My dear friend Christine shared with me that she’s never had much luck making a good stir fry. WHAT!?!?!? Girlfriend you are seriously missing out on some really good grub! Time to skip the drive thru, ditch door dash and whip up a tasty, healthy meal for your family instead!
If it wasn’t for stir fry’s my poor family would have gone hungry many a night. Not only can you get dinner on the table quickly, you can get a stir fry cooked up in the time it takes to cook up a batch of rice; it’s also a great way to clean out the veggie drawer in the fridge. When those veggies are bathed in a mouthwateringly delicious ginger, soy sauce, even your veggie hating kids will be gobbling down their veggies with no complaints.
The only other way to get kids to eat their veggies is to drown them in Ranch dressing. I’ve always wondered if there were any veggies actually consumed by kids before the invention of Ranch dressing? Anyone have any idea? LOL!
Christine, this stir fry recipe is especially for you! It’s a delicious fool proof stir fry that you can’t mess up! Perfect for a beginner! Just follow the step by step instructions and you are guaranteed good results.
Let’s break down what makes a good stir fry. The two biggest components of a good stir fry are a tasty sauce and vegetables that are cooked crisp tender. These two components are what determine whether you have a tasty lip smacking meal or a mushy mass of limp vegetables drowning in an unappetizing sauce.
Vegetable suggestions:
- mushrooms
- bell peppers
- asparagus
- cabbage
- sugar snap peas
- mung bean sprouts
- green beans
- celery
- broccoli
- onion
- scallions
- carrots
No matter what veggies you decide to use it’s important to consider how long it takes to cook them to “crisp tender.” Carrots will take much longer to cook than bean sprouts, mushrooms will take longer than the tender green tops of scallions. If you add the carrots and bean sprout to the pan at the same time, the bean sprouts will be a mushy unappetizing mess by the time the carrots are crisp tender. Once you wrap your head around this fundamental concept, the rest is so very easy!
Tip #1: When cutting up the veggies separate them in order of how long it takes to cook them.
Since the rice takes the longest to cook, get it going first thing. If it’s done cooking before your stir fry is ready to go, turn off the heat and let it just hang out in the pan until you need it. Rice is very forgiving and will stay warm for a good long time if it stays covered, off heat, on your stovetop.
Cook Rice:
Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add the rice and stir. Cover the pan, reduce heat to low and cook for 20-25 minutes until rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid.
Marinate Chicken:
In a mixing bowl stir together brown sugar, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Add minced garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.
Add chicken and stir to coat chicken in the marinade. Marinate chicken for at least 15 minutes in the fridge.
Make ahead tip: Slice chicken and marinate early in the day or the night before.
While chicken is marinating it’s time to prep all the remaining ingredients, the veggies.
Tip #2: Prepare all ingredients before cooking anything.
Once you turn on the heat the meal looks very quickly and your won’t have time to stop and chop up veggies.
TIP #3: When in doubt, you are better off undercooking the veggies rather than overcooking them.
Stir Fry:
Heat a tablespoon oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. You want the pan nice and hot so the vegetables sizzle when added to the pan.
Add carrots and broccoli to the pan. Stir frequently for about 3-4 minutes until vegetables just start to soften.
Add onion, cook and stir for another 2-3 minutes, just until they start to soften.
Finally add bell pepper and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Remove vegetables from pan and keep warm.
Remove chicken from the marinade, reserving liquid. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan and cook the chicken about 2-4 minutes until it is just slightly pink on the inside.
Add reserved marinade and bring to a simmer.
Add drained water chestnuts. Stir to combine.
Once the marinade is simmering return vegetables to the pan and continue to cook until chicken is cooked through, vegetables are tender, and sauce has thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
Serve over cooked white rice and top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
A huge shout out to Ava who posted her recipe on Allrecipespoint.com for this stir fry! The sauce really makes this stir fry shine! I will be changing up the veggies, adding mushrooms and red bell peppers for sure, but the sauce is a tasty soy ginger sauce that’s not too sweet with just a hint of heat, it’s perfect! There will be many more stir fry’s in our future using this delectable stir fry sauce!!!
THANK YOU Ava!
Chicken Stir Fry
Equipment
- Wok or large skillet
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup rice
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 tsp cornstarch
- ⅔ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes, optional
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 oz water chestnuts, drained
- 1 head broccoli, broken into florets
- 1 cup carrots, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 tsp sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
Cook Rice:
- Bring 2 cups water to a boil.
- Add rice and stir.
- Cover pan, reduce heat to low and cook for 20-25 minutes until rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid.
Marinate Chicken:
- In a mixing bowl stir together brown sugar, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Add minced garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.
- Stir to coat chicken with marinade. Marinate chicken for at least 15 minutes in the fridge.
Stir Fry:
- Heat a tablespoon oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat.
- Add broccoli and carrots.
- Cook stirring frequently for about 2-3.
- Add onions, cook until they start to soften.
- Add bell peppers and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove vegetables from the pan and keep warm.
- Remove chicken from marinade, reserve liquid.
- Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan and cook chicken about 2-4 minutes until it is just slightly pink on the inside.
- Add reserved marinade and bring to a simmer.
- Stir in water chestnuts.
- Once marinade is simmering return vegetables to the pan and continue to cook until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- Serve over cooked white rice and top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
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