Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
“Family favorite slow cooker beef and broccoli recipe. Juicy, flavorful beef simmered is a homemade sauce with bright crisp broccoli over a bed of white rice! Crock pot beef and broccoli that’s better than take out!”
Thanksgiving is over and I am still exhausted, what about you? It seems like I’ve been in the kitchen 24/7 and today I said “mama tiiiiied chile”! But that doesn’t matter because mama’s never got the day off huh? Oh well, I wouldn’t trade my job in for the world!
With busy days like this, I simply turn to one of my best friends, my slow cooker!!! If you’re wondering why I don’t have many slow cooker recipes on this site, it’s because I had dreams of starting another site dedicated solely to my family’s favorite crockpot recipes. What in the world was I thinking y’all? Like ….where did I think I was gonna find the time to do that? LOL Bless my heart!
I decided to just post all those yummy slow cooker recipes right here on Divas Can Cook instead! Today it’s all about this beef and broccoli baby!! Gosh, how I love this dish!! It’s quick, easy, with simple ingredients. Beef and broccoli are some of my favorite take-out meals so I was all over trying the homemade crockpot version.
It comes together so quickly and even quicker if you triple the recipe and freeze all the prepared ingredients in freezer bags, which is what I normally do. Then I just plop the whole bag in the slow cooker and go on about my day. Love it!
This beef and broccoli is ready in only 3-4 hours which means you can throw this stuff in the slow cooker on your lunch break and get off work ready to eat lunch #2. Or am I the only one who eats two lunches??? This dish is full of flavor and tastes much better in the crockpot than if you made it on the stovetop. Mainly because those strips of beef get to simmer slowly in all that soy saucy, garlicky, brown sugary, brothy goodness. Don’t plan for leftovers and make sure you use a really goooooooood low sodium soy sauce here since that is the dominant flavor.
Broccoli Tip: I simply can NOT get down with certain veggies cooked in the slow cooker and broccoli is one of them! I like my broccoli bright, fresh-tasting with a bit of a bite. This is why I steam fresh broccoli in the microwave for a few minutes as opposed to throwing it in the crockpot with the rest of the ingredients. Although you can totally do that if you don’t mind super tender broccoli.
Watch me make this slow cooker beef and broccoli recipe from start to finish!
Get the Recipe: Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1.2 lbs steak, I used flank steak, cut into strips
- 1/2 cup white or yellow onions, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- fresh ginger, grated (optional)
- 1 cup chicken or beef broth, warmed
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce, I like Kikkoman
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/4- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2-3 tablespoons cornstarch, to thicken
- 3-4 cups fresh broccoli, steamed (see note)
- white rice, prepared
- Garnish, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add steak, onions, garlic, and fresh ginger into the slow cooker. (I prefer using my small slow cooker with this recipe)
- In a medium-size bowl stir together broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes until the brown sugar has dissolved.
- Pour mixture into the slow cooker and stir.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until steak is tender to your liking.
- Stir in cornstarch to thicken the sauce. (Alternatively, you can scoop out 1/4 cup of broth mixture and mix it with cornstarch to create a thick sauce and then pour this back into the slow cooker to prevent lumps. I never do this though)
- Taste and adjust seasonings if desired (sometimes I'll add in some powdered onion and powdered garlic, black pepper, sriracha, and salt, depending on the type of broth & soy sauce I use)
- To serve, place rice on a plate and top with beef and broccoli.
- Garnish with red pepper flakes and sesame seeds if desired.
Video
Notes
Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5-7 minutes. Be careful not to over cook.
Is the crockpot on low for 4hrs? Or high?
I keep mine on high for about 3-1/2 hrs, but I usually have extra meat in there.
This was delicious and simple, great for a busy weeknight. We used a bag of string beans with skinny carrots from the produce section, steamed the bag in the micro and threw it in the pot at the end and let it cook/warm a bit longer, just wanted something other than broccoli and turned out great, I took the sauce out of the crock and heated up the liquid in a sauce pan with the corn starch for a couple minutes then added back to make it quicker at the end. Still simple enough! I highly recommend this, thank you for the great recipe!
Delicious!
Hey, I’m curious if it would work well with filet mignon ?
I wouldn’t waste a filet on this. The slow cooker will make the meat tender
Do your strips actually stay like that? Mine completely broke down.
This recipe was such a big hit with my picky eating family!!! Everyone ate it and loved it! I can’t even remember when everyone liked what I cooked! We loved it so much we wrote about it here: http://jugglingwithkids.com/2016/06/easy-crockpot-broccoli-beef.html