An easy chicken and broccoli stir fry recipe that yields juicy chicken and crisp broccoli in a rich brown sauce, just like the one at a Chinese restaurant. {Gluten-Free Adaptable}
Chicken and broccoli should be on your weekday dinner rotation menu, because it’s so easy to prepare and the result tastes even better than takeout. If you rarely cook Chinese stir fries at home, this is a great dish to start with. It only requires one protein, one vegetable, and one sauce. The cooking doesn’t require a wok and the process is very simple. Start your steamed rice while preparing this dish and your dinner will be ready in 30 minutes.
Cooking notes
1. What cookware to use
I’ve discussed why not to use a wok and how to set up your stir fry station in the past in great detail.
Before moving to the US, I always cooked with a small cast iron wok and gas stove in my Chinese kitchen. I switched to a heavy nonstick skillet when I moved to Austin, because it heated up faster and held heat better on the electric stove. Now that I finally have a gas stove again in my New York kitchen, the flame is so weak that sometimes I have trouble boiling water. Now I use both nonstick and carbon steel pans depending on the dishes I make.
If you just started cooking Chinese food, or if you have a similar kitchen situation to mine (electric stove, IH stove, or not-so-powerful gas stove), cooking with a nonstick skillet or carbon steel skillet will be the best option. It’s easier to learn to use, heats up better, and creates great results.
2. Key ingredients
Aromatics – It’s very important to use fresh ginger and garlic to create the authentic Chinese food experience. Sometimes I add a handful of chopped green onion to further add fragrance to the dish.
Oyster sauce – In my world it’s a sauce that is quite close to hoisin sauce, only it tastes much better. It adds a rich, savory umami (from oyster extract) and a slightly sweet note to the stir fry sauce.
Shaoxing wine – Used in most Chinese stir fry dishes, including vegetables. It adds a deep fermented savory taste. If you do not want alcohol in your dish, you can use chicken broth to replace it. The flavor of the sauce will fall flat a bit, but you will still get a great result.
Dark soy sauce – It has a darker color and tastes less salty than soy sauce. It’s commonly used in Chinese stir fries to add a beautiful caramelized color to the meat. You can replace it with soy sauce if you don’t have any on hand. Your dish will come out lighter than mine, but still taste great.
3. Easy prep
Getting your working station organized is key to making good stir fries. Different from many Western style cooking techniques, the Chinese stir fry process happens very quickly. Once you heat up the pan, it usually takes less than 5 minutes to cook a dish. Be sure to cut all the ingredients, make the sauce, and have all the ingredients ready near your stove.
When I prepare my stir fry, I like to go one step further and group the ingredients according to the cooking steps, so I can use fewer prep bowls. It makes your working station less crowded, prevents you from forgetting to add ingredients during cooking, and makes clean-up faster.
In the case of the chicken and broccoli stir fry, you should have 5 items near your stove:
- Mixed sauce
- Marinated chicken
- Chopped broccoli
- Chopped ginger and garlic
- Cooking oil (not shown in the picture)
4. Cooking process
Making chicken and broccoli is super easy. All you need to do is:
- Steam the broccoli in the stir fry pan using a bit of water. I do this instead of blanching the broccoli in a separate pot. It cooks faster this way and you only use one pan in total.
- Heat up your pan very hot. Sear both sides of the chicken. It helps to brown the chicken better if you spread it in the pan in a single layer and don’t touch it until the bottom is browned.
- Add the aromatics.
- Add the cooked broccoli and the sauce, then cook until sauce is thickened.
That’s it!
5. One word on oil
The amount of oil you need largely depends on the type of pan you’re using. If you use a nonstick pan, you can cut the oil to 1 tablespoon without any problem. If you use a carbon steel or cast iron pan, you might need to use more oil, so the bottom of the pan is covered completely with a thin layer of oil to prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan.
More delicious take-out style recipes
- String Bean Chicken
- Crispy Chinese Honey Chicken (without Deep Frying)
- 15-Minute Chicken Chow Fun (Chicken Fried Rice Noodles)
- Black Pepper Steak
- Easy Beef Fried Rice
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Chicken and Broccoli (Chinese Takeout Style)
Ingredients
- 1 lb (454 g) boneless skinless chicken breast (or thigh)
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Stir-fry
- 1 head (600 g) broccoli , chopped into bite-sized florets
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger , minced
Instructions
- Slice the chicken against the grain into thin bite-size pieces, no thicker than 1/4” (1/2 cm), transfer into a medium-size bowl. Add the marinade ingredients. Stir to mix well. Let sit for 10 minutes while preparing other ingredients.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Stir to mix well.
- Bring 1/3 cup of water to a boil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and cover. Steam until the broccoli just turns tender and the water evaporates, about 40 to 50 seconds. Transfer the broccoli to a plate. Wipe the pan with a paper towel held in a pair of tongs if there’s any water left.
- Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom. Spread the chicken in the skillet in a single layer. Allow to cook without touching for 30 seconds, or until the bottom side is browned. Flip to cook the other side for a few seconds. Stir and cook until the surface is lightly charred and the inside is still pink.
- Add the garlic and ginger. Stir a few times to release the flavor and fragrance.
- Return the broccoli to the pan. Stir the sauce again to dissolve the cornstarch completely and pour it into the skillet. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Transfer everything to a plate immediately.
- Serve hot with steamed rice or boiled noodles as a main dish.
This is going to be one of my go-to recipes. It’s so easy and fast to prepare. I added Shiitake mushrooms and they soak up the “umami” so much, making the experience more flavorful.
How can I add heat to this recipe. We live human or schechwan style
I think the easiest way is to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of chili oil at the end of the cooking and mix it in. I have a recipe for it: http://omnivorescookbook.com/how-to-make-chili-oil/
But these days you can also find very good brands at Asian market and sometimes grocery stores.
Another option is to use dried whole chili pepper. Add them at the stage you add the ginger garlic. Cut the peppers in half before adding for extra heat.
You can also use a small amount of chili powder or cayenne powder in the sauce, but in my opinion the chili oil will be the most flavorful one.
Really did taste like restaurant chicken and broccoli. Sauce was spot on. Chicken was very tender. I used a cast iron pan sprayed with pam and 1 tbsp of peanut oil and experienced no sticking.
This was so easy and well explained recipe. I made it last night and it was delicious. But now I have another question about making the best Americanized Egg rolls. I still haven’t been able to get an authentic Egg Roll recipe. I get my egg rolls from a restaurant near my house and I think it’s the best I have ever had. It’s shrimp and pork egg rolls. But there’s something else in there that makes it a bit mushy and holds all the ingredients together. I’m wondering as to what is it. It almost feels as though it has a tahini sauce mixed in the mixture. So, I’m wondering if a such thing exists or even if it’s possible in order to make these delicious Egg rolls. Love to hear from you about this egg roll “secret”
Without a doubt, 5 star for sure! I can eat this whole meal by myself and not share!! SO good. I have been using oyster sauce for a long time and I agree, it is the best kept secret in Chinese cooking! My husband loves this dish too (when I allow him to have some!!)
Already made this multiple times. My husband is very picky but he does really like this one. The only changes I made are to add some onion and carrot coins after cooking the chicken (I take the chicken out of my wok and stir fry them for a couple of minutes and then add chicken back in and follow the recipe from there). Also, since I always have a big bottle of saki on hand for cooking with, I use that instead of the wine. So many recipes out there that either have too many ingredients I don’t typically have on hand or just don’t have the taste I’m looking for. I printed this one out and it’s in my file of recipes I make regularly. Thanks !
I’ve been looking for a good easy stir fry recipe. This was perfect. After prep work was done it was a snap. Rave reviews from family. A keeper – Thanks!
Omg that was delish…way better than a takeout dish !!
I will be making that again!!!And again
Had friends over for dinner and made this. Was a Hit!
This recipe was so fast and easy and tastes amazing! My entire family loved it and has already asked me to make it again. Definitely going to be adding this to my weekly recipe rotation.
Great recipe. Sauce is amazing. Had to double it since I like to soak the rice with it.
I love this blog! It has taught me a lot about both ingrediens and techniques. I live in the northernmost part of Norway, but I can still get everything I need – and the recipies are easy to follow. This has made Chinese food avaliable in my own home. My family loves it!
Would like to know if I can substitute beef broth for the wine? I hate cooking with any wine.
I think chicken broth is a better replacement for the wine but beef broth works too.
I was hesitant on making this tonight as other chinese food recipes ive tried to msje turn out to be garbage food, literally. I’m so glad I foubdcrgis recipe abd decided to give it a try before all hope was lost. It was absolutely delicious! I did season the chicken with some additional seasonings i had on hand that I included in the marinade just to give it a little bit more flavor to the meat. I used sherry cooking wine that you can locate in the salad dressings isle at the grocery. It worked well! My boys (one in mid teens and one in early twenties), as well as my husband, raved about it. They are not much about Chinese food but really enjoyed this. Since I do have boys, I doubled the recipe. Lol! This recipe is going in my favorites! Thank you for sharing!
Love love love! I can’t believe how simple, tasty and healthy this dish is. The proportions were spot on. Thank you, Maggie, for creating the best and thoughtful recipes.
Made this chicken broccoli for dinner and it turned out really good.
So good! I have been experimenting with Asian recipes and have been hit and miss on getting the sauce right. This one was perfect. The videos are helpful and easy to follow. Thanks!
It was very good. Also, very simple to make. Will make it again.
So easy and very delicious. Will make again
This is by far the best chicken and broccoli recipe I’ve ever tried.