Save money by making your very own beef and broccoli recipe for two. It's so good you won't miss your go-to restaurant beef & broccoli. Plus it takes 30 minutes, less time to make than to pick up or have it delivered.
[This beef and broccoli recipe was originally posted in March 2017. It has been updated with new cooking instructions, expert tips, FAQ, related recipes, and ways to repurpose/use up ingredients]
PIN HERE to add to your recipe box.
Table of contents
Beef and broccoli is a delicious, bright dish on lots of restaurant menus. But it's also one that you can easily make at home. I love this dish, and can easily adapt it to use up ingredients I have on hand. Even swapping the broccoli for another protein.
One you can make in just about as much time as it takes to order & grab it or have it delivered, plus it'll save you money.
This recipe also makes two servings, it is fantastic for leftovers. So definitely make the whole recipe or share with someone else.
Ingredients
Scroll down to the beef and broccoli recipe card for the amounts of each ingredient, but here's a quick visual + description of what's in this recipe.
- Rice: Use precooked, frozen, uncooked, or quick cooking rice. Whatever you have.
- Mild oil: A mild oil is important to not change the flavor of this beef and broccoli recipe
- Onion
- Garlic
- Skirt Steak: Just choose a cut of beef that you can slice thinly and cook up quickly, while keeping it tender. You can use ground beef, TVP, or tofu in this recipe too.
- Beef Stock: I usually use Better than Bouillon beef stock paste, and add it to water. It lasts longer and tastes great. It's a great trick when you're cooking for one.
- Soy Sauce
- Brown Sugar: A bit of brown sugar brings this recipe together and balances out the sharp, salty soy sauce. It's essential.
- Broccoli: Fresh or frozen broccoli will work in this recipe. You can swap it for another vegetable too.
- Edamame: I really love adding edamame to this beef and broccoli recipe. It adds a nice texture, color, and a bit if extra protein. You can swap some of the beef for more edamame too, if you'd like.
Instructions
Scroll down to the recipe card for more detailed instructions. Here's a quick overview + photos to see how to make this recipe in general.
Prepare rice according to package directions. After getting the rice started, you will then thinly slice skirt steak, chopped onion, broccoli, and thaw frozen edamame if not prepared already.
Place a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, add neutral or vegetable oil. Once the pan is hot, cook onions and minced garlic over medium-low heat.
It'll take about 5 minutes, and onions will be translucent and soft when they're ready.
Once onions are softened and turning translucent, add sliced skirt steak to onions. Cook for about 3 minutes on the first side, then flip each slice to cook for 3 minutes on the other side. This will give you medium-rare beef slices.
While beef is cooking, prepare your beef broccoli sauce by pouring beef stock and soy sauce into a small mixing bowl, then add dark brown sugar. Whisk until smooth.
After the beef has started cooking, add sauce and veggies. Stir every few minutes and cook for about 7-10 minutes or until veggies are tender and sauce has thickened.
Once sauce is almost as thick as you'd like it, take pan off the stove and dish up. The sauce goes from too think to too thick quickly, so remove right before you think it's thick enough.
Serve your beef and broccoli over rice immediately.
Storage/Reheating Tips
Store leftover beef and broccoli in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. I'd recommend storing it separately than the rice, if you can. To reheat, microwave, covered until warmed. You can add a dash of water to make the sauce extra silky.
Both the beef and broccoli and rice can be frozen, I'd just recommend freezing them separately, and in individual servings. This way you can reheat as much as you want to eat, instead of have to eat a few servings.
This is an easy recipe to make extra servings for too.
Substitutions/Tips
- You can swap the skirt steak with hanger steak, flank steak, flat iron, or tri-tip steak in this broccoli beef recipe. Ask your butcher, or choose a thin cut of beef.
- Buy pre-chopped/sliced ingredients to make this recipe faster. Also, quick cooking or frozen rice will save you time too.
- Don't cook your broccoli and beef over medium or higher heat because it'll get too hot and the onions will burn.
- Use Better than Bouillon beef flavor instead of beef stock. It's easier to use!
- You can use light brown sugar instead of the dark kind if you have it.
- Other great add-ins: sesame seeds, ginger, sesame oil, red pepper flakes.
FAQ
The sauce in this beef broccoli recipe has beef stock, soy sauce, and brown sugar in it. I like to use Better than Bouillon paste + water instead of stock. Other sauce have ginger, sesame oil, and cornstarch.
