12-Minute Chicken and Broccoli
This easy Chicken and Broccoli recipe can be made from start-to-finish in about 12 minutes, and tastes SO delicious!
Last night, I taught a cooking class for the first time in years. And it was so much fun!!
I actually get asked to teach cooking classes pretty often, and cater, both of which I have decided I don’t enjoy all that much. But this one was for my church, as part of these cool “institutes” we do quarterly. And they are awesome. So I agreed to do it. :)
Basically, anyone in the community can volunteer to teach a class on something they love for these institutes — be that stand-up comedy, parenting, car maintenance, literature, running, personal finance, yoga, you name it. I had the chance to sit on a panel this week for an institute on the Enneagram, which made me ridiculously excited. But then last night, I took my turn as one of 4 people to teach part of an institute on “cooking”, which was equally exciting. Because we made a Mexican feast…in one hour. And then sat down around the table and chatted the night away. My favorite.
Actually, one of the interesting points of the night was trying to describe this blog to the group, and why I do what I do. I have always struggled a bit with my “elevator pitch” for the blog, because I have always blogged the way I cook, which is not niched down. I cook a little bit of everything. Mostly healthy, a few indulgences. Fresh, creative, family-friendly. But over the years, there has definitely been one common factor that seems pretty consistent with all of my recipes: quick and easy.
I know I say that all of the time on here. But the reality is that I do love to cook quick and easy recipes. I lead a very busy life, but I absolutely love to cook, so simple recipes are a complete win-win. It’s not a “hook”. It’s just how I live my life. And thus, how I authentically create recipes for this blog.
So when they asked what recipe was coming up next on the blog, they all nodded and smiled when I said I had a 12-minute broccoli chicken recipe. Yes, I timed it (because I’m a “3” on the Enneagram and love efficiency). And yes, I totally loved it. :)
Actually, the inspiration for this one came from my CSA of the week. My friend and farmer, Si Si Cho, gave me the most beautiful selection of kale and carrots and onions and radishes and more. And she also threw in a big ol’ head of broccoli.
Now I have to admit, I’m still on the “spectrum” of learning to love broccoli. I appreciate it, and I will totally eat it when it is served to me, but I almost never cook it on my own. BUT, I was reading lately about how ridiculously good for you it is. And come on, those little florets look like baby trees! They’re each like a little sculptural masterpiece!! So I decided to put my fresh produce to use in a recipe I knew I was sure to love — a chicken and broccoli stir-fry.
This recipe is basically a riff on my favorite sesame chicken recipe, with a little less sesame, and 100% more broccoli. And it’s super easy to make.
Just start out by sauteing up some chicken. (If you’re short on time, keep those pieces of chicken small so that they cook faster.)
Then add in your broccoli, also cut into small pieces. Ahem, florets.
Then add in the sauce that you whisked together while the chicken was cooking.
And within a minute, the sauce will thicken up and your chicken and broccoli will be ready to go. Boom.
Fast. Flavorful. Fresh. And Oh-So-Fab.
I served mine with some brown rice, but it would also be great with quinoa, or noodles, or even just plain on its own.
And yes, it’s ready to go in just 12 minutes if you’re moving swiftly. Which I usually am. And which I love. Because me and speedy meals are a good match, so that I can get onto other things in life which I also love. :)
Enjoy!
12-Minute Chicken and Broccoli
This classic chicken and broccoli recipe is full of fresh and delicious flavor, and it’s ready to go in just 12 minutes!
Ingredients:
Stir-Fry Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- salt and pepper
- sauce (see below)
- 1 bunch broccoli, chopped into small florets, stem discarded
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Sauce Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Directions:
To Make The Stir-Fry:
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts, and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and mostly cooked through.
- While the chicken is cooking, make your sauce. (See below.)
- Once the chicken is browned, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and broccoli, and stir to combine. Continue cooking for an additional 3 minutes, until the broccoli is bright green. Stir in the soy sauce mixture, and cook for an additional 1 minute until the sauce has thickened.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately, garnished with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
To Make The Sauce:
- Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until combined.
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #gimmesomeoven. I'd love to see what you cook!
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Very great recipe.
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Great recipe but what happened to the second tablespoon of olive oil? Did I miss something? Thanks!
Step 3: Once the chicken is browned, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and broccoli, and stir to combine. :)
Awesome recipe! I was looking for a quick chicken recipe for dinner tonight and I found a real gem. Everyone in my family of 5 loved it! ….Including the 2 fussiest critics ;-) … I will use this recipe weekly and even use it when friends with fussy kids visit <3
Thanks Kristi — we’re so glad you and your family enjoyed this (especially the picky eaters)! :D
Sounds delicious, am thinking of adding snow peas, mini corn and shredded carrots. Would add color and not alter the cooking time.
Those sound like yummy additions Elizabeth — we hope you enjoy this! :)
i can’t use the same oil u used. Is there a different one i could use…like canola is what i usually use. I can’t have seeds.
