This easy recipe for Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry is a classic restaurant-style dish made with chicken breasts in a simple sauce with lemon honey flavor and paired with broccoli. This tasty dinner and comes together in just 30 minutes and is much healthier than take-out!
Chicken and broccoli stir fry is a classic Chinese-American dish. We add our own fun twist and use fresh lemon and honey to create fresh and healthy flavors. Danae from Recipe Runner here today with an easy and tasty weeknight dinner. Yes, we’re making our own takeout!
Homemade takeout is better than anything you order at your favorite Asian restaurant. Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love eating the fried, crispy Chinese food as much as anyone. But, when you finish eating takeout you often don’t feel very good. So we created homemade versions of our favorite takeout dish.
This homemade version of a classic takeout favorite combines fresh lemon flavor with sweet honey. The sauce is thickened with a little cornstarch, but don’t expect it to be that ultra-thick sticky coating like you find on your takeout. It’s a lighter, healthier version that everyone will enjoy!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- You’ll get a restaurant-style classic dinner right at home that takes just 30 minutes to make.
- This recipe is much healthier to make at home instead of ordering out because it contains no MSG or preservatives. It’s made with all clean ingredients.
- The sauce has a great balance of savory and sweet coming from a touch of honey that pairs perfectly in this chicken stir fry.
- Customize it by adding in your favorite stir fry vegetables or switching up the protein.
- Serve this stir fry with quinoa, rice, your favorite noodles, or even on top of a green salad.
Ingredients You Need
- Chicken Breasts – You’ll need a mix of boneless, skinless chicken breast diced into bite-sized pieces to add protein and flavor.
- Soy Sauce – Gives the stir fry a salty umami bite. Use tamari if gluten-free.
- Rice Vinegar – Adds a great tangy acidity that pairs well in stir fry dishes.
- Sesame Oil – Gives a toasty sesame flavor throughout.
- Broccoli Florets – This classic stir fry vegetable is the perfect green because it’s sturdy and is great at soaking up flavors.
- Salt & Pepper – Balances out all the flavors in the dish.
- Rice, Quinoa, or Noodles – Serve this chicken and broccoli stir fry on a bed of your favorite grains or vegetables.
Honey Lemon Stir Fry Sauce
- Low Sodium Chicken Broth – Helps emulsify the sauce and bring all the flavors together.
- Lemon Juice & Zest – Gives a bright fresh flavor and acidity.
- Honey – Sweetens up the sauce and gives it a bit of thickness. If you don’t have honey on hand, use agave or brown sugar to sweeten the sauce.
- Ginger & Garlic – Infuses the sauce with aromatic ginger and garlic flavors.
- Sriracha – Gives the sauce a kick of spice.
- Cornstarch – Helps thicken up the sauce so it sticks to the chicken ad broccoli.
- Salt & Pepper – Balances and enhances all the stir fry flavors.
How to Make Healthy Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
This recipe is easy to do, less expensive than takeout and contains only a fraction of the calories. It’s fresh and always delicious.
- Step 1: Prepare the chicken. Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, salt and pepper.
- Step 2: Add the chopped chicken to the marinade and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate the chicken in the marinade for at least 15 minutes or even a few hours in the refrigerator.
- Step 2: Prepare the stir fry sauce. Whisk together chicken broth, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, ginger, garlic, sriracha, cornstarch, salt and pepper.
- Step 3: Cook the broccoli. Preheat a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add oil and chopped broccoli. Str fry for about 2 minutes until the broccoli is bright green, but still crisp. Transfer to a plate.
- Step 4: Cook the chicken. Add another teaspoon of oil to the skillet and add the chicken (leaving the marinade liquid in the bowl.) Cook the chicken until cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Step 5: Combine everything together. Add the broccoli back to the skillet with the chicken. Pour in the stir fry sauce and cook until it starts to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with rice or quinoa.
Double the recipe! Make a double or triple batch of this stir fry as it makes great leftovers for lunches. The flavors are even better the next day.
Variations
- Change up the proteins. You can use chicken thighs, thinly sliced steak, or shrimp in this classic dish.
- Make it vegan or vegetarian. Try using shrimp or marinated tofu as the main protein to keep it vegan or vegetarian.
- Use orange instead of lemon. Add the juice and zest of a freshly squeezed orange for a healthy orange chicken and broccoli stir fry.
- Pile on the veggies. In addition to broccoli, you can also use shredded carrots, cabbage, radish, mushroom, asparagus, or sliced bell peppers in this dish.
FAQs
Nope! Only a small amount is used to thicken the sauce slightly. Most of the thickness comes naturally from the honey and the other ingredients when simmered down.
You can do either or as long as you remove them from the pan before cooking the next item. In this recipe, the broccoli is cooked first, but you can certainly change it up.
This is all done BEFORE the chicken is cooked. The best way to get tender chicken for stir fry is to marinate it as long as you can or for at least 15 minutes before cooking. This will help seal in the moisture and begin to break down the proteins in the chicken.
Chicken stir fry tastes great on its own or served with a simple side of grains. We love preparing Instant Pot Brown Rice to serve with the dish. A side of quinoa or Chow Mein tastes great with it too.
Other Stir Fry Dinners
Shrimp Stir Fry with Lemon & Ginger
Garlic Sesame Chicken Stir Fry
Did you try this Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry recipe? Leave a recipe review below.
Lemon Honey Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
Ingredients
Honey Lemon Chicken and Broccoli:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, (use Tamari to make the recipe gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli florets
- Quinoa, or brown or white rice for serving
Honey Lemon Chicken and Broccoli Sauce:
- 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons honey, (use 3 if you want it sweeter)
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon sriracha, (optional but I liked the bit of heat it added)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Add chicken to the marinade, tossing to coat. Cover and refrigerate the chicken in the marinade for at least 15 minutes or even a few hours.
- While the chicken is marinating prepare stir-fry sauce, whisking all the ingredients together.
- Preheat a large skillet or wok over high heat. When the skillet is hot add in a couple teaspoon of oil and then the chopped broccoli florets. Stir-fry the broccoli for about 2 minutes, until it is bright green, but still crisp. Remove the broccoli from the skillet onto a plate.
- Add another teaspoon or so of oil to the skillet then add in the chicken, leaving the liquid from the marinade in the bowl. Stir fry the chicken until it is cooked through, about 3 minutes, then add the broccoli back in.
- Pour the stir fry sauce in with the chicken and broccoli and stir it around until it starts to thicken and coat everything, about 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the stir fry from the heat and serve over quinoa or rice.
Video
Notes
- Nutritional information does not include rice or quinoa for serving.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2015 by Danae of Recipe Runner. It was updated with new process photos and tips in April 2021.
This is so refreshing and delicious! I absolutely love lemon with chicken.