Chinese Garlic Chicken Stir Fry is a takeout favorite! Tender chicken in an easy-to-make Chinese garlic sauce - this delicious recipe is a dish the whole family will love!
The sauce is made with easy-to-find ingredients, plus I share my secret to getting the best and most tender chicken at home. It is a stir fry game changer!
You can have this Chinese Chicken with Garlic Sauce on the table in well under 30 minutes. It is easy to make at home and tastes better than takeout. Serve it with some rice and stir-fried veggies for a delicious, easy weeknight meal.
What is Chicken with Garlic Sauce?
Chicken with Garlic Sauce is also known as Chinese Garlic Chicken or Chinese Chicken with Garlic Sauce.
It is a delicious chicken stir-fry with a thick garlicky sauce. The sauce is super savory and has that unique taste and texture that get with all takeout dishes.
This easy stir fry consists of chicken, beansprouts, spring onions/green onions, and plenty of garlic.
The sauce is made with ingredients that are easy to find in your larger grocery store - Chicken broth, cornstarch, Chinese cooking wine (see below for more details), soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil.
Chinese Garlic Chicken Ingredients
Chicken: Chicken breast is perfect for this recipe; it cooks quickly and is tender and lean. Perfect for a stir fry!
Baking Soda: This is also known as bicarb of soda, bicarbonate of soda, and sodium bicarbonate. Don't get it muddled with baking powder!
Spring onions/green onions: These add a unique and authentic Chinese taste to the dish. They are chopped into chunky lengths and are used as a vegetable and an aromatic.
Garlic: The garlic is the star of the show here, so it is well worth using fresh garlic and slicing it yourself. It will taste better.
Chicken Broth: Use a low sodium broth to avoid an overly salty sauce. It also wants to be cold so that the cornstarch dissolves smoothly without lumps. You can sub in veg broth.
Chinese Cooking Wine: Chinese Cooking Wine is also known as Chinese Rice Wine, Shaohsing Rice Cooking Wine, Shaoxing wine, or Shaoxing Cooking Wine. But don't get it confused with rice wine vinegar; that will not taste good!!!! You can find it in most grocery stores in the Asian section, on Amazon, or your local Asian grocery store. If you can't find Chinese Cooking Wine, just use dry sherry or sake.
Oyster Sauce: This is easy to find these days; most grocery stores will stock it near the soy sauce.
Cornstarch/Cornflour: This helps to thicken the sauce and give you that classic Chinese takeout sauce consistency. Without it, the sauce will be watery and thin. If you prefer a thinner sauce, you can add half the amount.
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Why You'll Love this Chinese Garlic Chicken!
- You can get it on the table in under 30 minutes.
- It's a healthier version of a Chinese takeout favorite.
- It's easy to add a little heat (see recipe adaptions below)
- Perfect for the whole family, kids love the tender chicken.
Recipe Adaptions
- Add extra veg: You can add carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, Asian greens, asparagus, or sugar snap peas to this recipe.
- Add some spice: You can add a teaspoon of sriracha or chili paste to the sauce for those who love heat in their stir-fry. Or stir fry some fresh chili along with your sliced garlic.
- Add sweetness: Add a teaspoon of honey to your sauce for an extra level of sweetness.
- Substitute the meat: The chicken breast can be substituted for sliced skirt steak or pork tenderloin. Both can be tenderized in the same way.
For more takeout style meals, why not try:
- Chinese Chicken and Mushrooms
- Chinese Beef and Broccoli
- Shrimp Chow Mein
- Happy Family Stir Fry
- Chinese Pepper Beef Stir Fry
- Wandering Dragon Stir Fry
- Cantonese Beef and Tomato
- Chinese Beef and Mushroom
- Sesame Ginger Chicken
- Ginger Shrimp Stir Fry
- Lake Tung Ting Shrimp
- Cantonese Fried Rice
- Chinese Chicken Curry
- Chicken and Snow Peas
If you make this Chinese Garlic Chicken, don't forget to come back and comment. You can also tag me on social media.
Any questions about the recipe? Use the comments section below.
Enjoy x
Get the Recipe
Chinese Garlic Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
For the stir fry
- 1 pound chicken breasts
- 1 ½ tablespoon baking soda - see note 1
- 3 green onions/spring onions
- 4 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup beansprouts
For the sauce
- ½ cup chicken stock/broth -see note 2
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine - see note 3
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- pinch pepper - white is traditional
Instructions
Start with tenderizing the chicken.
- Cut the chicken into thin strips across the grain.Place in a non-metallic bowl and sprinkle with the baking soda. Stir gently to coat all of the chicken. Then cover and let the chicken marinate for 15 minutes.Wash off the baking soda and rinse the chicken several times. (See note 5)Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper and set it to one side.
Next, make the sauce.
- Add all the sauce ingredients into a large measuring cup/jug and stir well. Ensure the broth is cold to stop the cornstarch from clumping.
½ cup chicken stock/broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil
pinch pepper
For the stir fry
- Remove the roots from the green onion and chop them into 2-inch (5cm) length chunks. Peel and thinly slice the garlic.Pour the oil into a heavy-based frying pan or wok and place over high heat.Add the green onions to the oil (be careful it can spit) and stir fry them for 1 minute to flavor the oil.Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.Add the sliced garlic and stir constantly for a minute.Add the beansprouts, stir to combine, and cook for another minute.Give the prepared sauce another stir, and then pour it into the pan. The sauce will thicken quickly, so stir it to coat your stir fry. (see note 6).Serve immediately.
Notes
- Baking soda is also known as bicarb of soda, bicarbonate of soda, and sodium bicarbonate. Don't get it muddled with baking powder that won't tenderize your meat.
- Green onions are also known as scallions in the US. And are known as Spring Onions in the UK and Australia.
- Make sure the broth is cold; this will ensure that the cornstarch/cornflour dissolves fully and doesn't clump together.
- You can buy Chinese cooking wine in the Asian section of the grocery store, but you can use dry sherry or sake if you can't find it. (See bulk of post for more information on Chinese Cooking Wine)
- Make sure you wash the chicken really well to remove any traces of baking soda. It is incredible at tenderizing meat but has a terrible taste, so you want to remove it.
- The sauce thickens quickly to that authentic thick Chinese takeout-style sauce. If you aren't a fan of the thick coating takeaway style sauces, you can reduce the quantity of cornstarch to ½ tablespoon if you just want a thinner sauce.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!Nutrition
Calories: 238kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 702mg | Potassium: 538mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mgNutrition is per serving
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Kim says
I couldn't believe how fast this dinner was. The best part is that the kids enjoyed it too!
Claire McEwen says
So happy the kids enjoyed it!
We love a quick stir-fry in our house too 🙂
Cx
Shelby says
In love with the garlic sauce on this, it's going to be my "I put that sh*t on everything" thing hehe
Claire McEwen says
Haha, I love that!!!