Whether you’re simply craving your fave takeout or trying to curtail your carbs, this easy keto beef and broccoli is certain to please. Flavorful flank steak, perfectly cooked broccoli, and an umami-rich sauce deliver all of the flavors we’ve come to love and expect from this classic—without any of the gloppy sauce or excessive anything.–Angie Zoobkoff

A white rectangular platter filled with keto beef and broccoli and sprinkled with sesame seeds with a pair of chopsticks resting on the edge of the platter.

Keto Beef and Broccoli

5 / 4 votes
This keto beef and broccoli is an easy, healthy riff on your fave takeout dish, made with flank steak and tender broccoli florets, and finished with a special mixture of soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil to keep it low carb.
David Leite
CourseMains
CuisineChinese
Servings3 servings
Calories413 kcal
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time30 minutes

Ingredients 

For the sauce

  • 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot powder
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • Pinch of brown sugar or coconut palm sugar

For the beef and broccoli

  • 4 cups (10 oz) broccoli florets
  • 1 pound beef flank or skirt steak, sliced into 1/4-inch (6-mm) strips
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • One (1/2- to 1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • Toasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Instructions 

Make the sauce

  • In a small bowl, stir together the sauce ingredients.

    ☞ TESTER TIP: If you like things saucy, double the amount of sauce ingredients.

Make the beef and broccoli

  • In a large pot with a steamer insert or a wok in which you’ve set a bamboo steamer, bring 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) of water to a boil. Add the broccoli to the steamer and cook until almost but not quite tender, 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the coconut oil. Add the ginger and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute.
  • Add the beef to the skillet and cook, without stirring for the first several seconds until it takes on a deeply browned coating. Then continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef is cooked to the desired doneness, 3 to 5 minutes total.
  • Add half of the broccoli to the skillet and pour the sauce over it. Adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer and stir until the sauce has thickened, about 8 minutes.
  • Divvy the remaining broccoli among serving plates and pile the flank steak and broccoli mixture over it. Serve immediately, sprinkled with sesame seeds, if desired.

Adapted From

Keto Diet Cookbook

Buy On Amazon

Nutrition

Serving: 1 portionCalories: 413 kcalCarbohydrates: 25 gProtein: 43 gFat: 18 gSaturated Fat: 9 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1 gMonounsaturated Fat: 6 gTrans Fat: 1 gCholesterol: 95 mgSodium: 1226 mgPotassium: 1488 mgFiber: 8 gSugar: 6 gVitamin A: 1978 IUVitamin C: 281 mgCalcium: 164 mgIron: 5 mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2019 Dr. Josh Axe. Photo © 2019 Dr. Josh Axe. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

Great family pleasing recipe! This keto beef and broccoli was easy to make and came together very quickly. Everyone in my family liked it and most of the ingredients were already in my pantry. It would make a nice and simple weeknight dinner with plenty of flavor but not any major work to get it all together.

I used low-sodium soy sauce from Trader Joes, cornstarch, and a couple of pinches of coconut palm sugar. I served it with rice and added some Sriracha and it was great!

Loved the simplicity of this dish and how flavourful it was. I’d actually double the sauce (if using soy sauce, be sure to use low sodium as it can be a little salty otherwise) as I wanted more to serve on steamed rice. This would work well with other vegetables as well…I’m thinking bok choy.

This was a fantastic version of beef and broccoli. This is definitely a recipe I would make again and again. The balance in the sauce is perfect and I love the technique of steaming the broccoli. All the components of the dish were perfectly cooked and seasoned.

A great meal if you were to add rice.

This is a quick delicious weeknight meal packed full of flavor and healthy veggies. Don’t be afraid of the fish sauce! It just adds some rich umami and saltiness.

Next time, I’m going to brown the meat first with the aromatics. Then I’ll remove the meat from the pan and add the broccoli with a splash of water or beef broth to steam the veggies until tender crisp. Next, I will add the beef back in with all of the sauce. There is no sense in messing with a steamer basket and making more dishes for myself! Plus then all of the broccoli florets get to soak up the yummy sauce.

This is a simple and healthy recipe that takes about half an hour from start to finish. My family gave it an enthusiastic review so I will be serving it again on busy weeknights.

I did omit the fish sauce. To my taste, the fish sauce would have improved the flavor but a family member’s dietary restrictions were more important than flavor here. I used a touch of organic maple syrup. I think the recipe could be prepared with no sweetener without loss of flavor. I used coconut aminos as recommended.

We served the beef and broccoli with steamed rice. The recipe was enough for 3 people with light appetites and with just a little leftovers. I would scale it up if anyone was hungry.




About David Leite

David Leite has received three James Beard Awards for his writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


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Recipe Rating




4 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Yum, this was delicious! Some stir fry recipes are too salty for us, but this one was just right. I added some red chili in oil to spice it up a bit. I substituted beef flank steak for the skirt steak – we think it’s more tender and a better beefy flavor. Served it with frozen riced cauliflower stir fry style that you just microwave. An easy and healthy dinner that’s a real crowd pleaser.