Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Super easy Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli! The sweet/savory/garlicky sauce is AMAZING, not to mention so much better tasting and healthier than takeout.
If you love Slow Cooker Broccoli Beef, you’ve gotta try my NEW INSTANT POT BROCCOLI BEEF, as well as my popular Shredded Chicken Tacos, Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff, and Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon.
Why This Recipe Works
Better than takeout — This is the best broccoli beef I’ve ever had, and that statement includes every broccoli beef recipe I’ve ever tasted — all of which were ordered from a restaurant. This is my way of telling you that this broccoli beef is quite literally better than takeout. I know bloggers say that a lot. But today, it just has to be said. One taste and you’ll agree with me.
Crowd-pleaser — Even though I think this is the best slow cooker beef and broccoli recipe, ever, I knew that not everyone may think that. Luckily for me, though, everyone did, indeed love it. My grandparents (and Pops!) went on and on and onnnnnn about how much they loved it.
Easy — You pretty much just put almost every ingredient for the slow cooker beef and broccoli into the slow cooker and let it do its thing…then make a slurry at the end to thicken it, steam the broccoli, add it together and voila!
Healthier — This beef and broccoli in the crockpot has no fake ingredients, no preservatives, and just a little bit of oil. So much healthier than what you would get from take out.
Ingredients
- Flank steak — Flank steak is my choice in this crockpot beef and broccoli recipe because it is a cut of beef that needs to cook for a long time any way to make it tender. Other cuts of steak may become overcooked and chewy.
- Beef broth — I prefer beef broth to keep the flavor nice and beefy, but you can also substitute chicken broth.
- Low sodium soy sauce — Use low sodium and then add more salt later, to taste if you prefer.
- Brown sugar — Use either light or dark brown sugar to give this dish just a bit of sweetness and to help the sauce come together.
- Sesame oil — Sesame oil has a bit of nuttiness you’ll enjoy in this dish.
- Red chili flakes — While chili flakes are optional, I do like to add just a bit of heat this way.
- Broccoli florets — Florets will cook much quicker in the microwave. You could also use a microwavable bag of frozen broccoli if you prefer.
- Cornstarch & Cold water — These two ingredients are stirred together at the end to make a slurry to thicken the sauce.
Here’s How You Make It
Not only is this delicious, it’s super easy to throw together in the slow cooker, go on about your day, and come back a few hours later to dig in.
- First, grease the inside of the slow cooker, then add the steak, broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, garlic and chili flakes if you are using it. Add the lid and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours.
- Make a slurry from cornstarch and water right before you’re ready to serve this beef recipe. Then, add the slurry to the slow cooker and stir it into the sauce. Put the lid back on and let the sauce cook up and thicken for another 20-25 minutes.
- Now for the broccoli. While you’re waiting for the sauce to thicken, microwave your florets (or steam on the stovetop) and add the broccoli to the beef right before serving, mixing in well to coat the broccoli in the delicious sauce.
- Serve!
How to Customize this Dish
While this broccoli beef dish is great the way it is, there are plenty of ways to tweak it to your tastes:
- Add 1-2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes to the beef and sauce before setting the cooking time.
- For even more heat, top with Sriracha after plating the dish.
- Use a combination of broccoli and cauliflower for your vegetables. Or, add in more Asian veggies like snow peas, water chestnuts, or thick-cut carrots.
- For a super fast shortcut to cooking the vegetables, use frozen broccoli that cooks right in the bag. Follow the directions on the bag for best results.
- Purchase already-cut flank steak at your grocery store or ask the butcher. You might find it labeled “fajita steak” or something to that effect. You can just add that right into the slow cooker, no cutting required!
- If you are cutting your own flank steak, be sure to cut across the grain. This ensures the muscle fibers are cut as short as possible, thus making the meat as tender (i.e. not chewy) as possible.
- If you have trouble cutting your steak, you can freeze it first for up to an hour to make it easier to slice into.
- I like to garnish this with sliced green onions or cilantro. This gives the dish a little more bite at the end.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- This dish will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days and reheats well in the microwave.
- Occasionally I like to add sliced mushrooms to this dish as well. These are delicious but totally optional.
- I don’t recommend freezing this dish, unless you freeze it as it is cooked but only heat and add the broccoli when you’re ready to thaw and eat it.
FAQs
Chinese restaurants usually use a topside of beef. Something like flank steak, that’s low in fat and can be sliced easily. This ensures the beef cooks up nice and tender and just makes for the best stir-fries and other Asian beef dishes like this one.
You can also use skirt steak, hanger steak, or even brisket if that’s all you have/can find.
More Recipes to Try
- Slow Cooker Beef Roast – an effortless, melt-in-your-mouth classic guaranteed to become a permanent family dinner favorite.
- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos – the ultimate crowd-pleasing weeknight meal that will have everyone running back for seconds.
- Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili – a rich, cozy bowl of pure comfort that disappears faster than you can ladle it out.
When you make this recipe, snap a photo and tag me on social – I love connecting with you and seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds flank steak, thinly sliced and chopped into 2 inch pieces
- 1 cup beef broth
- ⅔ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon red chili flakes , (optional)
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- Grease the inside of a slow cooker. Add steak, beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and chili flakes. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low 4-5 hours.
