Beef
Beef & Broccoli
Sweet, garlicky takeout-style beef with crisp broccoli. Made without MSG.
Beef and broccoli is probably the most-ordered Chinese-American dish in the country, and the homemade version usually fails in one specific way: the broccoli.
Put broccoli in at the start of a slow cooker recipe and you get grey mush. Put it in for the last 45 minutes and you get bright green florets with actual bite. That one timing decision is the whole recipe.
The sauce here is sweeter and more ginger-forward than Pepper Steak. Same protein, completely different dish.
Why you'll love it
Made without MSG.
One of three in the beef line.
Broccoli that's still green.
Added late on purpose. Most homemade versions get this wrong.
Cheaper than takeout by a lot.
Two pounds of beef feeds six here.
Faster than the roasts.
Five to six hours on LOW.
What's already in the packet
Soy, brown sugar and ginger over a beef base. Sweeter and more aromatic than Pepper Steak. No MSG.
Choose your setting
LOW · 5–6 hours
Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.
HIGH · 2½–3 hours
For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.
Done at 145°F
Check before you add the broccoli.
You'll Need
- 2 lbs Beef strips (pick one below)
- 1 cup Water or beef broth
- 1 packet Cook SLO Beef & Broccoli
- 4 cups Broccoli florets
Pick your beef
2 lbs
Flank steak, in strips
2 lbs
Sirloin, in strips
2 lbs
Chuck roast, in strips
Roasts 145°F, ground beef 160°F
Add vegetables
Sliced carrots (fresh or frozen) and sliced onion (fresh or frozen) at the start, on the bottom; broccoli florets (fresh or frozen), snap peas (fresh or frozen), water chestnuts and baby corn in the last forty-five minutes.
When to add what
| When | Add | Why |
|---|---|---|
| At the start, on the bottom | Sliced carrots (fresh or frozen)Sliced onion (fresh or frozen) | Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate. |
| Last 45 minutes | Broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)Snap peas (fresh or frozen)Water chestnutsBaby corn | This is the one people get wrong. Broccoli added at the start comes out grey and falls apart. Forty-five minutes keeps it bright and firm. |
Two ways to do this
If you're home
Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.
If you're out all day
Put in at the start as normal: sliced carrots (fresh or frozen) and sliced onion (fresh or frozen). These need the full cook anyway.
Add broccoli florets (fresh or frozen), snap peas (fresh or frozen), water chestnuts and baby corn when you walk in the door. Forty-five minutes to an hour on LOW is enough for all of it, and it will taste better than if it had cooked all day.
If you would rather not touch it at all, put everything in at the start and use frozen where you can. It will be softer than the timing above intends and the greens will lose their colour, but it will taste good and dinner is ready when you walk in.
Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.
Pasta and noodles
**Served over noodles.** Cook lo mein or rice noodles separately and spoon the glaze from the bottom of the pot over the top. **Do not add dry pasta to the pot for this recipe.** There is only half a cup of liquid — it makes a glaze, not a sauce, and there is nothing for pasta to cook in.
Before anything goes in the pot
- 1
Brown the meat first
Pat it dry, get a heavy pan properly hot, and work in two batches so nothing steams. Two to three minutes a side. You want colour, not doneness — the crock pot finishes it.
- 2
Deglaze the pan and pour it in
This is the step almost everyone skips, and it wastes half the benefit of browning. Most of the flavour you just made is stuck to the pan. Pour a cup of the recipe's water into the hot empty pan, scrape everything loose with a wooden spoon while it bubbles, and pour that into the crock pot. Count it toward the total liquid.
These happen outside the crock pot, before it's switched on.
Tonight's Plan
- 1
Put the beef strips in the crock pot.
Cut across the grain first.
- 2
Pour in 1 cup of water or broth.
One cup. This one makes its own sauce.
- 3
Sprinkle the whole packet over the beef and stir to coat.
Every strip should get some.
- 4
Put the lid on.
Set a reminder for 45 minutes before it's done — that's when the broccoli goes in.
Vegetables
Stir in the broccoli, cover, and cook 45 more minutes.
Frozen is fine straight from the bag.
Stir once more and serve over rice.
The sauce should coat everything, not pool at the bottom.
Stirring
Stir once at the halfway point and turn the pieces over
There is very little liquid here and a lot of sugar, so the bottom catches. Turning the meat also brings glaze back up onto the top, where it belongs.
Swaps and add-ins
Add water chestnuts.
A drained can at the end. Crunch is the thing this dish most benefits from.
Add carrots and snap peas.
Last 45 minutes with the broccoli.
Make it spicy.
Chili crisp or sriracha at the table.
Use frozen broccoli.
Genuinely fine, and it holds its shape better than fresh over 45 minutes.
Tips for success
- Broccoli in the last 45 minutes, non-negotiable. This is the difference between the dish working and not working.
- Cut the beef across the grain. Same rule as pepper steak. It decides tender versus chewy.
- Don't add extra liquid. One cup. The beef and broccoli both release water as they cook.
- Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.
Finish it right
Toasted sesame seeds.
Ten seconds of effort for a restaurant look.
Sliced green onion.
Fresh, sharp, and traditional.
A few drops of sesame oil.
Right at the end, off the heat. The aroma is the whole point.
Serve it over
Tomorrow night
Beef and broccoli fried rice.
Chopped, fried with day-old rice and egg.
Beef noodle bowls.
Over ramen or rice noodles with broth.
Beef lettuce wraps.
Chopped small, in butter lettuce.
Stir-fry pockets.
Folded into flatbread with extra vegetables.
Keeping it
Fridge
Airtight, up to 4 days
Freezer
3 months, but the broccoli softens noticeably.
Reheating
Hot skillet. Microwaving makes the broccoli limp.
Questions people ask
Recipe card
Beef & Broccoli
You'll Need
- 2 lbs Beef strips (pick one below)
- 1 cup Water or beef broth
- 1 packet Cook SLO Beef & Broccoli
- 4 cups Broccoli florets
Tonight's Plan
- Put the beef strips in the crock pot.
- Pour in 1 cup of water or broth.
- Sprinkle the whole packet over the beef and stir to coat.
- Put the lid on.
Contains soy.
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