Easy Beef and Broccoli
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The BEST beef and broccoli made in 15 min start to finish. Quicker, cheaper, healthier and tastier than take-out!!!
Featured Comment
I made this dish for dinner last night and my husband commented that the flavors are spot on! This makes plenty of sauce and so after we had eaten, he prepared more meat & broccoli and added it to the leftover sauce to take for lunch today. Thanks for a new favorite go-to recipe. It really was quick and easy!
reasons to make easy beef and broccoli
- Takeout favorite. Say goodbye to long delivery wait times and cold takeout. Everyone’s favorited homemade beef and broccoli tastes so much better than takeout, using fresh and better quality ingredients all around.
- Weeknight superhero. This is truly the easiest beef and broccoli recipe of all time. The slow cooker version is great too, perfect for when you work an 8 hr day, but this is on your dinner table in less than 30 minutes start to finish. But don’t be fooled by the easiness of the recipe – it’s packed with so much flavor and melt-in-your-mouth tender beef.
- Freezer-friendly. Who doesn’t love a good freezer meal? Beef and broccoli will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months! Save the leftovers for a rainy day, perfect for those super hectic weeknights (or lazy weekends) between soccer practice and helping with geometry homework.
how to make the easiest beef and broccoli
- Make the sauce, whisking everything together
- Sear and cook the steak, working quickly not to overcook the meat
- Stir in the broccoli + sauce at the very end until the broccoli is cooked through with saucy goodness
- Serve over rice and serve
tips and tricks for success
- Use a cast iron skillet. Cast iron skillets retain heat much better than a nonstick skillet, allowing for even cooking and a better sear of the steak.
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your dish. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Slice against the grain. This will shorten muscle fibers, leaving you with more tender (less chewy) pieces of meat.
- Add the broccoli at the very end. To avoid soft, mushy broccoli, stir in the broccoli during the end of cooking time to maintain its crisp-tender texture. Bigger-sized broccoli florets will take longer to cook through.
- Serve with your favorite grain. White rice, brown rice, quinoa or farro are all great options. Want cauliflower fried rice? We have a recipe for that here.
- Freeze as needed. Beef and broccoli is freezer-friendly! Label, date and freeze up to 2 months.
pro tip
Add more veggies.
This easy beef and broccoli recipe is very flexible and forgiving. Add in carrots, bell peppers, spinach, cabbage, snow peas or baby corn along with the broccoli during the last few minutes of cook time for a more heartier, well-rounded meal.
what to serve with easy beef and broccoli
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Easy Beef and Broccoli: Frequently Asked Questions
How can I store leftovers?
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Is beef and broccoli freezer-friendly?
Yes! Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Can I make beef and broccoli in the slow cooker?
Yes! We have a recipe for that here.
Easy Beef and Broccoli
The BEST beef and broccoli made in 15 min start to finish. Quicker, cheaper, healthier and tastier than take-out!!!
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced across the grain
- 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
Equipment
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, chicken stock, honey, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil, cornstarch, Sriracha, ginger, red pepper flakes and 1/4 cup water; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add steak and cook, flipping once, until browned, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in broccoli and soy sauce mixture until tender and slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Video
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Hi Chungah,
I love your recipes. I’ve tried a few and they were very good. I just have one comment but it’s not about your recipe. It’s the photo. I don’t know if you’re aware that Japanese and Chinese people do not like to stick chopsticks in their bowls. When they make offerings to their ancestors, that’s when they do that. Just thought I share that with you so that you. But I’m a big fan of yours. Love your recipes.
I’ve made this two times now. My husband really likes it which makes me REALLY happy! 🙂 I do wish that the sauce was a bit thicker though. I really want it to coat the meat and veggies better. I cooked it exactly like the recipe the first time. Tonight, I drained the liquid off of the meat, added the broccoli and sauce, cranked the heat up to *high* to bring it to a quick boil and then turned it down a bit to simmer but the sauce never really *thickened*. I guess I could increase the amount of corn starch. Any advise?
Yes, absolutely. You can add additional cornstarch as needed until the desired consistency is reached.
I am making this right now. It smells so good, can’t wait to eat it.
