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Crockpot Beef and Broccoli

Chuck steak braised until it gives, in a glossy soy and ginger sauce, with broccoli added at the very end so it stays green.

Prep
20 min
Cook
5 hr
Makes
Serves 6
Jump to the recipe
Chunks of braised beef with broccoli florets
Photo: Ivan Georgiev / Pexels

Almost every slow-cooker version of this dish arrives gray and watery, and both faults come from the same two decisions.

The first is the cut. Recipes that call for sirloin or flank are describing a stir-fry, not a braise: lean cuts have no collagen, and five hours of moist heat turns them stringy. Chuck is the opposite — it is full of connective tissue, and long slow heat melts that into gelatine, which is what gives braised beef its texture and the sauce its body. Chuck is also the cheaper cut, which is a rare piece of good news.

The second is the broccoli. It does not go in at the start. Broccoli needs about five minutes; give it five hours and it disintegrates into the sauce and takes the color with it. It goes in at the end, on top, with the lid on for a few minutes.

The sauce thickens off the heat, not during. A slow cooker never reaches a real boil, and cornstarch needs one to set. Ladle some liquid into a pan, bring it up, whisk in the slurry, then stir it back — the same trick that keeps sweet and sour sauce glossy rather than watery.

Beef and broccoli plated with a glossy sauce
Photo: LAWJR / Pixabay

Beef and broccoli: the recipe card

Chuck steak braised until it gives, in a glossy soy and ginger sauce, with broccoli added at the very end so it stays green.

For the beef, and for the finish

For the beef

  • 2½ lb (1.1 kg) chuck steak, sliced 1 cm thick across the grain
  • 1 cup (240 ml) beef stock
  • ½ cup (120 ml) soy sauce
  • ⅓ cup (60 g) light brown sugar
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

To finish

  • 1 lb (450 g) broccoli, cut into florets
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 4 tbsp cold water
  • Sesame seeds and sliced scallion

Making beef and broccoli in a slow cooker

  1. 1 Put the sliced chuck in the slow cooker. Whisk the stock, soy, sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil together and pour it over.
  2. 2 Cook on low for 5 hours, or high for 3. It is ready when a piece pulls apart under a fork with no resistance.
  3. 3 Lift out 240 ml of the cooking liquid into a small pan and bring it to a proper boil. Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and cook 1 minute until it turns glossy, then stir it back into the pot.
  4. 4 Scatter the broccoli over the top, put the lid back on, and leave it 5 minutes on high. It should be bright and still squeaky, not soft.
  5. 5 Stir once, gently, and serve over rice with sesame seeds and scallion.

On slicing and on frozen broccoli

  • Slicing across the grain matters even for a braise: it shortens the fibres before cooking starts, so the meat falls into short pieces rather than long strands.
  • Frozen broccoli works and needs 3 minutes rather than 5. Do not thaw it first.

Two things that go wrong

Not for this method. Sirloin and flank have no collagen to break down, so five hours leaves them dry and stringy. Save those for a stir-fry.

Cornstarch needs a real boil to thicken and a slow cooker never gets there. Thicken a ladleful in a pan on the stovetop, then return it.