This chicken with mixed vegetables recipe a tasty, restaurant-quality Chinese takeout dish that makes it easy to get a variety of vegetables into your diet! You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. The key is knowing how to prepare them and what order to cook them in.
If you’d rather just follow a chicken with mixed vegetables recipe from start to finish, we have that! But we’ll also give you the blueprint to cook this dish however you like, with whatever vegetables you enjoy.
Choosing Your Vegetables
The beauty of a dish like chicken with mixed vegetables is not only that you get a colorful variety of vegetables and textures in a one-pan meal, but also that you can use whatever you happen to have in the fridge!
The key is preparing each vegetable properly for stir-frying. Here is a list of vegetables you can use in this recipe, along with their proper preparation:
In this version, we use:
- Broccoli – cut into small florets (avoid very large florets, which are more unwieldy to eat and take longer to cook)
- Carrots – thinly sliced (or cut with a wavy cutter like this one you can buy on Amazon) on a diagonal. For larger carrots, cut them in half lengthwise before slicing.
- Onion – large dice
- Button mushrooms – sliced
- Red pepper – sliced on a diagonal into bite-size pieces
But you can also use:
- Any other type of pepper, sweet or hot – cut into bite-size pieces (either into squares/chunks or thin slices)
- Any type of mushroom (sliced or torn into bite-size pieces)
- Cauliflower – cut into small florets (avoid very large florets, which are more unwieldy to eat and take longer to cook)
- Celery – sliced thinly on a diagonal
- Scallions – cut on an angle into 2-inch pieces
- Snow peas – trimmed, strings removed
- Snap Peas – trimmed, strings removed
- Green beans – trimmed and cut in half crosswise
- Zucchini – cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced on a diagonal
- Asparagus – ends trimmed/peeled, and thinly sliced on a very sharp angle (see our Asparagus Stir-fry for more detail)
- Bok choy – leaves separated and cut into bite-size pieces
- Choy sum – ends trimmed, torn into smaller pieces
- Canned bamboo shoots, thinly sliced; or use pre-sliced
- Canned baby corn, cut in half lengthwise; or use canned pieces
- Canned water chestnuts, sliced into rounds; or use pre-sliced
- Bean sprouts
Whatever mix you use, you’ll want your total volume of vegetables to amount to about 3½ cups, or about 4 large handfuls.
Because you’re using a relatively small amount of each individual vegetable, this recipe is particularly useful for cleaning out odds and ends in the fridge!
Want a Vegetarian Vegetable Stir-fry Recipe?
Check out our Everyday Vegetable Stir-fry, which uses a larger volume (about 6 cups) of vegetables, for the ultimate vegetarian fridge clean-out recipe!
VIDEO: Watch Us Make It!
If you’d like to see the whole process from start to finish, Kaitlin recorded me cooking the dish in this video. Check it out, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more recipe videos!
Stir-frying Vegetables in the Right Order
Now let’s talk about stir-frying your mixed vegetables in the right order. The ultimate goal in a mixed vegetable stir-fry is making sure that each individual ingredient is cooked just until crisp-tender—not over, not under.
If you like your vegetables on the more tender side, you can cook each of them a bit longer, but the principle of cooking them in the right order still applies.
I break down the vegetables into 3 basic categories:
1. Pre-blanch Vegetables:
These are the harder, more dense vegetables that take the most time to cook and actually benefit from a quick blanch in boiling water (about 1 minute should do it) before you even heat your wok! This ensures that they cook more quickly in the wok, preventing you from overcooking your other ingredients. These include:
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Carrots
- Green Beans (these are on the fence between pre-blanch and direct-to-wok. If you like your green beans softer, pre-blanch. If you like them crunchy, add them directly to the wok.)
No Ice Bath Needed!
There is no need to cold-shock these pre-blanched vegetables in ice water, because they will be cooked again in the wok.
