The Ultimate Beef & Broccoli Recipe to make at Home

The Ultimate Beef & Broccoli Recipe to make at Home

Happy January everyone! I hope you are all staying safe and warm! I am back with one of my family’s all time favorites, Ultimate Beef & Broccoli. This dish is perfect year round because it’s not a huge time consumer and it won’t heat your house up. It will, however, fill up your house with amazing smells that will have everyone coming into the kitchen!

Developed by Chinese immigrants in the early 19th century, Broccoli & Beef quickly became a staple in restaurants by the 1920’s and by the 1950’s it was the most popular American Chinese dish in the 21st century.

Though there are many variations of this dish, they all have common factors. Beef & broccoli is prepared with aromatics like ginger and garlic, while sugar and honey are common sweeteners. Cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce but also to tenderize the meat.

My version of Beef & Broccoli:

There are so many ways of making Beef & Broccoli but this is our favorite. It combines fresh garlic and ginger plus onion for an amazing aromatic display. Beef & Broccoli can be made in no time really, once all the ingredients are prepped. You can serve this with some egg rolls on the side if you wish to really make it full of Chinese flair.

The best thing about this recipe is you don’t have to go out and buy takeout to have good Beef & Broccoli anymore! With a little bit of prep work this dish comes together super fast and so easy. Plus, I’ve said it before, but you will know exactly what is in your food!

Swaps & Specs:

• Before starting this recipe, prep all the ingredients. it moves too fast to try and keep up with chopping while cooking, something will burn and turn bitter!

• Make sure to use a low sodium soy sauce in this recipe. That is because you are using so much for the sauce base that it would be overpowering if it was regular. It is also the reason why I don’t add extra salt in this recipe. There is more than enough.

• Choose your meat well. Pick a good protein for this dish because it is the main star. And when you are slicing be sure to go against the grain.

• Beef & Broccoli is a versatile recipe. Don’t like broccoli? Swap for cauliflower. Don’t fancy beef? swich all the beef and beef flavored items with chicken and chicken flavored items. it will still be great.

• Switch to veggie broth & bouillon, add more veggies and eliminate the beef altogether for a meatless option!

• Other veggie options might include, sliced carrots, mushrooms, baby corn, snow peas, water chestnuts, bell peppers and cauliflower.

• Cooking the rice in beef broth is not necessary but it just adds another layer of flavor. If you don’t have it, don’t worry it will still be good with plain white rice.

Or try my Beef Pepper steak recipe! Soo good!

However you decide to try it out, I do hope you enjoy it. Beef & Broccoli is an absolute smash at our house and I bet it will be in yours too!

Beef & Broccoli

Tender cuts of beef in a garlicky, ginger based sauce with broccoli florets.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Chinese

Servings 6 people

Calories 486 kcal

Equipment

• 1 large frying pan

Ingredients

  

• 2-21/2 lbs. steak, thinly sliced like ribeye or new york strip
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp minced, garlic
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 8 cups broccoli florets
• 3 tsp sesame seeds

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 4 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sesame oil
• 3-4 tsp fresh grated ginger to taste
• 6 tsp minced, fresh garlic
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup+2tbsp low sodium soy sauce USE LOW SODIUM!!
• 1 tbsp bouillon beef concentrate I use Better than Bouillon Brand

Rice

• 4 cups Instant rice
• 4 cups beef broth

Instructions

 

• Start by heating a tbsp of oil in a large skillet and sauteing the onions until they are soft and golden. While that is going, start the sauce.
  

Make the Sauce:

• In a medium bowl, whisk all the sauce ingredients together until all the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Set aside.
• Once the onions are finished, put them in a large bowl to the side. The add another tbsp of oil to the same pan and add the broccoli florets. Cook them for 4-5 minutes with a cover. Add 4 tbsp of water and recover with the lid so it steams the broccoli. when the broccoli is cooked to your tenderness, remove to same bowl as the onions.
  
• In same pan add 1 tbsp oil, and add beef in a single layer, not overcrowding the pan. Add a tbsp of garlic plus 1 tsp sesame seeds and saute about 2 minutes per side until done. Scoop out and add to bowl with broccoli and onion. Continue this process until all the beef is cooked.
  

Rice

• Heat 4 cups of beef broth in a large saucepan. Once it reaches a boil add rice. Cover and remove from heat.
• In same large that you've been using, add all the cooked ingredients back to the pan that had been set aside (meat, broccoli and onion) and add sauce ingredients. Heat to medium and stir to to combine and thicken. About 3-4 minutes.
  
• If mixture gets too thick, simply add a little water, 1-2 tbsp at a time to thin it out. Serve over rice.
  

Notes

• Serve over noodles for a different switch up
• Add sliced carrots, water chestnuts or baby corn for variety
• Sub out cauliflower for the broccoli if you have an aversion

Keyword beef, broccoli, rice