Why you’ll love this chicken and broccoli recipe
Ever since I was little, my favorite thing to get when we ordered Chinese or went to a Chinese restaurant was chicken and broccoli. I love love love it. I love the sauce and the freshness of the broccoli. I even love the way the sticky white rice tastes all by itself. It’s something I really miss now that we live in France, and I must say – French Chinese food is just not the same as American Chinese food.
Over the past year or so, I’ve been testing out all sorts of Chinese recipes from Pinterest and other places on the internet, but I never found one that I thought stood its ground against the real deal. Finally, I think I’ve found the ONE. The sauce has the perfect texture and creaminess, and the broccoli – which needs to be cooked just right – is the perfect amount of crispness.
More takeout-inspired recipes: Chinese cashew chicken / quick peanut noodles / glazed snow peas / Thai chicken meatballs / slow cooker pepper steak
Ingredients:
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
- Chicken – I use boneless, skinless chicken breast for this, but you could use boneless chicken thighs, or a combination of the two instead.
- Baking soda – This gives the sauce it’s classic takeout texture. I don’t recommend skipping it unless you’re in a pinch.
- Soy sauce – I normally use reduced-sodium soy sauce, but you can use regular – just adjust your salt accordingly.
- Brown sugar – Don’t leave this out. It makes a major difference in the flavor. If you don’t have brown sugar, the best swap is going to be honey.
- Rice vinegar – The closest swap for this will be white wine vinegar, but you can use almost any kind of vinegar (with the exception of balsamic) if needed.
Tips for making Chinese chicken and broccoli at home:
- Slice the chicken against the grain. This gives chicken the perfect texture and makes it more like restaurant style chicken and broccoli.
- Steam the broccoli. It needs to be cooked just right. I used a vegetable steamer, but you can steam it in the microwave, too. Just make sure you don’t steam it too long because it’s going to be cooked a little more when it’s added to the sauce.
- Add water chestnuts. You don’t need to add them, but they’re almost always included in takeout. So if you have them, add them.
Frequently asked questions
More chicken recipes worth trying: coconut chicken tenders / sweet chili chicken skewers / hot honey chicken sandwiches / panko crusted chicken
Chinese Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, optional
Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, or tamari for gluten free
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Sauce:
- 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce, or tamari for gluten free
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons flour, or 1 tablespoon cornstarch for gluten free
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Marinate your chicken. Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour over sliced chicken and let marinate while you prep the rest of the recipe.
- Steam the broccoli. Cut the broccoli into bite sized florets and place in a large, microwave safe bowl. Cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes in the microwave. Remove from the microwave and set aside.
- Make the sauce. Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a second medium bowl. Set aside.
- Cook the chicken. Heat a large, non-stick skillet to medium-high (add 1 tablespoon of oil if not using a nonstick pan). Add chicken with its marinade. Sauté until chicken is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
- Add the rest. Add the sauce, steamed broccoli and water chestnuts to pan. Stir to evenly coat the ingredients with sauce and cook until sauce has thickened – about 2 minutes.For a thinner sauce, add about 1 tablespoon of water at a time until desired thickness has been reached.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I just made this tonight and it was delicious! I served it with brown rice and it was gone in no time. My whole family loved it. Thanks for sharing
This is by far the best chicken with broccoli recipe I have ever made. I even think it’s better than our favorite Chinese restaurant’s! My Chinese food loving husband devoured it. I added about 1/2 tsp of sesame oil while the chicken was browning and replaced the rice vinegar with apple cider, just because that’s what I had used corn starch instead of flour. It turned out perfect! I will definitely be making this again and sharing the recipe with friends.
I’m trying for the first time tonight and I will be adding some sesame oil too!
I’ll let you know.
I’m sure it will turn out well!
Tell your husband that I also am a Chinese Food But. ❤️❤️❤️
yum, this looks delicious! I love chicken and broccoli too, can’t wait to make this recipe!
This was delicious!
This was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for posting!
Made it a few nights ago to get rid of broccoli–making it again today! Very delicious! Although, I added some salt and pepper for a little extra flavor.
I used frozen broccoli and coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. IT. WAS. AWESOME!
fantastic! I can’t get over how good it is! It’s BETTER then take out!
This was so delicious! Thank you for a wonderfully flavorful and easy recipe (not to mention, super budget friendly!)
Thanks! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Can you make this with a crock pot?
I’m not so sure it would turn out in a crock pot, but I’m not really sure since I’m not very experienced with crock pot cooking. I have read many times that when adapting a crockpot recipe you need to cut back on liquids, but there isn’t that much liquid to cut back on. I wish I could give you an answer though because it would be amazingly easy if you could! If you do try it please let me know how it turns out.
I am confused on the directions can you explain the third step again please?
And the fourth step as well
For the third step you need to steam the broccoli. I mentioned in the post that I steamed mine in a vegetable steamer, but you can also steam in the microwave. For the fourth step, you need to cook the chicken with the liquid it was marinated in and 1/2 of the sauce (saving the other half for later). Does that help?
What about garlic? Is that absolutely necessary in the recipe for taste?
I’m not a fan of it nor do I have so if I replace w onion will it change everything?
You could try replacing it with minced onion, but it might not taste like the stuff you get from takeout places. You can definitely cut back the amount if it’s overwhelming to you (maybe half-onion, half-garlic), and that might help, too. Play around with it, and let me know what you think if you swap onion in!
Excellent! Such an easy recipe. The simple marinade is close to what I do to “velvet” the chicken, make it tender and not rubbery and dry. I generally add in other stir-fry vegetables and ingredients like some fresh bell peppers, green and/or yellow squash, green onion and ginger, and whatever I have laying around or need to use up. But if chicken and broccoli is what you want this is what taste is concerned one of the best recipes out there. Kudos Melissa.
I need to make the sauces, marinade, chicken and steaming the broccoli ahead of time – some 12 hours before cooking the dish. Will that work, or will everything congeal due to the cornstarch?
I think as long as you give the sauces and marinated chicken a good stir before cooking, you should be good!
I’ve made this recipe PLENTY of times and have prepared everything hours ahead of time before as well. You’ll be fine like Melissa mentioned to just give everything a good mix. I actually prefer the chicken to marinate for a few hours before cooking, the texture after cooking is perfect 👍