Name: Broccoli Chicken Stir-Fry
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp corn starch; 2-3 tbsp soy sauce (up to 1/4 cup); 1 lb chicken (white or dark meat, all cubed in 1/4-inches); 1 head broccoli (save the stems); 1/2 onion (chopped); 2-3 cloves garlic (chopped); 2-3 slices ginger; 2 chilies chopped (use sweet peppers if you're not privy to heat); 1-2 tbsp oyster sauce (splat a few times, realistically speaking); 1 tbsp soy sauce

Broccoli and Chicken, Stir-Fried

Busy nights call for quick yet balanced meals that can be tossed together in less than 30 minutes. This Broccoli Chicken Stir-Fry combines protein and vegetables, with a delicious savory sauce to coat over the rice in your bowl – all in one quick stir-fry.

Broccoli & Protein

With one cup containing almost 2.5 grams in protein, broccoli already comes with a good amount of protein on its own. Further to it, broccoli even contains all 9 essential amino acids, although just not a sufficient amount of each to be considered a complete protein – but pretty darn close (source).

Add chicken and you get a protein-packed meal that’s flavorful and which can feed the family with something that’s quick and easy, healthy and balanced.

Wait, Is that Broccoli Purple?

That is, indeed! This particular recipe showcases the Purple Sprouting Broccoli grown from our very own garden. While Purple Sprouting Broccoli is our favorite kind of broccoli with its crisp yet firm texture, its sneaky pepperiness layered with sweetness, and its pop of flamboyance (obviously), any broccoli will do for this recipe. Yes, the green “regular” kind of broccoli will do just fine as a substitute. 🙂

Imperfectly Wabi Sabi Style

Cooking up & Passing down recipes the way our grandparents and their parents did

Measuring cups? Measuring spoons? Nah. We didn’t grow up with those.

Imperfectly Wabi Sabi Recipes continue the tradition of creating flavors and dishes the way our parents and their parents did – by tasting and sensing as we go.

You’ll pick up our love language in no time.

Recipe Notes

TOTAL TIME: 25-30 min. total. 5 min prep. to rinse and chop up the broccoli, and to prepare the chicken. 15-20 min to stir-fry it all together (including the time it takes to marinade the chicken).

SERVES: 4-6 (served on a fluffy pillow bowl of rice)

EQUIPMENT: A carbon steel pan (i.e., wok), or steel pan — just any pan, really. About medium-large sized.

Ingredients

For the marinade:

Corn starch – 1 tbsp
Soy sauce – about 2-3 tbsp, up to a 1/4 cup. Enough to barely see the soy sauce level in the bowl with all that chicken in there when poured in, kind of like the water level in a bee pool – enough for the bees to sip but not drown.

For the Stir-Fry:

Chicken – we usually use dark meat but the white meat was on sale, so we went with white meat with this recipe. All that to say, it really doesn’t matter, because with the way we cut the meat, it won’t overcook. 1 lb.
Broccoli – 1 head of broccoli. Don’t throw away the stems! Bonus recipe below for what to do with the broccoli stems. Zero Food Waste here!
Onion – 1/2 an onion. White or brown, take your pick. The brown is usually cheaper in my local grocery stores, so I go with brown.
Garlic – 2-3 cloves, chopped
Ginger – 2-3 slices
Hot Chilis – 2 chopped. Any fresh or dried chili will do. We grow Gong Bao hot peppers in our garden, and so used those, but you can use a thai chili or even sweet peppers.
Oyster sauce – 1 big splat, so about 1 tbsp (if you can cleanly measure out oyster sauce, kudos. But here, we splat. AGT. Ain’t got time.)
Soy sauce – About 1 tbsp

Instructions

As with most Chinese stir-fries, this Broccoli Chicken Stir-Fry recipe flows with a quick marinade chop preparation, and then a blitz of a stir-fry with all the ingredients together on high heat. Super fast, super easy, and super tasty!

Dice up your chicken into 1/4 inch cubes.
For the marinade:
- Grab a medium-sized bowl and toss in the chicken in.
- Splash in the soy sauce
- Dash in the corn starch
- Mix them all together and let sit while you prepare the other ingredients. That’s all the time it takes to marinade.

For the stir-fry:

5. Chop up/break off the broccolis, slice your ginger, chop your chili and garlic and onion. Set aside.

6. Bust out that wok (carbon steel pan).

7. Turn that flame to medium-high

8. Drizzle in your oil, enough to evenly coat the bottom and a bit of the sides of the wok.

9. Toss in onion, ginger, and chili (I save the garlic for later — you get more of garlic’s pungent punch when it’s not as overcooked)

10. Toss in that marinaded chicken to the wok. Get all that sauce in there too.

11. Start stirring and flipping over, so as not to let anything burn. Keep up that stir-frying motion for a few minutes until chicken acquires its golden brown.

12. Toss in the broccoli

13. Splash in the soy sauce and oyster sauce

14. Keep stir-frying until the broccoli is tender yet snappy (about 5 minutes)

Kitchen Notes

Everything is all to taste, so give it a taste here and there to make sure it ends up the way you like.

Garlic – add it toward the end, when you add the broccoli for a more pungent flavor
Sauce consistency – Once you get everything stir-frying in the wok, give it a taste. If it’s not saucy enough, add a tablespoon or two of water to allow the corn starch to absorb and create a thicker broth
If it’s too salty, add a touch of sugar in there. Sugar and soy sauce, it’s an age-old trick in the ktichen.
Save the broccoli stems! Read below for the Bonus Recipe.

Bonus Recipe: Broccoli Stems

The other best part about this Broccoli Chicken Stir-Fry is the bonus dish you can make out of the broccoli stems. We don’t waste food around here. Every food scrap can be turned into something, most of the time.

Anyway, don’t toss out that broccoli stem! Save it, thinly slice it, or fine mince it to create the most delectable and versatile garnish for any dish – like a hot sauce, but with good, healthy texture. Or make a tasty and refreshing cold salad side to add to your dinner.

Broccoli Stem "Salad"/Cold Dish

Just thinly cross-section up/slice the broccoli stems. The thinner the lighter and crisper the texture. So I like mine thinly sliced. Plus, look at their fascinating shapes! Mince some chili, garlic, and toss together with rice vinegar and salt.

That’s it. Pair it as a cold dish or mini salad to your dinner! It’ll add a nice contrast in temperature and flavor to the Stir-Fried Broccoli Chicken.

Hot Sauce Garnish with Minced Broccoli Stems

Make a fresh hot sauce, a piping, brimming with vegetable goodness and protein kind of hot sauce! Take that broccoli stem and mince it finely, along with a few cloves of garlic and fresh chili peppers, finely minced. Drizzle a bit of oil, a bit of rice vinegar, a dash of salt, and a tiny splash of soy sauce. Dash in a bit of sugar. Mix it all together, and you’ve got the freshest hot sauce with amazing texture.

Goes Great With...

Obviously, rice is this Stir-Fried Broccoli Chicken’s best friend. There’s no better canvas to absorb the flavors of the sauce dripping from this dish, and to pair with the protein and vegetables.

If you’re in the mood for noodles (which is totally okay too!!!), try our Zha Jiang Mian (Fried Sauce Noodles) (recipe) for a quick and savory noodle dish — which also utilizes the minced broccoi stems for added texture complexity and flavor.

Pair this with some soup. You can’t go wrong with a classic Hot & Sour Soup (recipe). Or if you’re in the mood for a coconutty lemongrass flavor, try our Tom Kha (Lemongrass Coconut Soup) (recipe), a broth that is bursting with flavor.