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.
Once baked and cooled, can this recipe be frozen?
Hi Connie! This recipe isn’t baked so I want to make sure you left your question on Beef and Broccoli intentionally. If so, then yes! Leftovers do freeze/reheat pretty well! 🙂
We loved this recipe and thoroughly enjoyed eating it!
I’m so happy to hear that Della! Thanks so much!❤️
So good, better than takeout. My husband doesn’t even like Chinese and loved this
YAY!!!! I’m so glad! Thank you so much for trying it!
I was a little worried at first bc 1 cup of broth seemed like too much for the sauce but I decided to trust the process and it all worked out amazing!! I love. I did 2 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp brown sugar. 10/10 rec and will be making again!
I’m SOOO happy to hear that Melissa!! I appreciate that you trusted the process, you did GOOD! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, you’re the best!! -Stephanie 🙂
I made the sauce and it is delicious!
Excellent! I’m so happy that you loved it Kayla!! ❤️
Made this tonight and will be making it again!!! I thought it was delicious 😋 instead of just broccoli I used stir fry veggies. My fussy partner said yes make again!!!! Score thank you💖
I’m so happy it was such a success Jayne! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!❤️
I’ve been trying some new recipes from Pinterest lately. Most have been fails or near misses but this one is definitely a keeper. Followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfect! Delicious 😋
I’m so happy this was a success Karen, nice work! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!🩷
Cooked this evening and it was delicious. With just 2 of us we’re having the remainder in wraps.
The only thing I did differently was to add some carrot cut into strips.
PERFECT!! Nice to do something different with minced beef.
That’s such a good idea using the leftovers in wraps😋! I’m so happy you enjoyed this one, thanks so much for the great review!
I forgot to get red peppers. And used beef broth rather than the better than bouillon.
No matter, it was fantastic!
Hubby even gave it the green light for repeats.
Thank you thank you!
I am soooo happy to hear that Lisa!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!! I appreciate it so much! -Stephanie
Wonderful and quick. I added sliced mushrooms.
Mushrooms are the perfect addition George, Happy to hear you enjoyed this meal! Thanks so much for the review!