Vegan Beef and Broccoli! A restaurant take-out copycat, made completely vegan and ready in less than 30 minutes! Gluten free.
This easy stir fry recipe features soy curls, one of my favorite pantry staples to have on hand for quick weeknight dinners.
Vegan Beef and Broccoli is packed full of flavor, protein and broccoli. The whole family will enjoy this classic take-out favorite turned vegan!
Nora’s helpful recipe tips
- Quality pan – Use a cast iron or non-stick pan for best results. A good pan will help the soy curls not stick to the bottom.
- Kitchen bouquet – Such a simple, inexpensive ingredient but it makes a world of difference for this recipe! It’s what makes the soy curls so richly brown and dark in color, mimicking beef.
- Don’t overcook the broccoli – You will steam the broccoli in the pan for just a minute or two, until bright green and slightly softened. You don’t want totally mushy broccoli, so try not to overcook it.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it gluten free? As long as you use gluten free tamari instead of soy sauce, the dish will be gluten free.
- How long do leftovers keep? Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
- Can you freeze it? It can be frozen, but is definitely better fresh. The broccoli will get mushy. But if it’s going to be thrown away otherwise, freeze it.
- Can I use something other than soy curls? Yes! Substitute strips of seitan (try making my Vegan Chicken, but cut into strips and stir fry coated in cornstarch) or tempeh chunks/strips. You could even use tofu squares if desired, though it would be much less beef-like.
More take-out favorites made vegan
- Easy Kung Pao Tofu
- General Tso’s Tofu
- Crispy Orange Tofu
- Vegan Thai Red Curry
- Vegan Tikka Masala
- Vegan Butter “Chicken”
Vegan Beef and Broccoli
Vegan Beef and Broccoli! A restaurant take-out copycat, made completely vegan and ready in less than 30 minutes! Gluten free.
Ingredients
- 8 ounce bag soy curls
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 pound broccoli florets
- 1-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons kitchen bouquet, optional for browning
The sauce
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce *use tamari for gluten free
- 2 tablespoons kitchen bouquet, optional
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 5 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
For serving
- cooked brown or white rice, about 4-5 cups cooked
- chopped green onions
- sesame seeds
- additional chili flakes or hot sauce
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the dehydrated soy curls, then cover with about 4 cups of hot water. Let them rehydrate for about 10 minutes until they have grown in size and softened. Drain in a colander and squeeze any excess water from the pieces.
- Using the same bowl (once empty), add the soy curls back to it, along with the cornstarch and stir to coat. I use my hands to really coat the pieces as much as possible. Set aside.
- Make the sauce: In a small-medium bowl, add all sauce ingredients and whisk until the cornstarch has dissolved. Set aside.
- In a large sauté pan or wok, add the broccoli and 1/2 cup water. Turn the heat to high, cover and steam the broccoli for about 2 minutes until bright green and slightly softened. Then remove the broccoli to a plate nearby.
- To the empty pan, add 1-3 tablespoons of oil, then add the soy curls and fry, stirring frequently for 4-5 minutes until a bit golden and crisp. I also like to add a few tablespoons of kitchen bouquet while frying, which helps make the soy curls nice and brown. You may omit the oil if you have a very good non-stick pan, otherwise the soy curls will stick. Turn the heat down to medium.
- Whisk the sauce once more, then add to the pan with the soy curls. Stir constantly for a minute or two, until the sauce thickens, then add the broccoli back in and stir. Serve immediately over rice topped with sesame seeds and green onions. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information does not include any added rice, just the soy curls and broccoli mixture.
- You could easily use seitan strips or tempeh in place of the soy curls, if desired.
- Leftovers will keep for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. It freezes okay, but is better fresh.
- Kitchen bouquet is optional, but it's what makes the soy curl "beef" so brown.
Nutrition
Serving: 1of 6 servings | Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 745mg | Potassium: 302mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 570IU | Vitamin C: 68mg | Calcium: 166mg | Iron: 5mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!
Can you substitute the brown sugar for agave?
I’m sure you could, yes.
Hi Nora, thanks for another great recipe. I hadn’t used Kitchen Bouquet before—got it just to make this, and it did color the soy curls beautifully. (I wonder if dark soy sauce would serve the same purpose? Might try that sometime.) Anyway, very delicious! Really loved it, and appreciate the recipe very much.
Hi Lisa! Thanks for sharing your review and comments! I’m glad you loved the beef and broccoli!
Just made this for dinner and it was amazing. great flavours and so quick & easy, I can see this being a regular on our dinner menu.
This was my first time cooking with soy curls so I didn’t know what to expect but they were good.
Thanks for another fabulous recipe
I’m so glad you loved the recipe! Yes, the soy curls are good! Thank you for sharing your review and comments! I appreciate you!
I made this today and it is delicious! I need to practice my soy curl browning skills (had some sticking issues) and also want to try it with Kitchen Bouquet (have never had that before), but an definitely keeping the recipe and plan to use it often. Thank you For the recipe!
I appreciate you taking your time to share your review and comments! Thank you! I’m glad you loved the recipe!
This turned out amazing, I added some bok choy and a little sesame oil. Also added all the sauce ingredients to a blender to combine them (no need to grate the ginger or mince the garlic in advance).
Your additions sound delicious! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review and comments!
