Beef and Broccoli is one of the most popular dishes on Chinese restaurant menus. It also happens to be one of our family’s favorite takeout dishes.
When my parents owned a Chinese takeout restaurant years ago, we had to crank out beef and broccoli orders every single day, so I’ve had plenty of practice making this dish, and making it taste great.
I hope that caught your attention!
There are many beef and broccoli recipes on the Internet, with variations made in slow cookers, in Instant Pots, and on sheet pans. Our recipe, however, will show you exactly how to easily achieve restaurant results at home.
This recipe was originally published in September 2014; It has been re-tested, re-photographed, and re-published with new metric measurements and a video!
How Do Chinese Restaurants Make Beef and Broccoli?
If you have a local Chinese takeout joint with an open kitchen, pay attention to the wok station while you’re waiting at the counter for your food. You’ll see that the beef, broccoli, and sauce are cooked separately and combined at the end.
Here are the basic steps to making an authentic beef broccoli stir-fry:
- Tenderize & marinate the beef
- Blanch the broccoli & sear the beef
- Cook the sauce & stir-fry everything together
This simple method yields tender beef, still crisp, healthy broccoli, and a rich sauce, combined into a restaurant-style dish that you can make at home!
How Do They Make the Beef So Tender?
A little secret to tenderizing the beef is hydrating the meat with a bit of water and adding a small amount of baking soda. You need a good 30 minutes for the beef to sit and tenderize.
After tenderizing the meat, marinating it in some oil, oyster sauce, and cornstarch gives the beef that extra soft and velvety texture you find in Chinese restaurant versions. For more detailed information on preparing beef for stir fry just like restaurants do it, see our post on How to Prepare Beef for Stir Fry.
What Kind of Soy Sauce Should I Use?
Many readers ask us what kind of soy sauce we buy. The answer is: use any good quality brewed soy sauce, like Kikkoman, Pearl River Bridge or Lee Kum Kee brands. We have used Pearl River Bridge for years.
For this recipe, you’ll need both light/regular soy sauce and dark soy sauce. A good dark soy sauce adds flavor and provides that rich dark color to your beef and broccoli.
Just as important as the soy sauce is the oyster sauce, which is full of umami goodness and key to producing an authentic restaurant flavor.
Read more about light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce on the Chinese Sauces page of our Ingredients Glossary.
How Is the Sauce Thickened?
A mixture of cornstarch and water is the thickening agent for any good beef and broccoli dish. Our beef and broccoli recipe has plenty of sauce to soak into your steamed rice.
Be sure to add this mixture right at the end. Then simmer the sauce for at least 20 seconds after adding it. This ensures that you cook the cornstarch mixture thoroughly and that the sauce has enough time to thicken.
Ok, now that we’ve gone through all the restaurant secrets you need to know, it’s time to show you how this easy beef and broccoli comes together. On to the recipe!
Beef and Broccoli Recipe: Instructions
In a bowl, add the sliced beef, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, and 3 tablespoons water. (If you don’t want your beef tenderized too much, omit the baking soda). Massage the beef with your hands until it has absorbed all the liquid.
Mix in 1½ teaspoons cornstarch, 2 teaspoons oil, and 1 teaspoon oyster sauce. Set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Make the sauce mixture by mixing together the chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper. Set aside.
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Blanch your broccoli for 30 to 60 seconds. (Depending on whether you like your broccoli crunchy or a little soft.) Drain and set aside.
Heat your wok over high heat until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons oil and sear the beef on both sides until browned (this should only take 2-3 minutes). Turn off the heat, remove the beef from the wok, and set aside.
Set the wok over medium heat and add another tablespoon of oil to the along with the garlic and ginger (if using). Stir the garlic and ginger for 5 seconds and then pour the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok.
Next, add in the sauce mixture you made earlier. Stir the sauce around the sides of the wok to deglaze it (all those nice bits from stir-frying the beef should be absorbed into the sauce). Bring the sauce to a simmer. Stir the cornstarch and water into a slurry to ensure it’s well combined, and drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow it to simmer and thicken for 20 seconds.
For more detailed information on the many ways to use cornstarch to get authentic results at home with our recipes, see our post on How to Use Cornstarch in Chinese Cooking.
Toss in the seared beef (along with any juices)…
And the blanched broccoli.
Mix everything together over medium heat until the sauce coats the beef and broccoli. If the sauce seems thin, turn up the heat and reduce it further, or add a bit more cornstarch slurry. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of chicken stock or water.
Serve with plenty of steamed rice!
For more takeout dishes, check out our other restaurant-style Chinese Takeout recipes.
If you like this recipe, try our Beef and Chinese Broccoli stir fry. If you prefer chicken, try our recipe for Chicken and broccoli with brown sauce.
Watch Video!
Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
For the beef and marinade:
- 1 pound flank steak (sliced 1/4-inch or 0.6cm thick)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (optional)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
For the sauce:
- 2/3 cup low sodium chicken stock (warmed)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (or double black dark soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
For the rest of the dish:
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger (grated/minced, optional)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed with 3 tablespoons/45ml water)
Instructions
- In a bowl, add the sliced beef, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, and 3 tablespoons water (if you don’t want your beef tenderized too much, omit the baking soda). Massage the beef with your hands until all the liquid is absorbed. Mix in 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch, 2 teaspoons oil, and 1 teaspoon oyster sauce, and set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the sauce mixture by mixing together the chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper. Set aside.
