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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Oh wow, this was so good! I didn’t have any sesame oil so will look forward to making it again when I have some. Thanks you for sharing – looking forward to the leftovers for dinner later 🙂
Hi Adele, I’m so happy you enjoyed it even without the sesame oil. I do think you’d love the oil though – it makes all the Asian inspired dishes taste so much more authentic 🙂
Loved this!!! Trying it again with water chestnuts and some shrimp along with the chicken. Thank-you!!
Mm those add-ins sound great!! I’m so happy you loved the recipe 🙂
Try peeling and cutting up the stem of the brocolli. It has a similar texture to water chestnuts when you haven’t got any handy
That’s a great idea! I love using the stem of broccoli also.
Thanks for this great recipe! I made it exactly as instructed and loved it. Easy and delicious – thanks!
Yay!! I’m so happy you liked it. Thanks for the awesome review!
Just curious if you can tell me how many cups in a serving. I know I can split it in 6 but my husband already ate a bunch of it! It’s delicious!
Hi Marisa, I didn’t really measure it that way so I can’t give you an exact amount – maybe 1 cup.
I’m making this today .. thank you for this awesome recipe 🙂
You’re welcome! I hope you love it! 🙂
Is it possible to omit the flour? My boyfriend is gluten free!
Hi Carrie, I haven’t tested it with anything different but you could probably use a good baking gluten free flour. I haven’t tested it with cornstarch but that may also work to toss the chicken in cornstarch, I’m just not sure how much of the remaining cornstarch you would want to add because 1/4 cup would probably make the sauce too thick.
Watch out for wheat in the soya sauce too!
So delish!! Thank you!!
I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂
I made this last night and it turned out to be awesome!!!! Thank you for this easy and tasty recipe!!!
That is great! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the stir fry 🙂
Hi do you know how many calories and the nutritional content of this dish?
I don’t typically include calorie counts, but if you go to caloriecount.com you can plug in the ingredients and servings and figured out pretty easily that way. I hope that helps!
If you have a “myfitnesspal” account, you can import recipes from the internet and it will tell you calories and nutritional information. Pretty convenient. You can also alter the ingredients if you omit or modify some and it will adjust accordingly.
I’ve made this countless times, so good! Thanks for the easy, tasty, recipe!
That’s wonderful! It sounds like you’ve found a new favorite! 🙂
this has become a favorite in our house
I’m so happy to hear that! Awesome!!
Thank You! I’ll give it a try!
I hope you love it! 🙂
My family doesn’t care for the taste of honey. Can I use anything else?
Margaret, you can use the same amount of brown or regular sugar instead of honey. Let me know hot it turns out .😀
I tried this recipe thinking it’s going to be an average quick Asian dish but man I was so wrong. Me and my family loved it, it’s excellent. I added snow peas & prawns to it, yummy 🙂
Thanks Natasha
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us! 😀
That was an excellent recipe – thank you Natasha! I added pea pods. My hard-working wife loved it too, so bonus!
That’s wonderful! I’m so happy you both enjoyed it and I love the idea of adding pea pods!
This is a very user friendly recipe ! Sooooo delicious! I love it !! Kim
Awesome!! I’m so happy you loved it 🙂
This is the best stir fry I have ever made. Definitely making this once a week!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for the awesome review!
I just literally made this and I’m eating it as I type right now. So I’m going to start by saying I did not use mushrooms or onions because I don’t like them. I did everything else the correct way and WOW!!!! This meal is so good. I really really love it and would have it all the time. Also I didn’t have a lot of broccoli so I used mostly cauliflower and it was great. Thank you for the recipe. I will always use this one.
Wow cauliflower – I never would have thought to try it. Great to know it works! Thank you so much for the awesome review! 🙂
You are very welcome Hun. I’ll be making it again tonight. But this time I have enough broccoli 🙊
Made this today, DELICIOUS!
Thank you for that awesome review! 🙂
Looks like I’ll be trying this tonite! CAn’t wait…..
Enjoy! I hope you love it! 🙂