Chicken and Broccoli with brown sauce is a popular Chinese takeout dish. This chicken and broccoli recipe will show you how to make it with a delicious Chinese brown sauce.
Our recipe uses the same technique as Chinese restaurants. The broccoli is blanched, and the chicken is seared separately. The aromatics and sauce are cooked and thickened with cornstarch slurry (2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water), and everything is tossed together at the end.
After you learn how to make Chinese Chicken and Broccoli at home, you won’t go back to ordering takeout again!
Brown Sauce or White Sauce?
When I worked in Chinese restaurants, including my parents’ own family restaurant, we always doubled-check with customers if they wanted their chicken and broccoli with brown sauce or white sauce.
Brown sauce was the overwhelming favorite, probably due to the deep umami flavors of soy sauce and oyster sauce and its rich, tantalizing amber color.
That said, quite a few patrons did want their chicken with broccoli in white sauce. Similar to our moo goo gai pan, chicken broccoli with white sauce gets its flavor primarily from ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine). Without the strong taste of soy sauce, the delicate flavors of the dish were allowed to come through. Of course, then there was the healthy crowd who preferred that the chicken was blanched and less oil was used in the white sauce version.
If you like your Chinese chicken and broccoli with brown sauce, follow this recipe. If you like yours with white sauce, we have a recipe for that too!
Should I Use Dark or White Meat?
Chinese restaurants almost always use chicken breast for chicken and broccoli because most Americans prefer white meat.
However, if you prefer dark meat, you can use chicken thighs to make a delicious homemade dark meat chicken broccoli with brown sauce.
Chicken thighs have a higher fat content and are harder to overcook. They’re also juicier and smell just like fried chicken when seared in a hot wok!
What’s In the Sauce for Chicken and Broccoli?
Basic stir-fry sauce is made up of aromatics like ginger and garlic, dark and regular soy sauces, sesame oil, oyster sauce, sugar, Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine) and white pepper.
Cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce enough to coat the chicken and vegetables.
Bored with just broccoli? This method can be applied to many different dishes with whatever proteins or vegetables you like.
After you learn how to make this authentic takeout Chinese chicken and broccoli recipe, check out our recipe for Chinese Stir-fry Sauce to see how you can apply it to whatever dishes you can dream up.
Shortcuts & Tips for Making Chicken & Broccoli At Home
- Get pre-washed, pre-cut broccoli florets, and use them right out of the bag.
- Slice your chicken and marinate it overnight for quick and easy cooking the next day.
- Prepare your own homemade stir-fry sauce ahead of time and keep it in your refrigerator for convenience.
- Don’t overcook your chicken. Cooking chicken breast until it is just done is an art you need to master!
- Cook lots of rice ahead of time (or skip the rice entirely, since chicken and broccoli makes a great low carb meal)!
Chicken and Broccoli Recipe Instructions
Start by marinating your chicken. In a bowl, add the sliced chicken, 3 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and 1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil.
Rub the marinade ingredients into the chicken with your hands until all the liquid has been absorbed by the chicken. Set aside for 10 minutes.
The chicken will absorb the oyster sauce and water, making the chicken, moist, tender and delicious. For more information and preparing chicken for stir fries, see Bill’s post on Chicken velveting 101.
Next, prepare the sauce mixture. In a small bowl or measuring cup, add the warm chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce , oyster sauce, sesame oil and white pepper. Stir everything together until well combined and set aside.
Boil water in your wok and blanch the broccoli for 1 minute (or 2 minutes if you like your broccoli softer). Remove with your spider, drain and set aside.
Clean and dry your wok. Place it over high heat until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and sear the chicken until opaque on all sides (this should only take about 3 minutes).
Turn off the heat, remove the chicken, and set aside. The chicken will be about 90% done, but will be cooked again at the end.
Without washing the wok, set the flame to medium heat. Add another tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic and ginger (if using).
Stir the garlic and ginger for 5 seconds and 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.
Stir up the cornstarch and water slurry and drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 to 15 seconds until thick and gravy-like.
For more detailed information on the many ways to use cornstarch to get authentic results at home with our recipes, see our post on How to Use Cornstarch in Chinese Cooking.
Next, toss in the chicken and its juices and the blanched broccoli. Stir-fry until the chicken and broccoli is coated in the sauce.
At this point, you can make adjustments. If you like your brown sauce darker, add a dash more of dark soy sauce. Add more cornstarch slurry if your sauce is too thin, or more chicken stock or water if the sauce is too thick.
Serve with steamed rice.
If you like this recipe, try our restaurant quality Beef and Broccoli dish!
Watch Video!
Chicken and Broccoli with Brown Sauce
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast (or thighs, 340g)
- 3 tablespoons water (45 ml)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 2/3 cup low sodium chicken stock (160 ml, warmed)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 4 cups broccoli florets (300g)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger (grated, optional)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed with 2 tablespoons water to form a cornstarch slurry)
Instructions
- Start by marinating your chicken. In a bowl, add the sliced chicken, 3 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and 1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil. Rub the marinade ingredients into the chicken with your hands until all the liquid has been absorbed by the chicken. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Next, prepare the sauce mixture. In a small bowl or measuring cup, add the warm chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce , oyster sauce, sesame oil and white pepper. Stir everything together until well combined and set aside.
- Boil water in your wok and blanch the broccoli for 1 minute (or 2 minutes if you like your broccoli softer). Drain and set aside.
