This Healthy Chicken Stir Fry can be your next go-to meal for busy weeknights. It’s done in 30 minutes and in ONE pan for a flavorful and nutritious meal for all to enjoy. It’s made with juicy seared chicken thighs, crisp sugar snap peas, sweet carrots, caramelized onions in a simple homemade teriyaki sauce.
Weeknight dinners are the best when they’re delicious, nutritious and are done in 30 minutes. If you tend to struggle with dinner ideas, I hope you find this recipe inspiring.
As with most of my recipes, they’re easily adaptable and are focused on taste and simplicity. Feel free to substitute the vegetables that I use for ones that you may already have on hand. Also, if you prefer chicken breast over chicken thighs, that’s fine too just make sure that you do not overcook the chicken breast. A meat thermometer would be helpful so that you can read when the internal temperature of the chicken breast has reached 165 degrees F.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN STIR FRY
Healthy Chicken Stir Fry calls for 3 basic ingredients and those ingredients are: protein, vegetables, and a sauce. Although stir fry dishes do not require a lot of work, it’s important to develop the flavors of each component for optimum flavor. Here’s a quick snap shot of what goes into this quick and easy dish.
Protein: Sear chicken on both sides just until done. Keep in mind that you do not have to cook the chicken fully at this point as the chicken will cook further in the sauce. The point here is to create a nice sear on both sides of the chicken for added flavor. Allow the chicken to rest then slice the chicken into strips or cut into small chunks.
Sauce: Combine coco aminos (a soy sauce substitute), water, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, and juice of a lime.
Vegetables: Combine chicken, vegetables and sauce. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, vegetables are tender and sauce has thickened.
For this recipe, I’ve also decided to saute red onions since I have some on hand and do not want them to go bad. I will saute these after I’ve finished searing the chicken then I will add them back to the pan with the other vegetables.
After Step4, add vegetables, sauce and slurry to the skillet and allow to simmer until the sauce thickens.
HOW HEALTHY IS STIR FRY
Stir Fry dishes are very healthy and really convenient. It has most of what you need to provide the proper nutrients that your body needs. It has protein which benefits your muscles, bones, and skin, and vegetables for vitamins, dietary fiber, potassium and other key nutrients that the body needs.
This healthy chicken stir fry recipe is suitable for most dietary lifestyles. Whether your Whole30, keto, paleo, or on a low-carb food plan, you should be fine with just a few minor adjustments to the ingredients list.
WHAT GOES WITH STIR FRY
Chicken stir fry can be served over rice (either white or brown) depending on your preference or noodles. However, if you’re on the Whole30, I would serve over cauliflower rice.
HEALTHY STIR FRY SAUCE
The sauce for this chicken stir fry has all healthy and natural ingredients. You can use soy sauce as your base, but I use coco aminos instead of soy sauce. I started using coco aminos when I did the Whole30 and from that point on I’ve been hooked. The major difference is that coco aminos is sweeter whereas soy sauce is saltier.
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This Healthy Chicken Stir Fry can be your next go-to meal for busy weeknights. It's done in 30 minutes and in ONE pan for a flavorful and nutritious meal. It's made with juicy seared chicken thighs, crisp sugar snap peas, sweet carrots, caramelized onions in a simple homemade teriyaki sauce.
- 1.5 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs
- 1/2 tbsp kosher salt more or less to taste
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 large carrot cut into matchsticks
- sugar snap peas remove string
- red onion sliced
- lime juice juice of half a lime SAVE other half for sauce
- 1/2 cup coco aminos or soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- juice of half a lime
- 1 clove fresh garlic 1 large garlic clove minced or 2 medium cloves
- fresh ginger minced
- 3 tsp arrow root or constarch
- 3 tsp water
Combine ingredients for teriyaki sauce. Set aside for flavors to develop.
Wash vegetables: remove outer skin of carrots and discard. Cut carrots into matchsticks. Remove string from sugar snap peas. Slice onions. Blanch carrots and sugar snap peas in boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove and submerge in ice bath to stop cooking process.
Wash and pat dry chicken with paper towels. Using kitchen shears or sharp knife cut chicken thighs into medium sized chunks or slice into strips. Season with salt and pepper.
Add grapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil in skillet over medium high heat and begin searing the chicken. Sear chicken in batches to create a nice brown outer crust. After all the chicken has been seared, remove from skillet and place on a clean plate.
Add a little oil to the skillet if necessary and saute onions for about 30 seconds, pour in sauce and begin stirring while scraping the brown bits from the skillet, add chicken and begin to simmer until chicken is thoughly cooked, remove vegetables from the ice bath and add to skillet, give a big stir. To thicken the sauce add slurry until you reach your desired consistency.
If using firm vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas or green beans, I would suggest blanching in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then submerging in an ice bath.
I like this process as it minimizes the loss of nutrients due to its short cooking time, and it enhances the color of the vegetables keeping it nice, vibrant, and crisp. Therefore, when you add these types of vegetables to your stir fry after blanching it makes the cooking time shorter.
Feel free to use chicken breast although I prefer the flavor and juiciness of chicken thighs.
If on the Whole30
- Use coco aminos and not soy sauce (coco aminos is a soy sauce substitute)
- Use arrow root instead of corn starch as a thickener
- Do not use any sweeteners
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