Copycat Panda Express Beef and Broccoli That Tastes Identical

Love Panda Express, but not the sodium overload?

This homemade Beef and Broccoli recipe gives you all the savory, garlicky, ginger-packed flavor with full control over ingredients. That means you can make it your way and even customize the sauce and vegetables to your liking.

It’s the healthier way to enjoy your favorite takeout classic without sacrificing flavor.

Why This Version of Panda Express Beef and Broccoli?

I basically did two things to make this a little healthier than the Panda Express version.

1. First, I dialed back on the oils and only use what’s necessary to stir-fry the beef and veggies and pull the sauce together.
2. Second, I use a low-sodium soy sauce and cut back on an ingredient for the sauce that I’ve been told makes it “too salty.” The trick is to reduce the salt without sacrificing flavor, so I kept as much of the umami and slightly sweet flavor as I could!

A Closer Look at These Ingredients for Panda Express Beef and Broccoli

Let’s take a closer look at what each of these ingredients brings to this recipe! I mixed some tips and tricks in here, since making Panda Express-style cuisine can be new.

Sirloin Steak

1 pound sirloin steak

The sirloin steak should be thinly sliced against the grain to get the bite-sized pieces that Panda Express uses. Cutting them against the grain makes them more tender and less chewy by slicing the grains into more manageable, easier-to-chew pieces.

In this video, Barefoot in the Kitchen’s Mary Younkin provides a handy guide to cutting steak against the grain.

Vegetable Oil

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

The vegetable oil is for stir-frying your sirloin steak in.

Minced Garlic

2 teaspoons minced garlic for sirloin steak

2 teaspoons minced garlic for the sauce

Garlic provides a lot of the iconic flavor for Panda Express Beef and Broccoli. I often like to mince my own garlic cloves. It’s also possible to buy minced garlic in a jar, though I’m not a huge fan of buying it suspended in olive oil.

Minced Ginger

2 teaspoons minced ginger for beef

2 teaspoons minced ginger for the sauce

Minced ginger is one of the “surprise” ingredients that gives Panda Express beef and broccoli its iconic flavor. Again, I like to buy fresh whole ginger and mince my own.

You may have ginger left over if you buy a whole ginger root. I’ll wrap it up in plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator, but it won’t keep forever. So I try to use it for other recipes like Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies as soon as possible.

Oyster Sauce

1/4 cup oyster sauce

I made sure to dial this back a bit because I was told it was “too salty.” However, oyster sauce is another “surprise” ingredient that is actually an important part of Chinese cuisine. It adds a lot of the umami, a little of the sweet-and-salty flavor. It also provides a glossy texture to the sauce.

If you prefer to do without the oysters, there’s a vegetarian version of oyster sauce that is made with mushrooms.

Soy Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

I like to go with a low-sodium soy sauce for this. Soy sauce does add a savory and salty flavor and a darker color to the sauce. Outside of Asian food, it can balance sweetness and tenderize meat in a lot of recipes.

Brown sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Brown sugar adds sweetness to balance the salty and savory flavors in other ingredients in the sauce.

Cornstarch

1 tablespoon cornstarch

A bit more cornstarch to rub onto the beef

Cornstarch thickens the sauce once it’s mixed up and has a chance to sit for a while. It also helps lock in juices and prevent overcooking when rubbed on the beef.

Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Sesame oil adds a rich, nutty flavor to sauces that don’t need to be cooked.

Note about using sesame oil in other recipes: This type of oil isn’t really suitable for high-heat cooking because it has a low smoke point at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. That makes it more suitable for sauces, dressings, marinades, or as a finishing oil. When using a stir-fry like this one, it should be added near the end to avoid overheating it and making it bitter.

Broccoli

2 cups broccoli florets

I like to buy a head of broccoli and cut it into bite-sized pieces. It’s also possible to buy pre-chopped broccoli florets in a bag. This is an important part of Panda Express Beef and Broccoli that helps balance out the strong beef-based flavor.

Sesame Seeds

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Sesame seeds are a popular garnish in a lot of Chinese cuisine.

Optional Asian Vegetables

1 Cup Each of Bell Pepper Strips, Snow Peas, Carrot Slivers, Baby Corn, and Water Chestnuts

The fun part about making a stir-fry-style dish is that you get to customize it to your liking. Most of these ingredients can be found in the Asian aisle or refrigerator section of your grocery store. (It’s also possible to find an Asian vegetable mix in the frozen vegetable aisle, but I prefer fresh broccoli, snow peas, and bell peppers when I can get them.)

Rice or Asian-Style Noodles (or Both)

Enough for four servings

Panda Express is great about letting you choose whether you want beef or noodles with their plates. You’ll want to have this ready to serve at the end.

Step-By-Step Method for Making Panda Express Beef and Broccoli

Let’s dive right into making Panda Express Beef and Broccoli. It’s easier than it looks, especially if you’re like me and like to whip together your own improvised stir-fry!

Step One: Tenderize Beef Strips

This step can really make the difference between the tender beef that makes the Panda Express version so good and tough, chewy meat that no one likes. Slice the meat thin against the grain to start the process of making it nice and tender. Then rub some cornstarch on the beef slices to lock in the juices and help keep it from overcooking.

Step Two: Prepare Sauce

Mix oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of minced ginger in a bowl. Set aside to let the sauce thicken and the flavors blend together for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the stir-fry.

Step Three: Prepare Rice or Asian-Style Noodles (or Both)

Prepare rice or Asian-style noodles according to package instructions. I like to have both on hand, so family members can choose which they want.

