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
Please let me know the brand of the extra light olive oil that you used.
The photo of the bottle is in the recipe, phoot of the ingredients. Any brand should be fine, I used extra light olive oil. Hope you enjoy!
Absolutely delicious and healthy! Best chicken brocolli stir fry ever!
Really delicious! This will definitely be my go-to stir fry chicken recipe. Thank you, Natasha.
Turned out good but like everyone has been saying I doubled the sauce.But with half the sugar. Even with half, sugar made dish sweet. Also felt it was missing something so I added some more sesame oil, sesame seeds, oyster Sauce and cayenne powder. Turned out perfect.
Love this. Turned out great. Next time I aim to double the sauce. Love extra sauce on the rice.
Looks so yummy! Does this recipe freeze well? I’m helping a friend in need to fill up her freezer with tasty and healthy meals
Hi Wilma! Sure I imagine that will work. Just make sure it has cooled down before putting it in an airtight container and thaw it before reheating.
I feel like this is too saucy so I reduce the amount of stock to 1/2 a cup. Even in a wok burner I feel it’s too soupy. I also do the veggies in 2 batches because the wok is a too crowded to stir fry instead of steam them. Otherwise this is an easy, tasty, healthy, mild flavored stir fry.
Hi Natasha 🙂 – I only have frozen broccoli florets. When would I add that to my skillet? Thx!
Hi Beth. You would add them in the same step as the recipe directs. When you add the broccoli, make sure all of the excess steam and water evaporates out before adding the sauce, otherwise the liquid from the broccoli can water down the sauce.
Absolutely delicious! I omitted mushrooms because of husband. Used the frozen broccoli as directed. Next time I will have my white rice made a day ahead and reheat. Lowers the glycemic value by creating resistant starch for those of us with blood sugar concerns. This is definitely going to be one of our favorite Natasha recipes 😃
That’s wonderful, Beth! So glad it was enjoyed.
Love this recipe but also wanted to try it with honey.
I saw honey (to taste) can replace the brown sugar. How much honey would typically be used if substituting for the same amount of brown sugar?
Hi Cindy! You can use it in a 1:1 ratio, or use less if you prefer it less sweet.
Love it. Didn’t have mushrooms but used and orange pepper.
Absolutely delicious!
Came out perfect!, just doubled the recipe to feed the entire family:)
Is it okay to use chick thighs instead of breasts? I know breasts are healthier but they can dry out so quickly, especially with leftovers.
Hi there, that will work too!
Made this tonight for dinner and my husband and I loved it. If you follow the recipe you can’t go wrong. I did double the sauce after reading others had and was glad I did.
I love this recipe I have made it four times. THanks for sharing.
So glad you’re enjoying it, Jane!
This was some good chicken. Make this dish, u will be a happy chef!?
Amazing! Better than takeout. Other adds to up the oompf May be cashews. Not needed tho and it’s delicious. It may become a regular!!
I didn’t have beef to make beef and broccoli so I made this recipe with chicken. It turned out great!! I did double the sauce, I didn’t have mushrooms so I used carrots. Thank you it’s outstanding
I always watch your video just before making this recipe. Do you have any idea how adorable you are?!! Have made this dish many times, and love it!
Aw, thank you, Karen!
This is a great recipe! I used vegan chicken and added just a squirt of hoisin sauce. Eating it right now and it’s delicious!
This was a sweet dish, it wasn’t supposed to be. 2 tablespoons of sugar is way too much.
And the dish lacked flavour. It needed more ginger and more garlic.
Did you make any changes or substitutions to the recipe? You can leave out the sugar (or use less) but we felt it adds a good balance to the sauce and didn’t think it was too sweet.
I saw some say it was lacking flavor. I followed your recipe but did double the sauce. I used fresh broccoli, fresh garlic, and fresh garlic. I felt it was very flavorful. It was a hit. Thanks for the recipe.
That’s great to hear, Jeff! Thank you.