This beef and broccoli is a popular Chinese take-out meal and it’s also easy enough to make at home. It’s also healthier than most take-out meal options. With juicy tender beef and crisp broccoli brought together in a rich brown sauce, this quick dinner is as colorful as it is delicious. Serve it over hot rice for an authentic Chinese take-out dinner. {Gluten-Free Adaptable}
Beef and broccoli is one of those dishes that should be on your fixed weekday dinner menu, because it’s so easy to make, healthier than takeout, and extremely delicious. If you’ve been ordering takeout, I highly encourage you to try making it at home once. This takeout-style Chinese beef and broccoli is extra saucy and quick to prepare. The recipe does not require a wok and you can still get that authentic taste.
I couldn’t wait to share this recipe with you because…
- You can cook everything in one pan. No extra blanching for the broccoli required!
- The dish is extra saucy and goes great with rice.
- No wok needed! You can use a flat skillet and still get that restaurant-style taste.
Ingredients
Which cut of beef to use
My personal favorite cut for beef and broccoli is flank steak, and the second best is skirt steak. I wouldn’t use a fancy cut such as a strip because it’s quite expensive and the result is not as good.
What if you need to use a cheaper but tougher cut of beef? Keep reading to learn the secret of extra tender and juicy beef.
How to create tender beef using a tough cut
If you have to use a tougher cut, for example, brisket, chuck, round roast etc., your best bet is to use the baking soda method. It is a common practice in Chinese restaurants to create extra juicy and tender beef. All you need to do is add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (NOT baking powder) to the marinade, mix it in and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Other vegetable alternatives
If you wish to add other types of vegetables to this dish, it’s totally OK!
You can use 1 cup of sliced carrots, sliced red peppers, snap peas, or snow peas to replace half of the broccoli.
If using carrots, add them at the same time you cook the broccoli, so they will be steamed together.
For vegetables that cook faster, you can add them halfway through steaming the broccoli, and steam them for about 20 to 30 seconds. Then return them to the pan at the end of cooking, at step 6.
Mise en place
Your table should have the ingredients below before you start cooking:
- Marinated beef
- Chopped broccoli florets
- Mixed sauce
- Ginger and garlic in a bowl
When you start cooking, you will need to move very quickly to avoid over-cooking the beef. So it’s important to have everything ready to go.
The wok vs. skillet debate
I always recommend home cooks use a flat skillet instead of a wok. This is because you can use a skillet to create very similar results, and sometimes even better results, if you’re cooking on an electric stove. (I wrote about 10 reasons not to use a wok and Wok vs. Stir Fry Pan – Which is the Right Tool for You?, if you’d like to read more on this topic.)
Chinese beef and broccoli uses a very flavorful sauce. It makes skillet cooking more tolerable. Plus, in the case of home cooking, you have a less powerful stove and might need to cook the food in more than one batch. So you will benefit from using a skillet on an electric stove because you will have a larger contact surface to sear the food properly.
Although you can use almost any nonstick skillet to make takeout-style beef and broccoli, a deeper pan such as this nonstick deep pan works best, because you will spill less when stirring the food. If you do want to use a wok on an electric stove, get one of those with a large bottom that can cover the biggest heating element on your stove.
How to cook beef and broccoli
Cooking beef and broccoli is super easy!
- Steam the broccoli in the skillet using a small amount of water
- Sear the beef
- Add the aromatics and give it a quick toss
- Add the sauce and the broccoli
- Stir everything together until the sauce thickens
That’s it!
Lastly, if you prefer a spicy beef and broccoli, add a splash of chili oil or sriracha to spice up your dish!
This beef and broccoli is very saucy so you’ll have enough sauce to douse your rice. When you prepare dinner, don’t forget to start the rice at the beginning. So the rice and main dish will be ready at the same time for a delicious Chinese dinner!