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and blanch your broccoli for 30 to 60 seconds (depending on whether you like your broccoli crunchy or a little soft). Drain and set aside.
- Heat your wok over high heat until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons oil and sear the beef on both sides until browned (this should only take 2-3 minutes). Turn off the heat, remove the beef from the wok, and set aside.
- Set the wok over medium heat and add another tablespoon of oil to the along with the garlic and ginger (if using). Stir the garlic and ginger for 5 seconds and then pour the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok.
- Next, add in the sauce mixture you made earlier. Stir the sauce around the sides of the wok to deglaze it (all those nice bits from stir-frying the beef should be absorbed into the sauce). Bring the sauce to a simmer. Stir the cornstarch and water into a slurry to ensure it’s well combined, and drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow it to simmer and thicken for 20 seconds.
- Toss in the blanched broccoli and seared beef (along with any juices). Mix everything together over medium heat until the sauce coats the beef and broccoli. If the sauce seems thin, turn up the heat and reduce it further, or add a bit more cornstarch slurry. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of chicken stock or water. Serve with plenty of steamed rice!
Hi. My picky hubby liked it (prepared as per recipe) but said it was bland. What can I do to spice it up? Maybe some rice vinegar at some point or sriracha sauce? I ordered all the recommended authentic ingredients. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you for all the useful detail in preparing the flank steak!
Hi Lucy, you can spice things up with some heat but wondering if you used all of the authentic ingredients or not. If you did, you may need to add a little more soy sauce or oyster sauce if it turned out bland. Happy cooking!
I’ve tried a number of beef and broccoli recipes over the years and this is hands down the best. Thank you!
You’re welcome Teresa. If you’re following our recipe then you’re making it just like they do in the restaurant ;-)
I’ve made this a couple times. Excellent recipe. Easy and delicious. Thanks
You’re welcome Donna!
Wow, fantastic recipes! This one is a great recipe! I have a new steel wok and learning how to properly cook in it. I think I have trouble with the heat, and maybe my seasoning, as it took much longer to cook the flank steak strips, and I did them in a few batches. It is possible they were also not thin enough? I was also concerned about the brown bits building up on the sides, but the sauce helped to deglaze it beautifully!
My husband loves it, I bought a wok ladle, and he loves how he can fit a large bowl full on that for serving!
I am excited to explore more recipes on your site!
Hi Kirsten, glad you enjoyed our recipe. keep cooking more beef and broccoli and it definitely gets better and faster. Happy to hear you’ll be cooking more with us :)
Beef and broccoli is one of my comfort foods and something I always ordered and never made…until now. This recipe is better than any I ordered out and taught me some essential techniques I’ve carried over to other dishes. Can’t thank you enough for the recipe and lesson. Last time around, I splurged and used hanger steak and it was decadently delicious
Hi benjamin, so happy to hear you enjoyed it, and also that you learned some of our key techniques used in Chinese restaurants. Happy cooking!
Bill,
This was wonderful! Thank you for so many great recipes and demystifying all the techniques and sauces.
You’re welcome Claire!
The flavors are there. I would marinate beef for at least a couple of hours and I would omit the cornstarch slurry at the end, or add very very little if you need too.
Hi Stephen, definitely adjust the cornstarch slurry amounts to your liking. I like it how most restaurants make it, where most of the sauce clings to the beef and broccoli with very little standing sauce. Adjusting it to your own personal preferences is the beauty of home cooking :)
My absolute go to for when I crave Chinese food! I would give 10 stars if I could. So easy, quick, simple.
Thanks Christina, so glad you enjoyed our restaurant-style beef and broccoli!
This was one of five dishes we made for NYE this year. It turned out amazing!!! So delicious and authentic!!! Thank you for sharing these recipes!!
Hi Susan, good choice!
What????? No sesame oil drizzled at the end? UNACCEPTABLE!!🤪
I’m going to try your technique the next time I make beef and broccoli. I usually use the same ingredients (I typically like to use some Shaoxing wine in the beef or chicken marinade – and I forgo the steaming of the broccoli since when I stir fry it after the beef I will add some more wine and water to the wok and it will steam it just fine.)
Also, about marination (Obviously as you’ve said, there a million ways to make this dish) I also tend to add an egg to the marinade to velvet the beef. I did make a mistake one time and used papain powder (about half a tsp for around 1 1/2 – 2 lbs of flank steak, and an egg – no baking soda) and marinated it for about 15 min.. By the time I was done cooking the beef, it had turned to mush😆 It had turned into Beef and Broccoli Bolognese🤣
Hi Philip, thanks for sharing your suggestions! I always say customize to your liking, but if you like what you get from a good Chinese restaurant, follow this recipe closely, because that’s how it’s done ;-)
Made it tonight and it was EXCELLENT !! Thanks for a great recipe. Saved it for sure.
great to hear you were successful Kelly Mac – enjoy!