When you need a quick and easy dinner loaded with delicious flavor, not a lot of effort, this ground chicken stirfry is always a great choice. This super-quick meal is ready in under 20 minutes, and every bite is packed with tender ground chicken, bell peppers, and zucchini in a sweet and savory sauce.
Ground chicken breast is one of my favorite proteins for meals. It's an excellent substitute for beef, allowing me to create dishes like ground chicken spaghetti that are lower in fat than their beef counterparts, yet still full of flavor. Anyone who tells you ground chicken isn't tasty just hasn't had it made the right way!
It's also incredibly versatile. If your recipe calls for ground beef, you can always use ground chicken instead. If you do it right, even grilled chicken burgers can be just as juicy and delicious as their beef counterparts.
I say all this from experience. As a nutritionist with two kids, I've always had to balance the health benefits of a dish with flavor. Of course, that works out for me, as well.
My lean ground chicken stir-fry recipe is the perfect example of balancing flavor with better-for-you options. Using ground chicken in place of beef reduces calories and saturated fat, while still keeping the dish quick and easy. That's especially true of ground chicken Asian inspired recipes like this one that have so many other bold flavors in them.
This simple ground chicken stir fry is a great low carb meal served as-is or over cauliflower rice. You can also serve it with brown rice, sticky rice, and your favorite Asian noodles. It's super versatile.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: This stirfry with ground chicken uses simple ingredients you can find in any grocery store.
- Quick and Easy: It only takes a few simple steps and about 20 minutes to make this recipe.
- So Much Flavor: The ground chicken, veggies, and sweet, tangy stirfry sauce create a dish that explodes with flavor in every bite.
- Better for You: Using ground chicken gives this dish plenty of meaty flavor and texture while eliminating the saturated fat and higher calories of ground beef.
- Great for All Diets: This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, and nut free, so almost anyone can enjoy it.
- Customizable: It's easy to change up this recipe to make it your own.
- Great for Meal Prep: This is a freezer-friendly recipe, so feel free to make extra for future use!
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Ingredients
I used Springer Mountain Farms ground white meat chicken for this recipe. I always use this brand because it never uses antibiotics or hormones, and it never adds animal by-products to its feed. It's also American Humane Certified, which I really love.
You can find a complete list of ingredients and their exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Variations
- Ground Chicken: Use ground beef to make a ground beef stir fry. You can also use beef, pork, chicken chunks, or even seafood, such as shrimp.
- Bell Pepper: Green, orange, yellow, or red bell peppers all work for this recipe. You can even mix them for more color.
- Add More Veggies: Veggies like broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, bamboo shoots, baby corn, carrots, and water chestnuts work very well in this recipe.
- Spicy: Add red pepper flakes or sliced red chili peppers for a kick of heat.
- Soy Sauce: Soy and Tamari sauce can be used interchangeably in this dish, so use your favorite.
- Honey: I used brown honey for this recipe, but you can use light honey in a pinch.
How to Make Ground Chicken Stirfry
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Cook the ground chicken, aromatics, and seasonings in a large skillet over medium heat until browned. Then, remove the chicken from the pan.
Add the olive oil to the pan and cook the peppers until they begin to soften slightly. Then, add the zucchini, salt, and pepper, and cook for a few more minutes until they are just tender.
Add the ground chicken and sauce to the pan and stir well. Then, mix the water and cornstarch and add it to the pan. Simmer until thickened and enjoy over rice, noodles, or more veggies.
Expert Tips
- Stop cooking the ground chicken as soon as it's cooked through. Because it has very little fat, it can get rubbery and tough very quickly.
- Cook the vegetables until they're tender but not mushy. Crisp-tender is the sweet spot for the best flavor and texture. They cook faster than you think!
- Be sure to use a large, spacious skillet so that nothing is crowded, allowing your food to cook evenly.
- Mix the stirfry very well when you add the cornstarch slurry to ensure even, uniform, and maximum thickening.
Ground Chicken Stirfry FAQ
Ground chicken is very good in stirfry and highly underrated. It's affordable, easy to cook, very lean, and pairs well with almost any flavor.
Absolutely. In fact, it can be used in absolutely any recipe that calls for ground beef. You may need to add a bit more oil, fat, or liquid due to the lean nature of the chicken, and additional seasoning may be required. However, it's an excellent replacement for beef.
Ground chicken is one of the few exceptions where a meat thermometer is not necessary to ensure the chicken is fully cooked. It's easy to tell your ground chicken is cooked because it will no longer be pink.
📖 Recipe
Ground Chicken Stirfry
Video
Ingredients
Stirfry
- 1 lb ground chicken breast
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 zucchini quartered
- 1 red bell pepper sliced thin
- 2 tablespoon dry shallots
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Sauce
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoon cold water
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey, brown sugar, ginger powder, garlic paste, and black pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the ground chicken, dry shallots, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder until the chicken is no longer pink. Then, drain the mixture and set it aside.
- Heat the olive oil in the same pan over medium heat. Then, cook the bell peppers for 2 minutes. Next, add the zucchini, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ground chicken and sauce to the pan and stir well. Then, make a slurry of the cornstarch and water and add it to the pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce thickens. Enjoy!
Notes
- Refrigerate for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
- Defrost overnight in the fridge if frozen. Then, reheat the entire dish in a saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat. You can also microwave individual portions at 1-minute intervals.
- Stop cooking the ground chicken as soon as it's cooked through. Because it has very little fat, it can get rubbery and tough very quickly.
- Cook the vegetables until they're tender but not mushy. Crisp-tender is the sweet spot for the best flavor and texture. They cook faster than you think!
- Be sure to use a large, spacious skillet so that nothing is crowded, allowing your food to cook evenly.
- Mix the stirfry very well when you add the cornstarch slurry to ensure even, uniform, and maximum thickening.
Sharon Munkdale says
I am sure we will enjoy this. I am wondering what is "BROWN HONEY"? I only have regular honey, will that work?
Nicole Kendrick says
So sorry, that was a typo. It has been edited!