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.
I would’ve never thought about using ground beef for beef and broccoli, but it is so tasty and easy! This recipe is perfect for dinner when you are low on groceries. I always have these ingredients on hand. And. the sodium is much lower than traditional beef and broccoli.
Super easy to make, and delicious even if you substitute the beef for turkey or chicken. Definitely a meal prep go-to!
This recipe is so simple! I made it for my bf’s very picky family and they liked it a lot! It’s a good one to make in bulk, put in Tupperware and bring to work so you don’t get stuck with boring lunches! This was the first time I pan cooked broccoli and it’s a game changer! I do it all the time now
The Sticky Sweet Beef and Broccoli was the first Mason recipe I tried and I have been hooked ever since. They are so great and fun to make.
Easy to make go to week night meal . I use Trader Joes BBQ sauce . Also I eliminate the bacon and sometimes I use a frozen bag of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots 🙂
Okay, so I’m not a big brocolli fan, but this recipe is seriously amazing. I try and make this at least once a week, with enough for lunch leftovers because it’s even better the next day. The brocolli soaks up all the bbq and bacon flavor 🤤. I usually use the 94/6 ground beef and sometimes sub real bacon bits instead of cooking bacon, which speeds this up by a few minutes. Overall, highly recommend!
i’ve made some variation of this recipe at least once a week for a while. I’ll usually substitute the bbq for a sugar free version, and sometimes even swap the beef out for any protein and it comes out great! it’s an amazing base recipe to work with and modify for a variety of different ingredients while following the basic framework.
I absolutely love this recipe, it so easy to make and it’s became a family favorite at our house.
I would’ve never thought about using ground beef for beef and broccoli, but it is so tasty and easy! This recipe is perfect for dinner when you are low on groceries. I always have these ingredients on hand. And. the sodium is much lower than traditional beef and broccoli.
Super easy to make, and delicious even if you substitute the beef for turkey or chicken. Definitely a meal prep go-to!