One Pot Broccoli, Beef, and Rice

This is a one pot wonder of flavor which will get the entire crew munching away happily, without lots of prep time and without complaining, and it’s pretty darned healthy to boot! 

Picture for illustrative purposes only. 

INGREDIENTS 

1 package of beef entrecote slices or pepper steak 

1 cup rice (soaked in advance) – You can also use ramen or pasta instead, or lo mein noodles 

1 medium onion 

1-4 cloves of garlic depending on your taste 

1 ¼ cups water or beef broth 

3 Tablespoons sugar, or honey, or 100% date syrup (Silan) – or a combination of all three 

1 Tablespoon sesame oil 

½ cup soy sauce 

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 bag frozen broccoli, or fresh 

Optional: ¼ teaspoon ginger 

Optional: Carrots chopped into small squares, or frozen carrots, snap peas, or other veggies of your choice 

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. In an Instant Pot or regular pot, sauté onion and garlic in coconut oil (or other oil of your choice, about a teaspoon of oil is enough) until caramelized, at least 5 minutes. Then add the beef to brown for 2 – 4 minutes. If you're adding ginger to spice up the sauce a bit, add it here.  

2. Add the sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Add some honey and Silan! You can also drizzle the Silan on top of individual bowls when you serve it – my girls love it that way. 

3. Add the rice and water. Then, layer on the biggest pieces of broccoli from the bag. 

4. Cook using either method: 

Instant Pot: Pressure cook for 4 minutes, which is the cooking time for the rice. Natural release 10-15 minutes (or less if you want, but you risk a mess from the starchy rice). 
 
Stovetop: Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer (use a simmer ring if you have one) 10-15 minutes until the rice is cooked. In this case, I would add the broccoli about halfway into the cooking time, depending on how cooked you like it. 

NOTES: 

If you chose to add pasta instead of rice, then adjust the cooking time accordingly. The meat itself is so thin, that once it’s been browned for a few minutes, it technically only needs to come to a boil and cook 1 more minute! So your worry is to make sure that your choice of starch is cooked. I wouldn’t recommend something with a long cooking time like barley, since that would probably burn the meat.  

You can also skip the starch altogether, but then you’ll need to reduce the water to ¾ of a cup, and add a cornstarch slurry at the end to thicken the resulting sauce. 

If you want it to be very meaty, you might try 2 packages of meat, 1.5 cups of rice and just shy of 2 cups of water plus veggies, and add a little to the sauce proportions.