Skip the Chinese take-out today and make this easy chicken stir fry recipe. It's a quick stir fry recipe that can be ready in less than 30 minutes. This chicken stir fry is packed with veggies and flavor. A delicious meal that makes you want to eat more greens!
This chicken stir fry recipe is a great addition to your weekly meal plan. It's so easy to put together and makes great leftovers for lunch. It's also a budget-friendly and kid-friendly meal.
Easy Chicken Stir Fry Ingredients
To make chicken stir fry you'll need chicken breast, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, red bell pepper, broccoli, carrots, low-sodium soy sauce, corn starch, oyster sauce, honey, oil, sesame oil, and chicken broth.
This stir fry is customizable, so you can use any veggies of your choice and adjust the seasoning according to your taste.
Oyster sauce. It's a sweet and salty condiment made from oysters, salt, and sugar. It's commonly used in Chinese and Thai dishes to add an umami flavor to stir-fries, marinades, and dipping sauces.
You can find oyster sauce at any grocery market, such as Target, Ralph's/Kroger, Vons, Walmart for around $3.69 per 9 oz bottle.
Mushrooms. They are a very commonly used vegetable in Chinese stir fry. You can use brown mushroom, white mushroom, oyster mushroom, portabello, Shimeiji, or Shiitake mushroom.
How to Make Chicken Stir Fry
The key to stir-frying is to cook each component separately, then combine all of the ingredients at the end with stir-fry sauce and serve.
Stir-frying sears food quickly, make sure your prep is ready in advance and in the right order.
This chicken stir fry starts with combining all of the sauce ingredients, par-boiling the vegetables, cooking the chicken, then stir-frying all of the ingredients in the sauce.
You can stir fry the chicken and vegetables in a wok or any type of skillet or pan that you have at home.
So here are some important steps to follow:
1. Pound Chicken Breast
Pounding the chicken breasts and slicing them into thin pieces prior to stir-frying helps tenderize the meat, reduces the cooking time, and cooks more evenly. The thinner slice helps with portion control, too.
- Trim any membranes or fat from the chicken breast with a knife.
- Place the chicken in a large ziplock, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible.
- Pound the chicken breast with the flat side of a meat mallet or rolling pin or skillet to an even thickness.
- Slice the chicken breast into thin strips with a knife.
2. Blanch the Vegetables before Stir-Frying
I blanch the mixed vegetables before stir-frying to stop enzyme actions that can cause loss of color, flavor, and vitamins. The blanching process is pretty simple and only takes about 2 minutes of cooking time.
- Prepare a large bowl of ice water.
- In a large pot, add a pinch of salt and enough water to cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Add the carrots and cook for 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and red bell pepper, cook for until the broccoli is crisp tender, about 1- 1 ½ minutes.
- Quickly remove the vegetables from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and put them into the ice bath to stop the cooking process.
3. Stir-Frying
- Preheat the skillet then add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the chicken breast strips until no longer pink and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.
- In the same skillet, add another tablespoon of oil and cook mushrooms until softened.
- Add another tablespoon of oil into the skillet. Cook the garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 30 seconds - 1 minute.
- Put the chicken strips, blanched vegetables, and stir sauce into the skillet. Keep stirring until heated through.
FAQ and Cooking Tips
Properly stored, the leftover chicken stir fry will last 3-4 days in the fridge or up to 2 months in the freezer.
Extra virgin olive oil has a very low smoke point with a strong flavor that will compromise the quality and taste of your stir-fry. For that reason, extra virgin olive oil is not suitable for Chinese stir fry.
Yes, you can. Do not thaw the vegetables. Just throw them in the skillet straight from the freezer. Do not overcrowd the pan, stir-fry the vegetables in batches if necessary because overcrowding creates steam.
Check Out More Delicious Chinese Recipes
📖 Recipe
Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast, (flattened and cut into thin strips)
- 3 tablespoon neutral oil , (such as vegetable, peanut, or canola oil)
- 2 cups broccoli florets, (fully packed)
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- ½ cup sliced carrots, (fully packed)
- 1 small red bell pepper, (julienned)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoon minced ginger
Stir-Fry Sauce
- 2½ tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- ½ tablespoon honey
- ½ tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
Optional:
- salt and black pepper, (to taste)
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix all of the stir-fry sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- In a large pot, bring enough water to a boil over high heat and season with a pinch of salt. Add the carrots and cook for 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and red bell pepper, cook until crisp-tender, about 1- 1 ½ minutes. Transfer the veggies to the ice bath to stop the cooking process. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the chicken until no longer pink. Set aside.
- In the same skillet, add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook mushrooms until softened for about 4 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, cook the garlic and ginger until fragrant for about 30 seconds, keep stirring.
- Add the chicken strips and blanched vegetables into the skillet. Pour in the stir sauce and keep stirring until heated through. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional soy sauce or salt. Serve with white rice or brown rice.
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