The sauce in this broccoli chicken stir fry is perfectly “saucy,” making it ideal for serving over steamy white rice. Homemade Chicken and Broccoli is an easy 30-minute meal and it has the best stir fry sauce.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Chicken Broccoli Mushroom Stir Fry:
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry satisfies the craving for takeout and you’ll feel good about serving this to your family because it’s healthier than going out. If you loved our Beef and Broccoli, then you will love this chicken stir fry. It’s loaded with tender chicken, mushrooms and fresh broccoli. I hope you’re inspired to make this easy and tasty dinner!
Ingredients & Substitutions for Stir Fry:
- Chicken – we used boneless skinless chicken breast, but chicken tenders or even thighs would be delicious here.
- Stir Fry Veggies – We love the combination of broccoli, onions, and mushrooms for an authentic Chicken Broccoli Stir fry. You could sub the broccoli with snap peas or zucchini and sub onions with julienned carrots.
- Chicken Broth – this adds more flavor, but water can easily be substituted.
- Low Sodium Soy Sauce – Since different brands have different amounts of salt, add soy sauce to taste. You can always add more at the end, but you can’t take salt out of a dish. For gluten-free, use Tamari sauce.
- Sesame Oil – this one ingredient gives the sauce authentic Chinese stir fry flavor. Do not skip it.
- Ginger & Garlic – fresh is best for stir fry, but in a pinch, you can substitute 1 tsp fresh garlic for 1/2 tsp garlic powder and substitute 1 tsp fresh ginger for 1/8-1/4 tsp ground ginger.
- Brown Sugar – we used 2 Tablespoons of packed light brown sugar. You can substitute with 1 1/2 Tbsp to 2 Tbsp of liquid sweetener like honey, or add it to taste.
- Corn Starch – using cornstarch as a thickener helps keep this gluten-free.
Pro Tip: It’s easiest to peel fresh ginger using the edge of a teaspoon. Simply scrape the skin away. Try it – it’s so easy.
Watch the Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry Video:
How to Make Broccoli and Chicken Stir Fry:
- Make the Sauce: Combine all of the sauce ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar. The warm broth will help the sugar to dissolve easily.
- Cook Chicken: Cut chicken into small 3/4″ bite-sized pieces and season lightly with black pepper. Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat with 1 Tbsp oil. Add chicken and cook 1 minute undisturbed then stir fry 5 minutes until golden and just cooked through. Remove chicken to a bowl.
- Sautee Veggies: In the same skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp oil, broccoli florets, sliced onion and mushrooms and stir fry 3 minutes until mushrooms are softened then reduce heat.
- Add Stir Fry Sauce: Give the sauce a quick stir in case there was settling and add it to the skillet. Simmer the sauce over medium/low heat for 3-4 minutes until thickened and garlic and ginger have mellowed in flavor. To thin the sauce, add water as needed and you can add more soy sauce to taste.
- Return Chicken to the Pan and stir until heated through then serve over white rice garnished with sesame seeds if desired.
The KEY to Cooking Stir Fry:
A stir fry is essentially flash cooked on a very hot skillet (less than 15 minutes of cooking time). Since this recipe moves fast, you want to have every ingredient chopped, measured, prepped and ready to use before you fire up the skillet. If serving with white rice, you’ll want to put the rice on the stove first then cook your stir fry. You’ll want to bookmark our tutorial for Perfect White Rice.
More Easy Chicken Recipes (Reader Favorites!):
- Chicken Fried Rice – the best way to use leftover rice
- Lemon Chicken – 30-min chicken dinner packed with flavor
- Chicken Parmesan – easy and classic family favorite
- Chicken Chow Mein – adding chicken makes it a meal
- Chicken Tetrazzini – a creamy cheesy pasta bake
Print-friendly Recipe for Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry:
Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe

Ingredients
Chicken and Broccoli:
- 1 lb chicken breast, (boneless skinless), cut into 3/4" pieces
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil, (I used extra light olive oil), divided
- 1 lb broccoli, cut into florets (about 5 cups)
- 1 small yellow onion, sliced into strips
- 1/2 lb white button mushrooms, thickly sliced
Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce, (use Tamari for gluten free), or added to taste
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar, packed (or honey to taste)
- 1 Tbsp corn starch
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated (lightly packed)
- 1 tsp garlic (2 small cloves), grated
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, plus more to season chicken
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients and whisk to dissolve sugar and corn starch (warm broth will help dissolve the sugar faster). Set sauce aside.
- Cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces (no more than 3/4” thick) and season lightly with pepper. Heat a large heavy skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil. Add chicken in a single layer and let it sit undisturbed for 1 minute to get a good sear then stir fry for another 5 minutes or until golden brown just cooked through then remove to a bowl and loosely cover to keep warm.