More takeout style stir fry recipes
- Sweet and Sour Chicken (Without Deep-Frying)
- Real-Deal Beef Chow Fun
- General Tso Tofu
- Takeout-Style Orange Chicken
- Stir Fried Chicken with Black Bean Sauce
Chinese Beef and Broccoli (牛肉炒西兰花)
Ingredients
Meat and Marinade
- 1 lb (454 g) boneless flank steak , skirt steak, or other cut (*see footnote 1)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (Optional) (*see footnote 1)
Sauce
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) chicken stock (or beef stock)
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (*footnote 2)
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar (or white sugar)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir-fry
- 1 head (600 g) broccoli , cut to bite-size florets
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil) (*Footnote 3)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 teaspoons ginger , minced
Instructions
- Slice the beef against the grain into 0.5 cm (1/4 inch) thick slices or 1-cm (1/2 inch) sticks. Transfer to a small bowl. Add soy sauce, peanut oil, and cornstarch (*Footnote 1). Gently mix well by hand until all the slices are coated with a thin layer of sauce. Marinate for 10 minutes while preparing the other ingredients.
- Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a medium-sized bowl. Mix well.
- Add 1/4 cup water into a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until the water begins to boil. Add the broccoli and cover. Steam until the broccoli just turns tender and the water evaporates,1 minute or so. Transfer broccoli to a plate. Wipe the pan with a paper towel held in a pair of tongs if there’s any water left.
- Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom. Heat over medium high heat until hot. Spread the steak in a single layer. Allow to cook without touching for 30 seconds, or until the bottom side is browned. Flip to cook the other side for a few seconds. Stir and cook until the surface is lightly charred and the inside is still pink.
- Add the garlic and ginger. Stir a few times to release the flavor and fragrance.
- Return the broccoli to the pan. Stir the sauce again to dissolve the cornstarch completely and pour it into the skillet. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Transfer everything to a plate immediately. Serve hot as a main dish.
Notes
- If you need to use a cheaper but toucher cut of beef, for example, chuck, brisket, or round roast, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the marinade and marinate the beef for 30 minutes before cooking. This method tenderizes the beef and will create a very juicy result.
- Dark soy sauce will add an appetizing dark color to the sauce with a hint of caramel taste, but you can skip it if you don’t have it. If you skip the dark soy sauce, you can add 1/2 teaspoon molasses to enhance the flavor.
- If you do not have peanut oil, you can drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil at the end of the cooking after turning off the heat and mix together. It will boost the flavor.
Video
Nutrition
This post was published in Nov. 3, 2017 and updated by May 10, 2022.
Hello there! Your recipes are delicious and created with care, which I can tell. But your nutrition facts.. I don’t know where you get them.. your nutrition facts are waaayyyy off, outrageously misleading. I would highly recommend taking them off your blog altogether.
Otherwise, keep up the fabulous recipes!
Thanks,
E
Hi Emily, thanks so much for the feedback on the nutrition facts. I got it from a free online platform, where they have tons of ingredient nutritional data entered by users. I know it’s not accurate from the beginning, but I had no idea it’s so wrong… I know the sodium level is way off for one thing. I’ll stop publishing that from now. Will clean up the old ones once I get some time.
Thanks for the kind words and have a great week ahead! 🙂
Jeepers! Thanks for your enlightenment. I made mine with Organic: beef, broccoli, cornstarch, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and even organic oil … just to find out this recipe isn’t healthy enough. I guess I’ll go back to the local fast Asian food take out. Thanks for your input.
Great recipe…easy and the 1 pan skillet is the way to go.
I am a newbie learning to cook Chinese..this made me look like a genius..
BTW, in Canada, Shiaoxing is readily available in Asian grocery stores…at least in my City..London
A very easy and satisfying dish. Came home from work and within 30 minutes this was on the table with a bowl of fluffy steamed rice. Definitely on our ‘make it again’ list. Maggie is so good at balancing the flavour of her dishes. Thank you x
I am missing something. The recipe is labeled “Chinese Beef and Broccoli with Tofu (One Pan Take-Out)” and I am looking specifically for tofu recipes. No mention of tofu except in your title.
