This beef and broccoli noodle stir fry is a remake of my dad's original beef and onion soy sauce noodles but uses more vegetables, leaner cuts of beef, and a low sodium soy sauce.
I would like to send a big thank you to Zehrs for sponsoring this Beef and Broccoli Noodle Stir Fry recipe post which helps keep this little blog running! All opinions expressed, recipes and photos are my own.
Most people don't believe me, but personally, I love going grocery shopping, and I don't see it as a chore or errand. Every week, Terry and I head on over to our local Zehrs grocery store to find fresh local produce and ingredients and decide on what we want to eat for the week (my favourite part is when we decide what cool and crazy thing we want to eat for the weekend! Usually, it's something we have never tried making before or want to re-create from a flavour we tried at a restaurant.)
Making these types of decisions together, eating together and just chatting about foods in general really brings out the food lover in us, and honestly, if you're that way too, then you're definitely a food lover too! 🙂
WORKING WITH A DIETITIAN TO MAKE HEALTHY MODIFICATIONS TO MY RECIPES
This week for my Zehr's Food Lovers Unite challenge, I got to meet with Diana, our in-store registered dietitian at Zehrs who was tasked with taking a family favourite recipe of mine (my dad's beef and onion soy sauce noodles) and making slight modifications to make it healthier without sacrificing taste. As we shopped together, Diana had some awesome ideas and tweaks for the recipe by adding in some fresh local vegetables, using a leaner cut of beef, using low sodium soy sauce and using high fibre spaghettini (that wasn't whole wheat! I actually had no idea this even existed!)
With all her awesome ideas, I came up with a new version of my dad's recipe: Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry Noodles - don't worry, the recipe is still just as quick and easy as it was before!
Consultations with a Zehrs dietitian are easy and convenient and can be scheduled at bookadietitian.ca.
INGREDIENTS FOR BEEF AND BROCCOLI NOODLE STIR FRY
- Beef - For this recipe, to keep it lighter, we used a leaner cut of beef. I used pre-sliced fast fry beef round since it is already sliced thinly against the grain for me. Anything in the 'beef loin or beef round' category would be considered on the leaner side.
- Noodles - Spaghettini is still my choice of pasta for this recipe because I find that it is just the right thickness without overpowering the flavours. To keep it healthier, try to find a white pasta with added fibre. I don't recommend using whole wheat pasta - I find the gritty texture really takes away from the smooth texture and flavour of this dish.
- Soy Sauce - I used Diana's recommendation of low sodium soy sauce for this. I used Kikkoman brand, which has about 560mg of sodium per tablespoon compared to the normal light soy sauce, which contains 1000mg per tablespoon. If you are using regular soy sauce or light soy sauce for this (anything with more than 600mg of sodium per tablespoon) make sure you reduce the soy sauce by 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons so that it is not super salty.
- Dark Soy Sauce - Dark soy sauce is used mainly to give the noodles a browner colour. It is thicker than normal soy sauce and has the consistency of thin maple syrup. If you cannot find it, you can use the soy sauce you are using for the dish instead.
- Vegetables - For the vegetables, onions are a must for the flavour and the added natural sweetness. You can substitute the broccoli with any vegetable you like, but I usually find that broccoli and cauliflower taste best because the grooves in the vegetables absorb some of the soy sauce.
DID YOU TRY THIS BEEF AND BROCCOLI STIR FRY NOODLES RECIPE?
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Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry Noodles
INGREDIENTS
- 375 g spaghettini (regular or white spaghettini with added fibre, 1 pack)
- 400 g beef loin or round cut, thinly sliced against the grain.
- 1 medium onion
- 1 ½ cups broccoli
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
Marinade and Sauce Mix
- 8 tablespoons soy sauce (reduced sodium, see notes)
- 1 ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
Making the Pasta
- Follow the directions of the pasta package for al dente pasta, but subtract 1-2 minutes from what they suggest. We will be cooking this again in a frying pan, so we want to under-cook the pasta. (Do not add salt to the water when making the pasta because the soy sauce mixture will have enough salt for the dish.)
- Once the noodles are done, pour in into a strainer and lightly rinse off the extra starch and set aside
Preparation
- Mix all the ingredients under the 'Marinade and Sauce Mix' section of the ingredient list and set it aside.
- Slice the beef thinly against the grains and put it in a bowl. Marinate the beef with the corn starch, 4 teaspoons of the pre-mixed soy sauce mixture and 1 tablespoon of water for 10 minutes
- Cut the broccoli into bite sized pieces and set aside
- Cut the onion in half, then and slice them into thin half moon slices and set aside
Frying It Up!
- In a frying pan or large pot (preferably a non-stick), add 2-3 tablespoons of oil and set it to high heat and wait for it to get hot.
- Add in onions and broccoli and stir fry together for 3-5 minutes
- Add in the beef and cook for 3-5 minutes until meat is cooked
- Add spaghettini and sauce mixture and cook for about 2-3 minutes until everything is evenly mixed!
- Enjoy!
NOTES
- For this recipe, to keep it lighter, we used a leaner cut of beef. I used a pre-sliced fast fry beef round since it is already sliced thinly against the grain for me. Anything in the 'beef loin or beef round' category would be considered on the leaner side but pick a cut of steak that you enjoy.
- Spaghettini is still my choice of pasta for this recipe because I find that it is just the right size thickness without overpowering the flavours. To keep it healthier, try to find a white pasta with added fibre. I don't recommend using whole wheat pasta - I find the gritty texture really takes away from the smooth texture and flavour of this dish.
- I used Kikkoman brand low sodium soy sauce for this recipe, which has about 560mg of sodium per tablespoon compared to the normal light soy sauce I use, which contains 1000mg per tablespoon. If you are using regular soy sauce or light soy sauce for this (anything with more than 600mg of sodium per tablespoon) make sure you reduce the soy sauce by 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons so that it is not super salty.
- Dark soy sauce is used mainly to give the noodles a browner colour. It is thicker than normal soy sauce and has the consistency of thin maple syrup. If you cannot find it, you can use the soy sauce you are using for the dish instead.
- For the vegetables, onions are a must for the flavour and the added natural sweetness. You can substitute the broccoli with any vegetable you like, but I usually find that broccoli and cauliflower taste best because the grooves in the vegetables absorb some of the soy sauce.
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