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This Chinese-inspired beef and broccoli stir-fry features tender steak, crisp broccoli, and a bold, garlicky sauce — all ready in just 30 minutes.
This beef and broccoli stir-fry has been on repeat in our kitchen for years. ♡
It’s fast, easy, and packed with bold, savory flavors that always hit the spot. The stir-fry sauce is anything but boring — perfectly balanced with rich, garlicky, gingery, slightly sweet notes. The steak turns out perfectly tender, and the broccoli stays just the right amount of crisp. Best of all, everything comes together in one pan in about 30 minutes, making it perfect for busy weeknights.
We love serving it over rice (or my favorite fried rice), noodles, or tucked into lettuce wraps for a lighter twist. However you dish it up, this beef and broccoli recipe is always a winner!
Recipe Tips
Step-by-step instructions are included in the recipe below, but here are a few extra tips to keep in mind:
Slice the beef against the grain. This is an essential step to make each bite of steak more tender.
Partially freeze your flank steak before slicing. If you have the time, popping the steak in the freezer for 20–30 minutes before slicing will make it much easier to cut.
Don’t skip the baking soda in the marinade. It helps tenderize the beef and gives it that signature silky texture.
Use high heat for the stir-fry. A hot pan will ensure a good sear on the beef and help keep the broccoli nice and crisp.
Stir-fry in batches if needed. If your pan is small, cook the beef in two rounds to avoid overcrowding and steaming
Recipe Variations
Here are a few variations that you’re welcome to try with this recipe:
Swap the beef. Try thinly sliced chicken, pork, tofu or shrimp for a different protein.
Add more veggies. Bell peppers, snap peas, mushrooms, or carrots would all work well here.
Make it spicy. Stir in some chili garlic sauce or a pinch of red pepper flakes to amp up the heat.
Make it gluten-free. Use tamari or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and double-check that your oyster sauce is gf.
Add noodles. Serve the stir-fry over lo mein, udon, or rice noodles instead of rice.
More Favorite Stir-Fry Recipes To Try!
Looking for more simple Chinese-inspired stir-fry recipes to try? Here are a few of our favorites:
This easy beef and broccoli stir-fry features tender steak, crisp broccoli, and a bold, garlicky sauce — all ready in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Scale
Marinade:
1 pound flank steak
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon neutral oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Sauce:
1/2 cup beef stock
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine*
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Stir-Fry:
2 tablespoons neutral oil
1 (12-ounce) bag broccoli florets
4 scallions, sliced into 2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon grated or minced fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
Marinate the steak.Thinly slice the steak against the grain into bite-sized pieces. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, oil, soy sauce and baking soda until combined. Add the steak and toss to coat. Set the bowl aside and let the steak marinate for at least 10 minutes (or up to 30 minutes).
Prepare the sauce.In a separate bowl, whisk all of the sauce ingredients together until combined.
Stir-fry the broccoli.Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to a large sauté pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes or until crisp tender. Transfer the broccoli to a clean plate and set aside.
Stir-fry the beef.Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the beef in as even a layer as possible. Cook undisturbed for about 1 minute or until the bottom side has caramelized. Flip the beef, add in the ginger and garlic, and cook for 1-2 more minutes, stirring and flipping the mixture as needed, until the beef is nearly cooked through to your liking. (It will continue to cook slightly more in the sauce.)
Combine.Carefully add the broccoli, scallions and sauce to the pan (be careful, the liquid may sputter!) and toss everything until evenly combined. Continue cooking for 30-60 seconds or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil until combined.
Season.Taste and season with additional soy sauce if needed.
Serve.Serve warm over rice (or fried rice) and enjoy!
Shaoxing wine. This traditional Chinese rice wine — with its complex, savory depth of flavor — adds so much to this dish. If you don’t have a bottle in your pantry, however, you can substitute rice wine or a dry sherry in its place.
Superb! In addition to broccoli, used onion, carrot, and red pepper. And a few shots of sriracha. Sauce was ample and on the thin side – not complaining as dislike too much thickener.
Sounds like a solid recipe . . . yummo. I will add tho’ if you don’t want to used baking soda to tenderise beef use a pulped up 1/2 fresh kiwi fruit will do the trick and adds a very subtle flavor profile to
Followed recipe exactly as written. Simply delicious.
Superb! In addition to broccoli, used onion, carrot, and red pepper. And a few shots of sriracha. Sauce was ample and on the thin side – not complaining as dislike too much thickener.
Made it for dinner tonight, wish I had leftovers but it was devoured! Excellent recipe!!! Thank you!
The flavors in this are spot-on. Just delicious!
Sounds like a solid recipe . . . yummo. I will add tho’ if you don’t want to used baking soda to tenderise beef use a pulped up 1/2 fresh kiwi fruit will do the trick and adds a very subtle flavor profile to