Make this crowd-favorite Chinese dish at home with a few simple ingredients - it's just as flavorful as what you'd find at a restaurant and twice as healthy! You can't go wrong with chicken and broccoli drenched in rich brown sauce.
Chinese chicken and broccoli is an extremely popular takeout dish. Bite-sized pieces of chicken, lightly steamed broccoli, and most importantly, a delicious sauce to drench your rice in. The sauce ties the whole dish together and is not limited to just this chicken and broccoli dish! Use it for any combination of stir-fry protein and vegetables.
This dish (and its sauce) is simple to make at home and gives you much more control over the ingredients. If you're looking for more simple protein and vegetable stir-fry recipes, try my Sauteed Green Beans with Ground Beef recipe or Beef and Onion Stir-Fry.
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What cut of chicken should I use?
This recipe typically calls for chicken breast. That said, it is easy to overcook the chicken due to its lack of fat.
If you prefer a dark meat, chicken thighs work for this recipe, too.
Why do we add cornstarch to marinade the chicken?
This step is common in Chinese cooking, especially when it involves stir-frying a protein that will then be covered in a rich sauce. The cornstarch soaks up the marinade and allows the chicken to still fry up in the pan. Additionally, it allows the brown sauce to stick to the chicken so each bite is filled with flavor.
Ingredients
- Chicken breast
- Broccoli
- Oyster sauce
- Dark soy sauce : Use dark soy sauce versus light soy sauce (which can be found at your usual supermarket). Dark soy sauce is slightly sweeter, deeper in flavor, and adds a beautiful dark caramel color.
- Shaoxing wine: If you don't have Shaoxing wine, you can sub with dry sherry or rice vinegar. However, if you'll be cooking more Chinese recipes at home, I highly recommend having this in your repertoire as it's extremely versatile.
- Chicken stock: Use low-sodium chicken stock, if possible.
- Granulated sugar
- Garlic
- Ginger
Instructions
- Prep the chicken breast by cutting into bite-sized cubes, around 1x1. Marinade in Shaoxing wine, ground pepper, cornstarch and a little bit of salt. Let marinade for 10 minutes while prepping the other ingredients.
- Steam broccoli. Some packaged broccoli allows you to steam the bag in the microwave. If so, do it slightly shorter than recommended on the package. If you'd like to steam/blanch manually, prep a pot of boiling water. Drop the broccoli in for 30 seconds, drain and set aside. Ensure that the broccoli is not sitting in a pool of water or it will get soggy.
- Mince garlic and finely chop the ginger.
- Make the marinade - oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, chicken stock, and sugar. Don't add the cornstarch just yet.
- Heat up oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until all sides are no longer pink. Don't disturb the chicken as you're cooking each side, let it sit, and then flip.
- Add in the ginger and garlic and stir until the fragrance is release. About 40 seconds.
- Add the steamed broccoli into the pan and stir.
- Finally, add cornstarch to the marinade. Mix well and then add into the pan over the chicken and broccoli. Continue to stir until the sauce evenly coats everything in the pan and has thickened.
- Serve over rice and add optional toasted white sesame seeds.
Top tips
- Use pre-cut broccoli: To save yourself time, buy the pre-cut, pre-washed bags of broccoli. Prepping fresh broccoli requires a lot of cleaning time (I usually recommend washing each individual head thoroughly). For me, it's worth buying the packaged versions!
- Don't overcook the chicken: Since this recipe traditionally uses white meat (which contains less fat), it's easy to overcook and dry out the chicken. While making this recipe, watch the chicken closely. Since we are cutting it into bite-sized pieces, it doesn't take nearly as long as cooking through an entire breast.
📖 Recipe
Chinese Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 lb chicken breast (cubed)
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
Marinade
- 3 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Remaining dish
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 12 oz broccoli (pre-cut and pre-washed)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- ¼ inch ginger
- Toasted white sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Prep the chicken breast by cutting into bite-sized cubes, around 1x1. Marinade in Shaoxing wine, ground pepper, cornstarch and a little bit of salt. Let marinade for 10 minutes while prepping the other ingredients.
- Steam broccoli. Prep a pot of boiling water. Drop the broccoli in for no more than 30 seconds. Drain and set aside.
- Mince garlic and finely chop the ginger.
- Make the marinade: oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, chicken stock, and sugar. Don't add the cornstarch just yet.
- Heat up oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until all sides are no longer pink. Let each side cook through before you flip.
- Add ginger and garlic into the pan and stir until the fragrance is release. About 40 seconds.
- Add the steamed broccoli into the pan and stir.
- Finally, add cornstarch to the marinade. Mix well and then pour over the chicken and broccoli. Continue to stir until the sauce evenly coats everything in the pan and has thickened.
- Serve over rice and add optional toasted white sesame seeds.
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