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4.7 from 12 reviews

Easy 30-Minute Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry

30 minutes
broccoligarlicsugar snap peas
By: Pamela Reed
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This easy homemade stir fry dinner recipe combines crisp-tender broccoli florets, cubed chicken thighs and crunchy green bell peppers all in a sticky garlic-soy-sesame sauce. Ready within 30 minutes — from start to finish!

spoon serving chicken and broccoli out of skillet.

Homemade Chinese Chicken and Broccoli

If you’re craving homemade takeout, this Chinese chicken and broccoli recipe is exactly what you need! It’s quick, easy, and tastes just as good—if not better—than your favorite takeout spot. Plus, high fives all around because you made it!

This chicken and broccoli stir-fry combines tender chicken thighs and crisp broccoli in a flavorful, saucy dish that’s easy to make and delicious to eat. No special equipment like a wok is required—just follow the simple steps.

We love our chicken and broccoli saucy, so this makes plenty of sauce for you to have extra for your rice! Serve it with steamed rice, and you’ve got a complete meal ready in 30 minutes that’s sure to become a weeknight favorite!

Recipe note: You can make this recipe with boneless chicken thighs or chicken breasts, but after many (seriously, so many) times making this, I fully believe chicken thighs and broccoli makes it taste the most authentic to takeout!

Need more broccoli recipe ideas? Try my homemade beef and broccoli stir fry, homemade chicken chow mein and butter garlic pasta with broccoli.

chinese chicken and broccoli in lrage skillet.

Chinese chicken and broccoli ingredients:

This is broken up into 3 sections: chicken marinade, vegetables and the brown sauce.

Chicken Marinade

  • Chicken thighs or chicken breasts, cut up into bite-size pieces
  • Soy sauce, we use low sodium.
  • Kitchen basics: cornstarch, sugar, baking soda, vegetable oil, water

For the brown sauce

  • Soy sauce, we use low sodium.
  • Rice Cooking Wine
  • Sesame oil
  • Minced garlic
  • Kitchen basics: brown sugar, vegetable oil and flour.
  • Chicken broth, if you’re out of this you can also use water.

Vegetables

  • Broccoli, chopped up into florets
  • Green pepper, chopped up

How to Make Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

In a large mixing bowl, mix the chicken marinade ingredients, stirring to fully coat the chicken. Set aside.

chicken in bowl with marinade sauce on top.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sauce ingredients.

brown sauce on spoon in bowl.

Heat up vegetable oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken, its marinade, and 1/2 of the sauce mixture. Keep cooking until chicken is fully cooked.

chicken simmering in skillet in brown sauce.

Add broccoli, green pepper, remaining sauce, and a little extra liquid (chicken broth or water). Bring to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens and the broccoli is tender. Note: During the Summer I throw a handful of sugar snap peas into this dish too! We love the extra crunch!

chinese chicken and broccoli in skillet, ready to be served.

Serve on top of steamed white rice, with plenty of extra sauce to soak it all in! Enjoy!

saucy chicken and broccoli in pan.

How to Store Leftovers

I doubt there will be any leftovers (there never is at our house!) but if there is, you can store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, good for 4 days. Heat up in the microwave until fully warmed up.

Pin for later:

Simple chicken and broccoli stir-fry recipe that makes tender chicken and crunchy broccoli coated in a flavorful brown sauce. This recipe is saucy because we always make extra sauce for our rice! This tastes just like your favorite Chinese restaurant but even better because it's homemade!
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4.67 from 12 reviews

Easy 30-Minute Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry

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This easy homemade stir fry dinner recipe combines crisp-tender broccoli florets, cubed chicken thighs and crunchy green bell peppers all in a sticky garlic-soy-sesame sauce. Ready within 30 minutes — from start to finish!
By: Pamela Reed
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
serves 6

Ingredients

For the chicken marinade

  • 1 pound chicken thighs, boneless and skinless cut up into bite size pieces
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce low sodium
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon water

For the sauce

  • 1/3 cup soy sauce low sodium
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Vegetables

  • 1 large head broccoli cut up into florets
  • 1 small green bell pepper chopped

Additionally

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to fry in
  • 1 cup chicken broth *can sub with water*

Instructions

  • In a large bowl mix together the chicken marinade ingredients: chicken thighs, cornstarch, sugar, baking soda, soy sauce, vegetable oil and water. Stir to fully coat the chicken. Set aside.
  • In a smaller bowl mix together the brown sauce ingredients: soy sauce, minced garlic, brown sugar, flour, rice cooking wine, vegetable oil and sesame oil. Set aside.
  • Heat up 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken, it's marinade and 1/2 of the brown sauce mixture. Keep cooking until chicken is fully cooked, about 8-10 minutes, making sure to stir often to prevent sticking.
  • Add broccoli, green pepper, remaining brown sauce and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the sauce thickens up and broccoli is tender.
  • Serve in bowls with steamed rice. There's plenty of extra sauce to add on top! Enjoy!

