Low Carb Beef And Broccoli Stir Fry (Keto)
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 pound flank steak sliced into 1/4 inch thick strips
- 4 cups small broccoli florets (about 7 ounces)
- 1/2 cup beef stock
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
For the sauce:
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 3-5 tablespoons sweetener (see post for options)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Toss the sliced beef in a large bowl with corn starch until well-coated. Set aside.
- Heat canola oil in a pan over medium heat for a few minutes or until hot.
- Add sliced beef and cook until it browns, less than 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Add broccoli florets to the pan and stir. Add beef broth. Let simmer until the broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While waiting for the broccoli to cook, combine all sauce ingredients in a sauce pan. Stir the ingredients together over medium-low heat until it starts to simmer, about 5 minutes. Keep the sauce warm over low heat as you wait for the broccoli to cook.
- Return beef to the pan and pour the sauce on top. Stir until everything is coated with the sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for another few minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
- Serve immediately, optionally pairing with cooked cauliflower rice. Drizzle sauce on top.
NUTRITION
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 410 | |
| Total Fat 18g | 28% |
| Saturated Fat 5g | 26% |
| Trans Fat 0.1g | |
| Cholesterol 109mg | 36% |
| Sodium 1620mg | 68% |
| Potassium 470mg | 13% |
| Total Carb 14g | 5% |
| Dietary Fiber 2.5g | 9% |
| Sugars 5g | |
| Protein 42g |
If you’re a regular reader, there’s a good chance that my original beef and broccoli recipe (or the slow cooker version or instant pot version) was what initially drew you to my site. That, or my chicken tikka masala. I love these fast and easy dinners with delicious sauces, and since adopting a keto diet this year, I’ve converted my beef and broccoli to a low carb version that’s been stripped of all non-essential carbs. Each serving has just a little over 10 g net carbs, yet it’s the same great taste and flavor. Instead of the usual white rice that goes with it, I substituted with plain fried cauliflower rice which works just as well in soaking up the sauce. This recipe only takes about 30 minutes to make, perfect for those busy weeknight nights.
Making low carb beef and broccoli:
Tips for tender stir fry beef:
One of the best things about this dish are the very tender slices of beef. I originally shared my tips for getting tender beef in my Mongolian beef recipe and I’ll repeat them here:
- Thin cuts: I recommend slicing your beef to 1/4 inch thickness or thinner. The thinner the beef, the more tender it will be, and the less time it will take to sear on the stovetop.
- Slice against the grain: Find the long muscle fibers across the beef and how they are aligned. Slice perpendicular to those lines so that you’re slicing through the fibers. This means less work for your teeth and it will make the beef more tender as you chew.
- Premium cuts: I always use flank steak for my sliced beef stir-fry dishes, but if you choose more premium cuts then you will get beef from more tender parts of the cow.
- Quick sear: Don’t overcook the beef slices. All you need is a quick sear until they’re browned. If you overcook the beef, it will get tough.
- Corn starch: Thoroughly toss the beef slices with corn starch before cooking. The corn starch tenderized the beef as it cooks, and this is a step that you’ll see in a lot of Chinese dishes. Corn starch also helps the beef retain its juices so that it doesn’t exude liquid when it cooks.
I consider corn starch to be a non-negotiable ingredient, even though it has a fair amount of carbs. I’ve experimented making this dish with and without corn starch, and not only does it affect the beef’s tenderness, it also affects the sauce. Without corn starch, the slices of beef will exude juices when they cook, which waters down the sauce. The beef tastes drier as well. I’ve tried substituting with other ingredients, such as almond flour, without success. So I definitely recommend using corn starch and not skipping it.
Every time I make beef and broccoli stir fry, I’m always pleasantly surprised by how well it pairs with fried cauliflower rice. It’s more than adequate as a white rice replacement. It looks similar to rice and plays the same role — something plain in flavor to offset the stronger sauce as well as a vehicle for soaking up any escaping sauce.
Recently I’ve been buying bags of pre-riced cauliflower at Trader Joe’s so that I can skip the chore of using my food processor, and I toss it in the pan along with some cooking oil. I cook on medium to medium-high, stirring frequently for even cooking, until the cauliflower rice is tender. It takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on how much I’m cooking at once.
You have several options for using a sweetener in this recipe:
- I prefer erythritol because because it has no effect on blood sugar or insulin — your body actually cannot digest it. It’s 70% as sweet as table sugar. You can use powdered or granulated:
- 5 tablespoons powdered erythritol (about 1/3 cup)
- 4 tablespoons granulated erythritol (1/4 cup)
- If you use a different kind of dry sweetener that has the same level of sweetness as sugar (such as Swerve which is a 1:1 replacement for sugar), then use 3 tablespoons granulated. For non-low carb folks, I recommend 3 tablespoons granulated brown sugar.
- If you’re not sure about the amount of sweetener to use, I would suggest adding it to taste when making the sauce.
We loved this recipe. Made it exactly, and the taste was great using powdered Swerve. It’s a keeper for our Keto diet!
I really have to watch my sodium, any suggestions? This recipe with low sodium soy sauce is still too high in sodium for me.
