If you’re craving a comforting Chinese-American classic, look no further than this Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry. This dish is bursting with flavour, featuring tender beef, crisp broccoli, and a savoury sauce that brings it all together. With a bit of technique and the right ingredients, you can easily recreate this favourite stir-fry in your own kitchen. No need for a takeaway when you can make this dish at home in just 40 minutes, and it’s far healthier, more satisfying, and bursting with fresh ingredients.
The balance of textures from the tender beef and crunchy broccoli, combined with the rich sauce, will have you coming back for seconds. Plus, it’s a fantastic way to get your daily dose of greens while still indulging in a delicious and hearty meal. Whether you’re preparing it for a weeknight dinner or a weekend treat, this Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry is sure to be a hit!
Table of Contents
- Ingredient Breakdown
- Velveting: Why It Makes All the Difference
- How to Stir-Fry Like a Pro
- Serving Suggestions
- Customise Your Stir-Fry
- More Stir Fry Recipes
Ingredient Breakdown
- Skirt steak: A cut of beef perfect for stir-fries due to its tenderness when sliced thinly.
- Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda): Used to velvet the beef, making it incredibly tender.
- Corn flour (cornstarch): Thickens the sauce, giving it that glossy, velvety finish.
- Light soy sauce: Adds salty, umami depth to the sauce.
- Oyster sauce: Brings a sweet and salty note to balance the flavours.
- Shaoxing wine: A Chinese rice wine that adds a deep, aromatic flavour to the sauce.
- Garlic paste: Offers a rich garlic flavour with a smooth consistency.
- Ginger paste: Brings a subtle, warm heat to the sauce.
- Sugar: Adds a touch of sweetness to balance the savoury elements of the sauce.
- Broccoli florets: Provide a vibrant, crunchy contrast to the tender beef.
- Vegetable oil: Used for stir-frying and ensuring everything cooks evenly.
- Water: Used to create the perfect sauce consistency.
Velveting: Why It Makes All the Difference
One of the key techniques in this Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry is velveting the beef. Velveting is a Chinese cooking method that tenderises meat, giving it that melt-in-your-mouth texture often found in restaurant-style stir-fries. The process involves coating the beef in bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and allowing it to sit for 30 minutes. This step makes the beef incredibly soft without overcooking or making it chewy.
Velveting is essential for achieving the characteristic tenderness that makes Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry a favourite dish. The beef absorbs the baking soda, which breaks down the proteins, leaving you with juicy, tender slices of meat. After rinsing off the bicarbonate of soda, the beef takes on a vibrant reddish colour. This is perfectly normal, and it ensures the texture stays tender and velvety.
How to Stir-Fry Like a Pro
Stir-frying is a fast cooking technique that requires high heat, so it’s essential to have everything prepped before you start. Once the beef is velvetted and the sauce is ready, the cooking process is quick. Begin by heating a splash of vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok over high heat. Add the beef in a single layer and leave it undisturbed for about a minute to get some browning.
Stir-fry the beef until it’s no longer pink, but be careful not to overcook it. Once the beef is cooked, add the sauce, and let it simmer. The sauce should begin to bubble and thicken, creating a beautiful glaze. Then, add the pre-blanched broccoli and stir everything to coat in the sauce. The broccoli should be bright green and slightly tender, but still crisp – a perfect contrast to the tender beef.
The final result is a dish that’s not only full of flavour but also boasts different textures: tender beef, crunchy broccoli, and a luscious sauce that ties it all together.
Serving Suggestions
Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry is delicious on its own, but it’s often served with rice to complete the meal. For a traditional pairing, serve this stir-fry with steamed white rice. The rice soaks up the rich sauce, providing a neutral base that complements the bold flavours of the beef.
Alternatively, you can pair the stir-fry with noodles for a more filling dish. Egg noodles or rice noodles work particularly well, absorbing the sauce beautifully and providing an extra layer of texture to the meal.
