Sometimes you just need a lean protein, veggie, and rice reset meal. And what better way to tick that box than with caramelized black pepper beef and broccoli? The broccoli is pan roasted until nicely charred before shaved steak is cooked in an umami black pepper sauce until the edges are nice and crispy.
Served over jasmine rice, each serving has 30g protein and 4g fiber with only 12g fat. Take that, take out!
The Ingredient Rundown and Substitution Ideas
I’m on a Trader Joe’s kick at the moment, so you’ll see all the ingredients in the photo below come from good ol’ TJ’s. I recently discovered the Swift beef shaved steak is surprisingly lean compared to the typical shaved ribeye. It has 22g protein with only 7g fat per serving. Pretty great macros for steak!
I originally used the steak to make sticky hoisin beef for steak noodle bowls, which is a great segue for sauce talk. To make the black pepper sauce, you’ll need maple syrup, coconut aminos, toasted sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, frozen garlic and ginger cubes, white miso paste, and black pepper. It’s salty, sweet, umami, and perfectly peppery.
All that said, I always encourage sauce exploration. I just made Trader Joe’s Soyaki turkey and broccoli noodles, for an easy pre-made sauce option. Or there are other flavor profiles you may want to look at like firecracker, chili crisp, or Mongolian.
Enough talk about the steak and sauce. What about broccoli? Other cruciferous veggies like brussels sprouts and cauliflower would work well with the black pepper beef here. For a shortcut ingredient, the TJ’s Cruciferous Crunch makes an easy stir fry starter. You could swap a bag of that for the broccoli and follow the recipe as written.
Though I do appreciate the symmetry of bite-size broccoli pieces with the beef.
Be sure to take note of the photo above to get an idea of what the beef should look like. Don’t be afraid to leave it alone in the pan to develop some color. The beauty of shaved steak is that you don’t have to sweat overcooking it like a whole steak.
Serving Ideas and How to Increase Serving Sizes
If you’ve seen any of my rice bowl recipes before, you know what I’m about to plug. It’s what some (including me) call “half calorie rice” which is a buzz-wordy name that’s not very accurate. To make it, I combine frozen steamed jasmine rice with frozen cauliflower rice.
You hardly even notice the riced cauliflower with a 2:1 ratio of jasmine to cauliflower rice. A 1:1 ratio is slightly noticeable, but I’m one of the weirdos that actually likes cauliflower rice.
Either way, this is my number one tip for eating more food without adding many calories. You can take the rice per serving from 1 cup of jasmine rice to 2 cups of “half calorie rice” for 25 extra calories!
Let’s talk about garnishes. The tried and true sliced green onion and toasted sesame seeds are the move. I really love toasted sesame seed seasoning blends like McCormick’s sesame ginger crunch or Whole Foods’ sesame garlic crunch. Trader Joe’s has a chili onion crunch seasoning that’s solid, but not quite on the same level as the other two.
As for sauces, something like lite yum yum sauce, sriracha mayo, or some type of chili sauce would be my recommendation for this beef and broccoli combo.
There’s a comments section at the bottom of this post where you can leave any questions you might have about the recipe or any ingredients.
Otherwise, you can print or save the full recipe below. I hope you enjoy these beef and broccoli protein bowls. Recipe reviews are always appreciated if you do. – Mason
Black Pepper Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 12 oz Broccoli Florets cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 bags (10 oz each) Frozen Steamed Jasmine Rice or 4 cups cooked rice
- Green Onion and Toasted Sesame Seeds for serving
For the Black Pepper Beef
- 1 pound Beef Shaved Steak
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar or Chinese black vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
- 2 Tablespoons White Miso Paste
- 1 teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 4 Frozen Crushed Garlic Cubes or 4 cloves fresh garlic
- 2 Frozen Crushed Ginger Cubes or 2 teaspoons minced ginger
Instructions
- Prepare the beef. Mix the sauce ingredients together before adding the beef. (I like to use kitchen scissors or a knife to make sure the beef is cut into bite-size pieces.) Stir together, cover, and set aside.
- Cook the broccoli. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the broccoli and stir to coat in the oil. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli looks charred in spots and is tender crisp. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Cook the beef. Add the beef to the pan and spread out in an even layer. Cook for 4-5 minutes, mostly untouched, until no liquid remains and the beef begins to brown and caramelize on the bottom. Stir the beef around and make sure it’s fully cooked before turning off the heat and adding the broccoli back to the pan.
- Serve. Toss the cooked beef and broccoli together before serving over rice and garnishing with sliced green onion, toasted sesame seeds, and your choice of sauce, if desired.
