Description
Quick and easy Chinese Beef and Broccoli stir fry with tender beef, crisp broccoli, and a savory garlic-ginger sauce. This restaurant-quality dish takes just 20 minutes and tastes better than takeout. Perfect for busy weeknights!
Ingredients
Sauce
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2 tablespoons cornstarch
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¼ cup water
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1 teaspoon sugar
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1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
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1½ tablespoons light soy sauce
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1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine)
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⅛ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
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1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
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⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Stir Fry
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2 tablespoons neutral oil (vegetable or canola)
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12 oz beef (flank, rump, or sirloin), thinly sliced
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1 garlic clove, finely chopped
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1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
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4–5 cups broccoli florets (about 1 head)
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1 cup water
For Serving
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Steamed rice
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Sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
Grab whatever bowl you want, size doesn’t really matter here. Dump in your cornstarch and water and whisk it aggressively until there’s absolutely zero lumps. I’m serious about the no lumps thing because one time I was lazy about it and ended up with these weird gloppy bits in my sauce that looked unappetizing. My son poked one with his fork and was like “mom what IS that.” Not my finest moment. I use a fork to whisk sometimes when I’m too lazy to dig the whisk out of the drawer.
Alright buckle up because this is where I screwed up repeatedly and I really wish someone had sat me down and explained this properly way back when. Your beef has these lines running through it. They’re muscle fibers. You absolutely have to cut ACROSS those lines. Perpendicular. Like imagine the lines are going this way, your knife needs to go that way. Not with them, not at some random diagonal, straight across.
This is the exciting part but also slightly terrifying if you’re not used to high heat cooking. Turn your burner all the way to high. Not medium-high, HIGH. Let that pan get screaming hot. You should see little wisps of smoke coming off it. My smoke detector has gone off twice from this, which was annoying both times, but that’s genuinely how hot it needs to be. Open a window if you have to.
Pour in your oil and swirl it around so the whole bottom of the pan is coated. Wait till it shimmers and looks kind of wavy. Then dump in your beef and spread it out in one layer. This next part is psychological torture—don’t touch it. Don’t stir it. Don’t poke it with your spatula. Just let it sit there for a full minute getting that gorgeous brown crust.
Throw in your chopped garlic and ginger and NOW you stir constantly. Like don’t stop stirring for the next 30 seconds. Your kitchen’s gonna smell so good right now that your family will magically appear asking when dinner’s ready. My kids can be upstairs with headphones on playing video games and somehow still smell this and come running down.
Pour in all the sauce you made plus the cup of water. First time I made this I was like “why am I adding water, this seems counterintuitive” but I promise it works. The water helps steam the broccoli so it cooks evenly and also keeps your sauce from getting too thick too quickly. Then pile in all your broccoli florets and give everything a big stir so it’s all coated.
Let everything bubble together for about a minute, maybe a minute and a half depending on how big you cut your broccoli. Keep stirring it every 10 seconds or so. You’ll literally watch the sauce go from thin and liquidy to thick and glossy. It’s honestly super satisfying to watch. The broccoli turns this vibrant bright green that looks so much better than takeout broccoli.
Take it off the heat immediately. Don’t let it sit there on the burner even if the heat’s off because the pan’s still hot and it’ll keep cooking. I learned this when I got distracted answering the door and came back to sauce that was so thick it was basically paste. Had to add like half a cup of water to fix it.
Spoon it over rice—I always start rice in my rice cooker before I even start prepping everything else so it’s done right when I need it. If you want to look fancy, sprinkle sesame seeds on top. First time I made this for my in-laws I went full restaurant mode with the sesame seeds and sliced green onions on top. My father-in-law legit asked if I ordered it and was just pretending I made it. I was like “no I actually made this!” He didn’t believe me until my husband confirmed it.
Notes
Never walk away from your wok once you start cooking—stir-frying moves FAST. Have everything prepped, measured, and ready to go before you even turn on the stove. I learned this the hard way when I burned my garlic while frantically chopping broccoli! If your sauce thickens too much, just splash in a little water and stir. Too thin? Let it bubble for another 30 seconds.
Here’s a game-changer for bright green broccoli: blanch those florets in boiling water for 40-60 seconds before you add them to the pan. Drain them super well, then toss them in. Your broccoli will be perfectly tender and stay that gorgeous green color. The biggest mistake I see people make is overcrowding the pan—give your beef some space or it’ll steam instead of getting that beautiful sear. Cook in batches if you need to!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stir Fry
- Cuisine: Chinese-American