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.
It was good…however the oyster sauce is way to salty for my taste…I will make it again, maybe check the sodium on housin sauce…or use much less of the oyster sauce.
I bogeyed on this one, I seemed to have a lot of liquid from cooking the chicken? Poured the sauce mixture in and ended up with soup? We doubled everything because we had almost two pounds of chicken. Can the sauce actually thicken if only cooking for a few minutes?
Will try again.
Thank you for the recipe.
I haven’t experienced a lot of liquid coming from the chicken when I cook it. Was it frozen/thawed chicken? You can add more cornstarch for a thicker sauce.
This was great! I didn’t have oyster sauce on hand so I subbed Teriyaki Sauce/Marinade and it was absolutely delicious. Thank you! Easy and quick!
Really lovely recipe! Made a few changes here and there and added in a few another veggies too and it came out greattt
Just wanted to ask for the calories counted does it include rice? Or just the dish? Thank you in advance 🙂
So glad you liked it! The calories do not include rice.
P.S.
Had this recipe pinned and I’m sharing this to my FB page. Thanks again!
Hi Sara,
Thank you for the recipe. Tried it for dinner tonight for my family and they loved it… although I had it a bit more saucy. Maybe because I cut on the amount of chicken, broccoli and mushroom and had the veggies slightly overcooked. I definitely would give it another try.
I cheat and use frozen pre-cooked diced chicken. My boys eat a lot so I use the whole 22 oz bag! There’s still plenty of sauce to coat everything nicely. A favorite around here!
I made this last night and my guys loved it! I just talked to my son and asked him if he had any thoughts on tonight’s dinner. He wanted me to make this again tonight. That’s NEVER happened before! That said, I thought the broccoli was a little undercooked and the chicken a little dry/overcooked. How do I fix that?
You can cook the broccoli a little longer to make it more to your liking! Only thing I can think of with the chicken is maybe cut it into slightly larger pieces so that it won’t cook through quite as quickly while you’re preparing everything else?
This was so good! I have terrible luck trying to make any kind of Asian food at home, it’s never quite the same. This was a huge hit with all 4 of my kids. I doubled the recipe to feed six. This sauce could really be used with any mix of protein and vegetables.
So good!!! My husband is very picky and he loved it! The only ingredient I didn’t have was the sesame oil. So I heated olive oil and sesame seeds!!
Had to switch up the veggies to use what I hadn but I really enjoyed this recipe. Thanks!
I made this and it was a hit! I added bell pepper to the veggie mix and next time I’ll add even more veggies! I doubled the sauce and used a mixture of oyster and hoisin sauce, with a splash of sweet chili sauce to replace the sugar. I used more hoisin sauce than oyster sauce. This was delicious and was a HUGE hit with my boyfriend. i will definitely be making this again.
I can’t find oyster sauce. Can’t I substitute or leave it out?
You can use hoisin sauce instead!
A serving size would that be 1 cup , plz let me know
Thank You Betty
It’s approximately 1.5 cups!
I made this last night. It was easy and delicious! This recipe is a keeper.
I was thinking of making this for my lunch prep. Does it refrigerate well or is this one better eaten right away?
It stays good for 3 days in the fridge!
This looked good until I saw the sugar. Why add it? Otherwise, I will try it without it.
The sugar just balances the sauce, it’s a counterpoint to the salt from the oyster sauce and soy sauce. You could use honey or a granulated low calorie sweetener instead.
I just found this recipe and it looks super delicious. I couldn’t find any toasted sesame oil so I purchased the pure sasame oil instead. Will that affect the taste of this dish? Thank you.
That should be fine!
does anyone know what the serving size is?
About 1 1/2 cups
Followed the recipe almost exactly (cooked the chicken first, then the veggies and added snow peas and onions). The prep took a bit longer than posted because I did not use pre-cut veggies. However, the sauce was really easy and very tasty. My friend who does not generally like stir-fry, liked this. Will definitely make again.