One of the things I miss the most after being diagnosed with Celiac disease and going on a gluten-free diet, is the convenience of being able to eat anything, anywhere, anytime. Pre-GF days, the only question was “What are you hungry for?”, or “Do they have something the kids will eat?”. Now, getting ready to go out to eat is similar to preparing for battle. You have to have lists, plans, strategies. And back up lists, plans & strategies, just in case.
Pre-GF days, we’d order in food occasionally, it’s not that it was a weekly occurrence, but it was nice to be able to order in on a whim. One of our favorite order-in foods was Chinese food. I’ve been able to recreate sweet & sour chicken balls, as well as fried rice, but seriously, both of those dishes do take quite a bit of time to make. Sometimes, you want something quick. And that is where today’s dish comes in.
This Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry was quick to put together (with cooking the brown rice taking the most amount of time), and since it had the brown rice, the beef strips, and the vegetables, it was a complete meal. There was no need for other side dishes to accompany it.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. stir-fry beef (or boneless round steak, cut into thin 3-inch strips)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped (or thinly sliced)
- 1/2 cup carrots, thinly sliced (or you could use red pepper)
- 1 cup cold water
- 1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, adds some nice heat)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1-2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Directions:
- In a glass bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, minced garlic and black pepper. Add the stir-fry beef strips and marinade for half an hour. (Now is a good time to start the brown rice, since it takes about 45 minutes to cook in the microwave.)
- In a large frying pan or wok, heat the 2 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. Add the stir-fry beef and marinade, and fry until the meat is no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the onions & carrots, and fry, while continuing to stir) for another 2 minutes. Add the broccoli and continue stirring and frying for 1 more minute.
- In a glass measuring cup, whisk together the 1 cup cold water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and cornstarch. Pour this mixture over the beef & broccoli mixture, and cook until sauce thickens, about 2-3 more minutes.
- Serve immediately over hot rice. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving.
This recipe is being linked to Canadian Beef, in hopes that I can win an all-inclusive scholarship to Eat, Write Retreat in Washington, D.C. The contest runs until Monday, Febuary 24th, so expect a few more beefy recipes between now and then. 
Looks delicious, Jeanine. We feel the same way about recreating those favorites at home.
Good luck with the scholarship. I went to Eat Write Retreat last year and it was the best food blogging conference I’ve been to. The Canadians who won the scholarships last year were also great fun and a pleasure to meet.
I miss Chinese take out very much. So right that it takes time to make good stuff. Book marking this cause it looks perfect and so easy! Good luck and here’s to you winning!!!
Thanks, Lisa!
This looks delicious! I was reading through the directions and ingredient list to see if I have everything I need to make this (almost!) but discovered that the cornstarch (and more importantly, how much) is not listed. Would you fill that in for us? Thanks!
Oh, sorry, Barbara! My mistake. I’ve added it now, it’s 1/4 cup cornstarch.
This is a gorgeous stir-fry Jeanine. I plan to make a few easy tweaks so that my corn allergic son can have it. He adores Chinese food, but can only have homemade versions because we haven’t ever found a place that makes corn-free Chinese food! Lol.
Good luck! This recipe looks like a contender for sure!
Made this for dinner tonight & it was awesome. I think I’ll reduce the amount of sesame oil next time though. It was a tad overpowering, but still delicious. I’ve been missing beef & broccoli.
I made this for my husband’s birthday this evening and what a hit it was!!! He has been diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease for over a year now and his favourite food has always been Chinese food. Made this and he just loved it!! Thank you so much, we’ll be having it again for sure!
Brilliant recipe. Family loved it. Sauce was delicious!
Glad to hear that, Keren! Thanks for the feedback!
Delicious!!! Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it for my gluten-intolerant husband who use to live/work in Beijing. He loves – and misses – Chinese food. He raved about dinner, said that it was the best non-MSG Chinese food that he has tasted. I tweaked your recipe by omitting the sesame oil and adding lots more vegetables (green peppers, celery and snow peas). Thanks again for sharing.
I made this tonight. I was surprised we could make something this good. I think we will tweak it a bit for our tastes. I will use less of a thickener because i like a thinner sauce. The flavor was very good. My husband loved it. I think we could probably use the same sauce for lots of meat and vegetable combinations. This is going to be on our menu once a week. Perfect meal for two working parents! Thanks for posting it!
Definitely a very versatile sauce! Add whatever veggies you enjoy, and go from there.
Thanks for the feedback! 
Best Gluten Free recipe I have made! Even my gluten loving family LOVED it! Finally a meal we can all eat! Thank you so much!
Awesome, glad to hear that, Gena! It’s nice when the whole family enjoys supper.
Wow! Loved it! Its a relief to finally feel like I ate something. Thank you for this. Ive just started the gluten free life. Trying to cope is difficult, but recipes like this help.
It’s a bit of a learning curve, but you’ll get the hang of it in no time, Kischa! The easiest thing for meals is back to basics – simple ingredients, and cooking yourself instead of packaged meals. It’s more work in the beginning, but well worth it.