Most of the sodium in this recipe comes from the beef stock and the soy sauce, both of which vary A LOT from brand to brand in terms of their sodium content. The nutrition provided here is only an estimate based on the brands that I personally used, and this could be very different for you. Since sodium restriction is important to you, I suggest looking at the various brands available at your supermarket (including those for soy sauce substitutes like coconut aminos and tamari sauce) and selecting those with lowest sodium according to their nutrition labels.
I will be making this tonight. It sounds wonderful! If I only have frozen cauliflower rice, would that work??
I haven’t tried preparing fried cauliflower rice from frozen, but I expect it would work fine. Might need to saute longer to get rid of excess moisture as it thaws and cooks.
Added some garlic, ginger and red peppers. Delish! Thank you for this recipe!
I made this last night and didn’t change anything. It was amazing! I love how the fried cauliflower rice tastes very similar to real rice. I couldn’t taste cauliflower at all, especially with the sauce on it. Thanks!!
This recipe was absolutely delicious!!! Whole family loved it!
How much will it affect the taste, if I leave out the artificial sweetener? I have an allergy to artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols.
Made it tonight after seeing this recipe! I used arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch and it worked fine. My hubby loved it.( Went for seconds!) We agreed, mushrooms would be a nice addition. I am thinking pea pods would be yummy too!😊
we had this for dinner last night and it was fast and it was delicious!! thank you
Hey I want to try this recipe but don’t want to use cornstarch so it can be less carbs, have you tried Xanthan gum in place of cornstarch for this recipe?
Corn starch is mainly used in this recipe to tenderize the beef; replacing it with xanthan gum doesn’t have the same effect. You are probably thinking of cases where xanthan gum can replace corn starch to thicken a sauce, but that’s not the situation here. The problem with skipping or replacing corn starch is that you might end up with tough tasting beef.
I used xantham gum when I made it and the texture was a little gooey. The flavor was still amazing and the beef was very tender but I’ll definitely be using corn starch next time.
I loved it! I made a double batch and it came out a tad bit too salty so I’ll use less soy sauce next time. Thanks for the great recipe!
Are you using low or reduced sodium soy sauce (not the same as “light soy sauce”)? If you only have regular soy sauce, try mixing 50/50 regular soy sauce and water for the same effect.
I used less sweetener. I also used venison and onions. It turned out delicious!!
Hi so instead of the erythritol because I can’t find that where I’m at can the granular swerve work ?
Yes, Swerve will work. It’s sweeter than erythritol, so add less or add to taste.
Hi! I tried the earlier version of this recipe that wasn’t low carb and it was amazing! I later found this recipe and I was just curious about the removal of the garlic and the cornstarch from the sauce. Is there a reason why?/how does the end result differ in this recipe. (Other recipe can be found here, https://www.savorytooth.com/beef-broccoli/ )
I removed corn starch from the sauce to reduce carbs for this low carb version. The garlic is more of a personal preference. I think the end result is pretty similar, with the original (high carb) version being a bit richer in flavor.
This is my favorite recipe since starting KETO. Thank you SO much for sharing!
I made this tonight but used venison instead of flank steak and it was better than the chinese resturants! I will make it again, thinking about maybe adding some mushrooms. My boyfriend loved it! Thanks so much for posting it.
Adding mushrooms is a fantastic idea. Hope you get to make this again soon!
I made this last night. I added two tablespoons of garlic to the brocolli and 1 – 2 tablespoons of grated ginger the meat while cooking. Cooking the brocolli with the sauce for 10 minutes left the brocolli limp. I like my brocolli crisp for dish. Served over pan roasted grated cauliflower rice.
Thanks for the feedback! Depending on your stovetop, pan, and size of broccoli florets, you pan need to simmer longer or shorter than the time estimate in the recipe until the broccoli is tender.
Loved it! I added onions and mushrooms and sesame seeds!
Yum, onions and mushrooms sound delicious! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Delicious! Just made this. So easy. Very few ingredients. Quick and so flavorful. I was really surprised actually. I didn’t use any sweetener, artificial or otherwise. I can’t wait to make this again. Perfect!!
Thank you for your feedback, Michele! Good to know the sweetener is optional and not needed. Hope you get to make it again soon!
How many servings are in this recipe? Am I missing it?
There are 2 servings. You can find the serving information right above the Ingredients section in the recipe box. If you still don’t see it, do a Ctrl-F and type “serving” to highlight it on the page.
Delicious meal. Next time I think I’ll forego the corn starch. I like my meat tender and without slime, lol.
Wow.
Too bad you can’t get rid of all that slime that’s dripping off you then, huh?
Nevermind, I’m my haste and morning fog I did not read thoroughly 🙂
Did you add the beef stock to the rest of the recipe when you added the broccoli or was it solely for cooking the broccoli and th en discarded?
Canola oil is a safe and healthy fat — check out this explanation by a Harvard nutrition professor and this answer from a Mayo Clinic dietitian.
Keto is a diet that restricts carbs, not specific ingredients (like Paleo). Corn starch is used in this recipe in a small amount so that the overall number of net carbs per serving is relatively low and doable for most people on a keto diet.
YUMMY! I can’t wait to make it for the 3rd time. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
You’re welcome!