Chinese restaurants have delicious stir-fry dishes. I love stir-fry so much that I installed a new cooktop with a dedicated high-heat wok burner in the center. I use it often to make stir fry recipes in my perfectly seasoned, carbon steel wok. I have a beef stir fry recipe with chicken and a broccoli stir fry. When we got a delivery of gorgeous chicken and beef from New York City, I couldn't decide between chicken or flank steak. So, I created a Delicious Chicken and Beef Stir Fry Recipe. This recipe captures all the flavors and textures of the meats, broccolini, and my favorite vegetables.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This recipe represents the best of the stir-fry recipes. It is packed with two proteins, chicken breast and flank steak, a delicious stir fry sauce, and oodles of fresh vegetables.
- There is chopping and slicing involved, but I will have some tips to make that part easier.
- You don't need to add a wok burner to your cooktop or buy a carbon steel wok. You are good to go if you have a stove and a large skillet with high sides.
- If you serve the stir fry over white rice, brown rice, or even cauliflower rice, have extra sauce available to pour over at the table. Delicious!
Ingredients
For the full recipe with quantities, see the recipe card at the end of the post.
Ingredient Notes
Most of the ingredients you'll need are pretty self-explanatory. Here are the exceptions.
- Chicken - I use a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Try to find chicken that has been air-chilled. Air-cooled chicken has a better texture and flavor than water-cooled chicken. Since it has not been pumped full of water during processing, it can absorb sauces and marinades better.
- Beef - My go-to cut of beef for stir fry is flank steak. It is well marbled and can be cooked quickly and still be tender. You can also use skirt steak or sirloin steak.
- Sesame Oil - Toasted sesame oil is best. Always refrigerate your sesame oil as it can become rancid quickly.
- Soy Sauce - I recommend using low-sodium soy sauce for stir fry. You can add more before serving if needed, but you can never take any out.
- Vegetables - My choices are just suggestions. Use what you like and have on hand.
- The snow peas did not look fresh at the grocery store so I opted for sugar snap peas instead.
- I love baby corn from my old salad bar days, so I had to add it.
- If you use green beans, I suggest blanching them for a few minutes because they cook slower than the others. Give them a head start.
- Red bell peppers are my favorite but green peppers work too.
- Green onions are great and a garlic clove or two are a must.
- Bok choy is great in stir fry. Look for baby bok choy if you can find it.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Mix first seven ingredients together for stir fry sauce.
Shake well in a small jar. Set aside until time to cook.
Chop and cut all vegetables for the stir fry and refrigerate until ready to use.
Slice the meats thin and season with salt and pepper and refrigerate.
Heat pan and add tablespoon oil. Swirl the pan to distribute the oil.
Add the meat to the hot pan using a spatula. Begin spreading the meat out.
Leave the meat alone until it begins to turn brown on the bottom. Stir to flip. Remove meat from pan.
Add remaining oil & vegetables. Begin flipping & turning, cooking the veggies.
Stir fry rapidly flipping and turning. You want to do this continually.
If needed, add a plash of chicken broth if the pan gets dry.
Add the meat back into the pan and stir. Continue stir frying until well mixed.
Pour about ¾ of the sauce into the pan reserving the remainder for serving.
Stir fry, flipping the meat & vegetables. Make sure the sauce coats everything.
When steaming hot remove from heat and transfer to a serving platter. Enjoy!
Variations
- Variations of my Chicken and Steak Stir Fry Recipe are endless.
- If you don't like something, omit it.
- If you like a sweeter sauce, double the brown sugar.
- If you like a tangy sauce, double the vinegar.
- If you don't like chicken, just use steak and vice-versa.
- If you like more heat, double the red pepper flakes and chili oil next time.
- Add pineapple chunks, peanuts or cashews, or even add cooked Chinese noodles.
Recipe FAQ'S
You do lose some of the high-sided cooking area you get with a wok, but even stir-fry expert, Grace Young agrees that a skillet makes a suitable substitute.
Stir-frying is similar to sautéing, but amplified. With stir-frying, the heat is higher and the action is faster. Sautéing cooks large or small pieces of food in a wide, shallow pan in a small amount of hot fat over medium-high heat, turning often or just once.
Chop, slice and dice all your ingredients before you heat the pan.
Slice meat and vegetables thin for maximum surface area so they cook fast.
Use a wok, cast iron pan, or sauté pan.
Aromatics like garlic & ginger should be cooked low and slow before the other ingredients.
The stir fry itself needs to be cooked fast and hot.
Add ingredients according to how fast they cook.
Stir your ingredients often. A large spatula or wok spatula work best.
