I love this beef and broccoli stir fry recipe. Not only is it quick and easy to make – but it’s fairly healthy. You can also add in whatever other veg you have and make this dinner bulkier and for very few calories. (#VegItUp). This Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry recipe is a standard in our house – if you are going to eat beef and need some veggies to go with – this is a super quick and healthy meal that you can pull off in about 30 minutes.
Not only is this recipe quick and easy for your family – but I have made this recipe for company and they loved it. This is something I have learned as of late and really wish I’d learned it sooner. You don’t have to make “fancy” food for company. You just have to make GOOD food that you make with love and your company will enjoy it. I thought this recipe was too simple, but then on a lark, I made it for company and it was GREAT. They enjoyed it very much!
The important thing is to use fresh and high quality ingredients. It is also very important to cook food you like. At the end of the day, if you are cooking food you like, for people you love, and using high quality ingredients – then you will have a lovely dinner.
Beef is the main ingredient – What kind of beef to use?
The older I get, the more I care about what I’m putting into my body and overall – what I eat. Many many times we have discussed with friends that our cooking is far better than most restaurants – and absolutely much more economical than any restaurant. Hence the inclusion of the #WhyEatOut hashtag in my blog….
For this recipe I like to use Snake River Farms Waygu Steak Cuts. For me this is the highest recommendation of the meat to use. Before we found the Snake River Farms steak cuts I would use beef tips or another sirloin steak – but once I found these Waygu steak cuts, I was ruined for life (by not wanting any other type of meat for this recipe).
You may have seen my post on Snake River Farms – under favorite things. If you have not – you may want to pop over there and read about this vendor and why we are such big fans.
When it comes time to splurge on eating beef, I think you ought to do yourself the favor of picking up some SRF waygu steak cuts. Sometimes they are on sale, and sometimes you can get a discount by picking up a couple of packages. Any which way you look at it, the steak cuts were about $20 / lb last time I ordered, and 4 people can eat a big ol wok full of beef and broccoli. Therefore, it’s not that expensive, relatively speaking. I mean – ordering 4 Beef and Broccoli from your local restaurant will run you ~$11 / per dish X4 + tax + delivery or whatever. So you are still saving money if you order up some steak cuts and toss them in your freezer for next time! #WhyEatOut ???
Now let’s talk Vegetables
Broccoli – it’s in the name!
Of course you are going to need some broccoli for the Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe ! Dave loves broccoli, it’s part of the cruciferous family and as you know, broccoli is super good for you. Broccoli is rich in antioxidants, including vitamins C (keeps gums, teeth and skin healthy), K (keeping your bones healthy) and A (maintain healthy immune system)- and full of fiber (you should have 30 g a day!). So needless to say, get a big ol’ head of broccoli – clean it – and chop it and get it ready for a stir fry.
Please, please, please – peel the stalk (using your potato peeler) and cut off the end and chop up the stalk and add it to your stir fry. No need to waste the stalk – it tastes just like broccoli ! (whoda thunk?) 😀
What other Veg do you have at home?
I generally always chop an onion and add that to the stir fry too. I always have onions on hand in my pantry !
Do you have a red pepper ? I like to add a thinly sliced red pepper to the stir fry – it gives nice color difference and they taste yummy and have plenty of nutrients too.
Occasionally I’ll have green beans I need to use up – those can happily be added too !
What else do you have in your drawer? Do you have sugar snap peas ? Or maybe some carrots ? Do you have another color pepper you want to add ? What about mushrooms ? I’d totally add some mushrooms if David didn’t hate them like the plague….
Ok – so you get the idea. #VegItUp Add ALL the vegetables. When you get to the stir fry part – be sure to consider how dense your veggies are and in what order they need to be added to the stir fry. Carrots and Broccoli take a bit to soften nicely. Peppers and pea pods cook up rather quickly – as do thinly sliced onions.
Don’t forget the Garlic and Ginger
Garlic and Ginger are key to this dish tasting good. I strongly urge you to get fresh ginger and fresh garlic. Don’t use minced / bottled or dried unless it’s virtually impossible to get some fresh ginger and garlic. (Do you live in the artic ?!) It’s super duper easy to peel / chop / grate so do your family the favor of spending the extra 10 minutes to grate fresh ginger and fresh garlic.
