Easy Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry, Better than Takeout!

If you are looking for an easy beef and broccoli stir fry recipe that is not only healthy but also better than takeout, look no further! This asian inspired dish hits the nail on the head. Not only is it delicious, but it is a fantastic meal prep recipe…tastes even better reheated the next day! You are going to want to add this recipe to your meal plan this week!

How to Make this Easy Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry?

QUESTION:

• Are you trying to get better at meal planning?
• Do you find yourself eating the same recipes every few weeks?
• Are you having trouble finding recipes for meal prep?
• Or are you counting macros?

If you are bored of eating the same recipes every week and answered yes to these questions, then you are going to want to subscribe below. Each week I create 3-5 new recipes, ensuring you never get bored with your food again! Additionally, you are going to want to check out my notes below. Tips on how you can incorporate this easy beef and broccoli stir fry recipe into your meal plan and meal prep. This is the perfect healthy weeknight recipe… better than takeout!

NOTES FOR MEAL PLANNING:

Meal planning doesn’t have to be hard or take a lot of time. In fact, meal planning can be fun when you are provided with easy new recipes each week. Meal Planning can also help save money, prevent food waste, and save you time.

If you would like to lean more about meal planning and putting your own personal plan together click HERE.

The best things about this recipe are: it is a healthy recipe, that is better than takeout, and a fantastic meal prep dish.

NOTES FOR MEAL PREP:

When meal prepping recipes it is important to think about the best way to store and reheat your finished meals: 

FRIDGE STORAGE: 

Storing this easy beef and broccoli stir fry recipe in the fridge will last 5-7 days. 

There are a few ways you can choose to store this recipe in your fridge:

• You can store as one large meal or as individual servings. 
• I always prefer individual servings. This allows me to only reheat the number of servings that will be eaten. 
• However, if you know you will eat the entire recipe when it is time to be reheated, go ahead and store it as one large serving. However, I would keep the rice separate from the beef and broccoli. Or cook the rice fresh the day you do plan to eat this recipe.

For fridge storage you can use zip lock bags, plastic containers, or glass food containers. I prefer to use glass container, as this allows me to reheat and eat the recipe right out of the same container. Which in turn saves me time, dirty dishes, and makes clean up easier. It also save on waste: either tossing out the used zip lock bags, or eventually having to replace the plastic containers. 

Be sure to allow the recipe to cool completely before closing the container or placing in the fridge. If you close the container or place the recipe in the fridge before it has cooled you could have built up condensation within your container, thus watering down the recipe.  

TIPS FOR RE-HEATING AFTER BEING IN THE FRIDGE: 

• If reheating as an individual serving, microwave for 90-120 seconds, stirring half way thru.
• If reheating as a one large meal, I recommend reheating the beef and broccoli on the stove, in a large pan, at medium low heat. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the recipe is warmed thru. This will ensure the best flavor, consistency, and really bring the recipe back to life. You may want to add a tiny bit of water to help loosen up the sauce and ingredients. Adding 1 teaspoon at a time, you don’t want to water down the recipe.
  • For the rice: If already cooked you will add it into the the beef and broccoli once the sauce has loosened up some and toss together. The rice was already fully cooked so you only want to get it warm again.
  • If you waited to cook the rice fresh the day you planned to eat it, cook the rice following step number 1 above.
• However, you can also microwave the entire recipe with the rice, this will take about the same time as the stove top, but might dry the recipe out a little. Microwave for 5-7 minutes, stirring every few minutes. I also suggest wrapping the dish in a damp paper towel this will help to trap in the moisture and keep the rice from drying out.

Having this recipe handy and ready for eating will curb your craving for asian, because this recipe is so much better than takeout!

FREEZER STORAGE: 

Not all recipes are freezer friendly. This healthy beef & broccoli stir fry is sort of freezer friendly. You can easily freeze the beef and broccoli in the sauce. However, you do not want to freeze the rice. Rice only defrosts well with it is situated in sauce. This recipe does not have enough sauce to keep the rice moist for freezing and defrosting. So either you can freeze the recipe without the rice, making the rice fresh the day you plan to eat the frozen beef and broccoli. Or you can choose to eat this recipe without the rice all together. This will make this more of a low carb recipe. When frozen the beef and broccoli will keep for 3-6 months. 

