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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!
Cannot wait to try this, looks delicious!
So excited to try this! How much sauce does this recipe make? I am going to need to make about 6-8 breasts, and was wondering how many times I need to double the sauce! Thanks!!
I would double or triple the sauce since it’s kind of thick
This came up as a “gluten free” recipe, but soy sauce is used. Whether its Low sodium or regular soy sauce, it had gluten in it
If you’re coming from Pinterest, you can’t trust their ‘categorization’ they do on recipes. They’re usually 99% wrong. I didn’t say this was gluten-free at all in this recipe so it’s probably wherever you came from that is describing this recipe wrong.
Thanks for this yummy recipe.I tried it last night it came really so yummy and delicious.I must say the way you explain and the images are really help me lot to prepare.
Saw this on your snap and had to google it immediately. Making this for Tony and I. :) He’s not normally into take-out but I bet he will love this!!!! xoxo
Yay!!! :)
can this be a substitute with beef and are you talking about seasoned rice vinegar? Sounds amazing!
Hi Salina, yup you can substitute with thinly sliced beef. And yes, seasoned rice vinegar is fine.
We Love this recipe, so easy and fast, but yet amazing flavor and great tasting .
Thank you Julie for sharing this recipe! My boyfriend just moved in and I wanted to surprise him with a delicious meal. Arriving home from work, As soon as he opened the door he said, “That smells good!” And it was so yummy! I scored some points!! ;-)
I made this with Splenda’s brown sugar bacause diabetes runs in my family. Also added red chili pepper flakes to make it sweet and spicy. It was so good. Thanks for the recipe.
Splenda has a man made chemical in it which although FDA approved (which by the way the FDA also approved small doses of arsenic in our drinks and chicken until someone caught on and called them out on it) is cancerous / slowly damages your organs. I would cut the brown sugar and use 2 tablespoons of honey. Don’t point in dodging diabetes for cancer, dodge them both!
When you say that honey is a suitable substitute for the brown sugar, would you use the same measurement (1/4 cup)? Also, will the taste and consistency be the same?
Yes, I’d recommend the same measurement. It will alter the taste a bit. Consistency should be the same.
Hello! Made this dinner tonight and loved how quick and easy it was and also that it was relatively easy. It seems the majority of the comments have mentioned how exceptional the sauce is. I doubled the recipe for my family and the sauce was very strong on the vinegar flavor. We do not have sensitive palettes and we definitely like vinegar, so that is not the issue; I’m thinking the recipe has to be adjusted slightly when doubling. I’m definitely not criticizing the meal, because I have other recipes that we LOVE that simply don’t convert exactly when doubling or tripling. I made one of my absolute favorite recipes for company one evening and was mortified when the sauce was almost inedible it was so salty. Since then, when I double it I double all other ingredients except the salt. I may just cut the vinegar just a bit in this recipe next time I make it and see if that makes the difference. Julie, I’m wondering if you have doubled or tripled this with successful results? Thank you again for a great recipe. It’s clear from all the other rave reviews that my experience was the exception and I need to give this one another shot! Going to look around the site a bit for other recipes. :)
Hi Colleen! Definitely know you’re criticizing this recipe – thank you for your feedback! Yeah, so rice wine vinegar can be overpowering when used too much and I can certainly see that the case in this here so maybe next time, don’t double the vinegar amount but double everything else? It’d probably end up great! I’ve doubled this recipe with success but again, taste palates are different with everyone so if you’re saying it’s strong vinegary taste, I would not double that next time :)