This is how you turn a budget cut of beef into the most meltingly tender version of this popular Chinese take out without a wok! My Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli is cheap, healthy, easy and you can make it freezer friendly!
“Very few stir fries can be converted into a slow cooked version without compromising flavour or texture. Beef and broccoli was made for it.”
Have you noticed that when you order Chinese that the meat is always incredibly tender? It’s not because they are made with expensive fillets. It is because of a technique used to tenderise the meat called “velveting”. All you do is marinate the meat in cornstarch and sauces.
But even with velveting, you can’t disguise cheap beef cuts because stir fries are cooked quickly over high heat so the meat is still quite tough. And if you use an expensive cut of beef, it will be tender but it won’t be meltingly tender.
The solution? SLOW COOKING. Not an authentic method, but the ingredients in the recipe are. Time savvy? YES. Cost efficient? DOUBLE YES.
“I took an authentic Chinese Beef & Broccoli recipe and adapted the quantities and directions to suit slow cooking and freezing.”
There are 2 basic steps to make this Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli:
1. Throw the beef and sauce ingredients in the slow cooker. Then let it cook on High for 3 hours, or pressure cook it for 40 minutes on High.
2. Toss in lightly cooked broccoli. Just steam or boil broccoli until it is “tender crisp” (which means the broccoli is just cooked, still bright green and crisp). I once saw a recipe where the broccoli was slow cooked with the beef. Please do not be tempted to try this! The broccoli gets overcooked to the point that it practically turns to mush and it’s horribly brown. The extra few minutes it takes to toss in freshly cooked broccoli is worth it.
“Thie entire meal can be made ahead and frozen, including the cooked rice.”
This Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli recipe can also be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen. I didn’t realise that broccoli could be frozen until I researched it for this recipe! It actually freezes really well, you just need to make sure you blanch it before freezing. So the recipe includes directions for how to make this freezer friendly as well. It worked perfectly – when I thawed and reheated it, the broccoli was perfectly cooked and bright green.
Plus the other tip is to freeze cooked rice. It’s not common knowledge, but cooked rice freezes incredibly well and it’s a standard thing to do in Asian households. All my relatives in Japan do it, and I’ve never known any different because my mother always did it.
Hope you enjoy it! Leave me a comment if you have any questions.
PS This recipe is part of my mission to consume an abnormal pile of broccoli I stockpiled because it was insanely cheap at the grocery store. Here are the other broccoli recipes I’ve shared as part of the Broccoli Consumption Mission:
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Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 500 g / 16 oz chuck steak or other beef cut suitable for slow cooking
- 300 g / 16 oz broccoli florets (about 6 cups, 1 giant broccoli or 2 medium)
- 2 tbsp corn flour (corn starch)
- 1 cup water (see note 2)
Sauce
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp finely sliced fresh ginger (note 1)
- 3 tbsp soy sauce (normal dark soy sauce)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 4 tsp Chinese cooking wine (rice wine) or dry sherry (note 5)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 4 dashes white pepper
Instructions
- Cut the beef into thin slices against the grain (which means at 90 degrees to the direction of the fibres in the meat).
- Place beef in slow cooker.
- Mix the corn flour with the water, then add to the slow cooker.
- Add the Sauce ingredients to the slow cooker.
- Cook on HIGH for 3 hours (or pressure cook on high for 40 minutes).
To Serve Immediately
- Steam or boil broccoli until "tender crisp" (just cooked, still bright green and still crisp).
- Add to beef and sauce, toss to combine. Serve over rice.
To Make Ahead to Freeze (2 months) or Refrigerate (2 days)
- Let the beef and sauce cool.
- Meanwhile, blanch the broccoli very briefly, then run under cold water or plunge into ice water to stop from cooking further.
- Drain broccoli, then combine with the beef and sauce.
- Place into ziplock bags or airtight containers and freeze or refrigerate.
- To cook, thaw then reheat in the microwave, covered. Be careful not to heat for too long because otherwise the broccoli will overcook.
- Serve with rice.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Would beef cheeks be suitable for this slow cooked recipe?
Hi Julie, I don’t see why not!
Eating this dish right now. Fantastic! Since I used my Mealthy Instapot, I even managed not to heat up the kitchen. Used cheap bottom round cut thin and it was melt in your mouth tender. I actually did use rice wine vinegar since I didn’t have the rice wine and it came out just fine. Yummm yumm.