Customise Your Stir-Fry
One of the standout features of Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry is its versatility. While the traditional recipe uses broccoli, beef, and a simple stir-fry sauce, you can easily customise the dish with other vegetables or proteins.
Feel free to add colourful bell peppers, snap peas, or mushrooms for additional texture and flavour. You can also swap out the beef for other meats such as chicken, pork, or even tofu if you prefer a plant-based meal. If you’d like to add more heat, a dash of chilli paste or fresh red chillies can be incorporated into the sauce.
The great thing about stir-frying is that you can adjust it based on what’s in season or what you have in your kitchen, making this dish perfect for experimentation. The sauce can also be tweaked to your taste. Add a bit more sugar for sweetness, soy sauce for saltiness, or ginger for a sharper bite. With Beef and Broccoli, the possibilities are endless.
More Stir Fry Recipes
If you’re looking for more flavour-packed meals that come together in no time, just like this Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry, why not try out some of these?
- Sticky Brussels Sprouts Stir Fry: This dish proves that Brussels sprouts are far more than a side dish for Christmas dinner. Roasted until golden and tossed in a rich, umami-packed hoisin glaze, these sprouts will convert even the most sceptical eaters.
- Cashew Chicken Stir Fry: This takeaway inspired classic is packed with tons of flavour and comes together in less than 15 minutes! It combines succulent chicken pieces, roasted cashews and crisp vegetables tossed in a delicious, moreish sauce.
- Teriyaki Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry: Bursting with delicious flavours, tender beef and crisp vegetables, this tasty stir-fry is sure to be a hit with friends and family.
See how I make these recipes and more over on my Instagram!
Beef and Broccoli
Ditch the takeaway and whip up this Chinese-American classic. Bursting with delicious flavours, tender beef and crisp broccoli, this saucy stir-fry is sure to be a hit with friends and family! Serve with steamed rice or, for a low carb option, try cauliflower rice.
The secret to making a Chinese restaurant-style stir-fry at home is velveting. Velveting is a technique used in Chinese cooking to tenderise meat. There are different variations. The method I’ve used in this recipe consists of tossing the beef in baking soda and letting it sit for 30 minutes. It makes the beef incredibly tender, just like it is in your favourite Chinese takeaway. It’s a game changer!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
- Category: Meat
Ingredients
- 600 g skirt steak (or fillet or rump)
- 2 tsps bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 3½ tbsps corn flour (cornstarch)
- 6 tbsps water
- 2 tbsps light soy sauce
- 2 tbsps oyster sauce
- 2 tbsps Shaoxing wine
- 2 tsps garlic paste
- 2 tsps ginger paste
- 2 tsps sugar
- 500 g broccoli florets
- vegetable oil
- 400 ml water
Instructions
- Slice the beef into ½ cm-thick slices. Place the beef slices in a bowl. Add the bicarbonate of soda and toss to coat. Let sit 30 minutes. This technique is called velveting – it tenderises the beef, giving it the soft, velvety texture you find in many Chinese restaurant stir-fry dishes.
- While the beef is velveting, make the sauce: place the corn flour in a bowl. Add the water and mix until smooth. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Use the remaining velveting time to blanch the broccoli florets: bring a pot of water to the boil. Add the broccoli. When the water comes back up to a boil, cook for 1 minute then drain. The residual heat will continue to cook the broccoli while it sits in the sieve.
- Rinse the beef and pat dry with kitchen towel. You’ll notice that it’s now a vibrant reddish colour – don’t be alarmed, this should happen.
- Now it’s time to get stir-frying. Heat a splash of vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok over high heat.
- Add the beef and spread out in a single layer. Leave it undisturbed for 1 minute, to get some browning, then stir-fry until no longer pink.
- Give the sauce a quick whisk to re-incorporate the corn flour. Add the sauce and water and stir to combine.
- When the sauce starts bubbling, add the drained broccoli and stir to coat. Simmer for 1 minute, or until the sauce is thickened. Taste and season with salt, if necessary.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Serve with steamed rice or, for a low carb option, try cauliflower rice.
