but my husband thought it was a tad on the salty side. Next time I’ll use all low sodium soy sauce. I can always add salt to my portion.
Thanks for another great recipe Jenn! Today I’m making your Coconut Pie for my husband’s birthday. It’s his favorite!
Very tasty overall and my husband loved it. I agree about this being too salty for my palette and that was using low sodium soy sauce. I will tweak it next time and add less soy sauce and use brown sugar instead of white for a little more depth. Great advice on the type of beef to use as it was cooked to perfection following the directions. I added mushrooms to the broccoli for more veggies and might add red peppers as well for next time. This is a great alternative to take out and way healthier.
I cannot believe how salty this was. I read every review and felt confident the meal would turn out awesome. The moment I bit into my dinner I had to throw it out. I have never made a review before but this pissed me off so bad. I should have known 1/4 cup of soy sauce was too much. Thanks for nothing and a $20 waste of ingredients.
Sara, if you had read the reviews like you say you did, you would have seen many people said it was salty, and many subbed reg soy for low sodium. Nobody forced you to try this recipe, you chose to. Everybody’s tastes are different. Nobody can gaurantee you will like the meal, even if 1000 people love it. If you don’t want to “waste” your money, stick to what you know. Do us all a favor, and try not be such a hateful wench!
I’m going to give it a try just because I love this response. thanks
Great response! I’ve tried more then 10 of your delicious recipes! Not one was bad..I’m making this one tonight! Thank you!
Jen,
1. I’m not big on beef
2. I don’t trust that recipes are going to have enough taste due to chefs being afraid of salt
3. Stir fries can so easily go wrong
However you my friend have truly found your calling! This is the 2nd recipe I’ve made from your site! I’ve been labeled a food snob and there isn’t one thing I’d change about this recipe! Absolutely delish!!! Two recipes down, many more to go.
This was hands down the best stir fry I have ever made, I mean restaurant quality, and my stir fries are usually awful, I’m so glad I found this, my oldest daughter told me she’d like more of this more often.
Made this this week and loved the flavor. Quick question- I bought some ingredients for this I don’t usually use- should I refrigerate the sherry and sesame oil now that they are open or ok just to leave in pantry? Thanks so much!
Hi Sara, I would refrigerate both.
I just finished eating my meal & can’t believe how delicious it turned out. If it’s humanly possible to ruin a recipe I will do it! But your step by step instructions & pictures were incredibly helpful. I can’t wait to try another recipe. Thank you?
Was searching your website for a quick, delicious and easy meal for dinner when I came upon this recipe and I have to say once again, another amazing recipe. Thank you for your website, it provides delicious, yet elegant recipes whether you are short on time during the week or have the time on the weekends. I hope some day you write a cookbook, I would one of the first ones in line to purchase it! Thank you!