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This Chicken and Broccoli recipe will become a new family favorite. It’s an easy weeknight dinner that combines bite-sized chicken and broccoli florets with the best homemade teriyaki sauce you’ve ever had. Ready in 20 minutes and better than takeout!
This easy 20-minute teriyaki chicken recipe will be one that you keep on your dinner menu rotation WEEKLY. Because let’s face it… When it comes to choosing easy weeknight dinners, we need quick, but we want delicious. When you can marry the two together, you get a dish that’s easy to be OBSESSED about!
This chicken teriyaki dish has become one of our family’s favorites. The recipe is so easy to throw together after work (yes, it only takes 20 minutes!), and it’s easy to customize based on what you have in the fridge. Have some snow peas that need to be used up? Throw them in! Shrimp? A great addition!
No matter how you make it, this dish is a keeper and one I’m excited for you to make. If you’re a visual person, check out the video of me making it below! Once you see just how easy it is to make Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli, you’ll want to make it too!
(If you’re looking for a traditional version of this recipe, try this Chinese chicken and broccoli… and while you’re at it, check out this sweet and sour chicken, too!)
Why You’ll Love This Chicken and Broccoli Recipe
What’s not to love? There are so many reasons to make this easy chicken dinner as soon as you can:
- Sweet and tangy. The homemade teriyaki sauce is drool-inducing. It’s got the perfect amount of sweetness, and I love how thick it is. It coats the chicken and broccoli so well that you’ll want to pour it all over your rice too.
- Adaptable. Feel free to swap out the broccoli for your favorite veggie and swap out the chicken for your favorite protein. You can use brown rice, quinoa, or noodles for your base — whatever floats your boat!
- Healthy. This meal is an excellent form of protein and a great way to use up a bunch of veggies sitting in your fridge. With that said, it can be high in sodium, which is why we use a low-sodium soy sauce. It’s an easy substitution and doesn’t affect the taste at all.
- Quick and simple. Ready in only 20 minutes, this teriyaki chicken and broccoli dish is WAY better than takeout! And it’s faster than any restaurant can get to you. Can we call that a win?!
What You’ll Need
A great weeknight recipe should use a short list of ingredients to create amazing flavor. This chicken broccoli recipe does just that! In fact, you likely have each of these ingredients already on-hand in your pantry. Scroll down to the recipe card for the amounts of each.
- Chicken – Use a large boneless skinless chicken breast and then dice it into 1-inch cubes.
- Broccoli – I like to use fresh broccoli (frozen broccoli will also work, though – see tips for more info).
- Vegetable Oil – For browning the chicken. If you’d like to use a different neutral cooking oil, go right ahead!
- Soy Sauce – I like using a low-sodium soy sauce or tamari to be able to control the saltiness of the homemade teriyaki sauce.
- Brown Sugar – I use dark brown sugar to add richness of flavor to the sauce.
- Garlic – Freshly minced garlic provides the strongest, boldest flavor.
- Rice Vinegar – For a hint of acidity. If you only see rice wine vinegar at the store instead, don’t worry, they’re the same thing.
- Cornstarch – This will help thicken up the sauce.
How to Make Chicken and Broccoli
As mentioned above, this easy recipe for teriyaki chicken is a perfect choice for a weeknight dinner. And the homemade teriyaki sauce is simple but extremely flavorful. You’ll never want to buy pre-made sauce again! Here’s how to make it:
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch, and water. Whisk everything together until it turns into a cohesive sauce.
- Blanch the broccoli. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add the broccoli florets. Blanch the broccoli for 5 minutes and then immediately transfer it to an ice bath (a large bowl of water filled with ice). This process immediately stops the cooking process of the broccoli to prevent the florets from getting mushy. Set this bowl aside until the broccoli is completely cool.
- Brown the chicken. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot but not yet smoking, add the chicken pieces and brown them on both sides.
- Add the broccoli and homemade teriyaki sauce. Once the chicken is cooked, add the broccoli, followed by the sauce. Stir gently for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
- Serve. Serve your teriyaki chicken and broccoli over rice while it’s still hot!
Watch This Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli Come Together
Check out this step-by-step guide on how to make this chicken broccoli recipe:
Tips & Recipe Variations
See how simple it is to make this meal? I have just a few more tips (and substitution suggestions) to share with you – they’ll help you make the BEST chicken and broccoli:
- How to make sure that the sauce thickens. Make sure you have your heat on at least medium-high. Cornstarch – the thickening agent in our homemade teriyaki sauce – uses heat to activate.
- Use frozen broccoli if you don’t have fresh broccoli. Just make sure to thaw it out and drain off the excess liquid before you add it to the pan.
- Feel free to use chicken thighs if you don’t have chicken breasts. I actually tend to use chicken thighs more than chicken breasts, in all honesty. If you go this route, I suggest using boneless skinless chicken thighs and cubing them into about 1-inch pieces.
What Goes With Chicken and Broccoli?
Teriyaki chicken and broccoli is pretty filling and satisfying as-is, but you can add on some sides to it if you like! Here’s what I’d suggest:
- Rice. You can make white rice, brown rice, or even quinoa! Any of the above will taste fantastic with this teriyaki chicken recipe.
- Noodles. I think this dinner would be SO good with lo-mein-style noodles – feel free to replace the rice with these. The thick sauce would coat all the noodles, and you can twirl them together with the chicken and broccoli!
- Veggies. Throw together something quick like this cabbage stir fry as an easy veggie side dish!
