This slow cooker beef and broccoli is perfect for those days that you are craving take-out! You can put this together in a snap and best of all, it is all made in the slow cooker!
My favorite time of year is the transition from summer to fall. I love the cooler temperatures.
It’s as if as soon as the temperature gets slightly cooler, my body immediately sends out some sort of alarm saying it needs comfort food.
Soups, stews, cozy dinners!
This is why this slow cooker beef and broccoli is the PERFECT meal to break in a slow cooker.
It’s not just for cooler weather though. We have made this in the dead of summer when we were just absolutely craving take out but didn’t want to actually order it.
I love setting up a meal and just forgetting about it.
You have the freedom to do whatever you want while a delicious meal is cooking away.
Let me tell you – your whole house will smell AMAZING and the flavors in the sauce are to die for.
I probably could’ve dunked all my rice in it, but I needed sauce for the next day as these make great leftovers :)
How easy is this slow cooker beef and broccoli?
Super easy. Take a look at the ingredient list below and you can see that you don’t need a lot to make this delicious meal!
Can you use frozen broccoli florets instead of fresh?
If you are using frozen broccoli florets, you do NOT need to defrost them prior to putting them in the slow cooker.
You add them in at the same time as you add the cornstarch mixture.
As stated in the instructions, after you add the cornstarch mixture, you cook for 30 more minutes.
This should be more than enough time to cook and defrost your broccoli florets.
What about fresh broccoli?
If you’re using fresh broccoli, you do NOT need to steam them prior to putting them in the crockpot.
You add them in at the same time as you add the cornstarch mixture.
Since you cook an additional 30 minutes, this will ensure that your fresh broccoli will be cooked through.
Can I cook this faster?
Your crockpot may differ in temperature than mine, I suggest cooking this for 4 hours on your first go-round of this dish.
6 hours in the crockpot seems to be giving a lot of people “shredded” beef instead of slices, so decrease cooking time by 2 hours and go from there.
Mine turned out fine with 6 hours.
If you want something faster, I suggest using my Instant Pot beef and broccoli recipe instead.
Do you put the meat in raw/uncooked?
Yes, you put the meat in the slow cooker raw, in sliced pieces.
My mixture doesn’t seem to thicken when I add in the cornstarch and water mixture.
If you find that your mixture is not thickening, simply drain the liquid from the slow cooker and place it in a small pot over the stove over medium-high heat.
Add the cornstarch mixture and stir into the liquid.
This should thicken the sauce.
Cornstarch needs heat to thicken so perhaps if you have had the lid open for a while, the temperature of the liquids may have gone down and not have been high enough in temperature to activate the thickening agent of cornstarch.
Additionally, if you decided to throw in your frozen broccoli florets BEFORE you added in your cornstarch mixture, that would have brought down the temperature of the liquids so you would need to cover and bring it up to temperature again.
If this slow cooker beef and broccoli sounds good to you, these other recipes may be enticing too:
- Instant Pot beef and broccoli (a faster way to cook this slow cooker recipe)
- 20-minute teriyaki chicken and broccoli
- General Tso’s chicken ramen
- 25-minute beef and snow pea stir fry
- Slow cooker Korean tacos
Watch this video on how I make this slow cooker beef and broccoli recipe
Pin this image below to save this recipe to make another time!
Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
Servings are adjustable but please note that results, timing, and cookware may vary when adjusting servings.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
- 1 cup beef consumme or beef broth
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Frozen broccoli florets (as many as desired I believe I used almost 3 cups)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 4 tbsp of liquid from slow cooker
- Cooked white rice
Instructions
- In the insert of the crockpot, whisk together beef consume or stock, soy sauce, dark brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic.
- Gently place your slices of beef in the liquid and toss to coat.
- Turn slow cooker on low and cook for 4-6 hours. See notes below.
- When done, in a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and cooking liquid, pour into crockpot, stir to mix well. Toss in your broccoli florets. Cook on low for an additional 30 minutes to thicken up the sauce. Please see notes if your sauce does not thicken.
- Serve hot over white rice.
Video
Notes
Photography by Sarah Fennel
Kim in MN
Wednesday 14th of October 2020
This is a favorite standby for our family! I especially love that it does not use cream of anything soup, which many crockpot recipes do (at least here in the Midwest) & which I hate. Sometimes I use Costco’s frozen stir-fry veggie mix which also works well instead of just broccoli. A simple, easy recipe that makes awesome leftovers!!
Lynn
Wednesday 7th of October 2020
Has anyone tried making this with coconut aminos instead of soy sauce? I use coconut aminos in place of soy sauce in other recipes due to a soy intolerance.
Eileen
Sunday 2nd of August 2020
I have made this several times now and it is always a hit. I hope there will be leftovers but no such luck.
Ashley
Sunday 26th of July 2020
I haven't made this dish yet but I was wondering if I can use beef cubes instead of strips? Would this affect cooking times? If so how?
Also if I use the beef chuck roast and do cut it into strips, do you cut before or after cooking?
Julie Wampler
Monday 27th of July 2020
1. you can use beef cubes; it should not affect cooking time because that's what i did (cut a chuck roast into cubes)...however, i will warn you that already cut beef cubes (like beef stew cubes) are not as tender as buying a big chuck roast and cutting it yourself. it's usually the cut of beef they use for those that is not very good. 2. i would not recommend cutting the chuck roast into strips; definitely cubes. if you cut into strips, they will be too tender and kind of disintegrate. you cut the cubes before cooking.
Molly Bozeman
Thursday 11th of June 2020
Would it be possible to substitute water or red wine in place of the beef stock, and if so, would the amount be the same or different? Thank you!
Julie Wampler
Tuesday 23rd of June 2020
it would taste watered down, i think, if you use water. the red wine might make the entire flavor profile wonky.