Get my Cookbooks! Ground Beef and Broccoli
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.
Try These Next
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- Pepper Steak
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- Chicken Lo Mein
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- Chicken Fried Rice
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- Beef and Broccoli
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- Honey Garlic Shrimp
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- Beef Noodle Soup
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Ground Beef and Broccoli
This Ground Beef and Broccoli recipe is an easy 30 minute meal with a simple, flavorful sauce that your family will love eating with vegetables!
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.
Nutrition
Calories: 488kcal, Carbohydrates: 65g, Protein: 32g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 70mg, Sodium: 1138mg, Potassium: 842mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 21g, Vitamin A: 1357IU, Vitamin C: 102mg, Calcium: 80mg, Iron: 4mg
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Great Recipe!! So flavourful!
I’m so happy to hear that Susan, thank you so much!!!
Hey,
Does it matter if you use brown sugar vs golden yellow sugar? Thanks!!
Hi Yasmeen! You can definitely use the golden yellow sugar as a substitute. Enjoy!
We had this for dinner and loved it. I had some extra ground chicken in the freezer so I used that. Very easy and quick to make. This will be on my menu regularly. Yummo!
I’m so happy it was such a success Beth! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💖
What can you substitute for corn starch in this recipe?
Hi Ellie, is this due to an allergy? I need more information in order to assist.
Not an allergy we just don’t eat corn starch. For other stews I’ve substituted flour to thicken stuff I’m just not sure if that would work for this recipe
Hi Ellie, making a roux (with butter and flour) isn’t ideal for stir fry. Other substitutes for cornstarch include arrowroot powder, potato starch, and tapioca starch, although I don’t personally have experience cooking with them.
Hi Ellie,
You can use flour and cold water mixed the same as cornstarch. The texture will a little different. If it doesn’t thicken as much as you would like, you can add more of flour and cold water mix.
Really love this recipe. I’ve made it before but used a little less sugar and prefer it this way. Thank you!
You’re very welcome Monise! I’m so happy you’re loving this one! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review💖
Excellent, went down a storm at home, I will be using it again.
I’m so happy to hear that Lisa, thank you so much for the review!
I made this recipe but had to double it for our meal and it was definitely a keeper. It was delicious.
I’m so happy it’s a keeper Allie!!! I make this one a lot. I love adding in some extra veggies I have on hand. Thanks so much for the great review!🩷