Ground beef and broccoli sounds a little boring, but this sticky sweet BBQ beef with broccoli is far from it. We’re talking charred broccoli cooked in rendered bacon fat, crispy browned ground beef, and a sweet yet umami black pepper BBQ sauce.
Every serving has 18 grams of protein with only 160 calories. It’s perfect for serving with rice or cauliflower rice and packing up for meal prep. And you’ll only need 6 ingredients and about 20 minutes to make it. So let’s get after it!
Sticky Sweet Ground Beef and Broccoli Ingredients
Even with a short ingredient list, there are lots of possible modifications. I’ll run you through every ingredient with ideas for alternatives so you can take this recipe and run with it. You’re one sauce or veggie swap away from an entirely different recipe (that’s still super simple).
Bacon
If you’re revisiting this recipe since it was first published in 2018, you may notice it calls for center cut bacon as opposed to pre-cooked chicken bacon.
In the original recipe I recommended using real bacon for more flavor and using the rendered fat to cook the ground beef and broccoli like in my bacon cheddar ground beef and potatoes skillet. So that’s exactly what I did for the updated version.
You can still use the chicken bacon, adding it at the end with the sauce.
Broccoli
Another change with this updated recipe is the switch from frozen broccoli to fresh. Using fresh allows you to add some char to the broccoli while also keeping some crunch and texture.
If you still wanted to use frozen broccoli, simply microwave a steamable bag according to its directions and stir in at the end up of the cook with the sauced ground beef.
Broccoli Alternatives
If you wanted to swap broccoli for something else, you could try brussels sprouts, green beans, bell peppers, or just about anything. Though you may want to consider a different sauce pairing for certain vegetables. Here’s a handful of ideas:
- Sweet Chili Ground Beef and Brussels Sprouts
- Beijing Beef with Ground Beef
- Ground Chicken and Greek Veggies
- Honey Balsamic Ground Chicken and Brussels Sprouts
Ground Beef
The recipe calls for 96% lean ground beef, which is my go-to for all my macro friendly ground beef recipes. With a minimal recipe like this, it’s even more important to maximize on flavor everywhere you can. So make sure you get some actual browning on your beef.
For optimal browning, you need a hot and dry environment. Turning up the heat under the skillet and patting the ground beef dry with a paper towel should help. Check out my high protein taco soup post for more in-depth tips on browning ground beef.
Ground beef alternatives include proteins like the shaved beef steak from my black pepper beef bowls or the ground turkey and chicken from my sweet and spicy ground chicken and broccoli or crispy garlic ground chicken.
Sticky Sweet BBQ Sauce
Inspiring the title, Sticky Sweet Ground Beef and Broccoli, Stubb’s Sticky Sweet barbecue sauce was my sauce of choice for this recipe. Stubb’s makes great barbecue sauces that are relatively low calorie. This is the same sauce I used in my pressure cooker BBQ pulled pork and Sriracha BBQ Ground Beef and Green Beans recipes.
For an even lower carb option, check out G Hughes sugar free BBQ sauce like I used for my air fryer chipotle BBQ chicken tacos. The Trader Joe’s sriracha garlic BBQ sauce I used for my BBQ chicken meatballs and smoked pork tenderloin is also a great option.
And for a slightly different flavor profile, check out my homemade Japanese barbecue sauce or the hoisin sauce from my crispy ground beef and rice.
Serving Your Ground Beef and Broccoli
Rice or a blend of rice and cauliflower rice are the no-brainer pairings for this recipe. I like to make rice bowls for meal prep with about 2/3 cup basmati rice and 2/3 cup cauliflower rice per serving. You can easily adjust the amount of rice to fit your calorie needs.
Non-rice pairings might include anything else that goes with BBQ flavors. Similar to my ground beef and cabbage recipe, potatoes come to mind, whether that’s a stuffed air fried baked potato or on a bed of low fat mashed potatoes. (If you’re short on carbs, check out my low carb potato substitutes guide.)
I’m curious to see what you can come up with. Let me know how you serve your sticky sweet ground beef with broccoli in the comments or in a recipe review. And if you have any questions about the recipe or ingredient swaps, leave them in the comments as well.
Sticky Sweet Ground Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 4 slices Center Cut Bacon, diced
- 12 oz Broccoli Florets, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 pound Extra Lean Ground Beef, 96/4
For the Sauce
- 1/2 cup 140g Stubb’s Sticky Sweet Barbecue Sauce (or your choice of BBQ sauce)
- 2 Tablespoons 30g Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- Add the diced bacon to a cold skillet over medium heat. Fully cook the bacon and transfer to a paper towel, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet.
- Add the broccoli to the skillet and sauté until vibrant green and browned in spots, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Increase to a medium-high heat and add the ground beef. Brown one side for 2-3 minutes before breaking apart and fully cooking.
- Once fully cooked, add the sauce ingredients and stir together until thick, about 30-60 seconds.
- Turn off the heat and add the cooked bacon and broccoli to the skillet with the ground beef.
- Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice or cauliflower rice and garnish with chili flakes and sesame seeds, if desired.
Made this last night and it was a huge hit!!! Used elk instead of beef, added garlic and red onion. I might make more sauce next time for juicier rice. Thanks!
Made this last night and it was a huge hit!!! Used elk instead of beef, added garlic and red onion. I might make more sauce next time for juicier rice. Thanks!
This is an easy an delicious meal to whip up and serve with rice or cauliflower rice if you’re looking to make a crowd pleasing quick weeknight dinner. I usually sub ground turkey for lower fat.
My first try I used regular bacon, which end way too much fat (yea, being on decent macros for awhile does change your taste bud). I switched to Canadian Bacon and turkey bacon for second time, I don’t notice the taste change. I am gonna try to see if the change of low calorie bbq sauce will change the flavor that much. I pair it with rice. Also, broccoli is optional. You can switch green beans I think taste just as well. Or just cook the meat and add vegs as you eat (I like my veg fresh).
Easy, delicious recipe. I skipped the bacon just because I forgot to get it at the store.
My husband HATES veggies! I made this, without the bacon because I didn’t have any on hand, and he freaking loved it! he even got seconds!
This is a flavorful east meal. Thanks
This will probably be my meal prep for the foreseeable future! I used center cut bacon because that’s all I had on hand. I made it with jasmine rice and a tablespoon of the Better Than Boullion Garlic flavor instead of water and now I look forward to lunch! I’ll probably even make this for dinner too! Thanks, Mason!
Okay wow this was SO good!!!
Fantastic recipe that made a very hearty plate for dinner. I used fresh broccoli, low sodium bacon, and no sugar added BBQ sauce. And put it all on top of a huge pile of riced cauliflower. My husband had regular white rice with his serving. Love that it filled it both up and we have leftovers for tomorrow.