Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli, a Chinese-Style dinner recipe that is hearty and comforting, and it goes down well with everyone in the family. It's a great dish for batch-cooking, but also for days when you just want to set the crockpot and forget about it until meal time. Serve it on a bed of rice or with the noodles of your choice, and you have a complete dinner that is budget-friendly and much tastier that any take-away.
With cooler, back-to-school days comes the season of slow cooking, comforting dishes that are ready to be enjoyed at the end of a long day. I honestly can't think of a better way to cook stewing beef than in a slow cooker.
You can cook it on the stove top, but that takes time, and unlike the crockpot, you can't just leave it there and hope for the best. The liquid evaporates rather quickly, and you need to stir and top it up rather often.
But chuck it in the slow cooker, and at the end of it you get the most tender meat that simply melts in your mouth. And apart from the initial prep, there isn't much else to do until the dish is nearly ready.
If you do want a quicker version of beef and broccoli that can be cooked on the cooker, you need to use minute steak rather than stewing beef, which cannot be cooked quickly. Minute steak on the other hand is ready in no time, which makes it the ideal 30-minute meal.
My Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry Noodles use minute steaks for a quick cooking time, and it's a great midweek recipe. But, if you'd rather have dinner waiting for you at home, you have to go for the slow cooker version.
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Note!
Go to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions!
Ingredients overview
- beef - I used stewing or braising beef / chuck beef, it's a cheap cut that needs to be cooked slow and low to be tender
- beef stock / broth - adds a deeper flavour and intensity to the sauce
- Chinese sauce - I made my own version using light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and sugar, you really don't need any ready-made sauces here
- spring onion, garlic & ginger - the very base of any Chinese-style dish
- broccoli - I used a whole fresh broccoli head, you can use frozen if you wish, but you have to be careful how long it cooks for, as it doesn't hold its shape as well as the fresh one does
- salt & pepper - to season the beef
- cornflour - or corn starch to thicken the sauce
- oil - for searing the beef
- sesame seeds - optional, for garnishing the dish
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- heat up the oil on a medium to high heat, add the beef chunks, season with salt and pepper, and sear on both sides
- remove the beef from the pan and transfer it to the slow cooker
- add the chopped garlic, spring onions and ginger to slow cooker together with the beef stock and Chinese sauce
- place the lid on and cook it on low for 7 ½ hours or on high for 3 ½ hours
- cut the broccoli head into florets and add them to the slow cooker together with the cornflour slurry
- give it a quick stir and leave it to cook for a further 30 minutes
- garnish with sesame seeds and serve hot
Expert tips
30 minutes should be more than enough for the broccoli florets to cook to a tender texture. If you'd rather cook the broccoli separately on the stove top, then just add the cornflour slurry 20-30 minutes before the dish is ready, it needs time to thicken the sauce.
If the broccoli is cooked separately, all you have to do is add it to the beef once it's ready cooked. We served the dish with egg noodles, but you can also go for basmati rice, creamy mashed potatoes, bulgur wheat or couscous.
For a bit of a heat, you can also garnish the dish with chilli flakes, or add a chopped chilli pepper in the slow cooker at the same time as the green onions, garlic and ginger go.
Other slow cooker beef recipes
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Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 450 g stewing / braising / chuck beef 1 lb
- 250 ml beef stock / broth (1 cup)
- 2 spring onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon ginger puree
- 1 broccoli head
- 3 tablespoon light sauce sauce
- 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon cornflour / corn starch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 / 2 tablespoon sesame seeds for garnishing (optional)
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Instructions
- Heat up the oil in a large pan or a wok, add half of the beef chunks and season with salt and pepper.
- Sear on both sides, then transfer the beef to the slow cooker, and repeat with the remaning beef - this is avoid overcrowding the pan and steawing the beef rather than searing it.
- Once all the beef has been transferred to the slow cooker, add the peeled and chopped garlic, chopped spring onions and ginger.
- In a small bowl, combine the soy sauces, sesame oil, rice vinegar and sugar.
- Mix well, then add the sauce to the slow cooker together with the beef stock.
- Place a lid on the slow cooker and leave it cook on high for 3 ½ hours or on low for 7 ½ hours.
- Mix the cornflour with 2 tablespoons of water and whisk it well to dissolve the cornflour.
- Add the slurry to the slow cooker and give it a good stir.
- Add the broccoli cut into florets, and place the lid back on.
- Leave it to cook for a further 30 minutes.
- Garnish with seasame seeds.
Video
Notes
- If you'd rather cook the broccoli separately on the stove top, then just add the cornflour slurry 20-30 minutes before the dish is ready, it needs time to thicken the sauce.
- If the broccoli is cooked separately, all you have to do is add it to the beef once it's ready cooked.
- For a bit of a heat, you can also garnish the dish with chilli flakes, or add a chopped chilli pepper in the slow cooker at the same time as the green onions, garlic and ginger go.
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