Sticky Air-Fryer Beef and Broccoli
Beef and broccoli is the order I default to when I cannot think, so it was only a matter of time before I worked out how to do it in the basket. Turns out the air fryer is better at it than I am with a pan, mostly because of the broccoli. Steamed broccoli in takeout sauce is fine. Broccoli with browned, slightly crispy edges is a completely different vegetable. The beef gets a head start, the broccoli joins it, and the sauce thickens itself in the microwave while you do nothing at all.
Why this one is so easy
It is the takeout order most people default to, and it is genuinely quick to make at home.
Air fried broccoli beats steamed broccoli by a distance. The edges brown and go slightly sweet instead of turning to mush.
One basket does the beef and the vegetable, so there is no wok and no second pan.
The sauce thickens in the microwave while the basket works, which means no standing and stirring.
Della's tips
Slice against the grain, always. Cut the wrong way and even good steak chews like a shoe.
Cut the florets small, about bite size. Big heads char at the tips before the stems are done.
The beef goes in first and gets a head start. Broccoli added at the same time overcooks by the time the beef is browned.
Do not skip the cornstarch on the beef. It is what lets the sauce cling instead of running off onto the rice.
If your basket is small, do the beef in two rounds. Crowded strips steam and go gray.
Make it your own
+ Spicy: a spoon of chili crisp or a squeeze of sriracha stirred into the sauce at the end.
+ Add vegetables: sliced onion, snap peas or red pepper go in with the broccoli.
+ Chicken and broccoli: thin strips of chicken thigh, same times, same sauce.
+ Sweeter, Panda style: add another spoon of brown sugar and a splash of rice vinegar.
If you are out of something
Skirt, flat iron or thin sliced rump all work. Anything you can cut genuinely thin.
Frozen broccoli works if you thaw it and dry it well, though it will never brown quite as hard.
Tamari or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce for gluten free.
Honey or maple instead of brown sugar, about the same amount.
The beef can sit in its marinade in the fridge for up to a day, and the sauce mixes up three days ahead, so on the night it is basically slice, cook, toss. What I would not do is sauce it early. Beef and broccoli is best about ninety seconds after the sauce goes on, while the broccoli edges are still crisp. Leftovers keep two days and come back best in the air fryer at 375F for 3 minutes, not in the microwave, which turns the broccoli soft and the beef rubbery.
Ingredients
Steps
Slice the steak thin against the grain. Fifteen minutes in the freezer first makes this much easier and the strips much neater.
Whisk the soy sauce, broth, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil together. Pour a third of it over the beef and let it sit while you cut the broccoli. Keep the rest for the sauce.
Toss the marinated beef with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and the neutral oil until every strip is coated and separate.
Air fry the beef at 380F for 8 minutes, shaking the basket once at the halfway point.
Toss the broccoli with a little spray oil, add it in with the beef, and give it 5 to 6 more minutes. You want the florets tender with genuinely browned crisp edges, not soft and olive green.
Meanwhile stir the second tablespoon of cornstarch into the reserved sauce and microwave it in bursts of 45 seconds, whisking between, until it thickens enough to coat a spoon. Two rounds usually does it.
Tip the hot beef and broccoli into the sauce, toss to coat, and pile it over rice with sesame seeds and green onion.
Quick note: I am a home cook, not a dietitian. Treat any nutrition info as a rough estimate, and if allergies are at your table, double check your ingredient labels.
This one is part of my 51 Easy Air-Fryer Dinners for Busy Weeknights roundup. If tonight's dinner worked out, the other ones are just as lazy.
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Questions, answered
Flank or sirloin. Both are lean, cheap enough for a weeknight, and tender if you slice them thin against the grain. Skirt and flat iron work too.
Not for long. Ten minutes while you cut the broccoli is enough to season it. A longer soak is fine but it will not change the texture much, because the cornstarch is doing that job.
The florets were too big or too dry. Cut them small and give them a light coat of oil so the edges brown rather than scorch.
You can, but the broccoli will be soft by the time the beef browns. The eight minute head start for the beef is what keeps both right.
Cornstarch and a microwave. Whisk it in cold, then heat in 45 second bursts, whisking between, until it coats a spoon. It takes about two minutes total.