- Clean and dry your wok. Place it over high heat until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and sear the chicken until opaque on all sides (this shoul d only take about 3 minutes). Turn off the heat, remove the chicken, and set aside. The chicken will be about 90% done, but will be cooked again at the end.
- Without washing the wok, set the flame to medium heat. Add another tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic and ginger (if using). Stir the garlic and ginger for 5 seconds and 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.
- Stir up the cornstarch and water slurry and drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 to 15 seconds until thick and gravy-like.
- Toss in the chicken and its juices and the blanched broccoli. Stir-fry until the chicken and broccoli is coated in the sauce.
- At this point, you can make adjustments. If you like your brown sauce darker, add a dash more of dark soy sauce. Add more cornstarch slurry if your sauce is too thin, or more chicken stock or water if the sauce is too thick. Serve with steamed rice.
Made this exactly as written for lunch yesterday. (Your instructions are so clear, and I love the exact volume and time measurements, as well as the educational pages on the ingredients themselves!) My husband had a double-portion, and an hour later, unprompted, says, “That was good chicken and broccoli.” This is how I can tell he has really enjoyed a dish. A+! Thank you!
Now, my ultimate goal in making this was to start to figure out our favorite Chinese-American restaurant’s brown sauce recipe. Theirs seemed to me to be sweeter but with a body to the sweetness, darker, and a little tangy. Would it be “inauthentic” to use brown sugar instead, omit the light soy sauce (using only dark), and add rice wine vinegar?
Hi Emanuela, go ahead and try variations since every Chinese restaurant does use their own formula. Making it darker by eliminating the light soy sauce is an option, or you could use double-black soy sauce. Another tip is that restaurants sometimes use frying oil (not from the deep fryer) from the wok station when they do quick deep-fries, and that oil is filled with umami as it is used and replenished during the day. Also, try our all-purpose brown stir fry sauce recipe. Happy cooking!
Holy cow! Thank you for this recipe. Made it exactly as written. Family devoured it. Just finished making it and I have already forwarded this recipe to all of my family. Toddler just asked for seconds. I can’t wait to try other recipes.
Hi Monta, love that you and your whole family enjoyed it! Try a beef and broccoli, Mongolian beef or char siu next :) If you feel ambitious one day try our Egg rolls :)
Absolutely delicious! I made as written…except I doubled the recipe so I could have leftovers for the next day. My family loved it!
Nice job Stacey!
This was a big hit. I had to make a few adjustments to keep it gluten free, using tamari soy sauce and making my own oyster sauce. It did come out a little salty, and I am already using reduced sodium tamari, so I will try reduced sodium chx broth next time. But otherwise, it was a big hit with everyone. Asian food has been a struggle since my 15yr old was diagnosed with celiac, so I am thankful for this great recipe. It was a lot of work, but well worth it!
Hi Faith, thanks for sharing your gluten-free version of the dish with us and our readers!
The instructions don’t mention making the slurry until referencing using it in step 6.
Step 2 would be a natural place to add it.
Hi Meng, we mention in the ingredient list that the cornstarch should be mixed with water. “2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed with 2 tablespoons water)”
Ah, got it. Maybe it should be called slurry there, to be consistent with the instructions? It makes sense when coming from the rest of the site’s content, but might be unfamiliar for someone following along on this from scratch.
Hi Meng, you’re right and I added the term in the recipe card. Thanks for helping to make our site better :)
This was a 5-Star homemade Chinese and Broccoli.
We finished this double recipe in one evening. So flavorful with the ginger and garlic. I put it over Jasmine rice (boil in bag) variety, but great tasting under the chicken. I even chopped up a few cashews and put then on top of my dinner. It was so delicious
Thanks Bill for the step-by step recipe which helped me
get all these flavorful ingredients ready ahead .
Hi Diana, sounds like you did a fabulous job. Keep up the great home cooking!
Dont get intimidated by this reciepe! Its very straightforward, easy to follow and packs a whole lotta flavor! Ever since this dish first made a debut at our dinner table (beginning of quaruantine! shout out to woks of life for keeping a bunch of familes sane with their recipes!!), it has long since been a must have staple! Kids (8 and 4) love it! The only 2 things we do differently is we skip the blanching of the brocolli and cook it in the pot with the chicken at the end (bc we personally keep overcooking the broccoli and this method has worked best for us) AND we cornstarch at the end so we can gauge how the saucey it all is (I like it thin but the hubby likes it thick)
Hi Sunshine, thanks so much for sharing your comment and highlighting your great cooking points for others :)
This is THE best homemade chicken n broccoli i ever made or had. BRAVO !
Excellent to hear you approve Lizzie!
Oh my goodness, this was absolutely fantastic! I followed the recipe to a “T” and it turned out perfectly. Everyone in the family loved it. Can’t wait to try more recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Trina, awesome to hear everyone in the family enjoyed your home-cooked chicken and broccoli. Well done!
This was a great recipe, made exactly as is. I ate it without rice and didn’t miss the rice at all! Thanks for sharing
Glad you enjoyed it Amber – it’s tough to have any Chinese dish without rice lol
Really good!! My kids loved it! Especially our picky toddler!! He won’t even eat this dish from our local take out. Thank you
Hi Angela, your toddler loved it because of the extra love mommy put into the dish. Glad you and your family enjoyed it!