- Minutes before serving, uncover the slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk corn starch and water until dissolved. Add to slow cooker and stir. Cover and allow to cook another 20-25 minutes.
- Just before serving, place broccoli in a large tupperware, fill with 1/2 inch of water, and place the lid on in an off-set manner so that the container can vent. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Drain, stir broccoli into slow cooker, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was amazing! I was a little doubtful at first that it would actually taste like beef and broccoli (I’ve tried other recipes in the past and they did not work), but then we had it and paired it with brown rice with fried onions. It was so tasty. I didn’t have corn starch, so I used cornflour. It was still delicious, but I don’t think it was as thick as it could have been. Even so, I absolutely recommend this recipe.
I don’t normally take the time to post reviews on recipes I find online, BUT this beauty of a dish is an exception. I made this for the first time last week for myself and my husband and we were both over the moon with how delicious it was. My husband is a cook and while not exactly picky, tends to be very opinionated about food and usually had tips and suggestions for how to make a dish better. While eating this all he said was “Mmmmmmm!” In between bites. Success! He’s asked me to make this dish again every night since so I just put another batch into the slow cooker this morning. This meal is everything we look for: quick and easy, cheap, flavorful, and filling. I serve it over jasmine rice. Perfect for any day but I know I will be reaching for this recipe on chilly, rainy days in the fall and winter.
Yay!!!! I consider any dish to be a major success if it makes the husband ask for it again and again – especially when your husband is a cook!! So glad you enjoyed this as much as we do!!!
so I’m trying this for the first time and trying to workout measurements (I’m in Scotland) my question is do you serve with rice noodles or something else ?
Ps love the taste already and it’s not even cooked yet lol
I usually serve this with rice!
This. Was. Amazing.
Haha – well said Amanda!!! 🙂
AMAZE-BALLS! I made the sauce with all veggies (broccoli, carrots & snow peas)…phenomenal! I shared it and she made it with the beef….winner winner chicken (or beef) dinner!
Oh yum I definitely need to do an all-veggie version!! That would make a great side dish or main dish!!
Looks delicious can’t wait to try it! Was that fresh or frozen broccoli that was used?
You can you either fresh or frozen – I’ve included a note about it! 🙂
I’m not seeing a note about using frozen broccoli in the post or recipe. Are we supposed to thaw the broccoli before adding or can we add it in frozen? If adding when frozen, when do we add it?
Hi Melanie- So sorry about that! A few of the recipes had notes like this and they got lost during my recent website transfer. Thanks for pointing this one out for me! I am working to get them fixed. As far as the frozen broccoli goes, you just need to stir it in in the last 20 minutes or so, just long enough for it to thaw and heat through.
No problem Tiffany. I ended up putting the frozen broccoli in around the same time as the cornstarch mixture, but I should have added more cornstarch
I actually stopped eating all animal products a few weeks ago, but this looks SO good 🙂 Am bookmarking it as I know I will occasionally ‘fall off the wagon’ and, when I do, I want to be able to eat things like this.
BTW, your photos are absolutely gorgeous. Found you on IMGVER. 🙂
Hi Leo! Ooh, that would be a rough transition to a no-meat diet but definitely doable! I actually got a comment on this recipe today from a reader who made this recipe with all veggies!! They used snow peas, carrots, onions, and broccoli and said it came out fantastic – you might give it a try!
Trying this tonight but could I just add the broccoli into the slow cooker with the meat instead of microwaving it
Hi Carolina! So sorry I didn’t catch your comment sooner – been out of town and just getting caught up here! For future reference, you could definitely cook the broccoli in the slow cooker, just be sure to give it some extra time in the crock pot so it gets nice and tender 🙂
Holy amazing! This sauce is to.die.for! We don’t have a microwave so we put broccoli in with 35 minutes left ( we timed it for 4 hours and 30 mins). It was perfect. We are already planning on doubling the recipe! So delicious, and simple! We used a flank steak and it as perfect! Tiffany, you rock!!
Ha – the second time I made this dish I doubled it because it disappeared SO quickly and we wished we had leftovers! So happy to hear you liked it Nicole!! 🙂 🙂
If you were to double the recipe, would that also mean doubling the cook time? Or would it still be 4-6 low and 2-3 high?
Hi Jean! Check the meat at the end of the regular time- it may need a tad longer, if any! The cooking time will probably remain the same! Hope you love this dish! Thanks!
I am cooking this today,cut my flank steak up and I to had that grizzle in my meat but cut it anyway, is it going to so tough I can’t eat it? The slices are to thin and small to remove it now.
Hi Sharon, did you put the grizzle in the crockpot with the meat or did you cut it off?
i have no idea what went wrong,I cooked on low in crockpot and checked on it in 3hours. The meat had turned into tiny pieces of meat and had a burnt taste to you,checked my crockpot later it’s working fine,in fact I used it the next day for stew and it came out perfect.so I know it wasn’t the crockpot. I followed the recipe exactly. If I try it again,which I doubt,I’ll use a wok, yours looked so good I couldn’t wait to try it. I still like your recipes and will try them. Thanks