Hi Shana! Yes, you can use vegetable or canola oil. We hope you enjoy!
We have just started eating healthy and oh my god this recepie turned out just so delicious! We have made it twice in this month alone. Love the flavor it has
Thank you Pooja — we’re so glad you enjoy this! :)
We’re so glad you liked it Pooja! :)
I am hoping to make this tonight for dinner. Is the rice wine vinegar necessary? It’s the only ingredient I don’t have. Is there something I can substitute?
Hi Samantha! Do you have white vinegar? That would work fine as a substitute! We hope you enjoy this!
It was really easy to make. And easy + delicious is what i like. I added carrots and sliced green pepper as we love spicier food. I added some chili powder in the sauce and omitted honey as we don;t like sweetness in the food. Had to add some chilli sause too in the end as it wasn’t still spicy enough for our taste bud or maybe to get rid of a still there sweetness. But to tell you the truth it was AWESOME. Thank you so much for posting the recipe. :)
Thanks for your feedback — we’re so glad to hear you enjoyed this! Also, the carrots and green pepper sound like yummy additions! :)
Do you think this would be just as good with liquid aminos instead of the soy sauce? Looks delicious!!
Hi Emma! We haven’t tried this with liquid aminos instead of soy sauce, so we can’t say for sure, but we definitely think it’s worth a try — we hope you enjoy! :)
This recipe is definitely a keeper! My family absolutely loved it and has asked me to make it again next week. Thank you so much for a fast, easy and fabulous chicken recipe.
Thank you Penelope — we’re so happy to hear that!
We had this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I made a half a batch without the rice vinegar (because I didn’t have any) and it was really good. Even my husband liked it. It curbed the Chinese craving but was a lot less of each ingredient as others I have seen.
We’re so happy you and your husband enjoyed it Tammy! :)
This isn’t gluten-free, even tho you added it to your gluten-free list.
Soy sauce has gluten. Go for a gluten-free tamari instead, and you’re golden, tho.
Hey there! We’re not sure where you saw this listed as gluten-free?
This blog is a life saver–I LOVE your simple but delicious recipes. My son ( 2 yrs old) os a fan of the fluffy dinner roll recipe. Thank you!!
This looks delicious! Is there a substitute for the ginger or can it be omitted? I am allergic to ginger, but want to give this recipe a try!
Thanks Mandy! You can just leave the ginger out. If you’d like to add more garlic or maybe some chopped cilantro and/or basil, we think those would be yummy swaps! :)
Made this today and it was amazing! Will be making it again! I also put some duck sauce on mine after!
Awesome Brittney — we’re so happy you liked it! :)
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Hi, this recipe sounds fantastic! In a effort to not buy what I really don’t need, I was wondering if a bag of frozen broccoli florets could be used instead of fresh broccoli? I have several bags hanging out in my freezer that need to get used… thanks!! :)
Thanks Jenn — we hope you enjoy it! And of course, you can definitely use frozen broccoli florets instead. :)
Overdid it with salt just a “little” bit, but other then that it turned out great and was really easy to make. Thank you!
We’re glad you enjoyed it!
Hi! Love your recipes!
Not sure if you’ll see this as I know this is an older post – but – I’m planning to make this tonight and my son is only 9 months so can’t have honey (or can maybe have cooked honey? But apparently no one knows so I’m trying to be conscious of that and not risk it ha!) Anywayyy – do you think sugar or agave would be a better sub for the honey in this recipe?
Hi Alex! We think you could definitely use some brown sugar (dissolved in some hot water), or agave (though you might not need quite as much agave). We hope you and your little one enjoy this!
This was crazy amazing! I subbed red wine vinegar and canola oil for the sauce and didn’t have any sesame seeds for garnish and it was still amazing! Perfect with a healthy amount of sriracha on top for good measure. My husband raved over it and he’s usually not one to do that. This is going into my rotation for sure!
Thanks, Liz — we’re so happy to hear you and your husband loved it! :D
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Was in a great hurry and with hungry teenagers who didn’t want the same thing again but something different…I found this recipe…after making some tweaks of my own (like swapping potatoes for rice because my son doesn’t like rice) making a soy sauce glaze; I had some very happy teens in minutes. Thanks so much for the great idea.
Thanks, Julianne — we’re happy you and your kids enjoyed this!
Made a gluten free version of this and WOW! Family of 7 and guests loved it. Loved it so much that one of my girlies has requested it for her birthday dinner. Can be difficult to find quick and easy gluten free that doesn’t require donation of an organ to buy the ingredients. We have added edamame and water chestnuts; the girlies love to crunch! Great recipe
Thanks for sharing with us, Jeanne — we’re so happy it was a hit with folks, and that’s so sweet that your daughter requested it for her birthday dinner! :D
Sorry I’m new to GF but I was told soy sauce was one thing I needed to stay away from and it’s an ingredient in this recipe. What am I missing?this sounds delicious and got great reviews but it’s listed as GF.
