25-Minute Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry
The takeout template in 25 minutes: velveted chicken breast browned in a hot wok, tossed with blanched broccoli, carrot, garlic, ginger and scallion in a quick oyster sauce and soy sauce glaze.
This is the weeknight version of the takeout menu: one protein, one green vegetable and one sauce, on the table faster than delivery. Made With Lau calls this chicken and broccoli "a template you can use over and over again with different ingredients," and Daddy Lau's method is the restaurant one, scaled for a home stove. The chicken is velveted, marinated in cornstarch and seasonings so a thin coat seals in its juices, then browned fast. The broccoli is blanched first, with salt and a little oil in the water, so it stays bright green.
Swap the chicken for beef, shrimp or tofu and the broccoli for snap peas or asparagus, and you have half the menu at the corner takeout. It also shows what Beef and Broccoli does with more time: that recipe's 30-minute marinade and baking soda make thicker beef slices tender; thin chicken needs only the cornstarch.
Why it works the kitchen science
Velveting
The cornstarch marinade forms a thin coat that protects the chicken in the hot wok, and browning it fast seals in the juices, Made With Lau says, so even lean breast stays tender.
Salt and oil in the blanching water
Made With Lau's tip keeps the broccoli vivid green, and the ice bath stops it cooking so it stays crisp in the stir-fry.
Step by step
- Step 1
Bring the 8 cups of water to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, cut and rinse the broccoli, slice the chicken thin and mix it with the marinade, squeezing so the seasoning gets in. Stir the sauce together and mix the slurry.
- Step 2
Add the salt and 2 tsp oil to the boiling water, add the broccoli and cook until the water just returns to a bubble, no more than 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and plunge into ice water for 1 minute, then drain well.
- Step 3
Heat a wok over high heat until it smokes, add the 2 tbsp oil and turn the heat to low. Add the chicken and let it brown on one side about 30 seconds before flipping, then stir-fry about 2 minutes, until cooked through and the thickest slice reads 165°F. Take it out.
- Step 4
Add the garlic, ginger, scallion whites and carrot and stir-fry 30 to 40 seconds, until fragrant. Turn the heat back to high.
- Step 5
Add the broccoli and the 1 tsp Shaoxing wine and stir-fry 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Return the chicken and stir-fry 30 seconds.
- Step 6
Stir the sauce, pour it into the center of the wok and toss 15 to 20 seconds. Taste and add the 1/2 tsp sugar if you like.
- Step 7
Drizzle in the slurry a little at a time while stirring, about 30 seconds, until glossy; you may not need it all. Stir in the sesame oil, turn off the heat and serve.
25-Minute Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry
Serves 4 · 1 platter · 25 min total
Chicken and marinade
- 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp Shaoxing wine or other cooking wine
- 1/3 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water
Stir-fry
- 1 lb broccoli (about 2 heads), cut into florets, stems peeled and sliced
- 8 cups water, 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp oil, for blanching
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 oz fresh ginger, sliced into small triangles
- 1 oz scallion whites, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 oz carrot, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
- 1/2 tsp sugar (optional, to taste)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Method
- Bring the 8 cups of water to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, cut and rinse the broccoli, slice the chicken thin and mix it with the marinade, squeezing so the seasoning gets in. Stir the sauce together and mix the slurry.
- Add the salt and 2 tsp oil to the boiling water, add the broccoli and cook until the water just returns to a bubble, no more than 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and plunge into ice water for 1 minute, then drain well.
- Heat a wok over high heat until it smokes, add the 2 tbsp oil and turn the heat to low. Add the chicken and let it brown on one side about 30 seconds before flipping, then stir-fry about 2 minutes, until cooked through and the thickest slice reads 165°F. Take it out.
- Add the garlic, ginger, scallion whites and carrot and stir-fry 30 to 40 seconds, until fragrant. Turn the heat back to high.
- Add the broccoli and the 1 tsp Shaoxing wine and stir-fry 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Return the chicken and stir-fry 30 seconds.
- Stir the sauce, pour it into the center of the wok and toss 15 to 20 seconds. Taste and add the 1/2 tsp sugar if you like.
- Drizzle in the slurry a little at a time while stirring, about 30 seconds, until glossy; you may not need it all. Stir in the sesame oil, turn off the heat and serve.
Adapted from Made With Lau (Daddy Lau and Randy Lau), "Chicken Stir Fry" (published February 2024, updated October 2026), serves 4, 25 minutes. We follow it as written: 16 oz broccoli and 12 oz chicken breast; a marinade of cornstarch, water, salt, oyster sauce and white pepper; garlic, 1/2 oz ginger, 1 oz scallion whites and 1 oz carrot; a sauce of oyster sauce, light soy sauce, salt, sugar, cooking wine and white pepper; a 1 tbsp cornstarch slurry; the broccoli blanched in 8 cups water with salt and oil and shocked in ice water 1 minute; 2 tbsp oil; the chicken browned about 30 seconds and stir-fried about 2 minutes; 30 to 40 seconds for the aromatics, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes for the broccoli, 30 seconds with the chicken, 15 to 20 seconds with the sauce and about 30 seconds for the slurry. Made With Lau soaks the broccoli 10 to 15 minutes to clean it; we rinse it instead to keep to 25 minutes. The 165°F check is ours. Made With Lau. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (1)
Tips
- Don't flip the chicken too soon or it sticks; let it release on its own.
- Start with a hot pan: Made With Lau lists a cool pan as a top mistake.
- Swap in snap peas, asparagus or gai lan, which all need blanching; leafy bok choy or napa can go straight into the wok.
- Make it a beef night: see Beef and Broccoli for the restaurant beef method.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Velveting is a restaurant secret. Folklore: Made With Lau calls it one of the most essential stir-fry techniques and shows it openly.
- You need a wok. Folklore: Made With Lau cooks in one, but any heavy skillet that gets very hot works.
- Blanching water needs oil. Documented as Made With Lau's tip for color.
- Stir-fry sauces need lots of soy sauce. Folklore: this one is mostly oyster sauce, with 1 tbsp soy sauce.
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