Definitely, you'll cook it similarly to this recipe. You can use other cuts too, since some take extra tenderizing, not all cuts will work for this quick cooking dish. You can use strip steak, hanger steak, flat iron, or tri-tip.
If you're eating ¼ pound beef (or 4 ounces), which is what's in one serving of this recipe, you'll get almost 30g of protein from the skirt steak. You may get more or less protein depending on how big your serving of steak is.
Repurpose Beef and Broccoli
- If you want to make it super easy, just swap out the rice for ramen, rice noodles,
- Make extra sauce & serve it over a bed of lettuce for an easy salad. I'd recommend adding rice or a grain to the salad so it's filling and exciting.
- Add it back to rice & an egg to make an easy fried rice dish
What to do with leftover ingredients
When you're cooking for one, you often have leftover produce, cans of whatever ingredient, etc. Here are a couple ideas on how to use up the leftover ingredients. It'll help you save money by wasting fewer ingredients.
- Beef: you can swap ground beef for the leftover steak) Thai beef bowl with garlic & spinach, Easy stuffed squash with ground beef & rice, Easy Korean beef bulgogi. You can also add some beef to this vegetarian stroganoff
- Broccoli: Broccoli Salad, Air Fryer Broccoli and Cauliflower, Chicken & Broccoli, Shrimp Sheet Pan Dinner, add to Sheet Pan Winter Veggies, Microwave Frozen Broccoli, or Sheet Pan Broccoli
- Onion: Spicy Pickled Onions
Did you make this beef and broccoli? Leave me a comment & rating to share how it turned out!
Beef and Broccoli over Rice (for two)
Equipment
- Large Skillet/Cast Iron Skillet
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- knife
- cutting board
- tongs
Ingredients
- ½ cup rice
- 1 tablespoon mild oil I used grapeseed
- ⅛ cup chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- ½ pound skirt steak sliced thinly
- ¼ cup beef stock or equivalent bouillon paste
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 pound broccoli pre-chopped (fresh or frozen)
- ⅓ cup frozen edamame beans removed from shells
Instructions
- Prepare ½ cup rice according to package directions. Then thinly slice ½ pound skirt steak, ⅛ cup chopped onion, 1 cup chopped broccoli, and thaw ⅓ cup frozen edamame if not prepared already.
- Heat up a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, then add 1 Tablespoon neutral oil. Once pan is hot, cook ⅛ cup chopped onions and 1 clove garlic, chopped over medium-low heat. It'll take about 5 minutes, and onions will be translucent and soft when they're ready.
- Once onions are softened and turning translucent, add ½ pound sliced skirt steak. Cook for about 3 minutes on the first side, then flip each slice to cook for 3 minutes on the other side. This will give you medium-rare beef slices.
- While beef is cooking, prepare sauce. Pour ¼ cup beef stock and ¼ cup soy sauce into a small mixing bowl, then add ½ teaspoon dark brown sugar. Whisk until incorporated.
- After the beef has started cooking, add sauce and veggies. Stir every few minutes and cook for about 7-10 minutes or until veggies are tender and sauce has thickened.
- Once sauce is almost as thick as you'd like it, take pan off the stove and dish up. The sauce goes from too think to too thick quickly, so remove right before you think it's thick enough.
- Serve over rice.
Notes
- You can swap the skirt steak with hanger steak, flank steak, flat iron, or tri-tip steak. Ask your butcher, or choose a thin cut of beef.
- Buy pre-chopped/sliced ingredients to make this recipe faster. Also, quick cooking or frozen rice will save you time too
- Don't cook over medium or higher heat because it'll get too hot and the onions will burn.
- Use Better than Bouillon beef flavor instead of beef stock. It's easier to use!
- You can use light brown sugar instead of the dark kind if you have it.
Want time saving tips to make recipes like this beef and broccoli delivered to your inbox? Click here to download my Cooking for One Time Saving Tips.
Recipes are great, but you’ll need a simple 3 step process to create a meal plan that make cooking easy & helps you stop wasting food. Check out this expertly developed meal planning guide to get started.
Heidy L. McCallum says
Beef and broccoli happens to be one of my favorites and I really enjoyed this recipe. Everything turned out as it should have and I had no issues with the recipe which is awesome since in the past I have been disappointed in a few recipes on the net that was misleading. My family loved your recipe and asked that I make it again next week!
Rebecca says
great to hear
Angela says
My family loves Beef and Broccoli, we make it all the time. I like the idea of serving it over brown rice.
Rebecca says
awesome! it's so good over brown rice
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
I was looking for a recipe like this, thank you for sharing!
Rebecca says
yay!