Fast and Saucy Beef and Broccoli

Who doesn’t love a quick beef and broccoli stir-fry? Fast to eat and even faster to make, stir-fry is the ultimate easy meal to throw together with leftovers and a few pantry staples. Beef and broccoli is a stir-fry combination that has been made for millennia, and it is still just as good now.

Here’s how to make a fast, easy, and especially saucy beef and broccoli stir-fry. You can also try my cashew chicken stir fry or my garlic shrimp stir fry for more easy dinners!

Simple Beef and Broccoli

Oh, this used to be my favorite when I ate broccoli! In fact, this was the LAST broccoli dish that I ate! (except for that one time this year when Mike ordered a vegetable biryani, forgot to ask if there was broccoli, and tried to kill me, but it was no big deal.) I didn’t see any broccoli in my serving but was up all night with vicious stomach pains, and lo and behold, when I looked in the morning, there were broccoli chunks in the remaining rice *insert eye roll here*. 

So I made this for the family and ate soup. Sigh. They loved it, of course. My soup was good, it was the Instant Pot vegetable beef soup lol.

How to Make Beef and Broccoli

The trick to a good stir-fry is having everything mise en place, meaning everything is in its place and ready to go. Everything cooks SO quickly that you have to make sure you don’t waste time gathering ingredients!

• Place your cornstarch, pepper, and steak slices in a Ziploc bag big enough to seal them all.
• Shake the bag vigorously to coat the meat evenly with the cornstarch and pepper.
• Mix all of your stir-fry sauce ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined.
• Get everything you need to cook your stir-fry on the counter beside the stove; mise en place is always important, but doubly so with stir-fry, as they cook so fast!
• Heat your wok over medium heat until it starts lightly smoking, and then add 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
• Once hot, add your broccoli florets and cook, continually stirring to avoid burning it, until the broccoli is tender-crisp, which should take about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and place in a large bowl.
• Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok, and once it is boiling and shimmering, add your cornstarch-covered beef. Make sure you shake off any excess cornstarch before adding it to the wok!
• Cook your beef, continually stirring, until the exterior is seared and the meat is almost completely cooked through.
• Return your broccoli to the pan and pour your sauce mixture over it all.
• Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring constantly, and cook until the sauce begins to thicken and can coat the back of a spoon.
• Remove from the heat and serve over your favorite starch; rice or noodles go equally well with this dish.

Basic stir-fry sauce

This is a great basic sauce made with ingredients that you should already have in the cupboard! Tuck this one away and use it for stir-fry. You can easily adjust everything to taste.

• ½ cup of low-sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup of cold water
• ¼ cup of packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons of fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

Tips and Tricks

Heating your wok first before you add your oil is an old Chinese trick known as “Longyau.” It is perfect for creating a non-stick surface for you to cook on. Plus, it helps avoid any off flavors from scorching your oil that might occur if you try to heat your oil and pan at the same time!

Happy cooking!

Love,

Karlynn

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Fast and Saucy Beef and Broccoli

This delicious beef and broccoli dinner is made in mere minutes, lots of extra homemade stir fry sauce and fresh broccoli! ! Serve over rice for the perfect healthy dinner!

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Asian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 335kcal

Author: Karlynn Johnston

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

Beef

• ▢ 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ▢ 1/8 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1 pound flank steak cut into thin 1-inch pieces

Stir Fry Sauce

• ▢ 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• ▢ 1/4 cup cold water
• ▢ 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ▢ 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• ▢ 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Vegetables

• ▢ 6 cups broccoli florets bite-size

Instructions

• Place the flour, pepper, and steak slices into a large Ziploc and seal it. Shake the bag to coat the meat evenly with the cornstarch.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the stir fry sauce ingredients until combined.
• Get everything ready on the counter beside the stove, stir fry's cook fast! Get a large bowl ready beside the stove for the broccoli after its cooked.
• Heat your wok over medium heat until it starts lightly smoking, and then add 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• Once the oil is hot, add the broccoli florets and cook, stirring constantly to avoid burning, until the broccoli is tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer the broccoli to the large bowl.
• Add another tablespoon or two of the vegetable oil and once it is hot, shake any excess cornstarch off of the beef and add it to the pan.
• Cook the beef, stirring constantly until the beef is almost cooked through.
• Return the broccoli to the pan then pour the sauce mixture over the beef and broccoli.
• Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook until the sauce thickens.
• Remove from the heat and serve over rice or your favorite noodles.

Notes

• Make sure everything is ready to go before you heat the wok!

Nutrition

Calories: 335kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 1172mg | Potassium: 894mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 850IU | Vitamin C: 122mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 3mg

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