30-Minute Beef and Broccoli
This easy beef and broccoli recipe is a quick, 30-minute dinner made with simple ingredients – no wok, no marinade, and no takeout menu required. The beef is tender, the broccoli is perfectly crisp, and it’s all coated in a rich and extra-saucy stir fry sauce.
Welcome to my favorite broccoli beef stir fry! I love a takeout fake-out and this recipe is so simple. It skips specialty ingredients like oyster sauce and has a simple soy-based sauce instead, so you can make it with ingredients you might already have on hand.
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy prep – there’s no marinade.
- One pan recipe and it doesn’t have to be a wok. A large skillet works just fine.
- Extra-saucy (on purpose) so the rice soaks up all the flavor.
- Pantry-friendly sauce with easy-to-find ingredients.
- Cooks in layers so all the ingredients have the perfect texture.
Ingredients
- Sirloin steak
- Broccoli florets
- Soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Toasted sesame oil
- Red pepper flakes
- Ginger paste or freshly grated ginger
- Cornstarch
- Vegetable
- Cooked rice for serving
Key Tips for Perfect Beef and Broccoli
- Cook broccoli first and take it out of the pan. This way it stays crisp and doesn’t turn mushy.
- Don’t overcrowd the beef so you it browns instead of steams.
- Slice beef thinly against the grain so it’s nice and tender.
How to Make It
- Whisk the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Cook the broccoli with oil in a hot pan for three to five minutes – just until it’s crisp tender – and then take it out of the pan.
- Add a little more oil to the pan and cook the sliced beef for a couple of minutes. Take the beef out of the pan.
- Pour the sauce into the pan and simmer it until it thickens – about two to three minutes.
- Add the cooked beef and broccoli to the sauce, toss, and it’s ready to serve over some cooked white rice.
More Takeout-Inspired Recipes
Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil divided
- 3 cups fresh broccoli florets
- 12 oz sirloin sliced thin
- Cooked white rice optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon ginger paste, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch until combined. Set the sauce aside.
- In a 10-inch pan, heat 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat until it's hot, but not smoking. Rotate the pan to ensure the oil evenly coats the bottom of the pan. Adjust the heat to medium and add the broccoli to the pan. Cook it in the oil, stirring frequently, until it's crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the broccoli to a plate and set aside.
- Add another 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil and, once it's heated, add the sliced sirloin in an even layer. Cook the beef for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Transfer the beef to the plate with the broccoli and set aside.
- Pour the sauce into the pan. Simmer the sauce for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it thickens. Add the broccoli and beef to the pan and stir to coat it in the sauce. Cook them in the sauce for a minute or so. Serve with cooked white rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Recipe FAQ
If you use a tender cut of steak like sirloin, NY strip steak or ribeye, you don’t have to marinate it. If you want to use flank steak or skirt stek, you will want to marinate it first so it’s tender. You can double the beef and broccoli sauce recipe and use half of it as a marinade.
This is up to you. I use regular soy sauce because I usually serve the beef and broccoli with plain white rice and I find the saltiness is balanced out. If you’re sensitive to salt, I recommend using low-sodium soy sauce.
Also, this beef and broccoli recipe is extra-saucy. Some readers have reduced the amount of soy sauce to make less sauce with success, so keep that in mind.
This recipe is great for meal prep because beef and broccoli keeps well in the refrigerator for three to four days. If you want to make it ahead, I recommend waiting to cook the rice until you’re ready to serve it. Rice dries out in the fridge, so a fresh batch tastes better.
More Recipes with Sirloin Steak
Make it the next time you get a craving for Chinese food – it won’t disappoint!
Happy cooking,
This post was updated from the archives. It was first published in January 2015.
Looks delicious! Love the heat from sriracha. I’m doing this!
Wow this looks incredible! Love your photography style.. Hm I am not a huge rice lover and I always think of anything else but rice. Just yesterday when I made a sticky soy sauce chicken I served it with rice NOODLES. 🙂
your recipe sounds delicious.. ingredients are exactly what I love.. so I ll give it a try 🙂
Thanks, Claudia! I thought about serving it with noodles, but thought I needed at least one recipe with rice 🙂
I am making this! You don’t even know how excited I am!! I used to only order General Tso’s Chicken, until I branched out and tried Beef & Broccoli – and now that is my favorite! This looks delicious! Pinned!
Beef & Broccoli is the best! Although, I like General Tso’s chicken, too… actually, I like it all!
I always order beef and broccoli when i get asian takeout too. Lke you, I never have made it myself either.. so this recipe is just ideal for me. It looks perfect and delicious!
I was happy with the way it turned out – so much easier than I thought it would be!
I’m making this for my second time now. This is an amazing recipe. Blows Panda and my local chinese joints out of the water. I think I’ll probably eat this every week for at least awhile.
So glad you like it! Thank you for letting me know 🙂
I made this for lunch the other day – better than my local Chinese restaurant! I will definitely make this again.
So glad you like it!
I love how easy this is although next time I might not add as much soy sauce.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! If you reduce the soy sauce you might want to increase the water the same amount 🙂 Thank you for sharing your feedback!
A+. Very easy. One pan. Delicious. Next time I will cut back on the soy sauce. I noted your comment above about replacing with water. In addition to the broccoli, I added a bag of frozen Chinese vegetables and served with rice. This is way better than the local Chinese restaurants that we have tried.
Oh that’s great! So glad you liked it 🙂
This is one of my favorite dishes to eat and cook. It’s fresh goodness and less expensive than if you ordered take out and you know exactly what I’m it and no MSG!!! Love Love Love
Oh, thank you! So glad you like – it’s one of my favorites, too!
LOVE homemade versions of take-out dishes like this beef and broccoli. Thank you for this one!
This is one of my favorite things to get when ordering take out. Now I can make it at home, thanks!! 😀
This was really good! The whole family enjoyed it, even the kids. I will reduce the amount of ginger by about 25% next time but won’t change anything else. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it, Amanda!
First off, I’m the type of “cook” that could burn water. But I decided to give this a try since my wife is a massive broccoli beef lover (and very picky about it) and the directions seemed easy to follow. The results were amazing and my wife is already planning out days on the calendar that she wants me to remake it. Going to go through the rest of your recipes and start trying something new each week.
So glad you liked it!
I liked the technique in this, and the broccoli was the perfect texture… but the sauce was WAYYYY too salty, even though I used a low-sodium soy sauce. To give you some perspective, I am a salt lover and I’m not shy about salting my food or sensitive to salt in the least. It was just too salty even for me! I think next time I’ll use half the soy sauce this recipe calls for and sub in some white wine or water for the rest. This recipe is a good base technique I’ll be using for now on, however.
I’m happy to hear you liked the technique!
Perfect flavors! This was so delicious. I used fresh ginger instead of the ginger paste, it turned out great. It was a hit for the whole family. Very quick and easy for a weeknight meal. Thank you!!
So glad you liked it, Melanie!