Hi Stacy! We’re not sure where you see the Gluten Free tag in the recipe, but you can just use Tamari instead of the soy sauce (it’s very, very similar and is gluten-free). We hope this helps!
Did you know that you can peel the stems of broccoli with a paring knife or a peeler and the inside is just as good, if not better, than the florets themselves? Saw it on Jacque Pepin and been doing it ever since. He also says that when the inside of mushrooms gets black and you think they’ve gone bad, that’s when the flavor is at it’s very peak. I hate wasting good mushrooms!
Hi Mary Beth,thanks for sharing this info with us, we’ll have to try both of those tips! :)
Came across this last night. Just happened to have all ingredients, it was amazing and simple! Absolutely making again, thanx
Thanks for sharing with us, Brandon — we’re so happy you enjoyed it!
I really, really don’t like the flavor of soy sauce (I think I’m probably the only one on the planet who doesn’t). Would sweet and sour sauce suffice?
Hi Teresa! Do you like fish sauce by chance? That would be much closer to soy sauce (but maybe too close?) You could certainly do sweet and sour sauce if you prefer. We hope you enjoy!
It’s great. I make a double batch so there’s plenty to go around.
Thanks, Jim — we’re happy you enjoyed it!
Kikkoman makes a gluten free, preservative free soy sauce 😊
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This is delicious!!! I have 2 small children so something easy and healthy is great, and this was!! I am for sure going to be making this often!! Thank you!
Thank you, Suzanna — we’re so happy you all loved it! :)
This is a great, basic stir fry that’s really easy to put together! In addition to the chicken and broccoli I added 8 oz of sliced mushrooms, a few bell peppers, and a small handful of shredded carrots because I like a variety of veggies in my stir fry. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe :)
Thank you, Stephanie — we’re so glad you enjoyed it and we love the veggies you added! :)
Made this tonight and absolutely adding it to the rotation. Both my 4 and 2.5 year olds ate it up, and the little guy is picky. I will absolutely add more veggies like water chestnuts and mini corn but my boys love broccoli so I’m happy regardless (I rarely use fresh veggies bc I stock up on frozen so that’s always more readily available to me and I can add more if I want extra and leave the rest frozen so it’s not TOO much and no waste. I just cooked it on the microwave until it was close to room temp and tossed it in the pan). I’m also going to double this as my ONLY complaint is there isn’t a lot leftover. We aren’t big eaters, either. This was SO fast and SO easy. Might tone down the rice vinegar bc it was a little strong but might not. I’ve been meaning to introduce brown rice into our diets and this dish really worked well with it. Thank you!
We’re so glad to hear that, Laura — thanks for sharing with us! :)
We loved the recipe. Was fantastic! Only thing, next time I will double the sauce because it was so good! 👍🏻
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed it!
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Great recipe! Just made it for dinner and its awesome and even the kiddos like it. thank you for sharing.
Awesome, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
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This chicken and broccoli recipe has been a favorite in my house for awhile. My three teenage boys love it so much that I usually have to quadruple the recipe to have enough for them. Just wondering if I should multiply the cornstarch by 4 as well as all the other sauce ingredients when doing this? Sometimes I find the sauce starts to look a bit congealed and thought maybe there’s too much cornstarch. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing, Cheryl, we’re so glad you and your family love it! Yes, if quadrupling the recipe, we would do that to all of the ingredients, including the cornstarch and other sauce ingredients.
I literally found this recipe after I found chicken and broccoli in my freezer and didn’t know what to do with it. This was soooooo good and so easy!! Thank you so much! I’ll definitely make this again.
We’re so glad to hear that, Courtney, thank you!
Super yummy ! I made it for lunch yesterday and absolutely loved it ! Tasty and delicious , and really easy to make ! Thanks for sharing this recipe Ali :) x
Thanks, Bella, we’re so happy you loved it! :)
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Superb!
Thank you, we’re glad you enjoyed it!
I worked late tonight but got home a little after 6pm, made this and we were eating by 6;45! And, drum roll. . . It was delicious! I threw in some carrots just because I had some in the frig and it was amazing! My husband even said so and to “keep that recipe”! (That’s big because I have made a few “fails” in the past) thanks for sharing. I will be making this again and again!
Yay! We’re so glad to hear you and your husband enjoyed it! :D
I worked late tonight and got home a little after 6:00pm, made this for dinner and we were eating by 6:45! And, drum roll . . . It was delicious! Even my husband loved it and said “keep this recipe”. That is high praise coming from him since I’ve had my share of “fails”. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Amazingly easy and delicious!! Thank you for the great recipe. Had to fight myself to not eat it right away instead of packing it for meal prep. Even my boyfriend kept picking at it to make sure it was “just right” haha. Thank you!!!!!!!
Thank you, we’re glad you and your boyfriend enjoyed it!