This Chinese Beef and Broccoli recipe has tender beef paired with a delicious stir fry sauce. It’s an easy one-pot meal that takes less than 30 minutes on the stove. You can feel like you’re eating at your favorite Chinese restaurant right at home.
Why You’ll Love this Chinese Beef and Broccoli Recipe
- One-Pot. It’s a one-pot meal. One-pot meals are my favorite. They are less mess and less dishes after dinner.
- Easy. It’s easy and quick to throw together. Both the broccoli and beef only take a couple of minutes each, so you have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.
- Cheap. Meaning you could have Chinese food takeout-style beef and broccoli at home in less time than it takes to order it and have it delivered.
- Accessible. It has easy-to-find ingredients. The only sauce ingredient that may be difficult to find if you’re in a small town is hoisin sauce. I find it is readily available in my local grocery store as well as Walmart. You can also find it on Amazon.
- Dairy-free. This recipe for Chinese Beef and Broccoli is also dairy-free! If you happen to have a milk protein allergy in your family, this recipe can be made completely dairy-free.
Chinese Beef and Broccoli Ingredients
- beef (thinly sliced flank steak or sirloin) – we get ours from ButcherBox
- broccoli florets
- sesame oil
- sweet onion
- garlic
- ginger
- soy sauce (I use low sodium)
- brown sugar
- hoisin sauce
- corn starch
- salt and pepper
How to Make Chinese Beef and Broccoli
Detailed instructions and measurements for Chinese Beef & Broccoli are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil to your skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add your broccoli to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook about 3-4 minutes only. You want it to remain tender-crispy and bright green. Remove the broccoli from the skillet.
- Add the remaining sesame oil to the skillet. Add the beef to your skillet and season with salt and pepper.
- Sauté and sear it quickly. Only about 1 minute on each side. It’s cut so thinly, it can overcook quickly and it will turn tough.
- Remove the beef and set it aside with the broccoli.
- Add the onion to the skillet and sauté until softened. Once the onion has softened, add the ginger & garlic to the skillet. Sauté briefly, just until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, and hoisin sauce to the skillet. Stir to combine. Turn the heat down to low and allow the sauce to simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Place your corn starch in a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of water. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the skillet and stir. Allow it to cook over low heat, stirring frequently until sauce begins to thicken.
- Once the sauce begins to thicken, add your beef and broccoli back to the skillet. Mix to combine and coat the beef and broccoli with the sauce.
- We like to serve ours over rice, topped with sesame seeds.
Chinese Beef Broccoli Recipe Tips
- Be sure to slice your beef very thin. This makes it quick-cooking and will give you the true Chinese Beef and Broccoli flavor.
- Be careful not to overcook the beef. It will result in tough, chewy beef. You want it cooked quickly and remain tender.
- Don’t overcook your broccoli. If you cook it too far, it will end up falling apart in your final dish.
- You can substitute sesame oil with whatever oil you prefer. I’ve also made this with avocado oil.
Chinese Broccoli Beef Recipe Substitutions
broccoli – if you aren’t a big fan of broccoli, you could substitute it with another tender-crisp vegetable like cauliflower or bell peppers
hoison sauce – for a more authentic Chinese cooking flavor, you can add oyster sauce in place of the hoison sauce. It will add a bit of salty, seafood style flavor.
How to Lower Calories or Weight Watchers points
You can lower the calories and Weight Watchers points a couple of ways in this recipe. The first way would be to choose a lower calorie/low point cut of beef.
Be sure to still choose a tender cut of beef.
You can also lower the calories/WW points by using a brown sugar substitute. I haven’t tried this myself, but if you use one that has a 1:1 ratio, it should be fine.
Another easy way is to load up on the broccoli. Don’t be afraid to add extra broccoli. It’s low-calorie and filling. It’s also zero points on all WW plans.
Chinese Style Beef and Broccoli FAQs
This beef and broccoli sauce is a combination of onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, and hoisin sauce.
This sauce is super simple to make. After sautéing the onions, garlic, and ginger, it’s just a matter of simmering the remaining ingredients.
The biggest trick to making sure you have tender beef is using the right cut of beef. We personally prefer using sirloin, but flank steak works as well.
Be sure to cut the steak properly and don’t overcook it. Being careful with these two things will give you delicious, tender beef and broccoli.
No. Not for this recipe. Some recipes state to coat the beef in baking soda and cornstarch before adding to the sauce mixture.
This one does not use that method.
Thicken beef and broccoli by making a cornstarch slurry. Add corn starch to a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of cold water. Once it’s mixed together, you’ll pour the corn starch slurry into the skillet and stir. This will thicken the sauce slowly.
You can use anything from teriyaki sauce to stir fry sauce if you want to use a store-bought sauce for beef and broccoli.
The key to keeping beef tender in Chinese beef and broccoli is to use the right cut of beef and not to overcook it. Overcooked beef will quickly become tough. Slice the beef very thin so that it only needs a quick sear. Don’t leave it in the pan long. I find that sirloin and flank steak give the best tender results.
How to Store Chinese Broccoli and Beef
Once cooked, you can store beef and broccoli in the refrigerator. Store it in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
How to Freeze Chinese Beef Broccoli
If you want to freeze this meal, you can do it prior to cooking or after cooking. If you are storing it after cooking, freeze it in a freezer zip-top bag. Push all of the air out before sealing.
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Chinese Style Beef and Broccoli Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound beef sirloin or flank steak sliced thin
- 12 ounces fresh broccoli florets cut into bitesize pieces
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ cup sweet onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced
- ½ cup soy sauce I use low sodium
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- kosher salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil to your skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add your broccoli to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook about 3-4 minutes only. You want it to remain tender-crispy and bright green. Remove the broccoli from the skillet.
- Remove the beef and set it aside with the broccoli.
- Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, and hoisin sauce to the skillet. Stir to combine. Turn the heat down to low and allow the sauce to simmer about 5 minutes.
- Place your corn starch in a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of water. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the skillet and stir. Allow it to cook over low heat, stirring frequently until sauce begins to thicken.
- Once sauce begins to thicken, add your beef and broccoli back to the skillet. Toss to coat.
- We like to serve ours over rice, topped with sesame seeds.
Notes
- Be sure to slice your beef very thin. This will allow it to cook quickly and give you the true Chinese Beef and Broccoli flavor.
- Don’t over cook your beef. It will result in tough, chewy beef. You want it cooked quickly and remain tender.
- Don’t overcook your broccoli. If you cook it too far, it will end up falling apart in your final dish.
- You can substitute sesame oil with whatever oil you prefer. I’ve also made this with avocado oil.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is hands down one of my favorite recipes from Kara! It is so flavorful, so easy, and my whole family loves it. It’s been in my regular recipe rotation for months. You will love it!
Thank you, Nikki!
My family loves this recipe. I’m not usually a fan of beef and broccoli, but this is amazing!
I love hearing this! Thank you so much!