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!
Tonight is the fourth time I’m using this recipe! It’s my “go-to” recipe for chicken and broccoli! Yummy!!!
Loved this recipe my husband requests it weekly. I like to spoon the chicken mixture over my rice so I like extra sauce. The only change I made was towards the end of cooking I add about a cup of extra water and it is perfect. A+++
I just made this and it is SO GOOD! it shocked me at how easy and simply it was, and to be honest I was nervous about how to cut up the chicken too. but I followed the directions and mayyyy have messed up the ingredients for the marinade because I apparently can’t read measurements lol. but it still turned out fantastic, hopefully I do better next time and it will be PERFECT!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I added some things I had on hand – shredded carrots, freshly grated ginger, toasted almond slivers, a little sriracha sauce. Thanks very much, I will definitely make it again.
Great! Just like Chinese takeout but even better. I used a different recipe last time and the broccoli turned out unappetizing. When I saw the directions to steam it separately a light went on! I will definitely make this again and again.
This was great! We eat nearly all organic so I used all organic ingredients and used coconut oil for the marinade and garlic infused coconut oil for the sauce. We use something called raw coconut aminos in place of soy sauce ( it is a soy free Seasoning Sauce that tastes similar to soy sauce). It was great and the kids loved it!!!! Will be making this a regular part of our dinner menu.
I made this tonight for dinner and everyone LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing,
Please help me what should I do with garlic ?
I’ve tried several recipes for this dish and this is the one my family couldn’t get enough of. You know they love it when they return to the refrigerator two hours later and finish the leftovers cold. I do have a question. I just read the ingredients on the soy sauce and they are all chemicals and sugar. Does anyone know of a healthier soy sauce?
Coconut aminos! Its a very healthy alternative.. Doesnt taste like coconut, you won’t know the difference when mixed in with a sauce!
Made this tonight for my little man who loves chicken and broccoli. The taste was absolutely perfect. I loved the texture of the chicken. The only thing that went wrong for me was the whole thing was way to dry. I had to add a lot of extra liquid to keep things moving in the pan. I ended up with a ton of sauce, which isn’t a bad thing. We will just add more chicken and broccoli and eat it again tomorrow! Loved it despite my troubles. The mistake may have been my own anyway. Will be making this again. Often.