Ground Beef and Broccoli
This ultra tasty ground beef and broccoli recipe is a budget-friendly way to enjoy your favorite takeout flavors at home! It takes the intimidation out of cooking Asian-style meals.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 3-4 cups broccoli florets see note
- 1 pound lean ground beef
Sauce ingredients:
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil see note
- 1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or more, to taste
Instructions
- Prep everything ahead of time as the actual cooking part goes fast. Add the sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk until combined.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Let the pan heat up for a few minutes (the oil should be shimmering).
- Add the broccoli and cook for 4-5 minutes, tossing/stirring often (it'll be tender-crisp). Transfer it to a plate.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet, then add the beef and cook it until browned and cooked through, breaking it up with your spoon as you go along (about 5 minutes). If there's lots of excess fat, spoon some out.
- Reduce the heat to medium, then add the broccoli back to the pan and pour the sauce in. Stir/toss until coated and the sauce has thickened (about 1-3 minutes). Take the skillet off the heat and serve immediately.
Notes
- Cut the broccoli into fairly small florets so they cook fast and evenly. One pound of broccoli typically makes 3-4 cups once cut into florets.
- If the sauce gets too thick, simply add a splash of water to thin it out a bit.
- You can find toasted sesame oil in the Asian foods aisle of your grocery store ( sometimes it's labeled as "pure" sesame oil). It's darker in color and tastes different than regular sesame oil. It's a flavor enhancer with quite a strong taste.
- Fresh ginger is much easier to grate when frozen! I always keep fresh ginger in the freezer (in a ZipLoc) and I use my Microplane grater/zester to effortlessly grate it.
- I love to serve this recipe with rice. I typically measure out 1 cup of uncooked rice to serve 4, but feel free to make as much rice as you normally do. Start the rice before the beef & broccoli so that it's ready at the same time.
Nutrition
Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 1255mg | Potassium: 756mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 463IU | Vitamin C: 62mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 4mg
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