Quick Chicken Stir Fry

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.

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!

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).

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Watch how to make it

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4.95 from 38 votes

Quick Chicken Stir Fry (without the shop-bought stir fry sauce!)

By Nicky Corbishley

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!

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 chicken breast fillets sliced into bite-size pieces
• ▢ 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
• ▢ pinch salt
• ▢ pinch pepper
• ▢ 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• ▢ 85 g (1 cup) sugar snap peas/snow peas
• ▢ 1 yellow pepper deseeded and sliced
• ▢ 1 red pepper deseeded and sliced
• ▢ 2 cloves 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:

• ▢ boiled rice or noodles

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Instructions 

• Place the chicken onto a plate, add the cornflour, salt, and pepper, and toss together to coat the chicken.
  3 chicken breast fillets, 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch, pinch salt, pinch pepper
• 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.
  2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Add in the sugar snap peas and peppers and fry for a further two minutes
  85 g (1 cup) sugar snap peas/snow peas, 1 yellow pepper, 1 red pepper
• 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 it in half. If it’s no longer pink in the middle, it’s cooked.
  2 cloves garlic, 4 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• Stir through the chopped spring onions and the chopped chilli, and heat for one more minute until they’re hot, but still crunchy
  1 bunch spring onions/scallions, 1 small red chilli
• Serve with rice or noodles.
  boiled 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 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).

Nutritional information is per serving - without rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 283kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 1299mg | Potassium: 601mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 1465IU | Vitamin C: 125.8mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1.7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this recipe? Leave a comment below!

This post was first published in March 2016. Updated in May 2020 with new photos, video and recipe tips.

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