Close your eyes. Imagine. It’s a busy Wednesday night, with soccer practice and errands and homework to check. Admist all of that chaos, you still have the urge to whip up something quick, easy to make, healthy, and most importantly- tasty. What to do?
Make my easy weeknight stir fry!
It’s not complicated, and doesn’t require hard-do-find ingredients. It does have plenty of garlicky-umami flavor and cooks up quicker than dominos can deliver you a pizza.
Now I’m not going to lie to you- this isn’t an authentic Asian stir fry. But it is a staple in our house! Easy, simple, good food.
All you’ll need:
1 lb ground chicken
3 cups broccoli, chopped
1 Tablespoon canola oil
2-3 Green onions
Stir Fry Sauce:
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar (or sugar substitute)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Fresh ground black pepper
The first thing you’ll do is whisk stir fry sauce ingredients together in a bowl, and set aside.
Next, prep the garnish. This easy weeknight stir fry will cook quickly so we want everything Ready. To. Go. These are just regular green onions cut at an angle (a bias cut) and I happen to think creates a nicer look.
If we were cooking bias-cut vegetables, slicing them up this way would give you more surface area to brown. Since we aren’t cooking them, it just means they look pretty. I mean, presentation isn’t everything but who doesn’t want their food to look magazine-worthy?
Anyways,
heat your wok – I picked mine up at homegoods, but it’s similar to this one-or use your largest skillet. Heat that baby up on medium-high (err on the side of high) heat. Add your canola or vegetable oil.
You don’t want to use olive oil or butter here, things are going to get hot. The canola or veggie oil will withstand the heat without smoking or burning.
Once things are nice and hot, add the baby trees (hi, I’m Molly and also a mom. Sometimes, mom-isms tend to slip out in my conversations) and cook, stirring often, until it is tender. Since this is Easy Weeknight Stir Fry, feel free to grab yourself the already prepped bag of broccoli and save yourself a few minutes!
Once cooked, transfer your broccoli to a bowl. Add your ground chicken, hitting it with a little salt and pepper while it starts to cook.
Tip:
You can let your pan cool down for a minute or two here to avoid burning the bottom of the meat.
Continue to stir, cook, and break up the chicken. Once cooked through, drain any excess liquid from the pan. Pop your broccoli back in and pour that scrumptious stir fry sauce all ovaaaa everything. Over that medium-high heat, give it all a few good tosses in the pan and let the garlic bloom and brown sugar caramelize just a minute. Things will come together reeeeeal quick here.
It’s officially ready to get in your belly. So, serve over your favorite rice, and top with your pretty little green onions.
Grab your chopsticks and dig in!
Easy Weeknight Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 12 ounces pre-cut broccoli
- 3-4 green onions
- 1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 tbsp brown sugar or brown sugar truvia blend
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar and 5-6 grinds fresh black pepper together in small bowl. Set aside.
- Slice green onions at an angle, thinly, to create a bias cut. Set aside for topping.
- Heat wok or large skillet over medium/high – high heat. Once hot, add oil, then broccoli. Stir fry until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Transfer broccoli out of wok, and let pan cool for 1 minute.
- Add ground chicken, seasoning with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and cook until chicken is cooked through and crumbled, about 5 minutes.
- Add broccoli back to wok and pour stir fry sauce over broccoli and chicken, keeping the wok over the medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes or until garlic is fragrant and everything is coated.
- Serve in bowls over rice, and top with green onions. Enjoy!
