Chinese Beef with Garlic Sauce and Broccoli

This Beef with Garlic Sauce is rich and flavourful, with thin strips of tender juicy steak smothered in a sticky garlic sauce with sesame seeds and green onion. On the table in under 15 minutes.

Perfect for busy weeknights, serve it with rice or noodles and some stir-fried veggies. Forget takeout, this simple stir fry uses easy-to-find ingredients for that authentic flavor.

This dish is simple to make in under 15 minutes and is perfect for meal prepping and busy week night dinners.

Recipe Highlights

• The sauce is thick, sticky and perfectly coats the meat
• One of the easiest low calorie meal prepping dishes you’ll ever make
• Simple ingredients using pantry staples and no added sugar
• Perfect for garlic lovers
• Easy to add more or less garlic flavour to suit your preferences
• Easy to add in different flavourings such as ginger and chilli for an extra kick
• If using a non stick wok, no oil is needed!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Beef:  the beef will cook very quickly so buying good quality beef is important.  . Rump steak, flank steak, sirloin steak, flat iron steak and even scotch fillet are all good options.

Garlic: Since garlic is one of the main ingredients, use good quality garlic. Fresh garlic is best, but minced garlic from a jar also works. You'll also need garlic powder for lots of garlic flavor.

Fresh Ginger: this adds a slight heat and zing to the garlic sauce. Ginger paste or bottled ginger can be used in place of fresh ginger.

Oyster Sauce: Adding oyster sauce to beef in garlic sauce isn't just about flavor; it brings a rich, savory kick and a glossy texture that takes the dish to a whole new level!

Tip for slicing beef:  When slicing the beef, cut against the grain, slicing into thin (¼ inch) slices, so that the mean the meat fibers are all going in the one direction.  This makes for more tender meat.

Shaoxing Wine / Chinese Cooking Wine:  if you can’t find this in the Asian section of your supermarket, you can use cheap dry sherry or even apple cider vinegar instead.

How To Make

1. Prepare Beef: Add beef, vegetable oil, and1 teaspoon each of fresh ginger and garlic to a bowl and mix to combine

2. Make Sauce: Add all the sauce ingredients to a jug and whisk vigorously to combine, making sure there are no white lumps from the corn starch which acts as a thickener.  Set Aside.

3. Cook Beef: Heat oil in skillet over high heat.  Add beef to large skillet and cook until just browned and liquid is reduced. 

4. Add Sauce to Beef: Give the sauce another whisk and pour over the beef, stirring through for 1 minute.  Note:  the sauce will thicken very quickly on the heat.  If it becomes too thick, add a tablespoon or water at a time to reach desired consistency.
5. Once sauce is at desired consistency, remove from heat immediately and serve.

Serving Ideas

• Microwaveable minute rice for a quick option
• Pre-cooked noodles with baby spinach or spicy noodles
• Low-carb alternatives: zucchini noodles, fried cauliflower rice
• Mix of small chopped green vegetables for a high-fiber, low-carb option
• Cabbage noodles for a unique low-carb twist

Variations

• Option 1:  swap beef strips for ground beef and serve in lettuce cups
• Option 2:  swap beef strips for chicken breast strips, or check out my Chinese Garlic Chicken or this Thai Garlic Chicken
• Option 3:  Swap beef strips for field mushroom strips

Recipe Tips

• Slicing the Meat:  Use a sharp knife, and aim for a thickness of around 2mm for succulent tender beef strips that soak up all the garlic sauce.  Make sure to slice the beef against the grain for best results. It helps if the meat has been chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes or so as it makes it easier to slice thinly.
• Adding Spice:  Add fresh diced red chili sprinkled on top to serve, or a little dried red pepper flakes or black pepper. 

Storage

Store leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge for 3 days, without the rice or noodles as they will soak up all the sauce. Its best to add the rice or noodles at serving.

This Chinese Garlic Beef takes barely any effort to make and is super quick to make.   

This is easily one of my go to meal prepping dishes, not to mention those garlic beef strips make an excellent filling stuffed in a wrap with a handful of Asian slaw.

More Quick Dinner Ideas

Chinese Beef with Garlic Sauce and Broccoli

Kim MorrisKim

This Beef with Garlic Sauce is rich and flavorful, with thin strips of beef smothered in a punchy sticky garlic sauce. Simple to make in under 15 minutes and is perfect for meal prepping and busy weeknight dinners

4.34 from 9 votes

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Course Dinner

Servings 2 people

Calories 413 kcal

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

 

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Stir Fry

• ▢ 500 grams/1 pound Quality steak - sliced thinly (see notes below)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil (or olive oil)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Garlic, crushed
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Fresh ginger, minced

For the Sauce

• ▢ ¼ cup Beef Stock/Beef Broth
• ▢ 1 tablespoons Garlic, crushed
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Ginger, minded
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Chill paste
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Shaoxing Wine / Chinese Cooking Wine
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Brown granulated sweetener
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
• ▢ 1 tablespoons Cornflour/cornstarch
• ▢ 2 tablespoons water

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

• Add beef, vegetable oil, and1 teaspoon each of ginger and garlic to a bowl and mix to combine
• Add all the sauce ingredients to a jug and whisk vigorously to combine, making sure there are no white lumps from the cornflour/cornstarch which acts as a thickener. Set Aside.
• Heat oil in skillet over high heat. Add beef to pan and cook until just browned and liquid is reduced.
• Give the sauce another whisk and pour over the beef, stirring through for 1 minute. Note: the sauce will thicken very quickly on the heat. If it becomes too thick, add a tablespoon or water at a time to reach desired consistency.
• Once sauce is at desired consistency, remove immediately from heat and serve with steamed rice and broccoli (or other greens).

Notes

1. Beef:  the beef will cook very quickly so buying good quality beef is important.  Rump, flank, sirloin, t-bone and scotch fillet are all good options.
2. Tip for slicing beef:  When slicing the beef, cut against the grain, slicing into ¼ inch/1/2 cm thick slices.  This means that when you look at the mean the meat fibres are all going in the one direction.  This isn’t a deal breaker, just a tip to make the beef a little tenderer on cooking.
3. Shaoxing Wine / Chinese Cooking Wine:  if you can’t find this in the Asian section of your supermarket, you can use cheap dry sherry or even apple cider vinegar instead.
4. Adding Spice: Add fresh diced red chilli sprinkled on top to serve, or a little dried red chilli flakes.  If everyone eating the dish likes a little heat, you could stir some fresh chilli through at the last minute of cooking.  Or add a little chilli paste to the sauce
5. Adding Ginger: A teaspoon of freshly grated ginger will add a little heat, and zest to this dish.  For  milder ginger flavour, you could use the bottled ginger which is a little less intense.
6. Meat Swaps:
   1. You could try making this dis using ground beef which is perfect if you want to skip the meat slicing, or can’t be bother with it
   2. Instead of thinly sliced beef, try is with thinly sliced chicken breast for an equally delicious result
   3. If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, try it with meatballs, either store bought, or home made (like these turkey meatballs for instance)
   4. Omit the meat completely, and instead use field mushrooms cut into strips

Nutrition

Calories: 413kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 51gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gFiber: 4gSugar: 5g

Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.

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