There are a few ways that you can choose to freeze this recipe:

• Freeze as individual portions, one serving per each freezer safe zip lock bag. Be sure to remove all of the air from the bag. Storing individullly allows you to reheat as many servings as you wish. 
• However, you can also store the entire recipe. To do this you would simply use a larger freezer safe zip lock bag. 
• Or, my favorite way to freeze meals is in souper cubes. These cubes are reusable, freezer safe, and store the perfect serving size.

Be sure to remove all the air from the zip lock bags and allow the recipe to cool completely before placing in the freezer. Failing to allow the recipe to cool completely could result in freezer burn. 

Be sure to label your frozen meal with the name of the recipe and the date you cooked it. I like to use a piece of masking tape to write on. You don’t want to forget about the delicious recipe you have on hand!

TIPS FOR RE-HEATING AFTER BEING FROZEN: 

Going straight from the freezer to the microwave or oven you will want to remove the recipe from the frozen container. You can not microwave zip lock bags, a glass container could crack going from such cold temps to such warm temps, and super cubes are not microwave or oven safe.

• As individual servings, I recommend reheating on the stove and not the microwave. Frozen recipes always defrost better this way. Cook in a medium pot or pan at medium heat for 10-12 minutes until the recipe has defrosted and is warmed thru. You may want to add a tiny bit of water to help loosen up the sauce and ingredients. Adding 1 teaspoon at a time, you don’t want to water down the recipe.
• Or pull the number of servings you are looking to eat from the freezer the night before. Then store in the fridge to defrost overnight. Once defrosted follow the instructions above for reheating from the fridge. 
• If frozen as an entire recipe, I recommend pulling from the freezer the night before to allow the meal to defrost. Then reheat on the stove in a large pot or pan at medium low heat for about 10-12 minutes, enough to warm thru. Again, you may want to add a tiny bit of water to help loosen up the sauce and ingredients. Adding 1 teaspoon at a time.
• If choosing to make with the rice, you will want to cook the rice fresh not frozen following step number 1 in the recipe above.

NOTES FOR COUNTING MACROS:

PROTEIN:

The majority of the protein in this recipe comes from the steak. You can easily adjust the amount of steak without changing the flavor of this recipe too much. However, it is important to remember that steak does have fat. The steak that I used in this recipe was flank steak but any thin cut of steak will work.  

• For every 1 ounce of flank steak you can increase or decrease the protein macro by 6 grams. The same amount of steak also contains 2.2 grams of fat.

So go ahead, add as much or as little protein as you would like to this recipe. Keeping in mind the amount of fat.

CARBOHYDRATE:

Rice is the main source of carbohydrate in this recipe. Adjusting the amount of rice either increases or decreases the amount of carbs. 

• For every 1/4 cup (45g) of jasmine rice you increase or decrease the carbs by 36 grams.

This means that you can increase the carbs as much as you would like. You could also choose to remove the rice from this recipe all together, reducing the carbs by: 36 grams per serving. Thus creating a low carb recipe! Even as a low carb option this recipe is still better than takeout!

FAT:

This easy beef & broccoli recipe does have a decent about of fat with 21.7 grams per serving. The majority of the fat, 16.9 grams per serving coming from the steak.

If you are looking to decrease the fat in this recipe you could easily choose a leaner cut of steak. 

• Sirloin Tip Side: .9 gram per ounce
• Eye of Round: 1 gram per ounce.
• Top Round: 1.2 grams per ounce

This allows you to decrease the fat as much as your you want and your macros require. 

Although, if you are looking to increase the fat you could also go with a higher fat cut of steak. 

• Skirt Steak: 3.5 grams per ounce
• New York Strip: 4.2 grams per ounce
• Rib Eye: 4.8 grams per ounce

When making adjustments to the macros in this easy beef & broccoli recipe, you will want to keep in mind the number of servings you are making. However it is also important to know that this healthy beef & broccoli recipe is better than takeout, so you will want to make extra!