Tender, juicy beef and broccoli smothered in a special glossy sauce. Who needs to order takeout when you have a Beef and Broccoli recipe sourced from a Chinese restaurant?
Copycat Chinese takeout recipes are a firm favourite in my world, with recipes like Chow Mein, Cashew Chicken, Fried Rice and Egg Foo Young on heavy rotation along with this Beef and Broccoli. For a full Chinese banquet, start with an appetiser of Spring Rolls or Potstickers. And don’t miss Chicken and Broccoli stir fry!
Beef and broccoli recipe
I’ve attempted on several occasions to wheedle recipes out of my local Chinese restaurant – with little to no success.
I’m beyond the age of hair flipping and lack the lashes for batting my eyes to any effect, but I do dial up the charm – full wattage smile, laying on the compliments, hitting them up after I’ve ordered a truckload of takeout.
Alas, I’ve gotten nowhere.
So imagine my delight when I discovered a Chinese cooking blog called Woks of Life run by a Chinese-American family who used to own a Chinese restaurant! And that’s where the base for this recipe came from – the Woks of Life Beef and Broccoli stir fry. An actual real-deal restaurant recipe!!
Beef and Broccoli Sauce
The sauce base for Chinese Beef and Broccoli is extremely simple. They key here is the right ratios:
soy sauce;
Chinese cooking wine OR Mirin (see recipe for subs);
sugar;
cornflour/cornstarch for thickening; and
Chinese Five Spice Powder – a hint of this is the signature flavour in Beef and Broccoli!
What is Chinese Five Spice powder?
It’s a spice mix made up of (surprise, surprise?) five spices – cinnamon, cloves, Szechuan pepper, fennel and star anise. It’s a common spice blend found in supermarkets nowadays that doesn’t cost any more than other standard spices.
The Sauce serves a dual purpose – as the main Sauce for the stir fry, as well as adding a little flavour directly to the beef. It doesn’t need to be marinated, just set it aside while you prep the other ingredients.
Best beef for stir fries
In the video and the photos of the finished dish in this post, I’ve used an economy beef eye fillet (Australia – Harris Farms sells it for $20/kg) which is beautifully juicy and tender, perfect for stir fries.
Any quick cooking cut of beef is suited to this recipe. Basically, the rule of thumb is: if you’d throw it on the BBQ and eat it as a steak, it’s great for stir fries.
But you can also make a Beef and Broccoli with economical beef – even stewing cuts (!!) – by using a little known Chinese restaurant secret method to tenderise beef using baking soda. It’s simple, highly effective and will make your beef incredibly tender in every stir fry – just like you cheerful local Chinese restaurant!
Beef and Broccoli – not authentic, and that’s ok!
I haven’t travelled extensively throughout China but in the time I did spend there, I can say with certainty that I never saw Beef Broccoli on any menu. Broccoli is actually very expensive in China!
So I’m pretty sure Beef and Broccoli is a westernised version of a Chinese dish, or just a Western Chinese dish.
Either way, it’s a big Chinese takeout favourite – with good reason. Tender beef with juicy broccoli generously smothered with a savoury Chinese brown sauce with the signature hint of Chinese Five Spice Powder, this is one of those dishes that’s a crowd pleaser for all ages!
Try the noodle version one day – Beef Broccoli Noodles. It’s everything you know and love about Beef and Broccoli – with noodles! – Nagi x
PS Update – also try the new Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry. Extra saucy!
More Chinese Takeout Favourites
Spring Rolls – better than egg rolls!
Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
See all Chinese Takeout Recipes
PS Plenty of sauce – see? Because everyone loves the sauce!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sometimes it helps to have a visual, so watch me make this Beef Broccoli recipe!
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Chinese Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
Sauce
- 2 tbsp cornstarch / cornflour
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) (Note 2)
- 1/8 tsp Chinese five spice powder (Note 3)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
- 1/8 tsp tsp black pepper
Stir Fry
- 2 tbsp oil
- 12 oz / 360g beef fillet, flank or rump (Note 4 for tenderising option)
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 4 – 5 cups broccoli florets (1 head), cooked (Note 5)
- 1 cup water
Serving:
- Sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Place cornflour and water in bowl then mix. Add remaining Sauce ingredients.