2. Direct-to-Wok Vegetables:
These are the vegetables that take some time to cook in the wok, but are softer and cook faster. These include:
- Onion
- Mushrooms
- Peppers
- Celery
- Asparagus
- Zucchini
- Bamboo Shoots
- Baby Corn
- Water Chestnuts
- Choy sum
3. Last-Minute Vegetables:
These vegetables cook quickest and tend to get soggy if overcooked, so they are added in the last minute or so of cooking! These include:
- Scallions
- Bean Sprouts
- Snow peas
- Snap Peas
- Bok choy
Once you’ve prepared the chicken, the vegetables, and the sauce, everything comes together in the wok in minutes, so the differences in cook times here are very small, but significant.
If this is all sounding a bit overwhelming and complicated, just follow our pre-written recipe, which uses broccoli, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and peppers.
Our version actually doesn’t even include any last minute vegetables, so you only have two phases of cooking. It’s really quite easy! Once you feel confident with the recipe, you can try experimenting with other vegetables.
The Importance of Velveting Chicken
One final technique in this recipe, which you have definitely heard of if you’ve been cooking with us for a while, is velveting.
Velveting is the process of marinating proteins with cornstarch and oil (and sometimes water and additional seasonings) to maximize juiciness and improve texture and tenderness.
All this really amounts to is mixing the sliced chicken with some water, cornstarch, oil, and oyster sauce!
Okay, on to the recipe!
Chicken with Mixed Vegetables Recipe Instructions
In a medium bowl, add the sliced chicken, water, cornstarch, oil, and oyster sauce. Mix well until the chicken has absorbed all the liquid. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
In another medium bowl or measuring cup, make the sauce mixture. Combine the chicken stock, sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper.
Fill your wok halfway with water, and bring it to a boil. Add the broccoli and carrots. Blanch for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
Heat your wok over high heat until it’s completely dry and starting to smoke. Add 2 tablespoons neutral oil, and sear the chicken until opaque on all sides. Turn off the heat, remove the chicken, and set aside. The chicken will be about 75-80% done, but will be cooked again at the end.
Without washing the wok, set the flame to medium heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and pepper. Cook for 30 seconds, then add the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok.
Then pour in the sauce mixture. Use your wok spatula to stir the sauce around the sides of the wok to deglaze, and let it come to a simmer. Simmer for 1 minute, until the vegetables are all crisp tender.
Stir up the cornstarch and water slurry and drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to simmer until thick and gravy-like, about 30 seconds.
Toss in the chicken and its juices and the reserved broccoli and carrots.
Stir-fry to coat the chicken in the sauce, cooking for another 30 seconds or so.
Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Looking for more authentic recipes? Subscribe to our email list and be sure to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube!
Recipe
Chicken with Mixed Vegetables
Ingredients
FOR THE CHICKEN:
- 12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil)
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
FOR THE REST OF THE DISH:
- 2/3 cup low sodium chicken stock
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce (can sub regular soy sauce, but color won't be as dark)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 cup small broccoli florets
- 3/4 cup carrot (thinly sliced on a diagonal)
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil; divided)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1/2 cup large-diced onion
- 3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup red pepper
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 tablespoons water)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the sliced chicken, water, cornstarch, oil, and oyster sauce. Mix well until the chicken has absorbed all the liquid. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In another medium bowl or measuring cup, make the sauce mixture. Combine the chicken stock, sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper.
- Fill your wok halfway with water, and bring it to a boil. Add the broccoli and carrots. Blanch for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
- Heat your wok over high heat until it’s completely dry and starting to smoke. Add 2 tablespoons neutral oil, and sear the chicken until opaque on all sides. Turn off the heat, remove the chicken, and set aside. The chicken will be about 75-80% done, but will be cooked again at the end.
- Without washing the wok, set the flame to medium heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and pepper. Cook for 30 seconds, then add the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok.
- Then pour in the sauce mixture. Use your wok spatula to stir the sauce around the sides of the wok to deglaze, and let it come to a simmer. Simmer for 1 minute, until the vegetables are all crisp tender.
- Stir up the cornstarch and water slurry and drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to simmer until thick and gravy-like, about 30 seconds.
- Toss in the chicken and its juices and the reserved broccoli and carrots. Stir-fry to coat the chicken in the sauce, cooking for another 30 seconds or so. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
