The sauce in this broccoli chicken stir fry is perfectly “saucy,” making it ideal for serving over steamy 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 Stir Fry Recipe
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry satisfies the craving for takeout, and you’ll feel good about serving this to your family. It’s healthier than going out, and it’s simple to make into a meal served over cooked white rice, brown rice, or even cooked quinoa.
If you loved my famous 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!
Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry Video
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. I don’t recommend frozen veggies sicne they can get mushy and water down the sauce.
- Chicken Broth – this adds more flavor, but water can easily be substituted.
- 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 to 2 tablespoons of liquid sweetener, such as honey, or add it to taste.
- Corn Starch – using cornstarch as a thickener helps keep this gluten-free.
Pro Tip for Peeling Ginger:
The easiest way to peel ginger is to scrape the skin away with the side of a teaspoon. Once it’s peeled, finely grate it on a box grater or a microplane.
How to Make Broccoli and Chicken Stir Fry:
- Make the Sauce: Combine all of the sauce ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar. Warm broth will help the sugar 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.
- Stir-Fry 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 crisp and vibrant green then reduce heat. Do not overcook the veggies at this point or they can get mushy while cooking in the sauce.
- 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 Making the Best Stir Fry
A stir-fry is essentially flash-cooked on a very hot skillet, with a cooking time of less than 15 minutes. 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.
Storing and Reheating Stir Fry
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry reheats well so it’s a great option for meal prepping.
- Refrigerate Leftovers – Once the chicken broccoli stir fry has cooled to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days. I prefer not to freeze since the broccoli can become mushy.
- Reheating – It’s always best to reheat in the same method that the dish was cooked. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until hot. You can also reheat in the microwave in 30-second increments until heated through. If needed, you can add a little splash of water when reheating to bring back some moisture.
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe
The sauce in this stir fry is perfectly "saucy," making it ideal for serving over hot and fluffy white rice. This recipe moves fast so start cooking your rice first and be sure to prep and chop all of your stir fry ingredients and make the sauce before cooking the stir fry.
Ingredients
Servings: 4 people
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
- Make the Sauce – 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.
- Prepare Chicken – 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.
- Stir Fry Veggies – 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.
- Add Sauce – 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.
- Combine and Serve – 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
325kcal Calories21g Carbs31g Protein14g Fat
Nutrition Facts
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe
Amount per Serving
Calories
325
% Daily Value*
Fat
14
g
22
%
Saturated Fat
2
g
13
%
Cholesterol
73
mg
24
%
Sodium
586
mg
25
%
Potassium
1039
mg
30
%
Carbohydrates
21
g
7
%
Fiber
4
g
17
%
Sugar
10
g
11
%
Protein
31
g
62
%
Vitamin A
740
IU
15
%
Vitamin C
105
mg
127
%
Calcium
68
mg
7
%
Iron
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Filed Under
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
- Chicken Pesto Pasta – adding pesto sauce is genius!
- Chicken Korma – with a vibrant curry sauce
Delicious fresh quick and easy recipe which all the family (even the fussy one) loved. This recipe is a keeper!
Yay, that is fantastic! Thank you for your good feedback and review, we appreciate it.
Hi Natasha , I’m making this for dinner tonight , have made it before and it’s now a firm favourite of ours. Making extra so hope to freeze some for my hubby as I’m due to go into hospital tomorrow and prepping meals for him to just lift out and heat through. I’m presuming it will freeze ok as usually there’s none left over!!
Great to hear that you all enjoyed this recipe! I imagine that would be fine. Take care and stay safe.
Delicious. I used Mongolian fire oil since that’s all i had. The combination of sweet and spicy was so good. I also didn’t have mushrooms,I substituted sweet red pepper. Thank you for this recipe.I will make sure to try your other stir fried recipes.
You are very welcome, Jessie. Great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. I hope you’ll love all the recipes that you will try!
I’ve made the beef and brocolli stir fry recipe from your site and it was fantastic. Just curious why you have lesser seasonings in the sauce x brown sugar here when its same quantity of meat and veg as in the beef and brocolli stir fry. Thanks
Hi Sahana, in my testing, I found that it overwhelms the chicken and these proportions worked best for chicken.
Where can I get the iron skillet?
Hi Wilma, you can find our favorite kitchen tools in our Amazon Affiliate Shop HERE.
Amazing! I love all of your recipes. Thank you, for making me a better cook!
You’re so nice! Thank you!
I’ve made this three times already and I still can’t get over how good the sauce is.
The sauce is indeed special, totally agree with you on that, Kim. Thanks for your great review!
This is the second time I’ve made this, and it is absolutely amazing! The sauce is right on point. I have a few picky eaters in my family, but I did not hear any complaints on this dish. I’m looking forward to making more of your recipes! 🙂
That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great!
The best stir fry recipe! Easy to make and so delicious! And as any recipe from your website, Natasha, turns out perfect from first try!
Hello Inna, thank you for your wonderful review and feedback. I hope you’ll love all the recipes that you will try!
Loved this! Used water and butter mixture instead of chicken brother. Came out so amazing, so glad i found a chicken broccoli recipe that’s actually worth making at home! (:
That sounds great, Abigail. I’m happy to know that you loved this recipe, thank you so much for your great review and feedback.
I made this for the first time for dinner tonight. We ran out of sesame oil, so used hoisin sauce instead. It was great.
Hello Mike, great to hear that it worked out well! Thanks for sharing your good feedback with us.
Love this recipe! The sauce makes it! Hubby loved it! Pretty easy but do have everything ready to go, moves fast.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
First time on your blog, first recipe I tried…..girl this was amazing!!!! Whole family raved about it!! The sauce was on point!!! Will def be making this again.
Yay, that’s fantastic! I’m glad you enjoyed the first recipe that you tried, Vanessa.
What are the exact severing size for the calories?
Hi Sheila, The serving size can be found at the beginning of the print-friendly recipe card (located at the bottom of the recipe post). The nutrition label shows counts “per serving.” Hope that helps!
I have everything but the ginger… Can I go ahead without or will the flavor profile be off without it? Thanks.
It would still work without the ginger, Nicole. But the flavor would be a bit different but not really off.
I made this tonight for my grandson. He wants to start eating healthy and try new things. I’ve never made a stir fry until now. He loved it and was thrilled to know it was healthy. Thank you for giving us a stir fry that was easy to make and so delicious.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Marianne!
Hey Natasha,
I have a question. Do you have to use chicken broth, sesame oil, and brown sugar in this recipe? Will the recipe change if I don’t use them.
Hi Lauren, I haven’t tried other substitute ingredients for those that you mentioned but yes, those are important ingredients to make the recipe work.
Made this a few weeks ago and it was DELICIOUS. How do I double the sauce?
Hi Erin! That’s just awesome! I’m so happy you enjoyed that! I would double all of the sauce ingredients equally.
This came out delicious and very easy as promised. The whole family loved it. Definitely will make again!
Love it! I’m glad that you loved the result of this recipe.
This was great! Very easy to make. For any newbies to stir fry, make sure you have all of your prep done and ready because this moves fast. I might never order this dish from the take-out place again. Too easy to make and much more tasty and healthy.
Thanks for your suggestions, Mike. I appreciate it!
This was great. Definitely a keeper and it was super simple. Served it on top of steamed rice and topped with green onions. Even the 6 year old gobbled it up.
Yay, fantastic! Good to know that you both enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for sharing that with us, Holly!