Name: Best Healthy Chicken Stir Fry
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 14 oz. Extra firm tofu (sqeezed dry and cut into 1 inch cubes); 2 tsp olive oil; 2 tbsp soy sauce; 1 head broccoli (cut into florets); 1 red bell pepper (cut into bite sized strips); 4 celery stalks (chopped bite sized); 4 medium carrots (peeled and cut into 2 to 3 in. strips); 1 lg. garlic clove (minced); 1 tbsp olive oil (for sauteing vegetables); 4 green onions (chopped for garnish); 12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or boneless, skinless thigh meat) (cut into bite sized pieces); 1 or 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (for cooking chicken); 3/4 cup low salt chicken broth (substitute vegetable broth) (divided); 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce; 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil; 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar; 1 tsp sriracha sauce; 1 tbsp cornstarch (dissolved in 1/4 cup chicken broth); 1 cup basmati rice or other rice (cooked to package directions)

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This healthy chicken stir fry recipe is full of spicy Asian flavors. It has delicious fresh vegetables, perfectly cooked chicken, and even some high-protein firm tofu. The whole family will enjoy this easy-to-prepare healthy meal.

When it comes to easy to prepare, there is nothing like a delicious healthy chicken stir-fry recipe. It contains only healthy ingredients and is so versatile that you can use pretty much whatever cooked seasonal veggies you would like.

The fresh veggies are softened and then mixed with the delicious stir fry sauce. Make this for easy weeknight dinners.

Ingredients For Chicken Stir Fry

The lean protein that I used for this recipe was boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Chicken thighs can also be used if you prefer.

My daughter Amy is a vegetarian so a block of firm tofu was also cut into cubes, coated with oil and low sodium soy sauce, and baked until browned.

The vegetables that I used were broccoli, red bell peppers, celery, crisp carrots, garlic, and green onions. These were all fresh vegetables, but frozen could be substituted and the only thing that would be different is the cooking time. Since these are blanched before freezing they just require heating up.

We ate this delicious stir fry recipe with white rice. You could also use brown rice, cauliflower rice, or even rice noodles.

For a garnish for this healthy dinner recipe, chop up some green onions and sprinkle them with sesame seeds. For a little more heat you could add some red pepper flakes.

Other Ingredients to Consider Using

Along with what I used in this healthy recipe, you could use bok choy, water chestnuts, baby corn, Mung bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, snap peas, snow peas, cauliflower, green beans, and Brussels sprouts.

It pretty much depends on what you like or have on hand at the time. I would shy away from Lima Beans though, (lol).

The Savory Sauce Ingredients

The flavorful sauce was made with low sodium chicken broth, low sodium soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, sriracha sauce, and corn starch for thickening.

This combination really makes a flavorful stir-fry sauce but you could also try adding grated ginger, a small amount of brown sugar, and oyster sauce for some added umami.

Putting It All Together

Once all the vegetables have been prepped, place them in a large skillet on medium heat with a bit of oil. I used olive oil but you could also mix in a slight bit of sesame oil as both are high smoke point oils. Saute these vegetables while occasionally stirring to mix and turn.

In 12 to 15 minutes the veggies should be quite soft. I prefer to have the vegetables pretty soft but if you would like a bit of crunch, lessen the cooking time to your liking. Remove them from the heat and place the cooked vegetables in a bowl.

In the same skillet, add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, (or substitute vegetable broth), soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, sriracha sauce, and minced garlic.

Bring this to a simmer, mix the corn starch with the remaining 1/4 cup of broth, and stir this into the sauce mixture. Bring this to a slow boil to thicken, then lower the temperature on your stove and add the cooked vegetables stirring to coat.

In a separate skillet, cook the chicken pieces with a little olive oil on medium to medium-high heat to brown. Stir the chicken to brown the pieces evenly then add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and finish cooking until the chicken is cooked through which will take 2 or 3 more minutes.

If you would like to add the tofu to your meal, here is how Amy prepped and baked it. She used a 14-ounce block of firm tofu and the excess liquid from the tofu was squeezed out using paper towels between two plates and gently pressing liquid out. The tofu was then cut into one-inch cubes.

She then put the cubes into a small bowl and added about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and 1 or 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mixed it well. Next, the cubes were placed on a baking sheet and placed in a 350° oven for 20 or 25 minutes until they started to brown.

Vegetarian Friendly

The cut-up chicken breast pieces and tofu were cooked separately and added to the plated vegetables to keep them split up from one other. Amy didn’t mind having chicken broth but to keep this totally vegetarian, vegetable broth could be used instead.

This whole thing comes together in 40 or 45 minutes. It also allows you to use up some of those got-to-get-it-out-of-the-fridge-now vegetables. It’s all good.

We even added a few cooked baby potatoes leftover from the night before. Serve this with a side of basmati rice.

Below are the vitals for making this great healthy chicken stir fry recipe.

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