Beef and Broccoli
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This beef with broccoli recipe delivers all the savory, saucy flavor you love from takeout—and it’s easy enough to whip up any night of the week!
Beef and broccoli is one of those takeout favorites that’s surprisingly easy to make at home. It features tender steak, crisp broccoli, and a rich, savory brown sauce that comes together in no time. While most restaurants (and beef with broccoli recipes) use marinated flank steak, I go with flat iron steak—it’s naturally tender, budget-friendly, easy to find, and great for quick cooking.
With just 40 minutes and a handful of everyday ingredients, you can have this delicious beef and broccoli dinner on the table. Just add white rice or fried rice and you’re done! If you love recreating Chinese restaurant dishes at home—they’re often better and definitely cheaper—be sure to check out my orange chicken and General Tso’s chicken recipes. They’re a bit more involved but totally worth it!
“My family and I loved this! The sauce is tasty and flavorful, probably the best beef and broccoli recipe I have ever made.”
What You’ll Need to Make Beef and Broccoli
- Flat iron steak: My go-to cut of beef for this dish—it’s tender, flavorful, and cooks quickly. Plus, it soaks up the marinade nicely. Feel free to substitute flank steak if you prefer.
- Soy sauce + Shaoxing wine or dry sherry: These add that deep, savory flavor you expect in restaurant-style beef and broccoli. They season both the beef and the sauce.
- Cornstarch: Works double duty—helps tenderize the beef and gives the sauce that glossy, velvety finish.
- Oyster sauce: Adds a rich, savory-sweet depth that really brings everything together.
- Low-sodium chicken broth: Creates a light, savory base for the sauce without making it too salty or heavy.
- Sugar: Just a touch to balance out the salty and savory notes.
- Toasted sesame oil: Adds a nutty, aromatic finish. Make sure it’s the dark, toasted (Asian) kind—not the light, untoasted version.
- Scallions: I separate the whites and greens—the whites go in early for depth, and the greens get sprinkled on at the end for a fresh, oniony bite.
- Garlic and fresh ginger: Can’t skip these! They add warmth, spice, and that unmistakable stir-fry aroma.
- Vegetable oil: Great for stir-fries and high heat cooking—helps everything cook quickly and evenly without sticking.
- Broccoli florets: Bright, tender-crisp, and the perfect fresh contrast to the rich beef and sauce.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Slice and marinate the beef. Slice the beef into ¼-inch strips and toss with 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce and rice wine (or dry sherry). Let it marinate while you chop the scallions, garlic, and ginger. It’s important to do this prep work prior to cooking because the dish cooks very quickly.
Step 2: Make the sauce. For the sauce, mix the remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce with the cornstarch until dissolved. Stir in the remaining rice wine, oyster sauce, chicken broth, sugar, and sesame oil. Set it aside.
Step 3: Cook the broccoli. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan or wok over high heat until smoking. Stir-fry the broccoli for 30 seconds, then add the water. Cover and steam over medium heat for about 2 minutes until tender-crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Step 4: Cook the Beef. Wipe out the pan, crank the heat to high, and add a tablespoon of oil. When it’s just starting to smoke, add half the beef in a single layer and sear for about 1½ minutes without touching it. Stir and cook for another 30 seconds—it should still be a little pink in spots—then transfer to a plate. Add another tablespoon of oil and repeat with the rest of the beef.
Step 6: Add the aromatics and finish the dish. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and scallion whites and cook with the beef for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the rest of the beef, the broccoli, the sauce, and the scallion greens, and toss everything together until evenly coated. Bring to a boil and stir-fry for about 45 seconds until the sauce thickens slightly. Serve with rice and enjoy!
