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 Pesto Pasta – adding pesto sauce is genius!
- Chicken Korma – with a vibrant curry sauce
This is the absolute best recipe on Google, so don’t look any further! This is BETTER than Chinese take out!!!
Thank you so much, Tifany!
This recipe was easy and amazing! I did not change a thing and I will be making this again. My teenager loved it.
That is the best when kids love what we parents make, especially the easy recipes. That’s so great!
This was so tasty but the sauce was very thin 🙁 I copied the recipe very carefully but it just didn’t thicken up.
What did I do wrong??
Hi Delila, using more cornstarch as a thickener helps.
Awesome! I added a little extra sauce and altered the recipe by using both brown sugar & honey. I also added crushed red pepper flakes for some kick to the sauce. I used mushrooms, onions, & carrots. Garnished with green onion & the sesame seeds. Yum
Absolutely delicious!!! Did not alter a thing-it was perfect!
Excellent weekday dinner.I will make this again. I also didn’t use mushrooms but everything was seasoned well. I will double the sauce next time.
Delicious. No mushrooms so I added carrots and onions. Doubled the sauce as my family likes extra. Served over jasmine rice. Love watching you and use several of your recipes.
Thank you so much, Donna!
Delicious. No mushrooms so I added carrots and onions. Doubled the sauce as my family likes extra. Served over jasmine rice.
Delicious recipe, Natasha. I did change up some of the veggies, but I figured that would be no problem. The suce was delectable. I followed your recipe for it to the letter. Thanks for another great recipe.
You’re very welcome, Melanie! I’m so glad you enjoyed this.
This dish is so good. I made it twice. Second time I added zucchini . Delicious. Better than take out.
Incredible how the baking soda tenderized the chicken ! Game changer!
I’m so glad you loved it, Holly!
I didn’t see baking soda in this recipe. Did I miss something?
Baking soda is often used to tenderize meat. It’s not part of this recipe process but something commonly done, so that’s likely the comment.
Did you change the recipe? I’ve been making this for a while and now it has onion and mushrooms. Wish I would have printed the other recipe. It was perfect. Can you post the old one?
Hi Liz, you might be referring to a different recipe. This one has always had mushrooms and onion. Search stir fry on my site and see if you can find the one you used previously.
We made this tonight and it was a big hit!
It came out looking just like the picture and was very delicious.
It is a keeper!
Yay that’s wonderful! Thank you so much for your great comments and review!
Absolutely delicious!! Have made MANY times. I always double the sauce because it is so good. I use Angel hair pasta. I also only use 1/2 of the required sesame oil because it is strong and also use ground ginger (because it’s all I have on hand usually). For added flavor I also add some Hoisin sauce…yes, I have a sweet tooth. It is a fantastic recipe. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Marianne! I’m so glad you love the recipe.
So yummy. Was a nice change of pace when you’re trying to figure out what to do with chicken, again 😄 I would reduce the sugar next time it was a tad sweet for us and I didn’t have real ginger so used ground and cut it in half and it was still really strong, will cut that too a 1/8 tsp next time.
Sure, feel free to reduce the sugar on your next try. Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely delicious! Only had freeze dried ginger, it worked. This is definitely a keeper.
Hi Lois! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.
I made it tonight and it was an ABSOLUTE HIT!!!
Thanks Natasha
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Absolutely Delicious!!! Even using ground ginger and garlic powder this was better than our local Chinese take out. Thank You Natasha!!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Inge!
I’ve made this twice, and both times my picky eating teenager asked for leftovers for lunch the next day.
I had to add a little heat to mine.
Thank you!!
That’s wonderful, Jeff!
I followed this recipe to a T and found that it was very bland. I will not make again.
Is there anything you changed or substituted in the recipe? Also, one thought – if using frozen broccoli, that could release more liquid and make the sauce seem bland.