Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

Easy weeknight dinners are my thing. My prep work is limited to very short periods of time when I'm the only one home with the baby. It either needs to get done during nap time, or in short spurts while I'm chasing him around the house, while he's pulling himself up by my legs and rescuing him from when he gets himself stuck in between the table and chairs of the dining room. He hasn't quite gotten the concept of crawling back OUT, the way he got in, he tries to stand up, keeps banging his head and cries until I pull him out. Anyway, this dinner is great because there aren't a lot of ingredients to prep and you can even cut all the vegetables in advance, like the night before, or in the morning. The actual stir frying takes only 15-20 minutes, so make sure to start your rice before you do anything.

I love this very simple but tasty stir fry. Chicken and broccoli are natural partners in so many dishes, so, of course, they are great here too. With just a few others and an amazing sauce to pull it all together, I'll bet this is a meal that the whole family will enjoy, even picky eaters. The chicken is really the star, though. The coating on it makes it extremely juicy on the inside but still has a lovely golden and crisp exterior. You can use chicken thighs or breast using this method, although I do prefer chicken thighs. When I sauté the chicken,  I can never resist snatching a piece to sample and then I just want to eat a whole plate of just chicken, and usually I'm the one who prefers the vegetables. I hope you give this recipe a try. It's one of our "go-to's". 

Ingredients:

4 large boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 1 lb (you can also use 2 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

3 Tablespoons oil, divided

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

3-4 cups broccoli florets

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, sliced

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Sauce:

½ cup chicken broth

2-3 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons honey

1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions:

Cut the chicken into 1 - 1 ½ inch pieces. In a medium bowl, mix the chicken, 2 Tablespoons of oil, 2 Tablespoons soy sauce and 2 Tablespoons cornstarch and mix together. Set aside while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Cut all the vegetables. Whisk all the ingredients for the sauce together.

Heat the remaining 1 Tablespoon of oil in a nonstick skillet on high heat. Add the chicken in 2 batches, uncovered. Let the chicken get golden brown before turning it over to the other side. You will not need to add any more oil to the skillet. As the chicken cooks, it will give out some oil too. Use a slotted spoon to take the chicken out of the skillet. (I like to set the chicken on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain the excess oil.) Cook the second half of the chicken in the remaining oil and then set aside as well.

Add the peppers and onion to the same skillet and cook for about 3 minutes on medium high heat, stirring often, until golden around the edges.

Add the broccoli to the peppers and onion and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Move the vegetables aside and make a small circle in the center, pour in a tiny splash of oil and add the minced garlic and the crushed red pepper flakes. (You can add more or less crushed red pepper, depending on how mild or hot you want the stir fry to be.) Cook for just 30 seconds and then pour in the sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover the skillet and cook until the broccoli is cooked as much as you like. I like broccoli more on the crisp side, so I only cooked it for about 3-5 minutes, but you can cook it more if you like it to be tender.
My favorite way to serve stir fry is over rice.

Recipe for white rice HERE.

Recipe for brown rice HERE.

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