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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This sounds delicious! Could I substitute chicken broth for the beef broth? I really want to make this for dinner tonight.
Hi Mindy! Yes, you can make that substitution, it’ll still taste great!
Made this for dinner tonight turned out great. Added celery and asparagus for more veggies. I’ll be saving this one. Thank you
You’re very welcome Lori! Celery and asparagus are great additions! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!🩷
Very good, quick and easy. Will add more broccoli and sweet red pepper next time. Maybe carrots, too.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it Lila!! I like your plan for next time! 🩷🩷🩷
I am allergic to soy. Any thoughts on how this would work with coconut aminos in the place of the soy sauce since coconut aminos are generally sweeter than soy sauce? This lools like something I would love to try!
Hi Cyndi, while I haven’t cooked with coconut aminos before, it is supposed to be the closest substitute for soy sauce, (other than Tamari, but that contains soy – it’s just a gluten free alternative). As you mentioned, it’s sweeter, so you may need to taste and adjust the flavors as needed, perhaps not adding any honey until the end if desired! 🙂
Holy moly, the sauce is phenomenal!! I made this tonight for dinner, for the first time. I’m in love with this meal.
At first, I was rather skeptical about ground beef being the protein. I’ve never used anything other than chicken or steak, in my stir fry.
I used ground sirloin, and did omit the honey (out in my pantry, and forgot it at the store). However, it was still plenty sweet. Every ingredient in the sauce shined though, and created something magical.
I added quite a few more veggies (cauliflower, carrots, yellow/green bell peppers with the red, red onion). I prefer to have a rainbow on my plate. Next time, I may caramelize some fresh green cabbage, prior to tossing in with the broccoli, etc.
Dinner was served over sticky Jasmine rice. Leftovers tomorrow night, will include leftover rice that gets fried.
Absolutely a keeper recipe!
I’m so happy you liked it with ground sirloin, yummm! This is one of my favorite back to school recipes, it’s quick and my daughter loves it. Thanks so much for the wonderful comments Reese!🩷
Loved this,,,,,,with easy ingredients!!!!!!
I’m so happy to hear that Patti! Thank you so much!!
Absolutely delish!!! Will definitely be making this again!!
That’s so great to hear Jessi! Thanks so much for the review!🩷
So good 👍 My daughter made this dish for our famil. She also added shredded carrots and instead of beef broth she did vegetable broth. Came out great 😃
Sounds like your daughter made a delicious meal! I’m so happy it was such a success Heather. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗
Delicious. This recipe is certainly a keeper. We very enjoyed this recipe.
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it Liz! Thank you so much for the review!! 🩷
Absolutely delish! The whole family raved about the taste. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
You’re very welcome Susan! I’m so happy the whole family enjoyed it! Thank you!🩷