This recipe for chicken and broccoli stir fry is a classic dish of chicken sauteed with fresh broccoli florets and coated in a savory sauce. You can have a healthy and easy dinner on the table in 30 minutes!
There’s nothing better than a good stir fry, I always make honey garlic chicken stir fry, teriyaki shrimp and this easy chicken and broccoli dish. Serve up some pan fried noodles on the side, and watch the rave reviews come in!
There’s nothing better than a quick and easy dinner recipe for when you don’t have a lot of time to cook, and this chicken and broccoli stir fry definitely fits the bill. This dish tastes like something you’d order at a Chinese restaurant, except it’s better for you than takeout (and cheaper!).
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need chicken breast, oil, broccoli, mushrooms, ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, chicken broth, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt and pepper.
How do you make chicken and broccoli stir fry?
This recipe starts with broccoli and mushrooms, which are sauteed to tender perfection in a large skillet along with some garlic and ginger. After the veggies are cooked through, the chicken goes into the pan to brown. The final step is an easy sauce which gets poured over the chicken and vegetables to simmer. Add some steamed rice on the side and dinner is served!
Tips for the perfect dish
- I like to start a pot of rice at the same time as I start my chicken stir fry. The rice will be done at the same time as your meat and veggies and you’ll have a complete meal in 30 minutes.
- Leftover broccoli chicken will stay fresh in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- This recipe is a great option for meal prep. You can divide the chicken and veggies into smaller containers and add a scoop of rice for a satisfying lunch or dinner.
- You can use frozen broccoli if needed with great results.
- Be sure to cut your chicken into similar bite-sized pieces so that it will all cook at the same rate.
Recipe FAQs
The best way to cook chicken for stir fry is to season it with salt and pepper, then sear it in oil in a hot pan until browned and cooked through. Be careful not to overcrowd your pan; if you add too much meat at once, the chicken will steam instead of brown.
Most stir fry sauces are made with soy sauce, garlic, and other seasonings such as sesame oil, ginger, rice vinegar, chicken broth or chili sauce. One important component of stir fry sauce is a thickening agent, such as cornstarch. A thicker sauce will cling better to your chicken and vegetables. This recipe calls for oyster sauce, which is a salty Asian sauce that can be found in the ethnic aisle of most grocery stores. If you can’t find oyster sauce or prefer not to use it, you can substitute hoisin sauce.
You do not need to pre-cook your broccoli, it will become plenty tender as it cooks in the stir fry pan.
Flavor Variations
This recipe is great as-is, but you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Protein: Swap out the chicken breasts for chicken thighs, pork tenderloin, shrimp or thinly sliced flank steak.
- Veggies: You can add other vegetables to the mix such as bok choy, snap peas, carrots, green beans or asparagus.
- Toppings: Finish this dish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds, green onions, cilantro or a drizzle of sriracha.
- Grains: Instead of white or brown rice, try serving your stir fry with noodles, cauliflower rice or quinoa.
My family has already requested that I make this chicken and broccoli stir fry again soon. I think next time I may switch out the mushrooms for bell peppers to add a little variety. That’s the beauty of this type of dish, it’s so easy to customize to your personal taste!
More great Asian food recipes
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry Video
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 2 cups small broccoli florets
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms if you don’t like mushrooms you can add more broccoli instead
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth or water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the broccoli and mushrooms and cook for approximately 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Remove the vegetables from the pan; place them on a plate and cover.
- Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and turn the heat to high. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil.
- Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add them to the pan in a single layer – you may need to do this step in batches. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through.
- Add the vegetables back to the pan and cook for 2 more minutes or until the vegetables are warmed through.
- In a bowl whisk together the oyster sauce, chicken broth, sugar, sesame oil and soy sauce. In a small bowl mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water.
- Pour the oyster sauce mixture over the chicken and vegetables; cook for 30 seconds. Add the cornstarch and bring to a boil; cook for 1 more minute or until sauce has just started to thicken.
- Serve immediately, with rice if desired.
