My tasty chicken and veggie stir fry - a quick mid-week meal with a kick of chilli heat that you can get on the table in less than 20 minutes!
It’s very easy to fall into the stir fry trap - a few veggies, maybe some meat and a jar of stir fry sauce. We all do it, but it can get boring very quickly! Sauces from a jar have their advantages, but making your own sauce can be just as quick and you can easily change it up to make an endless number of variations
This is a sweet and spicy version – made using sweet chilli sauce, chillies and brown sugar - plus a few other goodies. If you don’t want too much heat, then leave out the fresh chillies – my kids still eat every bite even with a little sweet chilli sauce!
What do we need
How to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Coat the chicken in a dusting of cornflour, salt and pepper, then fry in a wok with oil over a high heat until lightly browned and cooked through.
Add in sugar snap peas, peppers, garlic, soy sauce, Chinese rice vinegar, brown sugar, sweet chilli sauce and tomato ketchup.
Continue to heat on high, tossing everything together until heated through, then stir through chopped spring onions and chopped chilli, heat for one more minute until they're hot, but still crunchy.
Serve with rice or noodles.
Sauce Variations
You could add a little more sugar, plus the juice of a lime for a tangy-sweet sauce.
Try adding pineapple chunks and juice, a tablespoon of malt vinegar and sugar and an extra squirt of ketchup for a quick sweet and sour stir fry.
Add hoisin and oyster sauce for an earthier sweet/salty flavour
Pile in the veggies and watch the kids eat them up with no complaints! So much tastier than take-out!
Just leave the chicken out of my Lo Mein recipe for a lovely noodle side dish
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Watch how to make it
Quick Chicken Stir Fry (without the shop-bought stir fry sauce!)
Quick Chicken Stir Fry! Easy Chicken and veggie stir fry - a quick mid-week meal with a kick of chilli heat that you can get on the table in less than 20 minutes!
Place the chicken onto a plate, add the cornflour, salt and pepper, toss together to coat the chicken.
Add the oil to a wok and heat on high. When the oil is very hot, add in the chicken and fry for 5-6 minutes – turning a couple of times until lightly browned.
Add in the sugar snap peas and peppers and fry for a further two minutes
Add in the garlic, soy sauce, Chinese rice vinegar, brown sugar, sweet chilli sauce and tomato ketchup. Continue to heat on high, tossing everything with a spatula, until heated through. Check the chicken is cooked by taking a large piece and slicing in half. If it’s no longer pink in the middle, it’s cooked.
Stir through the chopped spring onions and the chopped chilli, heat for one more minute until they’re hot, but still crunchy
Serve with rice or noodles.
Video
✎ Notes
Sauce Variations
You could add a little more sugar, plus the juice of a lime for a tangy-sweet sauce.
Try adding pineapple chunks and juice, a tablespoon of malt vinegar and sugar and an extra squirt of ketchup for a quick sweet and sour stir fry.
Add hoisin and oyster sauce for an earthier sweet/salty flavour
Chicken thighs or breast?You can use either for this recipe. Coating the chicken in the cornflour helps to keep the chicken juicy and tender, so go with your own preference.I use chicken breast for this recipe because I find chicken breast generally less fiddly to slice up.Vegetarian versionSwap out the chicken for quorn, mushrooms or tofu for a vegetarian alternative.Veggie swaps/additionsYou can use whatever you've got in that will cook relatively quickly over a high heat. Such as:Baby corn, beansprouts, bamboo shoots, tender stem brocolli, strips of carrot, asparagus, strips of cabbage (white or green), leeks, radish or courgette (zucchini).Nutritional information is per serving - without rice.
This post was first published in March 2016. Updated in May 2020 with new photos, video and recipe tips.
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Hi I’m Nicky
I love to cook and I want to share with you my favourite, delicious family friendly recipes. I want to inspire you to create fantastic food for your family every day.
Thank you - I've made this several times now and it's delicious!
I left out the sugar as I found that with the sweet chilli sauce and ketchup it was sweet enough. I also wanted a little more of the sauce so I now times the sauce ingredients by 1.5 x to create more of that lovely sticky sauce.
I have tried with both mange tout and sugar snaps and found mange tout work the best. I also did a variation where I added cubes of pineapple which took it to another level of deliciousness.
Great recipe - even a real beginner or terrible cook couldn't get this wrong.
Great recipe, worth it to buy the Thai sauce and Chinese vinegar (I used black vinegar, I think it's the same) at an Asian Grocery. I had spinach, cauliflower and carrots in my fridge so I decided to cook them individually before the chicken. I quickly sauteed the washed spinach, removed it and squeezed out the water. I sauteed the cauliflower then decided to add some water to boil/steam it for 10 minutes. I took that out and sauteed the carrots. I added the vegetables back in after the chicken was cooked. I finally got perfectly cooked veggies in a stir fry recipe I 'changed up'. Cooking vegetables correctly has always been difficult for me - either too soggy or too hard. I highly recommend cauliflower over broccoli - it's texture is so much better the next day. Thanks for the recipe! Some day I'll try your veggie combo, it looks so colorful!
Kelly Beardmore says
My whole family love this and they are picky eaters!
Chris Corbishley says
Thanks Kelly,
Really glad you and your family loved the recipe 🙂
Chris & Nicky
Philippa says
Thank you - I've made this several times now and it's delicious!
I left out the sugar as I found that with the sweet chilli sauce and ketchup it was sweet enough. I also wanted a little more of the sauce so I now times the sauce ingredients by 1.5 x to create more of that lovely sticky sauce.
I have tried with both mange tout and sugar snaps and found mange tout work the best. I also did a variation where I added cubes of pineapple which took it to another level of deliciousness.
Great recipe - even a real beginner or terrible cook couldn't get this wrong.
Chris Corbishley says
Thanks soo much Philippa, I'm really loving the idea of adding pineapple into this one. I'm definitely going to give that a try.
Thanks again
Chris & Nicky 🙂
Andra Engelbrecht says
This was awesome thank you!
verore says
I made this recipe, and it turned out great. Thank you!
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks Verore, so glad you liked it 🙂
Jackie says
Great recipe, worth it to buy the Thai sauce and Chinese vinegar (I used black vinegar, I think it's the same) at an Asian Grocery. I had spinach, cauliflower and carrots in my fridge so I decided to cook them individually before the chicken. I quickly sauteed the washed spinach, removed it and squeezed out the water. I sauteed the cauliflower then decided to add some water to boil/steam it for 10 minutes. I took that out and sauteed the carrots. I added the vegetables back in after the chicken was cooked. I finally got perfectly cooked veggies in a stir fry recipe I 'changed up'. Cooking vegetables correctly has always been difficult for me - either too soggy or too hard. I highly recommend cauliflower over broccoli - it's texture is so much better the next day. Thanks for the recipe! Some day I'll try your veggie combo, it looks so colorful!
Nicky Corbishley says
Sounds awesome! Thanks so much Jackie 🙂
Tash says
Tried this and it was very nice!!
Nicky Corbishley says
Fab! Thanks for letting me know Tash 🙂
Nadia says
So glad to see you made your own sauce. Very impressive.
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks Nadia 🙂
Judy says
Asian cooking is a passion of mine, this recipe looks easy and delicious, thanks!
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks Judy 🙂
Karen @ Seasonal Cravings says
I love a quick dinner idea and this looks like something my kids would love!
Nicky Corbishley says
Excellent, glad you like it Karen 🙂