The YouTube video has the recipe with tofu:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnZw8xS6_fI
Made this last week and it was so good I’m having it again tonight. Goes together in a snap and clean-up is quick and easy. I did add a hot home grown pepper cause I like spicy.
. I used qourn steak and vegetable stock. It’s heavenly
Your marinade says to use vegetable oil but then your instructions for marinading the beef says to use peanut oil…..Which is correct cause those are two different types of oil with different flavor???
Hi Flip, sorry about the confusion. I usually use peanut oil to make my stir fries, and you can replace it with vegetable oil if you don’t have peanut oil. Just updated the recipe.
Hi there and thanks for posting all these delicious recipes! I’ve made your hot and sour soup and oh my goodness it is SO good!!
Question about the beef and broccoli recipe. If I use oyster sauce and sesame oil for extra flavour will it taste okay?
Yes! Pretty sure they will work in the recipe.
Also a splash of Black Vinegar goes well in this recipe.
That sounds like a fantastic idea. Thank you for sharing!
Great recipe.
I would like a little more flavour in the saauce, and was thinking of adding some Hoisin.
As always, these recipes have a very clear and straightforward method that I love.
Thanks Maggie!
Easy and tasty. Especially for a single male living in China 😁.
Its a very straightforward recipe.
I tried it twice and was able to replicate the result so I know that I’m on the right track.
Good stuff.
PS. Do you know that if you strip the hard skin from the broccoli stalk the interior is soft sweet and very edible?
I think that’s the standard way of doing it in Chinese cooking (I believe I learned that from Florence Lin MANY years ago.
Maggie, i hear she moved to NYC 3 or 4 years ago after many years in the East S. F. Bay Area (wish I had known that at the time); you should look her up when things get civilized again (2020 pandemic reference).
Hi,
Can 8I marinade the beef overnight with the marinade in your recipe? Thxs
Hi Jenn, yeah you can marinate the beef overnight.
What happened to the tofu? What kind? When to add?
I updated the recipe a while ago and eliminated the tofu from the dish so it’s closer to the restaurant style.
You can use a block of medium or hard tofu. You can use this video for the instructions: https://youtu.be/pnZw8xS6_fI (slightly different from the current recipe)
Made this again last night, EXCELLENT as always.
Tonight will be the third time making this. We love beef and broccoli in many forms, but this is our favorite. Simple and tasty.
I love your blog! This is the second recipe I’ve made and it came out delicious. I followed the recipe exactly as written. If I were to change anything in the future, I would probably add a bit more cornstarch to the sauce so it sticks to the meat and veggies a bit better. Other than that, no complaints at all. It was easy to make and wonderful.
Oh no! The Calphalon pan is no longer available on Amazon, is there another one you recommend or should I just look for something similar? I will also look to see if it is available elsewhere
I tried this recipe yesterday and loved it. You were right on the money!…Thanks
Can you use pork or chicken for this recipe? If so, which cuts? Thank you
Yes! You can use either. For chicken and broccoli, you can use my recipe here: https://omnivorescookbook.com/chicken-and-broccoli/
Have you ever heard of anyone using lamb in this recipe? We have lots of broccoli and since we raise sheep we have a little lamb around.
I don’t love this sauce for lamb, because I think you need a bit extra spice and less sweet.
I have a cumin lamb noodle recipe that I love: https://omnivorescookbook.com/cumin-lamb-noodles/
But if you hope to cook lamb using a recipe similar to this, I would use the marinade from the cumin lamb recipe, reduce the sugar to 1 teaspoon, and add 2 to 3 tablespoons chili oil to the sauce. A touch of cumin powder (maybe try 1 teaspoon in this recipe) helps a lot too.