This easy beef and broccoli recipe is a popular Chinese dish for a good reason. It’s so delicious and can easily be made gluten-free or in traditional style.
Asian food is one of my all-time favorite cuisines and we find ourselves cooking a stir-fry on a weekly basis. Much like sweet and sour pork and yaki udon, this beef and broccoli is a classic stir-fry favorite and one that my family loves. The recipe comes from my blogger friend Kristin (of Iowa Girl Eats) and is from her ebook Gluten-Free for Beginners: 30 Day Meal Plan and Guide for Gluten-Free Success. I’ve made this beef and broccoli countless times for my family because it’s easy, healthy, and so flavorful. It’s written as a gluten-free recipe but you can easily make the substitutions or not to fit your dietary needs. You quickly marinate flank steak (which takes just 20 minutes to work into the flank steak). And with a quick sear in my favorite wok, the beef still holds tons of flavor and yields tender beef. I love adding red bell pepper to this beef and broccoli for more color, plus, red bell pepper has 300 times the Vitamin C as a regular orange. This is just about one of the easiest Asian recipes to grace our dinner table.
What’s in this Beef and Broccoli Recipe
I love this recipe because other than the protein and maybe some of the produce, I almost always have these ingredients on hand. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Flank steak (hanger steak would also work great and is a more affordable sub)
- Gluten-free Tamari (you could also use soy sauce)
- Gluten-free sweet rice flour, for thickening the sauce (all-purpose flour would also be fine if you don’t need this to be gluten-free, and cornstarch would also work)
- Gluten-free chicken broth (regular is also fine)
- Brown sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Sesame oil
- Garlic
- Ground ginger
- Red chili pepper flakes
- Broccoli
- Red bell pepper
- Grapeseed or vegetable oil
- Rice (optional, for serving) — I like using long-grain white or brown rice
- Sesame seeds
- Green onion
How to Make This Beef and Broccoli Recipe
Marinate the flank steak. Slice the flank into bite-size pieces and add those, 2 tablespoons gluten-free Tamari, and 1 tablespoon Sweet Rice Flour to a large Ziplock bag then seal and squish to evenly coat. Place the bag into the refrigerator to marinate for 20 minutes.
Make the sauce mixture. Add the remaining ½ cup gluten-free Tamari, remaining 1-½ tablespoons Sweet Rice Flour, chicken broth, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, ground ginger, and red chili pepper flakes to a bowl then whisk to combine and set aside.
Stir-fry the veggies. Heat a large wok or non-stick skillet over high heat then add water and the fresh broccoli florets. Stir fry until broccoli is crisp-tender, 2-3 minutes, then remove to a plate and set aside. Repeat the process with the red bell pepper.
Sear the beef. Heat 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil in the wok then add ½ the marinated beef in one layer. Let sit undisturbed until seared, 30 seconds, then stir fry until just barely cooked through (some pink still showing is ok.) Remove to plate with broccoli then cook remaining beef in remaining 1 Tablespoon oil, and then add to plate.
Stir fry everything together. Add sauce to the wok then simmer until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Add cooked broccoli and beef back into the wok then stir to combine. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onion. Serve over cooked rice.
Note: Leftovers will k
eep in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.
Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1- ¼ pound flank or sirloin steak cut very thin against the grain
- 1/ 2 cup + 2 tablespoons reduced sodium gluten-free Tamari divided
- 2- ½ tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Sweet Rice Flour divided
- 3/ 4 cup gluten-free chicken broth
- 1/ 4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/ 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/ 2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes or more or less
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and sliced
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil divided
- Cooked rice for serving
- Sesame seeds for garnish
- Green onion chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Add steak, 2 tablespoons gluten-free Tamari, and 1 tablespoon Sweet Rice Flour to a large Ziplock bag then seal and squish to evenly coat. Place the bag into the refrigerator to marinate for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add remaining ½ cup gluten-free Tamari, remaining 1-½ tablespoons Sweet Rice Flour, chicken broth, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, ground ginger, and red chili pepper flakes to a bowl then whisk to combine and set aside.
- Heat a large wok or non-stick skillet over high heat then add water and broccoli. Stir fry until broccoli is crisp tender, 2-3 minutes, then remove to a plate and set aside. Repeat the process with the red bell pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil in the wok then add ½ the marinated beef in one layer. Let sit undisturbed until seared, 30 seconds, then stir fry until just barely cooked through (some pink still showing is ok.) Remove to plate with broccoli then cook remaining beef in remaining 1 Tablespoon oil, and then add to plate.
- Add sauce to wok then simmer until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Add cooked broccoli and beef back into wok then stir to combine. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onion. Serve over cooked rice.
- Recipe from Iowa Girl Eats Gluten-Free for Beginners: 30 Day Meal Plan and Guide for Gluten-Free Success
