Chicken and Veggies Stir Fry

Here's an easy dinner idea that your whole family is sure to love. It's easy, delicious, healthy, and inexpensive. What more could you need? If you're hungry for takeout, skip the wait (and the delivery fee) and just whip this up. It's got an easy sauce made mostly out of pantry ingredients, is packed with fresh veggies, and the whole thing comes together faster than take-out. If you haven't made stir-fry at home before, give this recipe a try and you may not order out again.

What is the most important thing for a tasty stir fry?

The trick to a tasty stir fry is to cook everything quickly over a high heat. For this reason, you want to use a cast-iron pan or wok, and let it heat up fully before putting anything in (even the oil!). You also want to use a high-heat oil, that is less likely to smoke. Peanut, corn, or vegetable oil work great for this. Olive oil works less well.

Do you cook chicken before stir frying?

Another important step is to cook the chicken (or other meat) first, and then remove it from the pan before adding the vegetables. Putting the meat in a hot pan sears it, and removing it just after it's cooked through ensures that it stays nice and tender without overcooking. (Don't worry about it getting cold. The other ingredients will warm it right back up.)

When it comes to the kind of chicken, we recommend boneless thighs over chicken breast. That's because the dark meat will hold up much better to cooking, will resist overcooking (and getting dry) much better, and will offer more flavor overall. However, if you prefer a different kind of meat, go ahead and use it!

What vegetables are best in a stir fry?

Though you can add (or skip) practically any vegetables—going from a spare chicken and broccoli, or even just chicken and onions, to a packed-up veggie-rich stir fry with barely any meat (or even meatless)—we recommend using a variety of classic veggies, including peppers, onions, snap peas, mushrooms, carrots, and baby corn. The baby corn is classic. It's easy to find canned in most grocery stores.

However, as with the meat, you want to let the pan come (back) to full heat, and you want to avoid crowding the pan with too many vegetables. If you're adding a lot of veggies, or using a smaller pan, cook in batches. This will let you sear and blister the veggies without over-cooking them. If you like your veggies a little softer, you can also lightly steam them by adding a little water to the pan.

What is stir-fry sauce made of?

A great stir-fry sauce is actually fairly simple. It's basically just a stock, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and corn starch. Combined, these offer a balance of savory, salty, and sweet flavors that cling to the vegetables and chicken, and make everything taste yummy. Corn starch works both as a thickener for the sauce and also helps it to clink to the vegetables better.