I love this recipe! Very easy to make and super tasty. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
I’m glad you love the beef and broccoli recipe! I appreciate you taking your time to share your wonderful review! Thank you!
I’m about 5 weeks in from switching to a vegan diet, and so far this is the 2nd SUCCESSFUL recipe. I adjusted to 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce, switched out KB for coconut aminos, and 2 tbsp brown sugar. OMG I cannot get over how this is a dead ringer for beef & broccoli …..Nora you rock, I’m about to add my comments on your choc chip cookies next!
Thank you for sharing your great review Christine! Have fun on your journey through my recipes! I’m thrilled you are loving them!
This was super delicious. The only thing is that I was impatient and did not properly fry/brown the soy curls, so the texture of them was too soft and not appealing (but that’s my fault). So definitely take the time to brown those suckers! Aside from that, AMAZING. The sauce was really tasty, and the broccoli just soaked it all up! Yum!
Thank you for sharing Alissa. I’m glad the recipe turned out great for you!
SO GOOD!!!
Thank you!
OMG! I just made this and it is extremely delicious and way better than take out!
It was also sooo easy to whip up… Will definitely be making again!
I’m glad you love the recipe and found it easy! Thank you for sharing your review!
Very tasty! The once change I made was rehydrating the soy curls with 4 cups of vegan beef broth instead of water. Was a big hit!
Hi Juliette! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thank you!
I give it five stars because Nora knows what she is doing. One caveat for my fellow novices, beware of how much salt ends up in the final dish. I make the seitan from this site almost every week, so that is what I used for the “meat”. That recipe with broth is already pretty salty. Then I ran out of tamari and used regular soy sauce. The end result was way too salty. Totally my fault. In other news, I’ve gained ten pounds of water weight and might have preserved myself better than an Egyptian mummy.
Lol! Thanks for the heads up!
I added Bamboo Shoots and Water Chestnuts to make it more interesting. I used tempeh to give it more of a Beef look.Served it over Quinoa.
Loved it
That sounds really good, thanks for letting me know!
I like this! I used Seitan because I couldn’t find the curls. I also tossed in a handful of roasted salted cashews at the end & used risotto rice. Vegan Worcestershire sauce was subbed for the Kitchen Bouquet.
PS: there’s a typo in the 4th instruction.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for letting me know about the typo! All fixed now. 🙂
This was delicious. My picky kids even enjoyed it! Thanks for a great recipe. This will be going into regular rotation
Hi Nikki. I’m glad you and your family enjoyed the dish! Thank you for sharing!
This is my first experience using soy curls and I was pleasantly surprised by the results! Nora, you are awesome! This recipe tasted like the most tenderest beef broccoli from a 5 star restaurant. Definitely going on the weekly rotation. Thank you.
Hi Susan. I’m glad the recipe was wonderful for you! Thank you for your comments!
Soy curls had perfect texture and flavor. I only used 1/2 tsp of red pepper because I thought it would be too hot for my daughter, but it wasn’t so next time I’ll use a full tsp. And, broccoli was cooked just right. Definitely making again!
Hi Kristen. I’m glad you loved the recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Another winner! And the only chopping is broccoli and garlic. Soy curls are so versatile. Couldn’t find kitchen bouquet, but used gravy master. Definitely no leftovers to put away.
Hi Cheryl. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Cheryl, where did you find the gravy master?
Just made this recipe. It’s beautiful, tasty and… There are no more words.
Hi Annleasa. Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Nora, your site is the best for vegan recipes! Do you have any plans to post one for seitan beef? I would love to use it in this dish. My boyfriend has a big appetite and I’ve found that it’s much more cost-effective to make our vegan meats at home.
Thanks,
Kristi
Hi Kristi! Thank you so much, that means the world to me! ? I do have plans for more seitan recipes this year! In the meantime, you could use this recipe for Vegan Chicken, all sliced up, for this recipe. It’s light in color, but if you use the kitchen bouquet it will get browned and I think it would be absolutely delicious. Hope that helps!
I made it tonight. It was pretty good! My non vegan kids said it tasted the most like meat of anything I’ve made yet! I didn’t have the kitchen bouquet so it looked more like chicken than beef but we enjoyed it a lot! Thanks so much for all your fabulous recipes. You’re my favorite plant-based recipe giver!
Hi Elizabeth. I’m glad the beef and broccoli dish was a delicious hit for your family! I appreciate your very positive comments! Thank you for using my recipes!
Like always, a great recipe. Thank you Nora
Hi Mimi. Thank you!
So goood! Thanks for another amazing recipe, Nora!
Hi Shelly. I’m so glad you like the recipe! Thank you for using my recipes and for sharing!
This was so delicious! I happened to have everything on hand, so I made this for dinner tonight. We all loved it. I wasn’t sure what to do with the other 2 T of Kitchen Bouquet, so I left it out. I don’t think I’ll add the extra amount next time I make it, because it was perfect! Thanks so much!
Hi Parie. I’m so glad you loved the recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Hi! You mention 2 Tbsp of Kitchen Bouquet twice. Does the first 2 Tbsp go in with the dry soy curls while rehydrating?
Sorry, I forgot to include that detail. I will update it now, but I added the first 2 tablespoons when frying up the soy curls.