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……
Is rib eye steak good to make Chinese broccoli beef
Yes, very VERY good 🙂 N x
Just made the beef and broccoli. Smashing recipe. Love it. Made the sesami chicken the other day. Equally as good. Thank you Nagi. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Made this last night and it tasted better than any Chinese restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. Delicious!!!!! Thank you very much. So far everything I’ve made since I’ve found your site is amazing. Only thing I did differently was I use corn starch in the meat to keep it tender. Last week I made boneless pork ribs in gravy and used corn starch. I just rub into meat. The pork was so tender just like the beef in this recipe. Thank you for sharing another winning dish!
I’m so glad you loved it Kim, that’s wonderful to hear!
I’m eating this right now, and it is delicious! Made it as is, but added a chopped thai chili to the sauce, because everything is better with thai chili!
I love a bit of chilli, sounds great Corrie!
Hi Nagi, I have made this recipe several times now and just love it. I am making it this weekend for a friend. She is allergic to sesame (which is optional in the recipe) I love the flavour the sesame oil gives so I was wondering if I could sub peanut oil for it? If not, no worries I will just leave it out. Thanks for all your amazing recipes 😊😊
Hi Catherine, nothing really comes close to sesame oil unfortunately so I’d just leave it out – N x
Thanks Nagi. I am sure it will still be delicious x
Yum! We ate this tonight! The velveting method with baking soda is such a game changer! I love it! Thank you!
I’m so happy you loved it LS!
You make me look like a star,Nagi. Great recipe (aren’t they all)? 😂😂. Thanks for another great dinner. xxxooo
Made it tonight… the I-got-nothing-to-cook-with night! Thawed out some pre-diced scotch fillet and followed the rest of your recipe. Cooked in mins, ate it on its own, not even with rice!
That’s awesome Dors!
I made mine more American by doubling the recipe, using regular soy sauce only, oyster sauce, fish sauce; then grape juice instead of wine and no sugar. Finally to sweeten it enough instead of sugar I added just enough of Mr. Yoshida sauce. Perfect balance for my family. I love your technique for tenderizing meat without msg (ugh) but rather baking soda. Thanks for a great recipe, I love your site!
I’m so glad it worked out for you Kathy!
Made this a few nights ago! Used rump (& tenderized).. I fell in love!! Made your fried rice to serve with it! Perfect combination!
Wooo! That’s great!!
So, I made this before and it was awesome. Went here to do it again, and I always print a hard copy so I can take it with me to the stove — and usually there is an icon that says “print” Right now, it’s just a faded out gray. I took a chance that the gray spot was the printer icon,, and it worked.
Hi Connie, what browser are you using, there is a big “print” button under the number of servings. – N x
Great recipe! Easy to put together and of course love the fresh green veggies. I added some green onions at the end.
How can I make it saucier?
Hi Agill, you could always increase the ingredients using the serving slider to add more sauce (just keep the beef the same amount) – N x
Arigatou for such a fantastic recipe, Nagi-chan from the beautiful shores of the Puget Sound in Washington state, USA! 🙂 Totemo oishikatta dayo!! 🙂 <3
😂 Thanks so much Martin!
YUMMO!!!! Thanks again Nagi!
Beef was soooo juicy and tender.
I’d share with Dozer – but i added loads of chilli 🙂
Oh so good to hear Mish!!
Love this with chicken, yum! Doser is like any other man, meat over the VEGES. Send us some of your rain please. Having very dry season.
Yes definitely just like a man!! And you can have all the rain Vera – I’ve had enough of it!
I tried this with boneless chicken (thigh + drumstick) and it turned out great! What would the calorie count be like, with chicken instead of beef?
Hi Bernie, the only way I could estimate is if you can tell me the weight of the thigh and drumsticks used ❤️
Delicious,
Thank you so much for sharing excellent recipes 😘
You’re so welcome Meidy!
Made this for my family. Its sooooo good. My kids said it was like eating in a chinese resto. Thanks for sharing this. especially the tip for really tender beef. this is another winner 🙂
You’ll never need to eat out again! ❤️
I love this recipe however I am not sure about the amount of water. I added 240 ml of water, It tastend to me as it was maybe a bit too much. Next time I wil use less water.. Greeting, Frank (the Netherlands)
Hi Frank, yes I like my stir-fry to be saucy so I add 250ml of water ☺️
I tried this last night. It was great! I have another recipe for Broccoli Beef, but it was just good–not Excellent like yours. The 5 Spice made all the difference. (I didn’t bother to par-boil the broccoli. I just put it in the microwave with a bit of water for a minute.) Thanks for a great food blog with Great recipes!