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……
Wow… I am slightly addicted to your recipes & I have made quite a few for my (Greek) Chinese food loving husband (&me)😃.
Another beautiful recipe.
Really lovely, Thanks Nagi. So simple yet very flavoursome!
Cathy x
Thank you Cathy! I’m so glad you are both enjoying my recipes! N x
Made this tonight. Can’t wait to try it again when I have the time to cook it from start to finish as per instructions. That said I had quality stew meat that I cut into sm. thin strips, only reg. soy sauce and no wine. But this is what I think of as Beef and Broccoli. My husband is not much into Chinese. He said he didn’t care what kind of food it was, he loved the gravy and broccoli. Please note he does eat broccoli, but doesn’t usually much care for it. Next time I will use a better cut of beef and follow directions to a T. Thanks so much for the recipe!
I’m so thrilled to hear that Sue!! Glad he enjoyed it – N x
Hello! I really want to make this tonight but could not find any 5 Chinese spices .can it be made without it?
Hi Amanda! It will still be tasty but just missing that hint of flavour 🙂 Definitely still worth making – I would!
Thanks for this..this really is my fave..looking forward for more scrumptuous recipe that i can prepare for my fam.
That’s terrific to hear Ara! So glad you enjoyed this, thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
thanks for this recipe, my husband enjoyed it very much. ( I don’t eat beef).
That’s so great to hear Jen! Your lucky hubby 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
I made this for dinner last night. I made the bottle of sauce that goes with it. My family loved it they were fighting over the left overs. I love the web site it is fantastic. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it Marlene, thanks for letting me know! N xx
Not sure why my sauce didn’t clear like yours. It stayed milky.
Hi Mike! It starts of milky because of the cornflour but when it starts thickening as you heat it, it becomes clear. 🙂 N x
Made tonight and it was great will be making again. Thanks
Fantastic! So pleased to hear you enjoyed it Terry, thanks for letting me know! N xx
This was really tasty and really easy to make… Thank you!!! I have wanted to try to make these kind of recipes at home and this recipe has made it where I can and it tastes REALLY good!!! Thank you I will be making this ALOT more now that I know that I can!!! Thank You Nagi!!!
That’s so Mishelle! Thank you for taking the time to come back to let me know! N xx
Very good! Thanks for the recipe, i’ll do it again 🙂
Great to hear Marie-Lou! Thank you for coming back to let me know! N xx
Hi, I was wondering what to substitute for broccoli – my daughter says broccoli is too bitter to eat! Do you think bok choy would work? Thanks for your website. I love your recipes.
Hi Susan! Yes, any Chinese greens will work a treat with this. 🙂 Thank you for the compliment, I’m glad you’re enjoying my recipes! N x
Greetings from the UK, I made this with some left over pork, absolutely amazing flavours, added some green chillis as well to spice it up a bit, delicious.
I’ve only just found your website and I must say your recipes are wonderful and i’m really enjoying trying new recipes, keep up the good work Nagi.
Thanks for trying my recipe Ian, so glad you enjoyed it and that it was great with pork! N x
Could you share your recipe for sweet and sour sauce using Charlie. Also I believe you had mentioned that you were coming out with a new recipe book where these different sauces would be found. Will this recipe book be available in Manitoba, Canada. Thank-you.
Hi Shirley – it’s on the cards!!! I will share the sweet and sour using Charlie when I launch the book. It is taking much longer than I expected because there are so many recipes and because they are all “from scratch” creations, I am testing them over and over!! Yes it will be available in Canada as it will be an ebook – no waiting for delivery!
Since we moved to South Carolina from New Jersey we have been unable to find great Chinese Take-Out. Your recipe for Beef and Broccoli was wonderful and made our relocation even better! We even used left-over rib roast and it came out beautifully. Thank you so much. We will follow the rest of your recipes.
Thank you Nancy! I am so thrilled you enjoyed this, and thanks for coming back to let me know! N x
Hi,
I love this Beef & Broccoli recipe but my sauce won’t thicken. I followed the recipe exactly, what am I doing wrong.
Hi Annette! Did you add the cornstarch? It’s what thickens the sauce 🙂
I love this beef and brocolli receipe! All my friends who have children have asked me how I got my 5 year old boy to eat brocollli and I send them the link to this. Thanks Nagi for sharing this extremely favoursome dish.
YAY! Secret weapon to sneak greens into kids diets – awesome!!! 😉
Last night’s dinner – Scrumdiddilyumpcious ! So easy to make, the boys said it was even better than your Sticky Mongolian Beef, and that’s saying something!
Woah! I was sure that boys would like Mongolian beef more!!! Thanks for letting me know the boys enjoyed this Vanessa! N x
They love EVERYTHING that I make from you Nagi! I’m constantly hearing “That was the best meal I’ve ever had” – Until I serve another of your recipes then there they go again!
Vanessa, you’re so sweet, thank you for your lovely message!!! You totally made my evening! 🙂
Ohh la la! Extra saucy, eh? Sounds a bit risque 🙂 This would be waaaay better than anything you could round these parts.
BA HA HA!!! Cheeky bugger! ❤️
Thank you, thank you, thank you…YUM!!! …enough said 🙂
Awww…..so GLAD you enjoyed it Darcy! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know!!
Can shrimp be used in this recipe instead of beef? I’m wondering if the sauce would be just as good with seafood.
This is FAB with shrimp! Thanks for the idea for another recipe to share! 🙂 I’ll share my shrimp broccoli stir fry soon!