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.
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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.
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Add in sugar snap peas, peppers, garlic, soy sauce, Chinese rice vinegar, brown sugar, sweet chilli sauce and tomato ketchup.
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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.
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!
More Stir Fry Recipes
Beef Chow Fun (Beef Stir Fry with Noodles)
Honey and Garlic Chicken Stir Fry with Cauliflower Egg Fried Rice
Quick Honey and Soy Chicken Stir Fry with Noodles (this one does use a shop-bought sauce)
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 version
Swap out the chicken for quorn, mushrooms or tofu for a vegetarian alternative.
Veggie swaps/additions
You 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).
What to serve with chicken stir fry
- Boiled Rice – check out my full post on how to boil rice (the method I ALWAYS use)
- Special Fried Rice – masterclass post on getting it perfect!
- Just leave the chicken out of my Lo Mein recipe for a lovely noodle side dish
If you’ve tried my recipe then please rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing your thoughts and add-ons to my recipes!
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Watch how to make it
Quick Chicken Stir Fry (without the shop-bought stir fry sauce!)
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breast fillets - sliced into bite-size pieces
- 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar snap peas/snow peas
- 1 yellow pepper - deseeded and sliced
- 1 red pepper - deseeded and sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic - peeled and minced
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 bunch spring onions/scallions - chopped
- 1 small red chilli - deseeded and sliced
To serve:
INSTRUCTIONS
- 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
- 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
Nutrition
This post was first published in March 2016. Updated in May 2020 with new photos, video and recipe tips.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Rhona Logan says
Another lovely and easy recipe- thank you! Even my almost 3 year old ate this. I used lazy chilli 1/4 teaspoon so just a little kick but delicious. Beats any boring stir fry
jg says
id like to make this recipe is there something else i can substitute for sweet chili sauce my wife isn't a fan of sweet foods that won't effect the meal we like spicy
Roselyn Moseley says
Very easy to cook and enjoy the video is a great help yummy 😋
Roselyn Moseley says
I made this stir fry at the end of last week,I'm doing it again now because it's so easy and tastes 1000 times better than using shop bought sauce.
I can't wait to try more of your recipes very easy to do and taste great thank you 😃🥰😗
Ronel Nothnagel says
Hi, I am soooo happy to finally have a recipe that I love. I am from SA and due to Covid lost my job. I have started to make home cooking meals for customers... can't wait to dish up for them today. I love the colors an flavor. I only swap the green peas for young green beans... wow its amazing. I can't wait to do the next recipe. Thanx so much. Ronél Nothnagel. South Africa
Lorna says
The best and easiest tasty chicken stir fry ever. The sauce is so yummy and this is a million times nicer than the already prepared stuff in the shops. Thank you for sharing this
Fay Boswell says
Can you freeze this recipe?
Lou says
I made this last night, very tasty. I used half of the sauce mix as i thought it was enough. I will definetly make this again. I cooked 250 gms of mushrooms and 3 cloves of garlic to add in with the sauce, Yum ! A winner..
Leesha says
We loved this recipe thank you!
If you wanted to swap chicken with prawns when would you add these in? Would you still coat in cornflour?
Claire says
Very quick & easy and so delicious......As good as a Chinese take away!
Will definitely be making this again!
Dawn says
We could eat your stir fries every day they are delicious. I spend an awful long time tending my garden this time of year and forget time, these meals are perfect for a late 'tea'..you're a star Nikki 👍
Chris Newton says
This is the first recipe we have tried from Kitchen Sanctuary last night. Wow! It was brilliant, so tasty, lovely flavours and very straight forward to cook.....and it's on on our favourite list. So look forward trying the other recipes as well. What a star find. Many thanks.
Margie says
Excellent
Gabe says
I thought this was great! A nice departure from boring stir fry! Great flavor. You can make it tangier or spicier etc. Very versatile. Thank you so much.
Lynne says
Another amazing recipe! What is about the cornflower that makes the chicken so tender? I use this little trick a lot now!