Made this tonight for dinner and it was Amazing!!!!! And so easy to make!!!! A total score!!!! Thanks for posting!
Hi!
i’m definitely trying out this recipe this week. Would frozen broccoli work alright?
Unfortunately, I do not have much experience cooking with frozen broccoli. As always, please use your best judgment.
I wonder if others have tried this with artificial sweetener instead of the brown sugar and honey (due to diabetes) and if it turned out fine?
I omitted the honey and used 2 TBSP granular sucralose (Splenda) plus 3/8 TSP blackstrap molasses in place of brown sugar.
LOVE this!!! It is delicious! I will make this again! Thanks for sharing!
This is indeed quick and delicious! Thanks for sharing, Chungah. One thing: I cut way back on the sweeteners (honey and brown sugar), to about a third of what the recipe calls for. Twenty-seven grams per serving is a lot of sugar — the equivalent of seven Chips Ahoy cookies. Even with less sugar, my family loved the dish.
Another way of looking at the sugar is that there are four grams in a teaspoon. My calculator got a similar number to the 27 you mentioned. That means each serving has over SIX teaspoons of sugar. Is that what you want to serve to your family?
This is one of our favorite recipes!! My one question is when I cook the meat it seemed to get really juicy and bubbly so I have to dab out the excess with a paper towel a few times. Any suggestions for that? Also the sauce doesn’t seem to get thicker than when I first pour it in, does yours thicken up?
Love this though!!!
Sarah, if the meat brings out too much excess fat, you can certainly drain it as needed. You can also add more cornstarch as needed until the desired consistency is reached.
I tried this recipe for the first time last night and it was very good and super easy. I served it with brown rice, yum! I think I’ll double the recipe next time because it didn’t really make enough to have leftovers and I would love to be able to stretch this meal for two days in a row. I really like your blog!
Butcher said he could cut meat shabu shabu thin for gyudon, but it was a bomb…. too thick. So i decided to make this recipe instead & it was FANTASTIC! Yummmmm Not a single change to the recipe, it was perfect! Thanks Chungah!
Thank you. We made this tonight and it was a huge hit. My 11 year old kept coming back for more of the meat with some bites of broccoli as we were cleaning. Also, we did not have chicken stock but substituted with beef stock. It turned out wonderfully. Again, thanks.
I just made this tonight for dinner and OMG YUMMY!!! I will definitely keep this for later use. So delicious. I did use 5 cloves of garlic instead of just 3 because I’m crazy for garlic and I only thinly sliced the last 2. Thank you so much for having this!! The best Beef and Broccoli recipe I have ever mad (and I’ve made about 20 or so trying to get one as good as takeout lol)
Made this recipe tonight for my family. My dad is very sensitive to spice so I left out the sriracha and red pepper flakes, but it was still DIVINE. I used stir fry beef and frozen broccoli from Wegmans that I had lying around and it turned out beautifully; I just thawed the broccoli before cooking. So easy and delicious that I will definitely be adding this to my repertoire!
I love this literally. I spent under $20 for ingredients that i didnt have. Bastima rice is what i used.
I would love to use the sauce as a marinade for the beef – has anyone tried that? Sounds delicious! Will be trying it tonight.
i absolutely LOVE this recipe!! It’s way better than the Chinese buffets! The first time I cooked it there was no flank steak at the store so we used stew meat! It was amazing! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
To make the slurry, (mixture of cornstarch and water) the key is that the water must be COLD!! I generally double the amounts called for, place them in a small covered container and shake to mix. Gradually add the mixture until you receive the desired consistency.
I made this last night and found out one very important thing. DO NOT use regular soy sauce. I didn’t have low sodium and used regular – it was way to salty. However, the recipe is still excellent. I also had to much liquid and did not add the water. I think next time I will keep everything the same except use 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce. Mine didn’t thicken either but it didn’t bother me. The recipe is a keeper. Thank you
I made this tonight for dinner and I gotta say, I will not be ordering takeout anymore!! This will absolutely delicious and made a good amount of food! Big thumbs up for me, and I will be adding this to my weekly rotation!