Crockpot Beef and Broccoli for the Win

My crockpot has been getting a serious workout since activities have started up. I use it every week when we have Classical Conversations, and usually one other night a week when we have an inconvenient sports practice. This is a new-to-us recipe that was delicious and when I posted it on instagram, I got asked to share. I wish I could post back to where I originally saw it, but I think it was something someone had liked on facebook and I snagged it that way. I’ve noted the few tweaks I made below.

CROCKPOT BEEF AND BROCCOLI

1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips I used stew meat that I got on sale and found in the freezer
1 cup beef consumme
½ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup brown sugar or honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cooled sauce from the crock pot after being cooked
Fresh broccoli florets (as many as desired)
Hot cooked rice (brown rice, or riced cauliflower)

1. Place beef in a crock pot.
2. In a small bowl, combine consomme, soy sauce, brown sugar/honey, oil, and garlic. Pour over beef. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. In a cup, stir cornstarch and sauce form the crock pot until smooth. Add to crock pot. Stir well to combine. (If your sauce is not thickening, try bringing your sauce to a boil on the stovetop with the corn starch mixture. Boil until your desired consistency is reached). Mine thickened okay in the crockpot, not as good it probably would have on the stovetop, but I didn’t want to dirty an extra pan. : )
4. Add broccoli to the crock pot. Stir to combine. I cooked the broccoli separately – steamed it in the microwave – instead of adding it to the crockpot. It took all of 5-6 minutes and made those in my family that don’t like broccoli (or don’t like their foods mixed together) happy!
5. Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes on high (the sauce has to boil for it to thicken).
6. Serve over hot cooked rice. I also had a small portion of leftover mashed potatoes from Monday night and served it to a couple of family members over the potatoes since I was low on rice. Also yum!

There you have it! It was like a little trip to Panda Express with ingredients that I have on hand. I tripled this batch (because it worked with the amount of stew meat that I had) and ended up with five extra single servings of the meat and sauce that I’ve packaged up in little containers and popped in the freezer. Can’t wait to pull those out for quick lunches for me over the next few weeks.

Enjoy!