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
Leftover teriyaki chicken and broccoli should absolutely be saved for later meals! Here’s how to do that:
- To store. Keep your leftover chicken and broccoli in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- To reheat. Heat up the leftovers in a pan on the stovetop over medium heat, and cook until the chicken is warmed through. Or, simply use the microwave!
Can I Freeze This Chicken and Broccoli Recipe?
You sure can! Once everything has cooled, store the chicken and broccoli in an airtight container and freeze it for 2-3 months. Make sure to thaw the container in the fridge overnight before reheating!
More Easy Chinese Takeout Dinner Ideas
These easy takeout-style dinners are so comforting! The whole family will love them.
- Teriyaki Beef and Broccoli
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Honey Sesame Chicken
- Pineapple Fried Rice
- Mongolian Beef
Easy 20-Minute Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 4 cups (364 g) fresh broccoli, (see notes below if you’re using frozen broccoli)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into 1-inch cubes
For the sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup (118 ml) low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup (59 ml) water
- ½ tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¼ cup (55 g) dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoon) cornstarch
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.2 cloves garlic, ½ cup (118 ml) low-sodium soy sauce, ¼ cup (59 ml) water, ½ tablespoon rice vinegar, ¼ cup (55 g) dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoon) cornstarch
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add the broccoli. Blanch the broccoli for 5 minutes then immediately transfer the broccoli to an ice bath (a large bowl of water with ice in it) to stop the cooking process. Set aside.4 cups (364 g) fresh broccoli
- In a skillet, brown chicken on both sides with vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add the broccoli (excess water drained well) then turn the heat down to medium. Gently pour in the sauce and let thicken, about 5 minutes. Gently toss the ingredients in the sauce until everything is coated well.1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
- Serve over rice.
Video
Notes
- If you’re using frozen broccoli, you will not need to do step 2. Make sure you thaw the broccoli out well and drain it of excess water. Add to the skillet the same time the fresh broccoli is added in step 3.
- To store. Keep your leftover chicken and broccoli in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- To reheat. Heat up the leftovers in a pan on the stovetop over medium heat, and cook until the chicken is warmed through. Or, simply use the microwave!
- To freeze. Once everything has cooled, store the chicken and broccoli in an airtight container and freeze it for 2-3 months. Make sure to thaw the container in the fridge overnight before reheating!
Found this recipe on Pinterest. Just finished making and eating this for dinner. Soooooo delicious! Definitely making it again…soon!
How would this chance the recipe if I eliminated the brown sugar? Any issues with consistency? Trying to avoid added sugars. Would honey be an appropriate compromise?
There shouldn’t be consistency issues as the cornstarch will help thicken the sauce no matter what. I think you should be fine using honey in place of brown sugar!
Just tried this recipe, doubled it, and the whole family loved it! Fantastic :)
I made this dish for the second time today and it is amazing! The sauce specifically is to die for, easily the best teriyaki sauce I have ever had.
The first time I made this I followed the directions to blanch the broccoli and for some reason it came out too soft (almost soggy) for my liking. Maybe I’m just used to crisp-tender broccoli or maybe I left it in a little too long. So the second time I made this I instead steamed the broccoli for 6 minutes and ended up with perfectly cooked broccoli.
Also, this time I used olive oil instead of vegetable. For a tiny extra touch I added a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.
Next time I think I may try this with beef, just to see how it is.
Thank you very much!
Don’t you just love the sauce?! Thanks so much for the feedback, Elle!
We made this last week and it was amazing. Tastes so fresh and healthy. My husband said its a keeper. I’ve been sharing your link with friends.
Thanks so much Ashley!
If I can’t use the vinegar, do you think it would mess up the sauce? is there a substitute you would recommend? Thanks. It sounds wonderful!
I don’t think it’d mess up the sauce, but it might be too sweet. I added the vinegar in there to cut the sweetness – maybe you can just use less brown sugar.
Julie, Julie, Julie, I have made this 3 times in 10 days. My son and daughter really like it a lot. I have a hard time liking some of the teriyaki sauces at some of the nearby restaurants, but this is one I can actually eat. I did modify it a little from the original. I used garlic powder and increased the amount of brown sugar. I am so glad I found your recipe. I just sent the instructions to my sister so she can make it now too. Thanks for a delicious and quick recipe.
So happy you guys love this so much! Thanks for sharing the recipe with your sister :)
Just tried this sauce tonight (we started with chicken and broccoli, but we also added carrots, mushrooms and onions), and I found it too sweet and too heavy for my tastes. I’m going to try it again with a little bit of honey in place of the brown sugar and skip the cornstarch altogether. I cut back my sugar and salt intake significantly a few years ago and just about EVERYTHING tastes too sweet/salty to me, so I’m sure I’m in the minority here. :) Definitely a good base and I’m looking forward to experimenting with it. Thank you!
I agree, I’ve had this dish many times as a New Yorker, the sauce is usually more of a balance between sweet and savory with savory being the takeaway. I plan to experiment with the sauce but definitely a great place to start. Thanks for the recipe.
I am having a dinner party for 20 people. Id love to serve this. Can you please convert this to 20 people for be?
Hi Lidia, I’m sorry but I cannot convert this for you. I would just multiply everything by 10 since this serves 2 as is.
Ok thanks
Great Recipe!! Do you happen to have a good recipe for Curry Chicken?
Hi Barbara, glad you enjoyed this recipe. No, I don’t currently have a recipe for curry chicken but I do have other curry recipes: https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/?s=curry