Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry Recipe - colorful vegetables, juicy chicken and sweet homemade teriyaki sauce simmered together stir-fry style. Fast dinner for busy days!
Stir fries are one of the easiest meals you can make. Take my Moo Goo Gai Pan or the Shrimp Fried Rice for example. Easy and delicious!
It's time for another quick and easy takeout dinner recipe! This time, it's stir fry! Colorful, vibrant and rich in flavors and color and so easy to make in one pan. Juicy chicken, red pepper, gorgeous vibrant broccoli with my best homemade teriyaki sauce, is one of the easiest dinners you will make! You can make a delicious stir fry in one skillet in under 20 minutes. Serve over rice or with noodles and enjoy!
Instructions:
- Start by cooking chicken in oil, in a large skillet. Once the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, remove it onto a plate.
- Add more oil to the pan if needed and add onion and bell pepper. Saute until the pepper is tender and onion translucent.
- Mix all ingredients for the teriyaki sauce in a measuring cup. Add chicken back to skillet, pour sauce over it and cook until the sauce thickens.
- The last step is to add steamed vegetables, like broccoli. Serve stir-fry over rice or with noodles, like I did in my Easy Chicken Stir Fry and Moo Goo Gai Pan stir fry.
How to serve this stir fry?
My favorite way to serve stir fry is on a bed of perfectly cooked, fluffy rice (stove-top or Instant Pot). You can serve it in a bowl or on plate, plating stir fry on the side or directly on the rice.
Another great way to serve stir fry is with noodles. You can use rice noodles, udon noodles, chow mein noodles, flat thin egg noodles, even spaghetti or linguine.
If you want to go low-carb way, use Boston lettuce leaves and serve the stir fry in lettuce cups. It's fresh and pretty!
Can I make this dish ahead of time?
This dish is perfect for meal prep. Simply cook the rice and make the stir-fry in a pan. Divide evenly among your storage containers and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. This recipe will make enough for 4 days of lunches or dinners for one person.
Variations:
- You can play with this recipe and substitute ingredients with what you have on hands. Use honey in place of brown sugar in the teriyaki sauce. Add more chili paste or sriracha for even more heat and spice.
- Make this a vegetarian stir fry and skip the chicken. Add mushrooms, edamame beans, sugar snap peas, baby corn, bamboo shoots, etc. Serve in lettuce cups.
- To make it gluten free, use gluten free soy sauce or liquid aminos.
- Use pork, beef or shrimp in place of chicken for this stir-fry.
Best vegetables for Asian stir fry:
The best broccoli for stir fry, in my opinion, is steamed. You can buy frozen bags of broccoli florets that can be steamed in the microwave. Add the cooked florets to stir fry just before serving. If you cook the broccoli with onion and pepper, it will loose its vibrant green color and add a lot of water to the sauce. You can also simply buy a stir fry vegetable mix and just use that.
You can add mushrooms and saute with onion and pepper. Any mushrooms work great here!
Another great vegetable that adds color and texture is edamame beans, snow peas, sugar snap peas or just regular sweet peas.
Add bamboo shoots, baby corn, shredded or thinly sliced carrots, water chestnuts. In other words, use any vegetables you like in stir fry!
Expert tips:
- Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a one cup measuring cup, like a glass Pyrex cup. It's helpful since you can easily measure out the soy sauce and since the cup has a spout, pouring the sauce into the pan is a breeze.
- Use steamed broccoli. I tested this recipe with fresh and thawed (previously frozen) broccoli florets and added them to onion and pepper to saute and cook together. While the dish still tasted great, the broccoli lost all of its vibrant color. It's better to steam it in a bag in the microwave and add to the stir fry after the sauce is cooked and thick and before serving. It makes for a vibrant and pretty dish!
- Use cornstarch to make the sauce. Cornstarch is known for making smooth sauces and I always use it as a thickener. Keep the flour for baking and use cornstarch in sauces. It's also a great option for gluten free dishes.
- I know that sesame oil is not something everyone has in their pantry. You can skip this ingredient if you don't have it on hand. I do recommend trying it though. It's very potent and strong so a bottle of this oil will last you a long time. It really adds a very characteristic flavor to the dish.
- Save a step and time and make a batch of my Homemade Teriyaki Sauce and store it in the fridge. Use it in this Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry recipe and just heat up.
- Use my recipe to make the Perfect Fluffy Rice to serve with this Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry. Over the years, I've got wonderful feedback from those who made it to serve with my Asian takeout recipes. It's fail-proof and you do not need a rice steamer to make it.
More Asian recipes:
For more Asian takeout recipes, check out my Quick and Easy Asian Takeout Recipes round up. It's filled with ideas and easy dinner suggestions for your skip-the-takeout nights. It's so much better and healthier to cook it at home.
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀
Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
- 2 cups steamed broccoli (see note)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/2 medium yellow onion
for the sauce:
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon sriracha or chili paste optional
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, oil, ginger, garlic, cornstarch and water. Add chili paste if using. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat up olive oil. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink, done and starts to have golden brown color. Remove onto a plate. Set aside.
- Add 2 teaspoons more of oil to the skillet. Add onion and pepper. Saute until the pepper is tender.
- Add chicken back to skillet. Add sauce mixture and cook, stirring often until the sauce has thickened. Add steamed broccoli.
- Serve over rice, garnished with sesame seeds and/or chopped green onions.
Vicki Hermes says
I used the recipe for the teriyaki sauce over my own rendition of vegetables, chicken and ramen noodles stir fry. This sauce is delicious and a keeper. Thank you !😋
Anna says
Hi, what can I replace the apple cider vinegar with? would a regular white vinegar work? (including apple). I live in a country that does not have apple cider vinegar yet 😀
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Anna! Just to make sure, you need to use apple cider vinegar in this recipe, not the sweet apple cider you get in the fall. Regular vinegar will work too. Lemon juice can be used as well. Hope this helps!
Sandra says
This would make for a perfect dinner any night of the week!
Toni says
No doubt this will be a sure hit in my house! Looks fantastic!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Thanks, Toni!
Erin says
This looks incredibly delicious! Definitely a must try!
Demeter says
No need for take out! This comes together so easily!
Jamielyn says
This looks SO delicious! I just love stir frys!
Amanda says
Such an amazing recipe! And the pictures really doesn’t do it justice !!
Delane says
I love a good teriyaki chicken!