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:
Beef and Broccoli
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This easy beef and broccoli stir-fry features tender steak, crisp broccoli, and a bold, garlicky sauce — all ready in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
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!
Notes
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.
Recipe updates. This recipe was updated in 2025.
Is it necessary to velvet the beef or can I marinate overnight instead, and will it turn out tender like in the restaurant? If need to velvet first, what is the best method?
Nope, no need to velvet the beef unless you’d like to. Mine turned out plenty tender! :)
On a whim, I searched for broccoli supper ideas (to get rid of a giant Costco bag of florets) and this popped up. The “this is BETTER than a restaurant” line is what convinced me to try it. We JUST finished it off and it didn’t disappoint!!! I have you bookmarked and will be returning for more. Nothing says success like having to turn a forlorn looking adult male away from the kitchen because there isn’t any food left for a 3rd helping! Hah! Thank you so much for posting!
Thanks for sharing, Rebecca — we’re so happy you enjoyed it! :)
Really good beef n broccoli and really cute story! I appreciate you didn’t include brown sugar like most do….I doubled the recipe so I didn’t have to decrease the water but added a pinch more cornstarch but this sauce should not be thick. I complemented this dish with brown rice and Japanese noodles because…just cause. DELISH!
We’re so happy you liked it, Kiana! :D
Love Marcus’s suggestion to steam the broccoli. We have an awesome rice cooker that allows you to steam veggies at the same time–so convenient! The veggies turn out perfect, never soggy or mushy. Then if needed, I can toss them in my recipe, or serve them as is. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thanks Ashley — we hope you enjoy this! :)
Made this last night and it was very good. The only thing I would do differently is use half of the water called for in the sauce. It seemed to be too much and the sauce never really thickened despite the cornstarch. But the flavor was excellent and I liked the idea of blanching the vegetables and marinating the meat before putting in the wok. It really helped get the textures of those items right. Another solid recipe Ali thank you!
Thanks for sharing with us Rachel — we’re happy you enjoyed it!
Was very tasty I will definitely make this again.
Same, I just made it, it is very good, but I had to add more cornstarch to thicken it, just was a little too loose, but the flavor was really excellent. Easy fix.
Oooh this was sooooo good! I added water chestnuts because my family loves them. But yum!!!
Thanks!
Thank you Cynthia — we’re glad you and your family enjoyed this!
Simply delicious
Um, yes. Just yes. This is the perfect to satisfy my (very frequent) Chinese cravings! YUM!
Thank you Karly — we hope you enjoy this!
Always always always ALWAYS steam your broccoli… always. velveting the beef is the best way to go with your beef. Slice it thin against the grain so the meat stays tender, and never go higher than med-med/high on the heat
We appreciate your feedback Marcus!
Looks delicious! Can this be made with out peanut oil? Some of my family is allegric to nuts. Thanks!
Thanks Zahra — we hope you enjoy it! And you can totally use a different oil — in this case, we’d suggest coconut, grapeseed, or vegetable oil.