This quick and easy Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry uses the minimum ingredients you can get away with but still deliver a dish that stacks up to Chinese restaurant standard! Plenty of savoury homemade stir fry sauce – because broccoli florets are a sponge for sauce plus I need extra for rice soaking. It’s essential!
Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry
If you descended upon your local Asian Market armed with my Asian Market Shopping List and stocked up on the Level 1 essential sauces, you have the 3 sauces you need to make this.
How good is that!!?
And if your weekly grocery shopping is as predictable as mine, then chicken and broccoli made it into your trolley on the weekend.
Which means you’re armed and dangerous, ready to cook up this big batch Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry. Complete with extra sauce!
Big batch??
I call this a “big batch” Chicken Broccoli stir fry because most of my stir fry recipes tend to be made on a smaller scale serving 2 to 4 people max, being that crowding the pan = stewed veggies which is one of the greatest sins of stir frying.
We don’t have that problem with this one because we steam the broccoli first before making the stir fry as it won’t cook in the short time it’s on the stove. So we can crowd the pan and make a big batch that easily serves 5, possibly even 6!
Also, broccoli holds up better than most vegetables with leftovers, so this is a terrific meal prep option (which I normally don’t recommend for stir fries) which is why I don’t mind having leftovers.
What you need for Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry
Here’s what you need for this:
Cooked broccoli – as noted above. Steamed or boiled, whichever you prefer.
Chicken – breast or thigh. If you’re using breast, I recommend tenderising the chicken using the secret Chinese restaurant method for “velveting chicken” – just toss sliced chicken in baking soda, leave to tenderise for 20 minutes, rinse, cook like normal chicken, marvel at how tender the meat is! Directions are included in the recipe card.
Soy sauce – use either light soy sauce or all purpose soy sauce. Do not use dark, flavour will be much too intense;
Chinese cooking wine OR Mirin – used by the gallon in Chinese restaurants, it’s the secret ingredient that makes stir fry sauces so good. Mirin or dry sherry are perfect substitutes, see recipe notes for non alcoholic option – just replace the water which chicken stock/broth;
Oyster sauce – adds a stack of flavour and a touch of sweet. Vegetarian option: Use Vegetarian Oyster Sauce, it’s pretty good! Ayam is a good brand, sold at large everyday grocery stores. Also, here’s a homemade Vegetarian Oyster Sauce recipe by Omnivore’s Cookbook, a Chinese recipe website. I was extremely impressed with it;
Sesame oil (toasted) – for a lovely hint of sesame flavour;
Cornflour/cornstarch – to thicken the sauce and make it shiny and glossy; and
Garlic and onion – stir fries rarely happen without these two essential flavour bases. Tip: Chop the garlic with a knife rather than using a garlic press (crushing makes it wet so it doesn’t sauté properly).
How to make Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry
It comes together in about 5 minutes on the stove, so make sure you have everything chopped, next to the stove, ready to toss in. This can be made in a (large!) wok though I find it easier just to use a skillet for this particular stir fry because it makes a big batch.
This recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of water which sounds like a LOT! But extra sauce is essential here because the broccoli florets are a sponge for sauce.
Serve it over rice though if you’re pushing through a low carb phase, then try cauliflower rice instead. It really is not as bad as you think, it’s got a very neutral flavour and the tasty stir fry sauce does wonders to disguise any remnant of cauliflower flavour.
Also another good low carb option is Egg Foo Young (Chinese Omelette) which you could make then smother with this Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry instead of making the Egg Foo Young brown sauce.
And for fellow chicken and broccoli tragics, see below the recipe card for a somewhat lengthy list of various other chicken and broccoli this-and-that recipes I’ve shared. – Nagi x
PS I say “tragics”, but being that broccoli is a powerhouse veggie, we should give ourselves a pat on the back for packing so much broccoli into our diets! 💪🏼
Watch how to make it
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Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry (extra sauce!)
Ingredients
Tenderised chicken (Note 1)
- 500g/1 lb chicken breast, thinly sliced (or boneless thighs, do not tenderise)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi-carb soda (Note 1)
Sauce (Note 6 for using Charlie all-purpose stir fry):
- 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce , or all purpose soy (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing wine) or Mirin (Note 3)
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce (Note 4)
- 2 tsp sesame oil , toasted (Note 5)
- Dash of white pepper (sub black)
Stir Fry:
- 2 tbsp oil , peanut, vegetable or canola
- 1/2 onion , sliced
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced with knife
- 400g/ 14 oz broccoli florets , broken/cut into small bite size pieces (2 medium heads, ~5 cups)
- 1 1/4 cups water
For serving:
Instructions
- Tenderise chicken: Consider tenderising chicken breast using this method. (Not needed for thigh)
- Broccoli: steam or boil using preferred method until cooked to your taste (it won't cook any further in the stir fry). I usually microwave steam 3 minutes on high. Drain well (waterlogged florets = diluted sauce).
