Vegan Beef and Broccoli (also known as Mongolian Soy Curls) is the perfect way to satisfy your cravings for Asian flavors at home. Think steamed broccoli with crisp and juicy soy curls smothered in a dark, sweet and salty garlic sauce.
How to Make Vegan Beef and Broccoli
- You need to acquire some soy curls for this recipe. You can find soy curls at your local health food store, or, you can purchase them online like I do. To purchase soy curls online, you can do one of two things: buy them from Amazon. (As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.) (This might be your best option if you have Amazon Prime and get free shipping.) OR visit Butler’s soy curls website and order them directly from the makers. Butler’s soy curls website has some great deals on purchasing soy curls in bulk.
- Place your soy curls in a medium bowl, and break any large or long soy curl pieces in half so that they are bite-sized.
- Pour hot water (not boiling) over your soy curls–just enough to cover them. Then, add about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to the water/soy curl mixture, and give it a quick stir. There will be lots of little bubbles around the soy curls at this point, which is completely normal. Allow the soy curls to soak for about 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, drain the water off of your soy curls, using a strainer. If you don’t have a strainer easily accessible, you can use your hands: pick up and squeeze handfuls of soy curls, before transferring to a separate dry bowl.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1/3 cup cornstarch to your hydrated/drained soy curls.
6. Use tongs to toss soy curls until they are evenly coated with cornstarch.
7. Chop broccoli florets off of the stick and trim them to bite-sized pieces.
8. Chop scallions diagonally into 1/2-1 inch pieces. Crush or mince 2 cloves of garlic.
9. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup brown sugar (or cane juice crystals). Mix well until sugar is absorbed, and set bowl aside.
10. In a medium saucepan, place 1 cup of water and bring to boil on medium heat. Once water is boiling, place broccoli in saucepan and cook for 4-5 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat, and rinse broccoli briefly in cold water to halt cooking process. Set steamed broccoli aside.
11. In a nonstick wok or skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat. Once heated, pan fry 1/2 of your soy curl mixture for 5-6 minutes, stirring every 20-30 seconds to make sure all soy curls sides are equally crispy. After about 2-3 minutes of cooking, add your scallions and garlic to the soy curl mixture and cook for the remains 2-3 minutes. Set soy curl + scallion mixture aside in a separate bowl.
12. Once first batch of soy curls are cooked and crispy, heat another 3 tablespoons of oil and cook the second half of soy curls the same way.
13. Return all crispy soy curls (both batches) to your large skillet or wok. Keep your skillet on medium-high heat. Now, pour your soy sauce mixture over your soy curls. Let mixture cook for a couple of minutes–just until the sauce starts bubbling. Add your broccoli and you’re ready to serve! If you’re feeling fancy, go ahead and sprinkle a handful of toasted sesame seeds on the top.
Top Tips and Tricks
- Love soy curls? If you decide to purchase several packages of soy curls in bulk, make sure you freeze any packages that you won’t be using in the next few weeks. Soy curls can start to taste rancid if they aren’t used in a timely manner.
- If you choose to use Bragg’s liquid aminos instead of soy sauce for the sauce in this recipe, use only 1/3 cup of Bragg’s liquid aminos + a few tablespoons of water to equal a total of 1/2 cup of liquid. (Bragg’s tastes slightly saltier than traditional soy sauce.)
- Have leftover vegan beef and broccoli? Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water just prior to reheating. Reheat leftovers for 1-2 minutes in the microwave, or cook on medium heat in a skillet on the stove.
What Goes with Vegan Beef and Broccoli?
Want to make a meal around this dish? Great idea! Here’s some more great menu additions:
- Vegan Apple Oatmeal Cookies
- Perfect Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
- Napa Cabbage Salad (substitute the butter for vegan butter to make it vegan)
- Thai Peanut Kale Salad
- Asian Style Broccoli Cucumber Salad
Vegan Beef and Broccoli
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- Wok or large skillet
Ingredients
- 8 oz Butler's soy curls (about 1 bag)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 5-6 tablespoons vegetable oil (or neutral oil of your choice)
- 1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2/3 cup chopped scallions (about 1 small bunch)
- 1 head broccoli (about 2-2 1/2 cups florets)
- cooked rice (for serving)
For the Sauce:
- 1/2 cup soy sauce (plus 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce for soy curls)(See note below regarding Bragg's liquid aminos)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cups brown sugar (or evaporated cane juice crystals)
Instructions
- Place 8 ounces of dehydrated soy curls in a medium mixing bowl. Break large soy curl pieces in half to make them bite-sized. (Remember, they will grow!)
- Pour very hot tap water over soy curls in the bowl, just until soy curls are completely covered with water. Now, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce to soy curls + water. Set bowl aside for soy curls to soak for about 10 minutes.
- Once soy curls are completely rehydrated, drain water/soy sauce off using a strainer or collander. If you don't have strainer, squeeze your soy curls gently to make sure most of the liquid is drained off, and place squeezed soy curls in separate dry bowl.
- Add 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1/3 cup cornstarch to your hydrated/drained soy curls. Use tongs or your hands to make sure cornstarch is evenly distributed on your soy curls. Set soy curls aside.
- Prep your remaining ingredients by chopping broccoli florets off of the broccoli stalk and trimming to bite-sized pieces. Diagonally chop scallions in 1/2-1 inch sized pieces.
- In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup brown sugar (or cane juice crystals). Mix well until sugar is absorbed, and set bowl aside.
- In a medium saucepan, place 1 cup of water and bring to boil on medium heat. Once water is boiling, place broccoli in saucepan and cook for 4-5 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat, and rinse broccoli briefly in cold water to halt cooking process. Set steamed broccoli aside.
