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.
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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
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- Chicken Korma – with a vibrant curry sauce
Making this last night for dinner. Like others, I doubled the sauce because who doesn’t love sauce? Only other change I made was I added more garlic and ginger because my family loves garlic and ginger.
Extra sauce is the best! Thanks for sharing, Mary! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for the review.
Made it tonight after googling “Chicken, mushrooms, broccoli.” Tasty use of all three and just what we were in the mood for. Put the rice on, prep the sauce and ingredients and it should come together in 30 min. or so. Perfect and a keeper recipe!
I’m so glad you discovered my blog, L! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I’ve made this s few times and loved it! Was planning on making this tonight and have a few sweet peppers I need to use up and curious to know if it will go well with this dish?
Hi Tami, yes I think that would go well. You can also this use beef stif fry recipe as a reference, we use peppers in it!
What could I substitute for the brown sugar and corn starch to make lower in carbs?
Hi Sue, I haven’t tested any substitutions for those.
I have done this recipe millions of times. Thank you so much. The family loves it and helps keep me on track. (WW)
Great to hear that, Maria. Thanks for sharing!
LOVE this recipe for Chicken and Broccoli. It is so DELICIOUS!! One difference is that I add sliced Baby Corn and it is so yummy.😋
Yum! I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Stephanie!
We made this last night and it’s so good! We will definitely make again and again! Easy and I love the how to video! Thanks for another great recipe!!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Melanie!
Had this tonight for dinner. Very tasty. Looking to increase our vegetable intake so added red, green & yellow peppers. Used straw mushrooms because I didn’t have fresh. Doubled sauce. This is a keeper for sure.
Great idea, Terri. Glad you enjoyed it!
Read all the comments and doubled the sauce, absolutely delicious! I didn’t have any mushrooms and used colored peppers, served it over rice ramen, great colors and flavor!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Becky!
will frozen broccoli work? I live 40 miles from a grocery store and only have frozen. Is there any thoughts on how to use frozen in this receipe. I am making this tonight.
Hi Karen, one of my readers reported the following about using frozen broccoli, “I use frozen all the time I steam in the microwave first to drain any excess water and it cuts down the time it takes to cook. I just throw them in after the mushrooms cook down.” I hope that helps!
I made this for dinner tonight and my family devoured it! So good and so simple!
That’s awesome! Thanks a lot for the review, Sue. I’m happy to know that you enjoyed it.
***Winner winner chicken broccoli dinner***
Just finished my chicken broccoli dinner which was fantastic!!! This is one of my favorite Chinese foods and to cook this at home and taste so great … wow!
So great to hear that, Stephanie. Thanks a lot for this review, we’re glad you enjoyed this recipe!
The flavor is awesome, just needed more sauce, I recommend doubling recipe. Also, it looks like in the photo there are sesame seed, but the recipe did not include that. I would add that
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, Lisa. We appreciate it!
Turned out great!! So good. It’s a simple easy recipe to follow. I didn’t add my broccoli until the mushrooms and onions cooked up a bit. Otherwise no other changes! Thanks!
Nice, thanks a lot for sharing! Great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe.
My cast iron is small so I tried my wok but the chicken didn’t brown so that got overcooked. As soon as the sauce went in (which in a wok looks like a ton more sauce) my broccoli instantly became soggy. Should I blanche my broccoli next time? Help:(
Hi Christine, I would cook the broccoli for less time next time when cooking with the mushrooms. Cook the broccoli just until it is crisp-tender and then make sure to reduce the heat before adding the sauce.
Love this recipe – after making it once I doubled the sauce and also added some green pepper to it – now a firm family favourite – loving your recipes Natasha – keep up the good work!
That’s great feedback, Helen. Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
I loved this recipe! I had been craving stir fry for weeks and this was so delicious and easy to make! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing, I am glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Outstanding recipe! Great flavors. Doubled everything. I always love your stir fry’s.
Hi Deb, thank you for your excellent feedback. Glad you are enjoying our stir fry recipes!
Very yummy! I’m looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow and seeing how the flavors have changed once they marinate longer together. What is a serving size though? 1 cup? More or less?
Hi Elle, 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.” In this case, the recipe serves 4, and one serving will be 1/4th of the recipe. I hope that helps!
Chicken was super duper tasteless. I guess could’ve used more sauce. Usually double sauce in these recipes but totally forgot this time around. 🙁
Feel free to add more seasoning according to your preference and double the sauce next time. I know others love it with more sauce just like you do.