- In the same skillet, add another 1 Tbsp oil along with broccoli florets, sliced onion and sliced mushrooms. Stir fry 3 minutes or until mushrooms are softened and broccoli is crisp-tender then reduce heat to medium/low.
- Give the sauce a quick stir in case there was any settling of starch and pour all of it over the vegetables. Simmer 3-4 minutes or until sauce is thickened and garlic and ginger are mellowed in flavor. To thin the sauce, add water a tablespoon at a time.
- Return chicken to the pan and stir another 30 seconds or until heated through. Add more soy sauce to taste if needed and serve over hot rice.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This recipe was first published in October 2014. We updated it April 2020, using corn starch instead of flour to make it gluten-free chicken broccoli stir fry, improved the flavor of the sauce and re-photographed the recipe.
Didn’t have shrooms, will add next time. I also added two dried Thai peppers to the sauce, very nice spice level. Excellent sauce flavor.
Delicious!! I didn’t have mushrooms on hand so I used carrots instead, definitely making this again! Thank you!
I doubled the recipe for meal prep and it tasted off. Not sure if the pan was too crowded or what, but I struggled getting through it. Disappointed since 99% of everything I try of yours, it’s delicious.
Hi Neil, doubling a stir fry doesn’t always work the same way because of the heat, surface area, and cooking time required with a larger batch. I would still cook in 2 separate pans. I’ve had this experience with my ground beef stir fry also.
Hi name is Brenda this is my first time runner cross your recipe.this will be frist time I will make it.it look delicious
Hi Brenda! I’m happy you found my recipe. Let us know what you think.
I enjoyed cooking this and tasted great, sauce is just as good as Restaurant.
That’s so great, John! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is excellent! I double sauce but it is not necessary extra on rice is requested by family because they love the flavor. I know i can always trust your recipes and read your blog almost daily.
Try this!!
Thank you so much, Beth!
Great recipe! I missed reading the comments about doubling the sauce so I just used a smaller amount of veggies. Turned out great. I used about 10 oz of frozen stir fry veggies (mostly broccoli), plus 5oz mushrooms and thin sliced onions. I did not think it was too sweet as some others mentioned in the comments. It was pretty perfect. I did add a big handful of baby spinach at the end and I might try adding a few red pepper flakes for a bit of heat next time. Thanks for a great recipe.
This is our favorite stirfry recipe! The sauce is excellent!! We added a TBS of Siracha to the sauce to give it some heat.
Terrific recipe for stir fry! The sauce was out of this world! I didn’t have enough mushrooms, so added some sliced yellow pepper to fill in.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Carol!
I liked this recipe as well, but cannot find your previous recipe for this stir fry. Had more brown sugar and dried chili pepper flakes
Hello there! The best way to look at old versions of a recipe is to go to this site and paste the URL of the recipe in the search bar. Hope that helps.
I was looking for a sauce for stir fry. I made this today for the first time using a variety of vegetables, chicken and tofu. I made the sauce recipe as written without the brown sugar or honey. My family said it was the best stir fry I ever made. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
You’re so very welcome, Joyce!
Easy to make and very good over rice. So authentic of Asian food. I like the idea of adding various vegetables as alternatives. I will make again.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jerry!
Another winner! Everyone loved it! Substituted red bell pepper for mushrooms. Tripled the sauce to soak up with the rice.
Love it , kids keep asking for it , it is on my table when I have guests . Healthy, Tasty Easy to make ,Thanks to Natacha , she is my reference whenever I want to try new things.
We made this for dinner and it was delicious. 😋
I made this for my guests and it was a big hit, but it did take a bit of simmering to get a good consistency of the broccoli. After a little research, I found that it is best to “blanch” some of the tougher vegetables (like broccoli, green beans, carrots) prior to stir frying. It gave the broccoli a much better texture IMO, and I think it absorbed the tastes better. Just boil the broccoli in salted water for about 5 minutes, then dump them in an ice bath. Experiment with different vegetables for boiling time for optimum texture.
This had absolutely no flavour. I even added more soy sauce and garlic and absolutely nothing. Very bland.
Hi Taylor, that is unusual and this normally has plenty of flavor. Did you change anything in the recipe? Were proportions the same? Any ingredient swaps? Did you possibly use frozen broccoli? Readers have reported watered down sauce using frozen broccoli.
I made it yesterday and it’s very good. I backed off on the sugar/honey a little and added a little more soy sauce, and served it with egg noodle tagliatelle. It made enough for 5-6 people/meals. I have a photo. I’ve noticed that we can’t post any photos. Thanks a bunch Natasha! I’m having fun trying your recipes!
Made this for supper for my wife and myself it was fantastic as with all your recipes I have tried especially the rolls and apple pie among other of your recipes thank you keep sending me your delicious recipes, thank you from Joe
Hi Joe! You’re so very welcome. I’m happy you’re enjoying the recipes.
i love your recipe i also love the video sometime i dont understand some words love it thank so you