- In a nonstick wok or skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat. Once heated, pan fry 1/2 of your soy curl mixture for 5-6 minutes, stirring every 20-30 seconds to make sure all soy curls sides are equally crispy. Once first batch of soy curls are cooked and crispy, heat another 3 tablespoons of oil and cook the second half of soy curls the same way, this time also adding your garlic and scallions after about 2-3 minutes of the soycurls cooking.
- Return all crispy soy curls to nonstick wok or skillet, and add soy sauce/sugar mixture. Cook on medium-high heat for just a few minutes, or until liquid has thickeed and is hot and bubbly.
- Add broccoli to soy curls and serve hot with sesame seeds.
Notes
- If you choose to use Bragg’s liquid aminos for this recipe, I recommend using 1/3 cup of Bragg’s + a few tablespoons of water to equal a total of 1/2 cup of liquid. Bragg’s liquid aminos tastes a little saltier than soy sauce, which is why you want to dilute it just slightly for this recipe.
http://www.daringgourmet.com
This looks fantastic! And I love the design and composition of the photos. Very nice!
Thank you! I really enjoyed visiting your site as well. :)
Where would one purchase soy curls?
http://pizzarossa.wordpress.com
Ooooh! I have a bag of organic dehydrated soy chunks in the pantry that I picked up at the health food store and have been looking for something to do with them – this fits the bill perfectly! :)
Hi Rachael! You don’t have to use “soy curls” necessarily for this recipe. I used the dehydrated soy chunks (also known as texturized vegetable protein–TVP) yesterday in this recipe, and worked fabulously. :)
Awwww, love you too!! Looks sooo good! Thats fresh ginger, right? Need to buy some – and a grinder!!
Tried this is other night, but instead of soy curls, we used seitan. I also didn’t use any cornstarch or oil & it still came out AMAZING! My boyfriend and I were blown away with how good it was. Definitely one of the best recipes I’ve ever tried. Thank you!
Yes, a definite keeper! I’ve made this several times, with and without cornstarch, and light on the oil. Added extra mushrooms too.
I have soy curls in bulk. Do you know how many cups is 8 oz?
Hmm…I’m honestly not entirely sure, Sarah. It’s kind of hard to measure soy curls in cups, just because they aren’t very dense. But, I’m guessing it would be around 2-3 cups?? And that’s just a shot-in-the-dark guess.
Hi,
This sounds so fantastic, but I wonder if you have a suggestion for subbing out the cornstarch with something else? I am Gluten Free/Corn Free and really want to make this but I don’t know what to coat them in? What do you think?
~Rachel
This recipe ROCKS!! I love Mongolian beef from my favorite Chinese Restaurant. Since going plant based I’ve missed my Friday night treat. This is a great recipe and fills that void. Thanks
This was so good I couldn’t stop eating it. I used stevia vs. the brown sugar, and threw in some onions and used fresh minced garlic. O….M…..Goodness….yeah. I am definitely making this one for guests in the future!
I made this tonight and it was kind of dry. the cornstarch, maybe? I also omitted the oil since we eat WFPB no oil. My husband likes “saucy” recipes and he really didn’t care for this one even though the taste was awesome-he said it was too dry. Would you suggest doubling the liquid?? Omitting the cornstarch?? Using less soy curls?? I would love to do it again since we both love Mongolian beef but unfortunately, mine turned out sticky and gooey. I must of done something wrong after reading all your awesome reviews :(
Perhaps omitting the oil was the problem. I could see how not stir frying the coated soy curls would be a problem. If you aren’t going to stir fry it, then omit the corn starch. Health wise there is nothing wrong with a bit of oil. Provided it’s an unsaturated oil.
I made this and it came out great. So yea the lack of oil was probably your issue. So next time don’t coat the soy curls in corn starch. But make sure to add a touch of corn starch to the sauce; it helps thicken it.
I made this just a bit ago. It’s AMAZING! One thing I did was sauté some fresh chile de arbol along with the ginger. This recipe is a real winner. I am eating a second helping right now.
Can you please tell me what happens with step 6? I’ve doubled the recipe and it doesn’t say anywhere in the recipe what to do with this watery soy mixture! I should have read this all the way through so it’s my fault but I must have missed that there was no info? Please answer soon so I don’t have to try and save this myself! I’m happy to change my star rating once you clarify, but I have to put 1 star so no one makes this until it’s written correctly. Looks like a great recipe but I’m a bit stuck right now!
Hi Carmella,
I apologize for the confusion. The soy sauce/water/sugar mixture is added to the soy curls right after they’ve been fried in the cornstarch and oil. Once the soy curls are crispy on the edges, that’s when you add the liquid, and continue to cook for a few more minutes until the liquid has thickened. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of updating this recipe a few weeks ago when I my pregnancy nausea hit hard core, and I haven’t been able to look at this recipe since. :p So, it’s very likely that some things were missed. Again, I’m sorry for the confusion, and hopefully you were able to figure it out. :) Happy vegan cooking!
Lindsay
This was good! However, I kept looking for notes on the Bragg’s liquid aminos as instructions said there are notes, but I did not see any. On step #4, it is also missing the units for cornstarch.
It’s great. Its taste is amazing. I tried it and now it becomes my favorite. Can you make this with many other ingredients? What do you think?
Made this for dinner with some veggies steamed in broth and rice! So so good! My husband approved as well.
For got to add rating! 5 stars. Definitely making again! I will also add that I cut the amount of sugar in half but that was my only adjustment.
Yay! So glad you liked it, Briana! And YES! Cutting back on sugar intake is never a bad thing. :)
Oh, my gosh – I absolutely love this recipe. This is one of our go-to dinners. Super easy to make and delicious! The second time I made it, I added a sprinkle of chili flakes, yum! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you like it! I love the idea of adding chili flakes. :)