In order to get the best results on keto, it’s important to eat plenty of healthy fats while also eating enough protein – plus you have to sneak in as many nutrients as possible.
Just when accomplishing all of these goals sounds impossible, this delicious keto stir fry recipe comes to the rescue! And the best part of this easy weeknight meal is your whole family will love it, even if they don’t follow a keto diet.
Keep reading to learn how simple a keto chicken stir fry is to make, and why you need to add it as a staple meal on your low carb diet.
Healthy Chicken Stir Fry Recipe Ingredients
The key to sticking to keto is keeping keto simple. That’s precisely the reason a good keto stir fry uses only simple ingredients. After all, who wants to scour health food stores for items you’ve never heard of, and that you won’t use more than once?
The main ingredients for this low carb chicken stir fry include chicken and keto-friendly vegetables. You’ll also need coconut aminos, freshly grated ginger, minced garlic, and sesame oil for the keto stir fry sauce recipe (which also doubles as a marinade).
Chicken
It’s your choice when it comes to which type of chicken to use for this keto chicken stir fry recipe. While I typically use boneless skinless chicken breasts, boneless skinless chicken thighs also work well on a ketogenic diet.
If you’re looking for ways to sneak a little bit more healthy fat into your keto plan, swapping chicken breasts for thighs is an easy way to do it. Either option makes for a tasty stir fry – so stick with whichever cut you prefer.
Low-Carb Vegetables
While you can use whichever fresh vegetables float your keto boat, I prefer bell peppers, broccoli, sweet onions, zucchini, and green onions.
Other low carb vegetables you might consider adding include green beans, snap peas, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, bok choy, or any of your favorite fresh veggies that are also low in carbs.
Chicken Stir Fry Marinade and Sauce
While most Chinese food stir fry recipes use a tamari soy sauce as the base, I prefer stir fry no soy sauce recipes since soy can contribute to chronic inflammation and cause mineral deficiencies. (These are only a few of the soy health effects that are undesirable on a ketogenic diet).
The base of this low carb stir fry sauce is coconut aminos, which is a keto-friendly soy sauce replacement found at the grocery store. I stock up on coconut aminos at Thrive Market, but you can also find it on Amazon too.
Coconut aminos is high in carbs when used in large quantities, but the amount used in most low carb recipes is usually OK for most keto dieters since it’s spread out over several servings.
Other ingredients for the keto stir fry sauce recipe include minced garlic and freshly grated ginger. While fresh garlic and ginger are best, you can use minced for a quick meal and still have a recipe your taste buds will adore.
Quick keto confession: if you don’t have time to grate fresh ginger, you can get away with using the powdered or minced form. While this option isn’t quite as flavorful, sometimes that’s all you have in a pinch. In this instance, use 1/4 tsp of ground ginger (or 2 tsp minced ginger) for the entire recipe.
If you want to make a spicy chicken stir fry recipe, add in a few red pepper flakes.
How to Make Chicken Stir Fry
Meal Prep
To make this the easiest dinner possible, it’s best to meal prep before you start cooking. Once that skillet gets hot, things move quickly. If you need to get this on the dinner table in even less time, you can chop the chicken and vegetables ahead of time and store in the fridge until you’re ready to go.
Slice the Chicken
How to cut chicken for stir fry: For best results, always cut against the grain and slice the chicken evenly.
Since thin strips cook best, cut the chicken into 1/2 inch strips. You can keep the chicken as long strips, or cut it into cubes – whichever you prefer for your easy stir fries.
Mix Up the Marinade
Next, mix the keto stir fry sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Keep in mind, you’ll want to divide the sauce before cooking.
While some recipes instruct you to use the sauce as the marinade and then reuse it as the stir fry sauce, I prefer not to risk food poisoning from the chicken bacteria that’s left behind – so go ahead and divide that sauce up.
Marinate the Chicken
Once sliced, marinate the chicken. Start by adding the sliced chicken into a large bowl, and then pour the marinade on top. Remember – only use half of the sauce you mixed up. Reserve the rest of the sauce for cooking.
Be sure to cover every chicken piece with the marinade. Since it’s best to stir fry chicken at room temp, you can allow the chicken to marinate on the counter for around 20 minutes. Don’t forget about it because once again, food poisoning isn’t any fun.
Chop the Vegetables
While you wait for the chicken to marinate, chop the different vegetables you picked out for your ginger chicken stir fry dish.
Don’t forget, you can make this as complicated or as simple as you prefer. Want to keep things simple with a chicken zucchini stir fry? Go for it! Only want a chicken bell pepper stir fry? Then nix the other low carb veggies and whip it up.
When it comes to the low carb vegetables you choose, you do you, boo!
Let’s Get Cooking
Crisp the Vegetables
Start by heating an empty large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet heats up, add a tablespoon of oil. Spread the oil so it covers the entire pan. If you add onions to your low carb chicken stir fry, cook those first for 1-2 minutes.
Then add in the other low carb vegetables. Cook until you achieve your desired crispness, which should take 3-5 minutes. Keep them a tiny bit undercooked since you’ll cook them for a little longer once you combine everything together.
Once veggies are crisp, add to a plate and set aside.
Cook the Chicken
When you’re ready to cook the chicken, heat up the skillet so it’s very hot. You want that chicken to sizzle.
Once it’s hot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame oil. Spread the oil so it covers the entire pan.
Next, remove the meat from the bowl and discard the marinade.
Cook the chicken in the hot skillet in a single layer, which should take around 1-2 minutes per side. Spread the chicken out in the pan to help it get crispy. Since you don’t want to overcrowd the pan, you may need to cook the meat in batches.
Once it’s brown on both sides and fully cooked in the middle, it’s time to combine the veggies and sauce with the cooked chicken.