- Slice the beef into 1/4″ / 0.5cm thick slices. Place the beef and 2 tbsp of the Sauce into a bowl and set aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add beef and spread out, leave for 1 minute until browned.
- Stir beef for 10 seconds, then add garlic and ginger. Stir for another 30 seconds or until beef is no longer pink.
- Pour Sauce and water into the skillet and quickly mix.
- When the sauce starts bubbling, add broccoli. Stir to coat the broccoli in Sauce, then let it simmer for 1 minute or until Sauce is thickened.
- Remove from heat immediately and serve over rice. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Originally published March 2015, updated with new photos, new words, slightly more streamlined recipe and a recipe video!Nutrition Information:
Beef and Broccoli recipe original published March 2015, updated 2018 with new photos, new words, slightly more streamlined recipe and a recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
He’ll take the beef over the broccoli……
Looks delicious! This sounds perfect for the busy weeknight meal. I saved it for later. By the way, I’m hooked on your blog lately. 🙂 Love all of your recipes!
Thank you so much Sue! And HI! I’m about to pop over to your blog and have a scout around. I am totally crushing on Korean food. David Chang is a my foodie crush!! 🙂
Mmm, I love the extra saucy part of this recipe. 🙂 The sauce was always my favorite part of this dish. 🙂
SAME HERE!! I love to soak the rice! 🙂
Oh, this looks so good Nagi – just heading over The Works of Life – thanks for the link!
Yes! Do Rach! You will love their blog 🙂
I love the amount of sauce you have with this recipe. I hate it when recipes skimp on the sauce. To me rice was made for soaking up surplus sauce.
I know, right?? Gotta have extra sauce!! I often double the sauce with stir fry recipes :0 Not authentic, but I need the sauce!
This was the first dish I ever ate at a Chinese restaurant. Now being from Maine, I will admit that I should say Chinese really fast. There was ONE Chinese family in our region and they owned the restaurant. The food was heavily Americanised.
This looks fantastic, Nagi!!
Thanks Maureen! I remember going to a Chinese restaurant in Cooma 15 years ago. It was the only Asian in town and they covered pretty much every Asian cuisine, from Thai to chinese to Indian. The chinese was questionable….the stir fry I had tasted more like tomato sauce than anything else!
Delicious! Love the beautiful reflections on the beef slices, especially in the first photo.
Ha! I feel like I was praised by my teacher!! 🙂
I love Chinese Beef & Broccoli! And so you know, YOU are one of my “go-to” food blogs. Of all time. For everything. 🙂 x
Well that is just about the most flattering compliment I’ve ever received! Thank you Gloria! I am so honoured and SO happy that you enjoy my recipes 🙂 You will love this one. The blog I got the recipe from – Woks of Life – shares AWESOME Chinese recipes. And this is one from when they ran a restaurant!!
This really looks good , there was a time in my life when this was the only way I could eat broccoli. I have tried several broccoli and beef recipes . Will Absolutely give this a go. Thanks for sharing!!!
He he! I can’t imagine you being picky about eating something like broccoli!! 🙂
I love your recipes, but isn’t there some way you can set “things” up so that only the recipe is printed not ALL the other stuff?
Hi Pat! If you go down to the recipe, there is a Print button under the thumbnail photo. If you click that, it will print just the recipe, nice and clean. Glad you enjoy my recipes! And I hope that helps! 🙂
Ah, Nagi, this is my favorite recipe for Chinese takeaway! No need for the trip now 🙂 and I LoVE, LOVE your smooth, velvety sauce 🙂
Oh thank you Oana!! It’s one of my favourites too 🙂 And the sauce is really smooth!! All credit goes to Woks of Life for this awesome recipe!
Ah one of my favorites! and I totally agree, I’ve never seen Beef and Broccoli on the menu in Beijing. 🙂 Thanks for this super easy recipe.
Oh phew, I did wonder whether it was just me who never came across it in China! Glad to hear you haven’t seen it either 🙂
The beloved beef and broccoli! Great post Nagi! And thanks for the shout-out! 😀 The Leung family is such a creative family who knows exactly what people crave and come up with the most amazing recipes and other post ideas! I can never stop saying good things about them! They’re just very passionate people!
I am obsessed with their website!! They share the most amazing food. And I really love that it’s a family food blog!! 🙂