Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry made with lean white meat and lots of broccoli in a ginger and garlic stir-fry sauce that’s an easy and quick weeknight meal or the perfect meal prep recipe for easy lunches all week long.
 Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry
 Chicken and Broccoli Stir-FryAsian takeout doesn’t have to be loaded with fat and calories, a few great examples of that are these Skinnytaste favorites: General Tso’s Chicken, Orange Chicken Makeover, Asian Lettuce Wrap Chicken Chopped Salad, Teriyaki Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry and Asian Peanut Noodles with Chicken – Lightened Up to name a few.
Hey everyone it’s Sabrina again from Cooking with Points, a healthy recipe blog dedicated to easy weeknight meals with a focus on Weight Watchers smart points.
This month I’m sharing a quick and easy stir fry recipe that will cure all those takeout cravings without all the heavy point-y fried flavors. This stir fry is full of garlic and ginger in a soy and sesame sauce that you’ll want to spoon over all your favorite grilled meats too.
When it comes to making Chinese stir-fry recipes, one of the most important things in making it authentic is the way you slice your chicken. I review this on my site for each stir-fry dish too. The thinner the chicken the more tender and the better for reheating too. It won’t have a chance to get to “tough” to chew.
How To Make Chinese Chicken and Broccoli
How to cut chicken thinly for a stir-fry:
The trick to making your stir-fries look restaurant worthy is to cut them into a thin matchbox shape. This way they have very little toughness to the pieces. To do this we freeze the chicken for about one hour before slicing.
When it is partially frozen you can easily slice the chicken very thinly against the grain. Don’t worry about the chicken being frozen. Since the slices are so thin they will thaw back out in just a couple of minutes.
By cutting against the grain we are making the bites very tender and easy to chew through, especially upon reheating!
Stir-Fry Sauce:
This garlic and ginger sauce is made with mirin, soy sauce and sesame oil. It makes a classic brown sauce many Chinese restaurants use in their cooking. We’ve drastically reduced the sodium content in this recipe. The sugar and oil have as well but the flavors are still delicious and bright (and easy!)
Can you meal prep this Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry?
You can certainly cook the meal ahead of time and re-heat throughout the week. I suggest cooking the broccoli one minute shy of the instructions so it can maintain some crunch in reheating. To reheat use a microwave at half power for 1-2 minutes to prevent overcooking the chicken or the broccoli.
You may also want to add a couple more tablespoons of water to the dish or not cooking it until the sauce is super thick. By letting the sauce stay a bit looser it’ll result in a better meal when re-heated.
Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce, or use gf soy sauce*
- 1/2 cup chicken broth*
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 pound chicken breast, sliced very thinly
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- sesame seeds as garnish, if desired
Instructions
- In a large measuring cup or bowl add the soy sauce, chicken broth, cornstarch, mirin, sugar, sesame oil and white pepper and whisk until everything is completely dissolved.
- In a large skillet add one teaspoon canola oil on medium high heat and cook half the chicken until just cooked through, about 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Repeat with the second half of the chicken and an additional teaspoon of oil.
- Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Add in the remaining oil, garlic and ginger and cook for 30-45 seconds until very fragrant but not browned.
- Stir the garlic and ginger well and add in the sauce, whisking well.
- Add in the broccoli and let the sauce cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened.
- Add in the chicken and stir well to coat.
- Garnish with sesame seeds if desired.
This is such an easy delicious meal! I doubled the sauce and would definitely recommend it since it didn’t seem like enough as is. I also added a pinch of red pepper flakes to spice it up. Amazing!
We love this recipe. The sauce ratios are perfect. It is closer to food we ate in China than every Chinese restaurant near us. We often add in grilled pak choy, mushrooms and onions. I use low sodium broth and tamari to make this a lot less salty. Kudos, SkinnyTaste. Great job.
Thanks!
I loved, loved, loved this recipe. The sauce is so good and I will be using it as a base for many protein/vegetable combos. I can’t wait to use it with shrimp or tofu. Trader Joe’s has some great frozen mixed veggies that I’m going to keep on hand to whip this up when I need something in a hurry and help keep me on my diet.Â
Oh this was good! I experiment with different stir frys all the time and this one is one of the best. Excellent flavor!
This is a family favorite! I have made this almost a dozen times and it always hits the spot when we are craving Chinese takeout! I usually skip the mirin, sesame oil and ginger because we rarely have them on hand. I also do steamfresh broccoli to speed up cooking and add back in the chicken at the same time as the broccoli so it all soaks in the flavors. Quick and tasty meal that parents and kids all love!
Absolutely delicious. We added a few more veggies and had to substitute sherry for the mirin based on what we had on hand, and it turned out perfect. This is a great base recipe that I think could be adapted to whatever vegetables you need to use up in the fridge and will definitely be going into our meal rotation.
Where can I buy Mirin?
I have found it at most grocery stores in my area. It is sometimes found in the International Food section or else near the different vinegars.
Absolutely delicious. I did add some julienned red peppers and cashews like other posts have suggested. Will definitely make again!
Delicious! I added mushrooms and thinly sliced carrots. My husband loved it and ask me to make it all the time! Thanks for a wonderful recipe <3
What brand of sesame oil do you recommend?
Fast, easy and delicious!
This is a great stir-fry sauce recipe and guide for making a stir-fry. I used the sauce and basic instructions here to make a cashew chicken. Used Raw cashews, chicken thighs (what I had on hand), Sugar Snap Peas, and added some water chestnuts. I gave the sauce a small squirt of sriracha for added heat.
The sauce goes a long way – I had a 1.5 lb package of meat, so I used 1.5x the sauce and did not need to.
I’m a food and this was freaking fantastic. I hate when people make changes and rate the recipe but I just added a bit more garlic and a couple other veggies. It was so so so good. This is definitely going into the mix at our place.  Very rarely do I use use one recipe, I always look at a few and mix all the parts I think sound good. This one on its own sounded great and was even better than expected. Â
Thanks so much!  I’ll definitely be checking out your other recipes. Â
I think I forgot to give it 5 stars on my other review. Â Love this. Â Fast and easy. Â I even add other veggies like onion peppers and carrots.
Love this recipe! Â Makes chicken not boring. Â I add other veggies like onion, peppers and carrots. Â It really is flavorful and quick.
Easy tasty fabulous dish. A real hit in my family. I used minced ginger instead of powder.
We loved this! it is so easy to make and has a quick turn around. We add peppers and onions to take it to the next level.
Very good
Brilliant dish!  Added chilli to heat it up! But it’s a fantastic dish
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Delicious! Will add more broccoli next time.