Video Tutorial
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Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 pound flat iron steak, cut into ¼-inch (6-mm) thick strips (flank steak, skirt steak, or hanger steak may be substituted, but won't be as tender)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup oyster sauce
- ⅓ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 4 scallions, whites finely sliced, greens cut into ½-inch (13-mm) segments on the diagonal, reserved separately
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger (see note)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound bite-size broccoli florets, from about 1½ pounds (680 g) broccoli crowns
- ⅓ cup water
- Rice for serving
Instructions
- Combine the beef with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of the Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry) in a bowl and toss to coat. Let marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature or 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- Meanwhile, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce with the cornstarch and stir with a fork until the cornstarch is dissolved. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry), oyster sauce, chicken broth, sugar, and sesame oil. Stir and set aside.
- Combine the scallion whites, garlic and ginger in a bowl and set aside.
- When you're ready to cook, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan or wok over high heat until smoking. Add the broccoli and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the water. Cover the pan with a lid (or tightly with foil) and lower the heat to medium; steam the broccoli until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes, then transfer to a paper towel–lined plate.
- Wipe any excess water out of the pan. Increase the heat to high and heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan until smoking. Add half of the beef, so that it is in a single layer, and cook without moving until the beef is well seared, about 1½ minutes. Continue cooking while stirring until the beef is lightly cooked but still pink in spots, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat until smoking. Add the remaining beef and cook without moving until the beef is well seared, about 1½ minutes. Add the scallion whites, garlic and ginger mixture and cook, stirring constantly with the beef, for about 30 seconds.
- Return the reserved beef and broccoli to the pan, along with the reserved sauce and scallion greens. Bring to boil and cook, tossing and stirring constantly until the sauce is lightly thickened, about 45 seconds. Transfer to a serving platter and serve with rice.
Notes
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Comments
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Jen, I I’ve never made Chinese food. This was the absolute best. The broccoli was excellent. Please come up with more Asian dishes.
Top notch recipe. Easy to follow instructions with great flavour. We love Chinese food but finding great recipes is hard to come by. I know you have a fair number of Thai recipes. I really hope you will tackle more of the Chinese restaurant favourites.
A total winner! 5 stars plus, and so easy to make.
Hi Jenn — I just made your beef and broccoli and loved the taste (and so did my family)! At first I thought I’d made a mistake because the sauce was very thin — but now I see from the picture accompanying this recipe that you intended for the sauce to be thin. For those of us who like a thicker sauce, what change would you recommend we make? Is it as simple as adding a bit more cornstarch, or would you suggest another method?
Thank you again for the unparalleled recipes you make available to us home cooks for free. I know I speak for many when I say how grateful I am for you!
Yes, if you want the sauce a little thicker, just add a bit more cornstarch. (And so glad you like the recipes!)
Hi Jenn. Excellent recipe! Only thing I did different was use formerly grilled rib roast from freezer. I thawed it, sliced it and let it sit with soy sherry and a little extra cornstarch. Wow what a way to use leftover excellent meat and get the broccoli in diet.
I’ve made this twice now and there’s just one thing I cannot get right. The sauce will just not thicken up at the final step. I am not sure if it’s the type of pan I used (Dutch oven) or if the heat was not high enough. Both times I have ended up with a very thin sauce (still delicious!). Hope you can help!
Hi Michael, are you making any changes to the recipe?
I had this same problem. I agree that the flavor was delicious but the meal would have been even better if I had been able to get the sauce to thicken. I will make again and maybe add a bit more cornstarch next time
Can I use arrowroot powder to sub for cornstarch? Haven’t made this yet, but it looks delicious.
Sure, Mary, that should work. Hope you enjoy!
I liked this dish a lot, but had some issues, which were probably my fault. I anticipated a more flavorful sauce. I almost forgot the sugar, and added it a bit too late, but still, I thought the sauce would have a deeper flavor. I didn’t get a lot of either the ginger or garlic flavor in the sauce. I looked at several local stores, but was unable to find the Shaoxing rice wine (I used a more generic rice wine). That may have been the culprit. I will continue to look for it….perhaps in an Asian market.
This was the best version of this I’ve every had! I used hoisin instead of oyster sauce. So happy to have found this site!
Hi Jen, as I have allergies what can I substitute for the oyster sauce or just leave it out? Thank you
Hi Mim, Hoisin sauce is a reasonably good substitute for oyster sauce. Enjoy!