That’s terrific! So pleased you enjoyed this Angie – N x
I’m addicted to your recipes, ever recipe I have made has been outstanding, I can not stop picking at any left overs, making this one as I type smells amazing, I’ve gone from a basic cook to a excellent cook.
Thank- you so much for sharing
Aww you flatter me Carol! 🙂 I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes! N xx
Nagi can you tell me is rice wine and seasoned rice vinegar the same? The grocery store I shop at here has not a clue when you need help with something like that, and unfortunately we do have an Asian store around here. Your recipes are wonderful and I want that four legged baby of yours.
Hi Mary! The names that some brands use makes it confusing! Basically if the word “vinegar” is in it, then it’s a vinegar not the cooking wine called for this recipe 🙂 I’m glad you like my recipes and even more so the 4 legged fur ball!!! 😂
Loved this so yummy!
I was drawn to this recipe as it had little sugar as opposed to others which can contain up to 1/4 cup!! 😮 May I ask though is the oil necessary? Always trying to make recipes healthier where I can 😊
Yet another winner, Thanks Nagi
So glad you enjoyed this Alison! You can skip the oil if you wish, I like the slight richness it adds, makes it more akin to as though it was made in a wok 🙂 N x
Meant to ask if you have other recipes similar to this for the slow cooker?
thank you this was a wonderful meal…what I did was place the beef and the sauces in the slow cooker a little earlier and let them marinade abit, then added the cornflour and water at the last minute and turned it on.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Tania! 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, I’m going to try this recipe for the first time tonight. Which oil should I use Olive, sunflower, vegetable ? Also, is there not a problem that the oil and water will not mix in the sauce ?
Thanks,
Andy
Gosh it’s been yonks since I made this! Oil and water mixes just fine in the sauce 🙂 Pretty much all my sauces have water based + oil based things mixed together. 🙂
I made this the other night and it was yummy! Thanks for the recipe– I used a steamer bag of broccoli and tossed it in the crock pot right before serving!.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Nellie! Thank you for letting me know – N xx
Made this last night and it was beyond amazing. Thanks Nagi xo
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Jasmine! Thank you so much for letting me know! N x
Hey Nagi, can shaoxing wine be used to replace rice wine? 🙂
Yup! In this recipe that will work just fine 🙂
Can you cook this on low for a longer period of time? I usually set the slow cooker up before I go to work for the day and if it’s done in three hours than it would be another 4 hours before I get home.
Hi Kate! You could cut the beef up into larger pieces, that way it can cook for longer 🙂 My slow cooker stays warm for hours after finishing so I find this works just fine!
I am thinking of serving this dish for a dinner party and am wondering if ii double the amounts of beef and broccoli, should I double the amount of sauce too? The dish looks delicious and am looking forward to trying it.
Sincerely, Jaye
Hi Jaye! Yes, please double the sauce too!
Velveting is a great technique. I use egg white too when I do it with chicken. And yes, toss in that broccoli last! It takes all of 5 minutes to cook even less maybe and after that it’s overcooked. Love how you made beef and broccoli slow cooker friendly. Good techniques!
Thanks Farah! Glad you approve on the broccoli – mushy broccoli is the worst!!!
I feel like I’m getting insider information here! “Velvetting”?! Never heard of it, sounds awesome! I love how easy this recipe is and uses mostly pantry staples. I laughed when you warned against slow-cooking the broccoli because that’s probably something I would do. 🙂 Not this time! I have a bunch of mom friends who want to plan a “slow cooker” meal party where they all get together to make food and freeze it. I’m sharing this link with them! And pinning of course. 🙂
Ha – I love it, a slow cooker party!! OK so I think it’s acceptable for your mum to do it, but is it daggy that I could totally get into it??!! 🙂
Beef and broccoli are two of my favorite foods and I love the way you paired them in this dish! I was always curious about the “velveting” technique for marinating and I’ve tried marinating budget cuts of beef, only to find out that meat is still tough after it’s cooked. I guess slow cooking (either in slow cooker or for a long time on a stove top) is the only way to achieve tender (budget) cut of beef. Saving the recipe 🙂
Thanks for your kind words!! Yes, slow cooking is definitely the only way to get budget cuts nice and juicy. My favourite!