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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Hello! I googled a chicken and broccoli recipe just tonight and yours came up. I searched for a recipe without sugar and saw that yours had honey. Your recipe was the best stir fry I’ve ever had! This is going to be our stir fry go-to-recipe that we will eat once or twice a week!!! Going to try it with cashews, water chestnuts, and green onions also. Thank you for sharing!!!!
Hi Jeri! I’m so happy you discovered the recipe and loved it. Thanks for the awesome review!
Hi Natasha!
I made this recipe tonight and I loved it! I’ve missed American-style Chinese food, since I moved to Berlin last year, and this really hit the spot!
Thanks!
Sara, I’m glad to hear that it hit the spit 😀.
Hi natashaa…recipe was delicious…it was my first recipe different from Indian taste.
thank u for a wonderful starting to experiment new dishes..
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for the great review! Are there any recipes from the Indian cuisine that you would recommend I try? I’m pretty new to that cuisine but would love to explore it more 🙂
I have a question about the sesame oil – should be it regular or toasted oil? Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Lana, I have purchased and used both. Either one will work. 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe! I was out of honey, so I used hoisin and a sugar and substituted coconut oil for the sesame. The whole family literally kicked their plates. That’s a nice feeling.
Awesome!! That’s the best! Thank you for sharing that with us 🙂
Soooo so good. I’ve made this twice already before and going to make again today. My mouth is watering for this right now. Thanks so much!!!
I’m so happy you love it! Thank you for sharing your awesome feedback 🙂
This is a very good recipe. My son and I devoured it – it’s so much better than Chinese take out! It’s delish. Thank you!
What a sweet scene 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing that with me 🙂
Just made this for dinner.(Although I did it with pork tenderloin) It was very nice. It was a bit of a struggle to fit all the ingredients in my little wok though! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the nice review William and yo are welcome 😀.
This was delicious and my family loved it! It’s a keeper for sure
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks Glenn 🙂
Natasha, what a delicious recipe. I am making it as I write and the smells in the kitchen are so yummy. Of course I added more fresh ginger and garlic than the recipe stated. It’s almost ready to serve. Thank you, thank you for a lovely new recipe.
Diana, thank you for such a nice review and you are welcome 😁.
Do you know the Nutrition Facts of this recipe?
Hi Sarah, I just inserted it into the post towards the bottom. I hope that’s helpful 🙂
Thanks!!
Didn’t have much in the house as far as food went, but I did have shredded chicken, frozen broccoli, and canned mushrooms and 1 one onion and a few red hot peppers, I had everything for the sauce except fresh ginger so I used ground. Put it all over brown rice…..not bad for everything being frozen….lol quick meal and didn’t have to run out to get anything….grocery shopping this Friday!
I love how you improvised to use what you had on hand! 🙂
This tastes good but tastes so much better the next day. I guess because the different flavor a have a chance to meld? I am making this again today for dinner and I am wondering if anyone has made this in a crockpot, if so how should the chicken be handled?
Hi Tricia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thanks for sharing your great review! I love it when recipes taste even better the next day because they make for a great work lunch the next day! 🙂 I haven’t tried it in a crockpot just because it’s so quick to make on the stove.
If you enjoy watching your kids eat insane amounts of broccoli, this is your recipe! Sauce is so tasty and all pantry ingredients. What a simple and wholesome dish – fed family of five no problem. This is definitely going into the rotation and suspect would be equally yummy with beef/beef broth swap out. Thank you!
Thank you for your completely amazing review! I’m so happy your family enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
This has become one my family’s favorite stir fry meals. I substitute gluten-free flour for the regular flour and coconut aminos for the soy sauce. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
I made this last night. I added more salt and soy sauce. I thought that the recipe was a bit watery for some reason. I ended up taking out some of the excess water (about half a cup). Maybe because i used less broccoli than the recipe called for? Im not sure. However it tasted great. My husband really liked it. It was the first time i stir fried anything. I think next time i will make the chicken pieces a bit smaller. Thanks for the recipe!
That seems like a lot of liquid to take out. It is about how much liquid is in the sauce altogether. Did you use fresh or frozen broccoli?
I used fresh broccoli, fresh mushrooms, and I added fresh carrots. It turned out great though. We really loved it. I like my food a bit liquid so it worked well for us.
This was so delicious! I recently went on a diet so I left the flour out and used a low sodium soy sauce and it was still amazing!! When my boyfriend took the first bite he stated, “there’s no way this is healthy” he couldn’t believe something could taste so good and not be so fattening, which is saying a lot for such a picky eater!! I felt like I was having a cheat meal without all the guilt!! Definitely a new favorite
Brooke, thank you for such a wonderful review, I’m so happy to hear that 😁.
I subbed carrots for the mushrooms and it was delicious! TY for the recipe, it’s filed under family fav now!
I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
This recipe tasted good but the time it was supposidly take to cook was not accurate at all it took me about 45 minutes to cook and also the broccoli didn’t take the same amount of time to cook as the mushrooms and onions I had to take the mushrooms and onions out in order for the broccoli to cook
Hi Kaitlyn, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Broccoli cooks very quickly over high heat and it should still be crisp tender and vibrant in color when it’s done. You can cook it longer if you like your broccoli very soft.
Natasha! I made this today and it was so good. I agree the sesame oil makes all the difference. Thank you SO much! I am so inspired by your delicious recipes. You’re helping me become a great cook!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe and liked the sesame oil! It’s such a small amount of oil but adds so much flavor! 🙂