A quick note with rice: Make it in your rice cooker or Instant Pot! This eliminates the risk that it’ll boil over the instant you take your eyes off it.

Step Four: Heat Vegetable Oil in Wok or Skillet

The cooks at the Panda Express nearest me sometimes like to put on a show when cooking with their woks. I like using a wok for its nice deep sides when making large batches of Asian dishes like beef and broccoli. A large enough skillet with high sides should work if you don’t have your wok yet.

Add the vegetable oil to the bottom of the wok or skillet and let it spread out to cover the bottom.

Step Five: Sauté Garlic and Ginger

Add 2 tablespoons each of the garlic and ginger to the wok. Sauté for a minute or two until it becomes aromatic.

Step Six: Stir-Fry Beef

Add the beef and stir-fry until browned and cooked through. Set aside.

Step Seven: Stir-Fry Vegetables

Add broccoli and any of the other optional vegetables (bell peppers, snow peas, carrot slivers, baby corn, and water chestnuts) that you want to add. Stir-fry until vegetables are tender-crisp.

It really is easy to overcook them here. The secret to a good stir-fry is making sure the vegetables are still slightly crisp, though. This helps give Panda Express’s beef and broccoli the right amount of “crunch” to make it stand out. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes!

Step Eight: Combine Beef and Vegetables

Return the beef to the skillet and give it a good stir to mix it in with the vegetables.

Step Nine: Add Sauce

Another trick to a good stir-fry is adding the sauce near the end, even though it’s probably tempting to add it while the vegetables are still cooking. However, this can affect how the sauce tastes due to the sesame oil’s low smoke point. It can also char if it’s exposed to high heat for too long.

So we add it at the end and give it a good stir until everything is well-coated while letting it heat through.

Step Ten: Garnish With Sesame Seeds Before Serving

Sprinkle sesame seeds over your beef and broccoli. Serve with rice, Asian-style noodles, or both.

Nutrition Information for This Panda Express Beef and Broccoli Recipe

This approximate nutrition information was calculated using VeryWell Fit’s nutrition calculator. If you’d like to explore the nutrition information for individual ingredients, please visit the USDA’s FoodData Central database.

Panda Express Beef and Broccoli Variations and Substitutions

If you have trouble finding sirloin steak, flank steak, and flat iron steak can work too. Flank steak tends to be a little more tender, and flat iron steak has more marbling.

While I think this goes best with beef, you could also try chicken or pork if you want. Mutton might work, too, if you can get your hands on some.

For a vegetarian version, use tofu instead of meat and a vegetarian “oyster” sauce that’s made with mushrooms instead of regular oyster sauce.

You can use pretty much any vegetables you like with it. Besides broccoli and “Asian blend” vegetables, I’ve also used green beans, lima beans, celery, cauliflower, mushrooms, and onions.

The amounts of the sauce ingredients can be adjusted to your liking. The ingredients can be customized as well. (I will admit to having added a dash of red pepper flakes to the sauce before.) The important thing is to have enough to coat your stir-fry with when you stir it in.

FAQ About Panda Express Beef and Broccoli

Do you have a question? We did our best to answer the most commonly asked questions here. If you think of one we haven’t answered yet, ask us in the comments section, and we’ll do our best to answer it.

Does it matter which oil I use to stir-fry the beef and vegetables in?

When talking about how oils perform when cooking, two things matter: The smoke point and how they interact with the other ingredients.

The smoke point of oil is the temperature at which it starts producing a continuous, visible smoke, which indicates that it is breaking down. This can release harmful substances like free radicals and acrolein and give the oil a nasty, bitter taste.

In general, refined oils such as vegetable and canola oil have a high smoke point, usually between 400°F and 450°F (about 200–230°C). This makes them better for high-heat applications like frying. Unrefined or “virgin” oils like olive oil or sesame oil have low smoke points around 325 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (163-190 degrees Celsius), making them better suited for sauces, dressings, and marinades.

The oil you cook your stir-fry in can also affect the nutrient level in the broccoli that is an important part of Panda Express-style beef and broccoli! A scientific study led by Food Science and Technology researcher Diego A Moreno and originally published in the Journal of Food Science shows that broccoli retains its Vitamin C content best when stir-fried in extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil.

Is Panda Express’s Beef and Broccoli authentic Chinese food?

Not quite, but it’s close! The beef and broccoli dish was inspired by Cantonese cooking styles that favor ginger and soy flavor profiles. Chinese cuisine also uses a leafier variety of broccoli called Gai Lan.

Can I get the steak more tender before I cook it?

Cutting against the grain when you slice it is an easy way to improve tenderness. The Chinese will often tenderize steak by marinating it in a mix of cornstarch and soy sauce before cooking. (The salt in soy sauce helps with tenderness when marinating!)

I forgot to get fresh broccoli, but I have a bag of frozen broccoli. Would that work?

In a pinch, it can, but the texture will be a bit different. Be sure to thaw it completely and pat it dry to remove excess moisture. Add it after the other vegetables have been stir-fried for a couple of minutes to keep it from getting too mushy.

Panda Express Beef and Broccoli: So, What Did You Think?

So, how’s it taste? If it didn’t turn out quite right the first time you tried it, well, it took me a few tries to get it perfect, too. The secret really is in the stir-fry technique!

Did you like it? Have any suggestions, or did you come up with your own variation? Feel free to let us know in the comments!