Honey Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

Honey Sesame Chicken Stir Fry is a quick and easy recipe perfect any night of the week. Like take out but so much better as you know all of the ingredients it saves time and money. With a simple sweet and sticky sauce. The whole family will love this chicken sesame stir fry that ticks the 'Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner' box 😉👍.

Recipes like the Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup, Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs, Creamy Mushroom Chicken Thighs and the Mexican Lime Chicken Thighs all use chicken thighs not chicken breast.

So does the Chicken Yaki Udon, Chicken and Chorizo Paella and the Marinated Chicken Thighs.

🤍 Recipe Highlights

• Healthy stir fry loaded with vegetables: we combine tender chicken pieces, lots of great veggies and coat them in a sauce which is full of flavour.
• Quick prep time: once the veggies are sliced and we whisk together the sauce, we simply need to cook the dish. It is an easy chicken recipe that works time after time!
• Full of flavour: this chicken mushroom capsicum stir fry is loaded with so much flavor! The honey soy sauce glides over the chicken and veggies and is insanely delicious. It is an easy dinner that works.
• Back to basics: some night's you want to spend an hour or 2 roasting a roast chicken. Other night's you want back to simple cooking that is a family favorite. This is a dish that gets dinner on the table ASAP 👍😉.
• Perfect to meal prep: this dish gets cooked in the one pan. You can serve it with cooked rice if you wish. It is perfect to whip up on the weekends and portion out for busy week nights during the week when you may not have the time or desire to cook.
• Freezer friendly: this recipe freezes well. It is great for nights when you want take out style food from your kitchen but don't want to start from scratch.

Tasty Tip 1: for night's when you are short on time, serve with store bought pre cooked rice. This will mean you only need to heat and it will be ready to eat 👍🥰😘!

🥗 Ingredients 

This chicken stir fry recipe uses simple, basic ingredients that are easy to find! Your local grocery store will have everything you need. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements.

As you can see the ingredients we need are:

• Peanut oil: is excellent to use for Asian recipes. Sesame oil will work also.
• Salt and pepper: we use these to season the dish. We only need a small amount of each kosher salt (cooking salt) and black pepper.
• Honey: this gives us the 'sweet' component to the sauce. It also helps to slightly thicken the soy sauce without having to add corn starch.
• Capsicum: known in the USA as bell peppers, this is a veggie that shines in stir fry recipes. The slices add colour, crunch and cook very quickly!
• Zucchini: is another great ingredient to use when stir frying. It only needs the tip and end cut off then then can be sliced into pieces. It too cooks quickly.
• Corn spears: found either in a jar in the Asian foods aisle (drain and rinse prior to using). Or in a packet in the fruit and veggie section. Cut into bite-sized pieces.
• Chicken thighs: these are budget friendly and result in soft, juicy chicken when cooked. We want to use boneless skinless chicken thighs (as shown in the photo above). This means minimal prep as they only need to be diced into cubes.
• Champignon mushrooms: these will be with the tinned vegetables at the store. Drain and rinse. You can use whole mushrooms or pieces and stems for an alternative. Whoops, sorry I can see that I left them out of the photo above 😭. They were likely on the bench and I forgot about them but you will see them in the process shots 👍😉.
• Sesame seeds: sprinkled over the dish for serving. You can toast them if you wish to.

🍯 Honey Sesame Chicken Stir Fry Sauce

The sauce for the recipe is sweet and sticky. We use simple ingredients that compliment each other.

• Honey: sweet, sticky and thick, this ingredient brings a lovely touch of sweetness to the recipe and helps give the soy some lift and lightness in the dish 👍😉.
• Soy sauce: this is light soy sauce. It works especially well with the honey and gives the stir fry a lovely golden colour. It is the non sweet component of the savory sauce.
• Garlic powder: handy to have in the pantry. We add this to the honey soy sauce.
• Onion powder: as above, an excellent pantry staple saving time, chopping and tears.

Tasty Tip 2: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. You will need a small jug to combine the sauce ingredients.

1. Gather sauce ingredients (Photo 1)
2. Whisk to combine (Photo 2)
3. Add oil, chicken, salt and pepper to pan (Photo 3)
4. Then add the vegetables (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Honey Soy Chicken Stir Fry

We start by whisking together the sauce. Do this by gathering the honey, soy sauce, garlic powder and onion. Add them to a small jug and use a mini whisk to combine then set aside.

Next place a saute pan or large wok on the stove. Turn the heat to high, add the peanut oil, chopped chicken thighs, salt and pepper to the hot pan.

Then use a slotted spoon to move and toss the chicken in the pan, cooking for around 8 - 10 minutes.

Once the juicy chicken thigh pieces are golden brown on the surface and cooked through you can use a slotted spoon to lift them up and out of the pan and place them into a bowl lined with paper towel.

Next without rinsing or cleaning the pan add the red peppers, zucchini, corn spears and mushrooms.

