The Best Easy Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

"I clipped this recipe from Taste of Home magazine several years ago and have found it to be the best-tasting easy beef and broccoli stir-fry. It is credited to Ruth Stahl. I often use charcoal chuck steak, which is very tender and lean. I also like that it doesn't call for any unusual ingredients."
 
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photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by DianaEatingRichly photo by DianaEatingRichly
photo by Karen B. photo by Karen B.
photo by Kathy W. photo by Kathy W.
photo by domicawebster photo by domicawebster
Ready In:
25mins
Ingredients:
13
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth.
  • Add beef and toss.
  • In a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm.
  • Stir-fry onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes until softened. Add the broccoli and cook for 3 minutes until the broccoli is tender but still crisp. Return beef to pan.
  • Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 cup water until smooth; add to the pan.
  • Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
  • Serve over rice and garnish with toasted sesame seeds (optional).

Questions & Replies

  1. Do you think it would taste good if I added red peppers and yellow peppers to the stir fry?
     
  2. Don't you have to blanch the broccoli because 3 minutes of cooking won't make it tender?
     
  3. Hi, Is there an ingredient I can substitute for the corn starch? Thanks in advance!
     
  4. Is there an ingredient that I can substitute for ginger?
     
  5. If a LB of beef has 108 grams of protein how can 1 out of 4 servings have only 3.5 grams per serving. Each serving should have 27 grams per serving.
     
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Reviews

  1. This recipe easily rivals the beef & broccoli found at ANY local Chinese restaurant. So delicious, but I made a few minor changes: I used 2 minced garlic cloves in addition to garlic powder, minced fresh ginger rather than ground, and I added sesame oil. I also let the beef (I used thin sirloin steaks) marinate for about 30 mins. before cooking. This is so delicious - can't wait to try it next w/ chicken and/or shrimp.
     
  2. Excellent...finally a recipe for beef and broccoli that is great!!! Only thing I did differently was skip the dredging of the beef in cornstarch/water/garlic powder. Only because I felt my round steak strips needed marinating, I made the sauce mixture and marinated the steak strips in it for a few hours. Made a huge difference. Then proceeded with the cooking process as described. Also, added 2 garlic cloves minced and 1/4 tsp of crushed red peppers to the sauce as suggested by others. Outstanding recipe, thanks for sharing....still saying "yummy"!
     
  3. I've made this twice, the only changes were using chicken and doubling the sauce, and my whole family loves it! That's quite an accomplishment in this house! Thanks so much for the recipe!
     
  4. I am not a very good cook. Baking, I'm super comfortable with but cooking? Not so much. So when I was determined to make my boyfriend (who is an excellent cook) dinner for him when he came home from work, I knew I needed to find a good recipe. This is it!!<br/><br/>I marinated the beef like a lot of people before me did and cooked up a bunch of pasta noodles instead of rice but it turned out SO amazing! My boyfriend not only had seconds but ate it for lunch at work the next day! This recipe gave me the courage to try cooking more. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
     
  5. I would give this 6 stars if I could. I made this for myself, my husband and my mother for dinner and made the kids fish sticks. The kids tried it and it all went. I use 1 1/2 lbs of chicken and doubled the sauce. Everyone couldn't get enough. This is rare at my house, there is always a complaint at dinner time that someone doesn't like the meal. Not this time!! This recipe is a keeper. Very simple to prepare and I would imagine leftovers would be just as good...if we had any!! Next time I will try with beef.<br/><br/>My youngest thought I bought it from a Chinese restaurant and reheated it.
     
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Tweaks

  1. This was really good and so easy to make. The only thing I did differently was to velvet the beef, which made it totally awesome. I think the recipe was already, kind of trying to velvet the beef but didn't velvet fully. Here is how to velvet any meat to get most tender meat in stir fry. It is what gives chinese take out that extra something. Most importantly cut your beef on the grain. Combine a beaten egg white til frothy, 1 tablespoon chinese rice wine, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon salt. Pour egg white mixture over the meat in a zip loc bag, make sure every piece of meat is covered with egg white mixture. Let it marinade for 30 minutes. Remove meat. In a wok or pan bring about 2 inches of water and tables of oil to a boil. turn it down to medium low, add meat, stir to keep seperated, gentley simmer for bout a minute, meat will not be fully cooked, remove from water to a colander so that meat dries completely, excess moisture in meat effects quality of stir fry. The rest of recipe i followed exactly as it was delicious.
     
  2. We did double the sauce and added garlic and ginger paste. Don't double the brown sugar; it makes the sauce too sweet.
     
  3. Great recipe. I'm definitely difficult to please when it comes to these types of dishes and dare I say, I can never buy beef and broccoli take out again! The only thing I tweaked was: I used fresh ginger instead of the powder and added three cloves of minced, fresh garlic when frying the onions and broccoli. I also added some sesame oil to toss near the end for that really authentic, Chinese touch!
     
  4. Sauteed in sesame oil instead of vegetable, doubled the sauce, marinated meat 3 hours in soy sauce.
     
  5. Added water chestnuts and mushrooms. Didnt do the meat either. Turned out amazing!
     
    • Review photo by Denise D.

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>I live in the Kansas City area and have many hobbies including cooking, reading and spending time with my husband and two children who are very active in sports now. I also have an eBay business which is a fun hobby that makes a little extra money! My interest in cooking focuses on making healthy dishes that are more satisfying than the higher fat and higher sugar versions. If I had a month off with no responsibilities, I would spend it at a luxury spa. <br /> <br /></p>
 
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