Peeling the Garlic – Give it a good whack first !
The secret to peeling garlic is whacking the cloves hard with the side of your chef’s knife. This will crush the garlic clove and the paper / wrap will be readily able to be removed. Then mince the garlic finely with your knife.
To Peel or Not to Peel…the Ginger…
The secret to peeling ginger – is to use a teaspoon and scrape the teaspoon on the side of the ginger and pull off the skin. You can chop off any small nodes that won’t be adding much to your dinner – the ginger is cheap and the small side nodes only cost 1/8 of a penny – so no need to try to save every bit. Chop that node off and keep going. Once the ginger is peeled you can readily grate it using your microplaner.
Another tip I’m trying out lately is to freeze the ginger in a freezer zip top bag. This extends the life of the ginger (to about 3 months) and grating frozen ginger is super duper easy and (shhhh) I don’t even peel it before grating. I will remove any big pieces of peel – but with all that is going on in the stir fry – no one will notice itty bitty bits of ginger peel. (This isn’t a Michelin restaurant…ha) And, God made it – probably has nutrients in the peel … in it all goes…
(Oh my Gosh!). The things you can learn if you google…. Curiosity got the best of me… and I googled ginger peels edible – and found this : Ginger peel is edible. It contains twice the beneficial polyphenols as the flesh and importantly, unique and distinct compounds. One scientific study even found that consuming ginger peels has been linked to helping prevent colon cancer. (So there you are!)
Ok – that’s all that I have to specially call out on this recipe. Make yourself some super yummy and healthy beef and broccoli, OK ?
Healthy Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Equipment
- Wok – or Large Fry Pan
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1-2 Tbl Ginger – Fresh / Grated – about a pinky sized piece
- 3-5 Garlic Cloves – Fresh / Grated
- ⅔ C Soy Sauce – I use low sodium
- ½ – 1 Tbl Sesame Oil
- 2 Tbl Honey
- 1 tsp Sambal Oelek – Garlic Chili Sauce (optional but recommended)
Sauce Thickener
- 1 tsp Corn Starch
- 2 tsp Water
Vegetables : Cleaned and Chopped Bite Size or Smaller
- 1 Bunch Broccoli
- 1 Medium Onion – Sliced in Half then thin slice the halves
- 1 Bag Pea Pods – Optional
- 1 Large Red or Yellow or Green Pepper – Optional
- 3 Large Carrots – Optional
Beef
- 1 lb Steak Cuts – Good Beef Steak Cuts or Sirloin
Serve with Rice
- 1½ C Rice – Make in a rice cooker or on the stove
Instructions
- Start some rice in your rice cooker or on the stove. We often use brown rice – as it has just a bit more nutritional value than white rice.
Make the Sauce / Marinade
- Grab a pinky sized knob of ginger, remove the skin (or leave it on) and grate the Ginger.
- Grate the garlic (or mince with a knife) and add to the same bowl as the ginger.
- Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the bowl with the ginger and garlic.
- Pour 1/2 the sauce over the meat (in a separate bowl) and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Stir a couple of times. Let the meat marinade while you chop veggies.
Chop the Vegetables
- Chop the vegetables – don't forget to include the stem of the broccoli ! There are nutrients in there and you paid for it !
Begin the Cook
- Heat the wok / large saute pan – use some sesame oil and cook the beef (with marinade) till just before done. We like our meat fairly rare – so maybe it was cooked 5-6 minute total. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside.
- Add more oil to the pan if needed. Saute the vegetables till just before done. Maybe another 4-6 minutes, depending on what vegetables you are using. (Broccoli / Carrots will take a couple of minutes to soften slightly.) Taste the vegetables – are you happy with their texture ?
- Stir together the cornstarch + water, then add to the balance of the sauce. (do not ever add cornstarch direct to a sauce. First mix it with water. If you add cornstarch direct to a sauce you will get clumps that you will not be able to remove.)
- Add the meat + balance of the sauce into the pan with the veg. Stir / warm everything together. Give the sauce a minute or two to thicken and once everything is cooked the way you like it – serve over rice. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you have any.
