Broccoli in garlic sauce is an easy vegan Asian style stir fry recipe that gets ready in just 20 minutes. Serve it with some cooked jasmine or sticky rice and your quick vegan weeknight dinner is ready.
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A quick Asian stir fry dish with some rice or noodles is the best option for weeknight dinners. Most of these stir-fried dishes take even lesser time than boiling rice or noodles, to get ready. With them, you can make a healthy home-cooked vegan Asian meal in less than 30 minutes.
Today I am sharing the recipe for broccoli in garlic sauce which gets ready in just 20 minutes.
The combination of crunchy broccoli in a slightly sweet and spicy garlic sauce with a kick of ginger is amazing.
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What goes in this Asian stir-fried broccoli?
This broccoli in garlic sauce needs only 9 basic ingredients which are generally available in almost every kitchen, especially if you like Asian food.
Ingredient notes
- Broccoli: Try using fresh broccoli instead of the frozen one. Fresh broccoli remains crunchier and tastes better in stir fries.
- Fresh ginger and garlic: Some dried ginger and garlic powder can also be added to the sauce for extra flavor.
- Ground white pepper: I have used white pepper so that the flavor of garlic remians prominent. You can use black pepper too for a stronger peppery taste.
- Light sesame oil: Sesame oil gives a very nice nutty flavor to Asian dishes. The dish doesn't taste the same if you skip it. Light sesame oil is used for cooking, stir frying, or deep frying. Whereas toasted sesame oil which has a stronger flavor is drizzled over a dish when it's ready. It adds a very strong taste to the dish. In this recipe I have mixed light sesame oil with vegetable oil and used the mixture to stir fry broccoli. For a stronger taste of sesame oil, you can drizzle around 1/2 a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil on the final dish.
How to make?
Like most Asian stir-fried dishes, this stir-fried broccoli is also a very quick and easy recipe. Once the cutting and chopping are done, the dish will be ready in less than 10 minutes.
Prepare the sauce: In a bowl, mix soy sauce, vinegar, water, brown sugar, white pepper, and chili flakes. Keep the sauce aside
Stir fry broccoli: Mix vegetable oil and light sesame oil and heat in a large wok. Add finely chopped ginger, garlic, and broccoli florets. Stir fry on high flame for 4-5 minutes or until the broccoli is cooked but still crunchy.
Mix sauce and broccoli: Add sauce to broccoli and mix. Allow it to boil. While the sauce is getting cooked make some corn starch slurry by mixing room temperature water and corn starch in a bowl.
When the sauce in the wok starts boiling, push broccoli florets to the side so that boiling sauce comes at the center of the wok. Add corn starch slurry to this boiling water and stir continuously until it starts thickening.
Once the sauce thickens, mix everything so that the sauce gets evenly coated on every floret.
Switch off the stove. You may garnish with some chopped spring onion, toasted sesame seeds, chili flakes, or fried garlic.
Enjoy your delicious broccoli in ginger garlic sauce!
Step by step photo instructions
Serving suggestions
For the main curse, broccoli in garlic sauce can be served with some plain steamed jasmine rice or sticky rice.
If you prefer noodles serve with some boiled noodles or a noodle dish like this veg chow mein.
Chinese garlic broccoli is also served as an appetizer with a dipping sauce on the side.
Storing tips
To store put it in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will be fine for 2-3 days.
Recipe tips and tricks
- Always use a large wok or pan to make stir fried dishes. It makes stirring easier.
- For stir fired recipes, do all the cooking on high flame. If you cook on low flame the vegetables will turn soft. We want the vegetables to remain crunchy.
- As the cooking is done on high flame, keep all the ingredients ready and near the stove. Don't leave the wok unattended.
How to select the best broccoli head?
No matter which broccoli dish you are making, for the best result it's important that you use a fresh broccoli head. Here are some tips that may help you in selecting the freshest broccoli head every time.
- Select a broccoli head with dark green florets not the one with yellow or light green florets or patches.
- Choose the head with tight florets.
- Check the florets closely and make sure there is no mold in them.
- Don't pick the head with thick woody stock as it means the broccoli is old.
Frequently asked questions
Though you can make Asian stir-fried broccoli with frozen broccoli also, I would recommend using a fresh one for that extra crunch.
To make spicy Asian broccoli, add some hot sauce to the dish. You can also increase the quantity of chili flakes, add some chopped chili peppers, and drizzle some chili oil on top.
Yes, you can make broccoli in garlic sauce with gravy. To do that increase the amount of water and then adjust the seasoning to taste. However, even if you are making it with gravy, keep the gravy thick not runny. For thicker gravy, add more corn starch slurry, if required.
More easy vegan stir fry recipes
If you also love Asian stir-fries and looking for easy vegan recipes to try at home then don't miss to check the following links:
- Sweet and sour tofu
- Stir fried snow peas
- Stir fried tofu with bean sprouts and mushrooms
- Thai stir fried mushrooms
- Lemongrass tofu
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Recipe
Broccoli in garlic sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 cups broccoli florets 1 medium-sized broccoli head
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1.5 tablespoons corn starch
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon white vinegar
- ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon light sesame oil
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Heat both the oils in a large wok or pan. Add broccoli florets, ginger, and garlic. Saute on high flame for 4-5 minutes or until the broccoli is cooked but still crunchy.
- In a bowl, mix soy sauce, vinegar, water, brown sugar, white pepper, and chili flakes. Add this blend to the wok and mix everything. Cook until the sauce starts boiling.
- In a bowl mix corn starch with around 2 tablespoons of water. Keep this corn starch slurry aside.
- When the water in the wok starts boiling, push broccoli florets to the side so that water comes at the center of the wok. Add corn starch slurry to this boiling water and stir continuously until it starts thickening.
- Once the sauce thickens mix everything until the sauce evenly coats all the florets. Switch off the stove.
- Serve hot with steamed jasmine rice, sticky rice, or noodles.
Notes
- Don't overcook the broccoli, it should be crunchy.
- If you don't like a lot of garlic in your food reduce its quantity in the dish.
- For me, the savouriness of soy sauce is enough in this dish, if it's not for you, add some salt to taste.
- Don't stop stirring the sauce for around a minute after adding cornstarch slurry to avoid lump formation.
- More recipe tips and tricks are given within the post above. Please follow them to make this recipe.
I love the silky coating on the broccoli. The broccoli sounds perfect with a bowl of rice. I love that we can make extra gravy with this one, sounds like i will take up on that idea.
Thanks Seema.
Broccoli in stir fry go so well, crunchy and delicious! Loving everything about this dish, nutritious and comforting dish.
Thank you 🙂
I am an ardent fan of stir fried crunch veggies and this broccoli in garlic sauce falls into the genre. Quick to make and taste great. Nice post.
Thanks Neha.
A quick and delicious looking stir fry. What an excellent way to get hubby to enjoy broccoli. With ginger and garlic, a tasty and healthy meal.
Thanks Mayuri 🙂
We love broccoli and this Chinese style broccoli with garlic sauce sauce sounds perfect for us. So easy to make and looks absolutely delicious.
Thank you Pavani 🙂