Cook these for 2- 3 minutes. They will have a wet look once they are cooked.

Next add the cooked chicken back to the pan with the veggies.

• Add the cooked chicken back to the pan (Photo 5)

After the chicken has been added back to the pan, pour the honey soy glaze over the dish like you see in the photo below.

• Pour in the sauce (Photo 6)

Stir to combine the chicken, vegetables and sauce. Then allow everything in the pan to heat through. This will only take 2-3 minutes.

• Stir to combine (Photo 7)

Once everything is heated through, you are ready to serve your stir fry (I feel that needs a woot woot 👏). I have some ideas below to help!

🍽 Serving Suggestions

You have a couple of choices to make when serving your stir fry. If you want a starter the Air Fryer Frozen Spring Rolls fit the theme quite nicely.

Whilst the stir fry is fully loaded on its own and packed with flavour from the chicken, vegetables and sauce, you may want to add a carbohydrate when serving.

Some easy options are top spread it over a bed of rice (shown above), quinoa or noodles. Or make the Microwave Coconut Rice as an easy pairing.

These each offer a complimentary pairing and none of them take too long to bring together. Basmati, Jasmine or brown rice are all good options to pair with stir fry.

You can also get precooked rice from the shops that only needs to be heated. This saves time and effort on busy night's when you know you will be short on both.

A sprinkle of sesame seeds over the top and dinner is done!

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Stir left over stir fry in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge. The leftovers will last 2 days. They need to be reheat prior to serving.

How to Freeze

Allow the dish to fully cool before portioning into airtight, sealed containers. They can be frozen for up to 3 months.

How to Reheat

Allow frozen portions to thaw in the fridge during the day and then reheat using the microwave on high (bowl covered with cling wrap) for 2-3 minutes until heated through.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

• The photos throughout the post show you skinless boneless chicken thighs. However, you can also use diced chicken breast. It will take a couple extra minutes to cook as the meat is a lot denser.
• You can use maple syrup as a replacement for the honey (equivalent amount).
• Try using different fresh veggies if you wish such as snow peas, green beans, bok choy, broccoli or asparagus. (Your favorite veggies will work too!).
• Serve the stir fry with noodles if you want a non rice option.
• Soy Sauce substitute: you can use Tamari (find in the Asian grocery aisle at Woolworths/Coles/your local grocer) instead of soy sauce or dark soy sauce offers another good alternative. Taste as you go, with the tip of your pinky in the sauce (dip it) as you want to get the taste just right for your preferences. Hoisin or oyster sauce are also great alternatives (equivalent amount).

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• Peanut oil or sesame oil are better choices for Asian stir frys than olive oil. This is because they have a more authentic asian flavour which compliments the cuisine.
• Have all of your ingredients prepped and ready and keep things moving in the pan. This recipe cooks very quickly. 
• Turn the heat to high and allow the oil to heat before adding the chicken so it starts to sizzle as soon as you add it to the pan.
• You can make the honey soy sauce ahead of time or prep it on the weekends for a quick week night dinner. Simply give it a few stirs before using.
• Further on the point above, stir the sauce moments before pouring over the stir fry to ensure it is consistently mixed together, without the honey sitting at the bottom of the jug.
• The vegetables will only need 2 to 3 minutes to cook through so keep an eye on them so they retain some crunch about them. When they have a wet sweaty look you know that they are done. Overcooking them turns them mushy and they loose their crispness 😭.
• Microwave store bought cooked rice for serving works for making weeknight dinners fuss free and effortless.
• Love recipes with honey? Try the Baked Feta With Honey, Honey Soy Pork Ribs, Honey Pecan Cream Cheese, Honey Glazed Pork Chops or the Sticky Pork Rashers.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions 

How do you make a good stir fry at home?

To make a good stir fry at home, you need some crispy fresh vegetables, a protein such as chicken, ingredients to make a sauce and a rice or noodle option to pair it with.

What goes with chicken stir fry?

Rice, noodles, cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spring rolls and dim sims are good pairings with, before or on the side of a chicken stir fry.

What type of chicken meat is good for stir fry?

Chicken breast and chicken thighs are the best meat to use for chicken stir fry recipes. Both are best skinless as they need only be chopped into small pieces and will cook quickly.

😍 More Easy Chicken Recipes 

Dinners can be fuss free and enjoyable with some easy recipes up your sleeve that offer variety through cook time, taste and texture. Here are some more chicken recipes that I hope you love!

• Slow Cooker French Onion Chicken
• Chicken Noodle Stir Fry
• Grilled Chicken Alfredo
• White Wine Sauce With Chicken
• Oven Chicken Kabobs
• Chicken Mince Stir Fry
• Instant Pot Chicken Spaghetti
• Chicken Ribs (Baked then Grilled)
• Chicken Rice Paper Rolls
• Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup

It is time to get our stir fry on my friend. You can also find all of my chicken dinner recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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