Notes
- Leftover stir fry will stay fresh in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- This recipe is a great option for meal prep. You can divide the chicken and veggies into smaller containers and add a scoop of rice for a satisfying lunch or dinner.
- You can use frozen broccoli if needed with great results.
Could you omit the corn starch? I don’t have any on hand!
You can, the sauce will be thinner but otherwise tastes the same!
iI prefer to use. flour. It comes out great.
I was really pleased with how this turned out. I followed your directions exactly as written, & it made for a perfect 1-dish, balanced dinner. Thank you! (I definitely agree a nonstick skillet at med-high heat is best for this dish.)
Omg tried this recipe with my daughter and it came out delicious she loved it so did I.
It looks delicious. If someone claims a recipe is healthy I am sure that the recipe’s nutritional values should be provided to clarify.
Hi Colleen, I am in the process of adding nutritional information to all my recipes, but I have 250 recipes on this site so it’s taking some time. I just added a nutrition label to this one, just for you!
What is the serving size for nutrition guide listed?
It’s for 1 1/2 cups!
I have always wanted to be able to cook Asian cuisine but I always seem to mess it up somehow.. I have tried so many different stir fry recipes and this is by far the best one yet!! My chix was a little over done but that was my fault. I will definetly be adding this to my recipe book:)
My kid had 2nds ( need I say more?)
Instead of switching out the fresh mushrooms for carrots, why can’t you just add both? I always say… “the more, the merrier” 🙂
You can definitely add more veggies!
Hi, I only have ground ginger. Could I submit for fresh?
I would just omit the ginger, it’ll still be good with just the garlic!
OMG I did it. It was a winner. The hubster and guest loved it. Wanted to post a pic but technically challenged☺️
Very good idea, thank you.
Though I prefer to skip the sugar (in the ready made sauces), so I used all natural products to flavour the oils with, like lemon grass, garlic, lime juice, Kurkuma and other spices and cook the meat and veggies in the spiced oil. It came out really delicious.
It was really good but a little sweet because I added the hoisin sauce and the sugar. Next time I know not to add the extra sugar. Thank you for the recipe!
My whole family loved it!
Really nice! The kids love it as well. I serve it with rice.
I am making tonight and I am going to try mushroom sauce instead of oyster sauce, my family is not fans of the oyster sauce, I will let you know how it comes out. I was able to get the mushroom sauce through Amazon, but am sure you can get at any Asian market.
I hope you enjoyed it!
WOW!!!! My family and I enjoyed so much, this will now become a regular weeknight meal in our home, Thank you Sara.
Hi I got fish sauce instead oyster sauce, will that basically be the same thing? Should I add a little bit more sugar so it’s sweet or ????
Fish sauce is not exactly the same as oyster sauce, but you could try it to see how it comes out. Hoisin sauce is probably a better substitute for oyster sauce. But oyster sauce is not sweet at all, so you wouldn’t need to add sugar to the fish sauce.
Made your recipe tonight for dinner……..it was a hit! The only thing I left out were the mushrooms. I’ll use them next time.
Would I be able to toss some noodles in with this? Should I double the sauce measurements or would there be enough? Looks delish
I think there would definitely be enough sauce to lightly coat noodles!
This was incredible! I have tried dozens of these types of recipes and they have been okay, but this was a hit! It’s going in my forever recipes book for sure.
I used zucchini, red bell pepper and onion instead of broccoli to clean out my fridge and along with the mushrooms it was just so scrumptious.
Thank You!
So glad to hear you loved it!
I am allergic to ginger- is it absolutely necessary for the recipe or can I leave it out?? I want to make this recipe it sounds delicious!!!
You can definitely leave it out!
Can’t believe such a stupid question – how would it hurt if you left it out? It’s not a cake – it’s a stir fry! Leave out the chicken if you want!
That was rude! Ginger can sometimes leave a huge difference. She was just asking ????
Gesh
Simple question. I am sure that she was just wanting to know. Rude rude rude
Absolutely delicious. Definitely will be a regular dinner here. Family amazed that we could have a dish this good that wasn’t from a Chinese restaurant!