Simply separate the broccoli florets, sear them in garlic infused olive oil, pour in chicken broth, and braise while covered until tender. That’s it! The florets are soaked with a flavorful broth that makes you want to devour a whole head of broccoli within minutes.
The dish is inspired by a dish I had in Dali Courtyard, a hidden Yunnan restaurant in the old Hutongs of Beijing. But, instead of using a wok, I chose to use a large flat carbon steel skillet because it heats up 10x faster on my electric stove than my wok, which has a tiny contact surface area.
The braising part is the key. Compared to your usual oven roasting method or blanching, this recipe does not require you to heat up the oven, or boiling a pot of water. So, you save extra 15 minutes, plus you can finish up cooking in one pan! The hot pan will steam the broccoli in a minute, and lightly crisp up the garlic at the same time. The cooking is as simple as steaming broccoli in a microwave, but the result is heavenly.
For a light dinner, I sometimes simply throw some leftover chicken into the pan and let it heat up with the veggies – and then I have dinner in 5 minutes!
Cooking video
I recorded a short video to show you how easy it is to cook this dish. Find more videos to learn Chinese cooking on my YouTube channel!
Looking for more simple side dishes like this? Check out my broccoli with oyster sauce, baby bok choy with garlic dressing, four-ingredient okra stir fry, and vinaigrette cabbage.
I hope you all enjoy the dish as much as I do. Bon Appétit!
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
Chinese Cooking Made Easy
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3-Ingredient Garlic Broccoli Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 big head broccoli , separated into florets
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
Instructions
- Heat a large heavy-duty skillet until hot. Add oil. Swirl to coat the bottom. Add garlic and broccoli, and sprinkle with salt. Cook and stir to coat broccoli with oil.
- Add chicken stock. Cover and cook for 1 minute, or until the broccoli reaches your desired doneness. Turn to low heat and carefully taste the broccoli. Adjust seasoning by adding more salt, or cover to cook a bit longer if necessary.
- Serve warm.
Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment
Did you make this? I want to see! Tag @OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram, and rate the recipe below.
Lynn
I love your recipes and help. this dish came out soooo good. Love following you. Thank you!
Peter
Surprusingly good. Made a great side.
nicole
Thanks for sharing this simple dish. I needed veggies as a side and did not want to steam broccoli but my oven was occupied with something else. Stir fry was appealing but not necessarily a stir fry sauce. I added yellow bell pepper and carrots I had on hand and this was a lovely, colorful side dish to an otherwise bland meal of pork chops and rice. I especially love that you can add other seasoning mixes and make it any “flavor” you want – – I did lemon pepper. It may be simple for some but this was really quite the discovery for me. Thank you again!
Sabrina
Such an easy, quick, healthy and mostly TASTY dish! Thank you so much for sharing. This ticks all the boxes:)
Robert Stone
Or We Can Have Both! Yum !
Julie
Hi Maggie,
I tried this recipe the other day. I wasn’t expecting much, because I’ve had broccoli so many ways, but it just goes to show you how a good technique and few good ingredients can transform. I loved this… it had tons of flavor and I will make it again many times!
Thank-you!
Maggie
Hi Julie, I’m so glad to hear you love this recipe as much as I do! Sometimes simple is the best isn’t it 🙂
Scott
I would not specifically go out of my way to prepare a vegetable dish midweek 🙂 My standard is steamed broccoli, carrots and green beans.
Maggie
Steamed vegetables are so healthy and easy to prepare! For me, a midweek vegetable dish need a bit more flavor, so always go for stir-fry.
Thomas
This looks delicious and super easy! When I was growing up, it was common to melt cheese on broccoli to make it tastier, but bacon and garlic sounds even better.
Maggie
Melt cheese and bacon make everything better, aren’t they! 😉