Looking for More Stir Fry Recipes?
Food Storage Tips
Chicken and Steak Stir Fry Recipe is meant to be eaten immediately, while still steaming hot. That said, we had leftovers. I stored them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Next day we heated it up in the microwave on the "reheat" setting. It was still very good.
Equipment
- Wok or large skillet, preferably cast iron
- Large wok spatula or large spatula
Expert Tips
- My top tip for you is to slice the meat thin, not shaved, but thin. See my ingredient picture. The secret to being able to cut very thin slices of meat is to cut it while it is still partially frozen. Not frozen like a rock, but thawed enough that the knife slides right through the meat/
- The chicken must cook thoroughly so make sure it is thinner than the steak which can be a little pink in the center and still safe to eat.
- Except for the garlic and ginger, the food should be cooked over high heat. If the heat is not high enough, and the food is crowded it will steam, and the meat will never get the char that you want.
How Did You Learn To Stir Fry?
From Grace Young, an award-winning cookbook author, culinary historian, and filmmaker. Named the "poet laureate of the wok" by food historian Betty Fussell, Grace Young has devoted her career to demystifying the ancient cooking utensil for use in contemporary kitchens.
Grace is the co-founder of Wok Wednesdays an online stir-fry-wok cooking group. She has taught healthy stir-frying in cooking schools throughout the U.S., including her popular Craftsy's The Art of Stir Frying online class which has reached over 12,000 students.
Years ago I was lucky enough be a student in Craftsy 's The Art of Stir-Frying , taught by Grace Young. I was mesmerized, watching it over and over again. I have all of her books. Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge and The Breath of a Wok my favorites. I read them both cover to cover before beginning the process of seasoning my wok. I am very proud of my perfectly seasoned wok. Grace would be too.
Equipment
- Wok or large skillet preferably cast iron
- Large wok spatula or large spatula
- Small bowl
Ingredients
For the stir fry sauce:
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon rice vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
For the main ingredient meats:
- 1 chicken breast boneless, skinless, sliced thin
- 6 ounces flank steak sliced thin
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the vegetables:
- 3.5 ounces sugar snap peas or snow peas
- ½ large red pepper or green pepper
- 1 cup broccolini tops
- 2 baby bok choy bulb end cut off and leaves separated
- 7 ounces (half a can of baby corn)
- 2 shiitake mushrooms
- 2 green onions green parts only, cut on the bias
For the wok or pan:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
For the flavorful stir fry sauce:
- Mix first seven ingredients together for the stir fry sauce.
- Shake well in a small jar. Set aside until time to cook.
For the vegetables:
- Chop and cut all vegetables for the stir fry and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the meat:
- Slice the meats thin and season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to use. Partially frozen meat slices much easier.
For stir frying:
- Heat wok or pan and add 1 tablespoon oil. Swirl the pan to distribute the oil. Pan should be on high heat.
- Add the meat to the hot pan using a spatula. Begin spreading the meat out.
- Do not disturb the meat until it begins to turn brown on the bottom. Flip the meat over and over with the spatula. Remove meat from the wok and set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the vegetables to the hot wok or pan. Begin flipping & turning, cooking the vegetables. Leave a little crunch in the veggies.
- Stir fry rapidly flipping and turning. You want to do this continually.
- If needed, add a splash of chicken broth if the the pan is completely dry. It will help cook the vegetables.
- Add the meat back into the pan and stir. Continue stir frying until well mixed.
- Pour about ¾ of the sauce into the pan reserving the remainder for serving.
- Stir fry, flipping the meat & vegetables. Make sure the sauce coats everything.
- When steaming hot remove from heat and transfer to a serving platter. Enjoy!
Nancy says
Super tasty and easy stir fry to make for week night
Mary says
Thank you Nancy!
Amy says
This is such an easy recipe that my whole family loves! It's really great on a busy weeknight!
Mary says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know.
Giangi Townsend says
We all love stir fry, and my husband made this recipe for us; it was its turn to cook. We all love it. So much flavor packed and so delicious.
Thank you for your very easy to follow instrustions
Mary says
Thank you very much. Kudos for having a hubby that can stir fry!
Geetanjali Tung says
I love stir-fry dishes and this dish is another new favorite! So good!
Mary says
Thanks so much. If you change it up, I'd love to hear about it.
Alexandra says
This is a delicious meal - the chicken and steak is a great combination that suits me perfectly! The stir fry sauce is wonderful - a perfect balance of flavours between sweet and savoury. This will be added to our weekly meal plan for certain.
Mary says
Thank you. I work it into ours as well. It is easy to make it your own.