This Ground Beef and Broccoli is an easy 30 minute meal with a simple, flavorful sauce that your family will love eating with vegetables!
Ground Beef and Broccoli
I can’t pass up a good stir fry recipe, especially one that is truly a 30 minute meal.
You can make this recipe with ground beef, chicken, or turkey. Feel free to add in whatever vegetables you have on hand as well. It even makes a great freezer meal to reheat for easy, healthy lunches and dinners!
So….you sold yet?! See how easy this is to make below and don’t miss my pro tips for this recipe.
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Sauté the broccoli in oil for about 4-5 minutes, set aside. Add ground beef and onions and cook/crumble over medium-high heat. Drain grease. Add bell peppers and cook for 1 minute.
Add sauce mixture and bring to a gentle boil. Let it simmer/reduce for 2-3 minutes. Remove cornstarch mixture from the fridge and give it a shake. Slowly stir it into the sauce. Let it continue to bubble gently until desired thickness is obtained.
Reduce heat to low. Add broccoli back and stir to combine and heat through. Garnish with green onions and serve.
Keto Ground Beef and Broccoli
- Cauliflower rice can be used instead of regular.
- Brown Sugar and Honey can be replaced with more keto-friendly sweeteners. I do feel that sweetener of some sort is necessary in this recipe to balance out the savory flavor from the soy sauce and beef broth.
- Consider skipping the cornstarch.
Pro Tips
- Ground Turkey or Ground Chicken may also be used in this recipe. You can also make my Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry with chicken breasts!
- Frozen Broccoli may also be used. Thaw and pat dry and proceed as outlined in the recipe.
- Ingredient Additions include julienned carrots, water chestnuts, celery, kale, and more.
- Topping Options include green onions, roughly chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, crunchy chow mein noodles, and sliced almonds.
- To Control the Sodium in this recipe, consider using low sodium soy sauce and/or reduced sodium broth. Some soy sauce brands contain more salt than others.
- Tip for cooking rice: Add chicken bouillon to the water for added flavor. Let it stand in the pot with the cover on for 10 minutes after simmering to let the rice release from the bottom.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. (Leftovers do freeze well!)
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- Wok– conducts heat well for this recipe and other stir fry recipes.
- Rice Cooker/Steamer
- Rubbermaid Containers with lids– I always use these to combine my corn starch + cold water.
- Better Than Bouillon– This is what I always use for broth in my recipes. It takes very little space and makes it easy to measure out customized amounts of broth.
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Tried This Recipe?
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Ground Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon peanut oil, can sub vegetable or olive
- 3 cups broccoli florets, washed and patted dry
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- Salt/White Pepper, to taste
Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, + 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
For Serving
- 3 cups cooked rice, any kind
Instructions
Prep Work
- Combine cornstarch + 2 Tablespoons water in a covered container and shake to combine. Place in a cool location.
- Combine remaining sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. *Start with 1 tablespoon of honey and add another at the end if desired.
Cook the Broccoli
- Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the broccoli and toss to coat. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until slightly softened. Remove and set aside.
Cook the Beef
- Season the beef with salt/white pepper if desired. Cook and crumble the ground beef and diced onions over medium-high heat until browned and cooked through. Drain grease. Add sliced bell peppers and cook for 1 minute.
Add the Sauce
- Add sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Let it simmer/reduce for 2-3 minutes. Shake the cornstarch mixture, then slowly stir it into the sauce. Let it continue to bubble gently until desired thickness is obtained.
Add the Broccoli Back
- Reduce heat to low. Add broccoli back and stir to combine and heat through. Garnish with green onions and serve over rice! *See notes for my process on making perfectly cooked, flavorful rice.
Notes
- Ground Turkey or Ground Chicken may also be used in this recipe. You can also make my Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry with chicken breasts!
- Frozen Broccoli may also be used. Thaw and pat dry and proceed as outlined in the recipe.
- Ingredient Additions include julienned carrots, water chestnuts, celery, kale, and more.
- Topping Options include green onions, roughly chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, crunchy chow mein noodles, and sliced almonds.
