Ground Meats
$1.91per plate
Prep
10 min
Ground Beef · Beef Stir Fry
Beef Stir Fry
This is takeout stir fry made with a pound of ground beef instead of pricey sliced steak, which is what keeps it at about $2.27 a plate. Browned beef and crisp-tender broccoli get tossed in a glossy soy and ginger sauce and spooned over rice, all in about 30 minutes in one pan. Ground beef browns fast and soaks up the sauce, so you get all the flavor of beef and broccoli for a fraction of the price of the restaurant version.
$2.27per plate
Estimated recipe total
$9.07 · serves 4
Cook
20 min
Total
30 min
Serves
4
1 How to make it
1
Start the rice
Get the rice cooking first, since it takes the longest. Rinse the rice, add it to a pot with the right amount of water, and simmer covered while you make the stir fry, so everything finishes at the same time.
2
Mix the sauce
Stir the soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch together with 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl until smooth. The cornstarch is what turns the thin soy sauce into a glossy sauce that clings to the beef instead of pooling in the pan.
3
Brown the beef and cook the vegetables
Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high. Add the ground beef and cook 5 to 6 minutes, breaking it up, until browned. Drain excess fat, then add the onion, garlic, ginger, and frozen broccoli and stir-fry 4 to 5 minutes until the broccoli is bright and crisp-tender.
4
Add the sauce and finish
Give the sauce a quick stir and pour it into the pan. Toss everything for 1 to 2 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats the beef and broccoli in a shiny glaze. Serve over the rice, topped with the sesame seeds and sliced green onions.
2 Cheaper ingredient swaps
- Ground turkey or chicken for beef. Both cook the same way and can be cheaper some weeks. Add a little extra oil since they are leaner than 80/20 beef and can stick to the pan.
- Fresh broccoli for frozen. A fresh head of broccoli cut into florets works in place of the frozen. Add it a minute earlier since fresh takes slightly longer to turn crisp-tender.
- Any stir fry vegetables you have. Bell pepper, snap peas, carrots, or a bag of frozen stir fry mix all work in place of or alongside the broccoli. Use up whatever is in the fridge or freezer.
- Serve over noodles instead of rice. Toss the finished stir fry with cooked egg noodles or ramen instead of serving over rice for a lo-mein style dinner, using whatever is cheaper that week.
3 Budget tips
- Ground beef costs a fraction of the sliced flank or sirloin most stir fry recipes call for, and it browns faster and soaks up more of the sauce, so you lose nothing by swapping it in.
- Frozen broccoli is cheaper than fresh, keeps for months, and goes straight from the freezer into the pan with no washing or chopping, which makes it the smart budget choice here.
- Make your own stir fry sauce from soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch instead of buying a bottled sauce. It costs pennies and skips the extra sugar and additives.
4 Storage, freezing & reheating
Fridge
Refrigerate the stir fry and rice in separate airtight containers for up to 4 days. Keeping them apart stops the rice from soaking up all the sauce before you reheat it.
Freezer
The beef and broccoli freeze acceptably for up to 2 months, though the broccoli softens after thawing. Freeze without the rice and reheat in a hot pan to bring back some texture.
Reheating
Reheat in a hot skillet for a few minutes to keep the beef and broccoli from getting soggy, adding a splash of water or soy sauce to loosen the glaze, or microwave in 1 minute bursts.
5 Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
420
Protein
22g
Fat
17g
Carbs
45g
Estimates per serving with rice, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not a substitute for medical advice.
6 Frequently asked questions
Can you make beef stir fry with ground beef?
Yes, and it is much cheaper than using sliced steak. Ground beef browns quickly, breaks into bite-size pieces that catch the sauce, and delivers the same beef-and-broccoli flavor for a fraction of the cost of flank or sirloin.
How do you get a glossy stir fry sauce?
Cornstarch. Whisk a tablespoon of cornstarch into the soy sauce and a little water before it goes in the pan, and it thickens as it heats into a shiny glaze that clings to the beef instead of running off. Without it the sauce stays thin and watery.
What vegetables work in a beef stir fry?
Almost anything. Broccoli is classic and cheap, especially frozen, but bell pepper, carrots, snap peas, or a bag of frozen stir fry mix all work. Add quicker-cooking vegetables later so nothing turns mushy.
How is the price per plate figured?
About $9.07 for the whole skillet plus rice, split across four servings, which is roughly $2.27 each. The pound of beef and the broccoli are the two biggest costs, so a sale on either brings the number down the most.
Helpful Tools for This Recipe
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- 12-inch nonstick skillet. A wide nonstick skillet browns ground meat, fries rice, and builds a one-pan sauce with less oil and easier cleanup. Best for everyday stovetop dinners like skillet meals, fried rice, pasta sauces, and patties.
- Cast iron skillet. Cast iron holds heat for a deep sear and moves from stovetop to oven, and it lasts for decades with basic care. Best for searing chops and chicken, and recipes that start on the stove and finish in the oven.
- Chef's knife. One sharp chef's knife handles almost all the chopping, from onions to chicken, and replaces a drawer of gadgets. Best for all-purpose prep in essentially every recipe on the site.
- Cutting board. A large, stable cutting board makes prep faster and safer, which matters when you cook most nights. Best for everyday chopping of onion, garlic, and vegetables across nearly every recipe.
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