Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe

Stir Fry Fun

Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry: a simple classic dish in Chinese cuisine.

The beauty of stir-fries is that you can basically just open the fridge and, no matter the ingredients, mix something up.

With a base flavours of onion, something crunchy, something chewy and simply add whatever seasonings float your wok (depending on what you’re feeling). Stir-fries are great for a fridge cleaning and/or quick and simple dinner – make it for one, two, four or as large as your wok allows! 

Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry basics

Here, I’ll be showcasing a personal twist on Chinese-style chicken and broccoli stir fry. As I mentioned above, you can’t really mess it up by substituting, omitting or adding anything to it, so as long as you like it, you’re winning. That said, I’ll do my best to be specific and highlight where small changes can be made in order to make your life better or more delicious.

NOTE: Several pro chefs recommend cooking meat and veg separately, which I have rarely done before but started doing recently. Admittedly, while cooking all together is easier, you sacrifice crush and vibrancy in your veg and often overcook your meat. Nothing as ugly as letting your broccoli brown and wilt with soggy carrots that are barely organge. Remember, on this site, if it tastes good, it better look good too! So, cook separately! Seems so easy and simple and I can’t believe I’m just learning of this now. What a great way to keep a little crunch in your veg and a nice, not-over-cooked meat. 

FUN FACT FOR THE DISH

Did you know the grammar jury is still out on whether the spelling is stirfry or stir-fry? This has to do with the fact that it can be a noun or an adjective, which dictates whether the dish needs a hyphen.

The plural of stir-fry is stir-fries (not stir-frys), though the verb is stir-frying. 

Easy Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry

Straightforward simple recipe for classic Chinese style Chicken & Broccoli stir fry (and more!)

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Chinese

Servings 4 servings

Equipment

• Wok

Ingredients

  

Sauce/Base Flavours

• 2 tbsp cooking oil Canola or Peanut oil work best (something with high smoke point)
• 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tbsp hoisin
• 3-4 cloves Garlic
• 2 tsp ground ginger (1 tsp ginger powder)
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 1 tsp soy sauce (to taste)
• 1 tsp sesame seeds black or white – for garnish

Meat and Veg

• 4 thighs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 large onion (diced or sliced) (white or yellow)
• 1 medium broccoli, chopped into florets and stalk (for different cooking time and texture)
• 1 medium bell pepper (your choice of colour!)
• 2 medium carrots, chopped on an angle (optional)
• 1 cup mushrooms (cremini or shittaake) (optional)
• 1/2 can baby corn (optional)
• 1/3 cup cornstarch paste (mix water and cornstarch until becomes a liquidy paste)

Instructions

 

Meat steps first.

• Meat on heat first. Heat wok over medium heat, adding cooking oil (be more mindful of temperature if using olive oil) – save sesame oil for once meat is in the pan (sesame oil has a lower burn temp than other oils), add chicken once oil is runny.
  
• Using hot oil, coat chicken in stir, ensuring chicken is cooking, then add onions, soy sauce, sesame oil and hoisin, then garlic. (make sure garlic goes in last as to avoid burning)
• Stir until chicken is all white, slightly browned and then remove from eat, leaving some sauce in pan if possible.

Vegetables and Finish

• Using any leftover sauce in the wok, add vegetables, keeping in mind different cooking times for each. First stir broccoli stems and carrots, stirring into sauce – allow 30-60 sec and add broccoli florets, peppers, mushrooms and whatever else you’re tossing in.
• Steam for 2-3 min, ensuring broccoli and peppers are still slightly crisp and brightly coloured but not wilted.
  
• Add meat back into the mix and stir thoroughly, coating all sauce vegetables with the sauce.
  
• Add corn starch to liquid until sauce thickens over heat. This should create a nice glaze and liquid should not be runny. Be careful, also, not to burn new sauce and cornstarch mix to bottom of pan.
• Remove from heat, garnish and serve right away with rice and/or other dishes from your feast!
  

Notes

Corn starch is to thicken the sauce – that’s the whole point! 

Again, this can be done all in one step, but this is a great way to keep your vegetables bright and crisp by adding just one simple step. This way you guarantee great texture and mouth feel without compromising looks. 

Keyword broccoli, chicken, chicken broccoli stirfry, chinese food, Fry, Fusion, Stir, StirFry

Best served with your favorite rice or as part of a complete Asian-style #homecookefeast!

For simple instructions on how to cook rice, see here!

Looking forward to your comments on how you make this at home too. Happy trails!

Enjoy food; enjoy life. – HCF