- To Control the Sodium in this recipe, consider using low sodium soy sauce and/or reduced sodium broth. Some soy sauce brands contain more salt than others.
My process for perfectly cooked rice:
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. (I add 2 chicken bouillon cubes to the water for enhanced flavor.)
- Add 1 cup of white long grain rice and let the liquid come back up to a boil.
- Cover tightly and reduce heat to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes. (I set my heat to low.)
- Remove from heat and let it stand in the pot for 10 minutes with the lid on, any rice stuck to the bottom will release.
- This yields 3 cups of flavorful, perfectly cooked rice. I use a Dutch oven for this which conducts heat well.
- Note that other varieties of rice may require different liquid measurements and/or cooking times.
The Nutrition Information is per serving, there are 4 servings in this recipe, and the rice is included. Note that the nutritional information shared is an estimate.
This was a good recipe my family loved it I did add some match stick carrots I will be making this again
That’s so great to hear Linda! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!💕
Very favorable recipe. My husband & I both loved it. Next time I may try it with sliced beef rather than ground beef. It’s the sauce that makes it!
I’m so happy that you loved it Sandy!! I have a wonderful version of this with sliced beef that you should try next!! Thank you so much for the review! 🙂 -Stephanie
I made this, and I had to say it was very easy to make it didn’t take long, I made a few adjustments because my family is extremely picky and my husband does not care for Asian food.
However, I have to say that I got to give us five stars because everyone loved it even my husband who doesn’t like eating food.
The sauce was awesome and it was so easy to make that literally I think I can probably put anything with it just like the person who created this recipe said he can go with chicken and pork meat you like but also I really feel like it would be awesome with tofu if you wanted to make it vegan any kind of vegan me, it would be awesome. It’s a very good easy quick sauce..The sauce was awesome and it was so easy to make that literally I think I can probably put anything with it just like the person who created this recipe said it can go with chicken and pork or any meat you like but also, I really feel like it would be awesome with tofu. If you wanted to make it vegan any kind of vegan meat it would be awesome. It’s a very good easy quick sauce.
I added extra garlic like someone else and I made a little bit of adjustments like I used to vegan honey (because that’s all I had) and I used a different type of oil because that’s all I had.
So another words, this recipe is very versatile, and I highly recommend it will definitely be going in my personal cookbook.
Thanks for posting!
I’m so glad to hear that you and your family enjoyed the recipe Susannah! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and for the review! -Stephanie
Made this for dinner the other night and it was a hit! It was delicious! The only thing we did differently was add twice as much garlic.
Love when I try a recipe and it turns out so well! Thank you 😊
I’m so happy it was a hit Lindsey! This continues to be such a reliable dish for so many people. Thanks so much for the great comments and review!💖
Followed recipe exactly and it was delicious and so colorful. Will definitely be making again!
I’m SO happy that you loved it Holly!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie ❤️
This is the most delicious ground beef recipe my family has ever tried! Love it and will make again.
That makes me so happy Isandra, thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review!💖
What kind of pan did you use?
HI Roberta, the process shots show this 3.5 quart Enameled Cast Iron Signature Braiser.
It’s cooking as I type this and looks really good, so here’s hoping I don’t mess it up. Lol
Was wondering if anyone has tried it over pasta? Noticed someone had added udon noodles 😊
HI Lori! I’m so happy that you’re giving it a try, I’d love to know how it comes out! I don’t know that anyone has previously commented about serving this over pasta.
Well they opted for rice and everyone loved it. Next time I’ll try a little over pasta just for ME!! Thank you for the quick response and the great recipe 😊
I’m so happy it was a hit Lori, nice work! Thanks so much for the great review!💖
I wasn’t too sure about this recipe my husband found. It’s a really easy recipe to make. I was impressed how good it tasted. I have a few picky & food allergy eaters in the house. I didn’t use the peanut oil. This recipe was great hit in the house. It’s worth making 😋
I’m so happy it was such a hit Kris! Thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review!💖
Followed recipe exactly and found this to be a great dish! I will reduce the sugar a bit next time for personal preference, but this dish is definitely on my favorites list now! Thanks!
I’m so happy that you like it Rob, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!! -Stephanie