Video:

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 300kcal (15%)
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian
Keyword: Chicken and broccoli recipe, Chicken and broccoli stir fry
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4.67 from 12 votes (7 ratings without comment)

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  1. Alyssa Lynn says

    Pamela, I just have to say that this recipe has to be one of my favorites! So easy to make and absolutely delicious!!

    Reply

  2. Donna says

    I get lots of recipes from the internet, but this is my first ever comment; this recipe is awesome! The first time I used zucchini (had lots from my tower garden) ; at that moment the recipe became a ‘keeper’. Last night we used broccoli; fantastic! I, too, love take out, but frequently the sauce is bland and/or the broccoli pieces are huge and thus aren’t flavored much. With water chestnuts and mushrooms, instead of the veggies, this would be a great version of Garlic Chicken. Thanks much for the recipe. Now I am off to look at the rest of your site.

    Reply

    • Pamela says

      Hey Donna, thanks for the nice comment, it made my day. I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, it’s one of my favorites and this is a good reminder to make it again this week! Sometimes depending on the garden goodies I use green beans and green peppers too, yummy!

      Reply

  7. Erenada says

    This recipe is amazing!!! I just tried it and it taste even better than actual Chinese takeout! You’re a genius!

    Reply

  8. Alyssa says

    Tasty! I tried your recipe tonight and it turned out great, exactly like carry out Chinese, only better! In case it is helpful to someone I’ll mention that I didn’t have sesame oil but peanut oil worked great and also I didn’t have Rice Wine but substituted Rice vinegar and that worked fine too! Also I was cooking for four hungry adults and so I doubled the recipe, everyone had a very generous serving and we have one portion left over for tomorrow, yum! Thanks so much for posting this tasty recipe, we’re sure to make it again.

    Reply

    • Pamela says

      So glad you enjoyed Alyssa! Thanks for letting everyone know about those substitutions, I’m sure they will help others! Enjoy those leftovers. 🙂

      Reply

  10. Melissa says

    Holy cow!! I have never found a recipe that I liked. This one is BETTER than the restaurant by me, and that place is really yummy. So glad if found this 🙂 thanks for posting!

    Reply

  11. Flora says

    I made this Chinese style and it was amazing! I will be making this dish quite often now! Will make shrimp and broccoli next time…I was excited that it turned out so well!

    Reply

  13. Georgina says

    Thanks for your awesome recipe my family loved it! I did improvised a bit adding a whole squeezed orange and veggies were broccoli, carrots and portobello mushrooms and it was so good. Thanks

    Reply

  14. Jason says

    This recipe is perfect – the sauce is so sweet and thick, although I did have an issue with the flour in my sauce mix going a bit lumpy. I might mix this seperately with a tablespoon of water next time before adding it to the rest of the dish. I also added some yellow pepper and brown onion in place of the other greens.

    Reply

  16. Shannon says

    Thank you for this recipe. I tried it tonight and it was delicious!! Everyone cleaned their bowls and went back for more.

    Reply

  17. Eli says

    My wife is a really picky eater and she LOVES takeout. I tried this recipe tonight and wowsers. She absolutely loved it as did I. Your directions made it very easy to follow. I put the mixture on top of some brown rise. Thanks so much for posting this!

    Reply

  19. Becks says

    Thanks so much for this recipe! Just made it last night and it turned out so much better than I expected! So simple and delicious, and right on the mark of what you would order from Chinese take-out places, minus the MSG of course :). I did add a few more garlic cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes in the sauce since I usually like this dish to be extra garlic-y and spicy, and it came out superb. Thanks again!

    Reply

    • Pamela says

      It tenderizes the meat (basically denaturing the proteins) and helps form a little tasting coating when you cook the chicken. It’s a key ingredient in Chinese cooking. Enjoy!

      Reply

  22. Jenn says

    Totally amazing:))) I made this last week and it was a huge hit. I cant believe how fast and easy it was to make. Tonight I am trying it with beef. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

    Reply

  24. Hope says

    OMG! This was awesome. I made it for the first time tonight. I could not find rice wine, so I substituted rice vinegar and added a tsp of honey. My family ate everything. This is great for us, my son has severe food allergies so ordering chinese happens very rarely. Everyone has demanded that this be added to meal rotation. Quick, simple, easy, delish!

    Reply

    • Pamela says

      Hi Hope, I’m so happy you guys enjoyed this and it was a family hit! Thanks for stopping in and letting me know! Enjoy!

      Reply

  26. Des says

    Making this right now! Can’t wait to try it. Almost royally messed up bought rice vinegar by mistake! Had to remake the sauce hope it comes out okay with a dash of reg wine.

    Reply

  27. Amy L says

    I made this recipe last night for our family and THANK YOU for it. It was so delicious. The brown sauce was just perfect and my daughter couldn’t get enough. I’m looking forward to finding more recipes on your site!

    Reply

  28. Steph says

    PAM! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE! I just made it tonight with just sugar snap peas and sesame seeds! It is such a great recipe, look forward to trying out more recipes from your website!

    Reply