- Sauce: Mix cornflour and soy sauce until lump free, then mix in remaining ingredients.
- Cook aromatics: Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and onion, stir for 10 seconds until garlic starts to go golden.
- Cook chicken: Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through.
- Thicken sauce: Add broccoli, Sauce and water. Stir well and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the Sauce thickens and becomes glossy, and coats the ingredients.
- Serve over rice!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More Chicken and Broccoli recipes
For fellow chicken and broccoli tragics.
And some of my favourite stir fries
Life of Dozer
Bed hair. Turns out nobody wakes up looking perfect – not even Dozer!
This was a very simple yet very tasty meal I added some cashew nuts just because and it was great very easy throw together stir fry . It took longer to cook the rice.
Thanks again Nagi👍
Just realised I got my bicarb quantities wrong when velveting hence we did not enjoy. Sorry Nagi!
We did not enjoy. Was bland and could still taste some bi carb. Also my bad but I overcooked the brocolli. Not leaving a rating as assuming I didn’t rinse the chicken properly and the mushy brocolli made the sauce bland. Also subbed sherry for wine.
Thank you Nagi, this was absolutely delicious, my family said it was better than Chinese takeaway,
Love this recipe, turns out delicious every time!
This was absolutely delicious. The shaoxing wine really is essential I think if you’re making home made Chinese food. I think this would be a bit ho hum without it.
So if you made it without and thought it was a bit boring deffo go buy some of the wine and try again.
Even Miss autistic pickiest eater in the world loves it and I’ve been instructed to put it on regular rotation. Nom nom.
So good! Just made this and it was so delicious and saucy and chicken so tender. I used veggies I had on hand and feel like I definitely could have added more. Recommend this one!!
Love Nagi and all her recipes but this one just missed the mark. I velveted the chicken but that just gave it a weird texture and the sauce felt like it lacked a bit of depth… not sure why because Nagis recipes are usually spot on but this one just didn’t cut the mustard! Followed to the T too!
So easy, quick and delicious! I used broccolini which I prefer over broccoli.
Thank you for another great recipe!
Thanks Nagi. A home stir fry that works without needing an industrial strength wok burner and massive amounts of oil. Brilliant.
Wow – the hits keep coming! I added pea pods and some mushrooms because they needed to be eaten. This turned out great, as have all recipes of yours I have made. I told my sisters I have no need to go to Chinese restaurants anymore – I can make better at home, thanks to you. 😍
Easy and delicious! This website has a lot of delicious recipes, can always count on it!
A handful of roasted cashews finishes this off perfectly!
I’ve been making this a long time and think it’s a great recipe. There is lots of sauce and over time I started adding more vegetables. I now add 2 carrots thinly sliced on the bias, 1/2 each of a red and green pepper chopped and an 8 ounce can of water chestnuts, and it’s still saucy. I like the added veggies but it’s great as written.
I made this last night, but using ‘Charlie’ for the sauce component as I already had a jar of it in the fridge. Super easy and delicious. So delicious in fact that the recipe has been moved to my ‘keep’ folder. Thanks Nagi, for another great recipe.
I’ve made this twice this week and my family and I think it’s “the bomb” just like from a Chinese Takeaway. So so good! Look forward to trying some of your other recipes.
I honestly think I did something wrong based on other reviews.
I followed the recipe exactly (even using American not metric measurements. My sauce was bland. So I adjusted to metric measurements (example Australian tablespoon is 20ml not 15ml). Still bland. (Also seasoned my chicken as I cooked it because that’s just how I cook so I guess I went slightly off course. I added a second lot of the sauce ingredients besides the corn starch. We much better but still not as flavourful as I wanted. I will try with a different brand of oyster sauce because maybe the one I got from the Asian grocer was the issue and I’ll try mirin if I can find it.
I do enjoy how easy to use And follow the recipe is.
For me it really makes a difference to use a decent brand of soy sauce. If you’re using supermarket own-brands, they really lack flavour!
Just made this again tonight, it’s such a great, easy recipe. I added a chunk of leftover courgette as I was able to sneak it in without my husband spotting it.
Delicious as always.
Just made this for dinner. looks and smells incredible. I used boneless/skinless chicken thighs. They released a lot of water so I didn’t add much water to the sauce.
Hello
My hubby and I cook lots of you great recipes they are easy and delicious.
In fact I discovered you before you famous.I worked as an emergency nurse at Mona Vale hospital for 20 years and may well have looked after you or a family member in the past.
What I would like to know is why Recipetin Eats what does it mean and where does the name come from.?
Give Doser a big kiss from me please
Cheers Gai