Combine the Chicken Stir Fry
Once everything is ready, change to low heat and add the crisp veggies on top of the chicken. Add the green onions too.
Then pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables and cook for another 2-3 minutes, while stirring everything together.
After everything is combined, remove from heat and serve.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days. For best results, reheat on the stovetop.
Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry FAQs
The combined cook time will be around 10-15 minutes. This includes the chicken that takes 3-5 minutes, the vegetables that take another 3-5 minutes, and then you combine everything for 2-3 more minutes.
If you cook the meat in batches, add another 3-5 minutes per batch.
While most stir fry recipes use corn starch, that’s not a keto-friendly solution. For a thick stir fry sauce that’s keto approved, you can add a mixture of arrowroot powder and water at the end.
To use arrowroot to thicken the sauce, first combine 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder with 1 tablespoon of water in a separate bowl. Remove the chicken stir fry from the heat and mix the arrowroot mixture into the sauce. Stir to combine.
Since most of the liquid cooks off, you likely won’t need arrowroot for this recipe, but it’s a great trick to keep handy for other keto recipes.
The good news about a good stir fry is it is an all-in-one keto meal. The chopped veggies, meat and sauce combine together to provide a great balance of fat and protein for even a strict keto diet.
If you’re looking to add even more keto-friendly side dishes, coconut cauliflower rice is the perfect addition.
Buttery zoodles are also an amazing low carb side dish for Asian food dishes.
While this recipe calls for fresh vegetables, you can use frozen vegetables in stir fries as well. Follow the same steps as listed in this recipe, but keep in mind you’ll have to cook frozen vegetables longer.
Since frozen vegetables will be more watery, you will likely have to drain excess water prior to combining the meat and vegetables for the stir fry recipe.
If you follow this recipe as is, one serving provides 399 calories. This may vary depending on which vegetables you use.
Keep in mind, calories aren’t all that important when it comes to weight loss. The healthy fats, protein, grams of carbs, and valuable nutrients provided in this keto stir fry recipe is what helps balance hormones, which in turn leads to lasting weight loss on a ketogenic diet.
Low Carb Chicken Stir Fry Wrap Up
A delicious meal that uses basic ingredients, plus is low in net carbs, is easy when you throw together a low carb chicken stir fry recipe. Remember – keep keto recipes simple to make keto weight loss results easy – like with this delicious keto stir fry.
This all-in-one Asian recipe is a great addition to your keto meal plan.
Want to switch up your meal for a steak stir fry instead? Check out this keto-friendly garlic steak stir fry. In the mood for other Chinese food that’s just as easy? Keto kung pao chicken is exactly what you need!
Save this chicken broccoli stir fry recipe to Pinterest for next time. Please share this easy dish on social media too.
Scroll down for the recipe card and nutritional information.
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Keto Stir Fry Recipe
More Easy Asian Inspired Recipes
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Sesame Ginger Beef
Chicken Egg Roll in a Bowl
Keto Chicken Stir Fry
A low carb chicken stir fry recipe your whole family will love. With crispy chicken, fresh vegetables, and a sweet sesame sauce – what’s not to love? Add this easy weeknight meal that’s packed with healthy fats, satiating protein and nutrient dense veggies to your keto meal plan.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: Recipe Serves 4 1x
- Category: Keto Dinner Recipes
- Method: Stir Fry
- Cuisine: Keto / Low Carb
- Diet: Diabetic
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken breasts or thighs, cubed
- Broccoli, chopped – 1 cup chopped
- Green onions, 1/2 cup chopped
- Medium red bell pepper and green bell pepper, 1/2 each
- Medium sweet onion, 1/2 sliced
- Zucchini, 1/2 sliced
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger (or 2 tsp minced)
- 2 tsp minced garlic
Instructions
Prep Work:
- Combine coconut aminos, ginger and minced garlic in a small bowl and set aside. Use 1/2 for the marinade and half for the stir fry sauce.
- Slice chicken into 1/2 inch strips and add to a bowl.
- Pour 1/2 of the sauce on top of the chicken. Mix together so the sauce covers all of the chicken. Allow to marinate on the counter for 20 minutes.
- While the chicken marinates, chop, dice, and slice low carb vegetables.
Cook the Stir Fry:
- Place an empty skillet or wok on the stove and turn to medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp sesame oil. Spread the oil so it covers the bottom of the pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add in the onions. Allow them to soften for 1-2 minutes. Then add in the remaining vegetables, except the green onions. Cook the remaining vegetables until crispy, which should take 3-5 minutes.
- After the veggies are cooked to your desired crispness, add to a plate and set aside.
- Turn the heat up to high to allow the skillet to get very hot. Then add 2 tbsp sesame oil and spread the oil across the entire pan.
- Drain the marinade and discard. Then add the chicken in a single layer into the hot skillet. Leave room between each piece to allow the chicken to brown.
- Cook until the chicken is brown, which is approximately 2 minutes per side. Flip and cook chicken until fully cooked in the middle and crispy on the outside.
Combine the Stir Fry:
- Once chicken is fully cooked on both sides, turn the heat down to low and add the crisp vegetables on top. Then add the green onions. Pour the remaining stir fry sauce on top to cover all of the ingredients.
- Stir the ingredients together over low heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve.
Notes
- Be sure to leave room in between the chicken so it doesn’t steam. Work in batches if you cannot add the meat in a single layer without a little room.
- If your pan burns at the end of the first batch of meat, start with a fresh skillet so the second batch doesn’t burn. You may need to add a little more oil to avoid this.
- Cook extra since this is an easy meal to heat up as leftovers throughout the week.
- To save time, chop veggies ahead of time and store in green containers in the fridge. You can chop the chicken ahead of time too.
- Since chicken cooks best at room temp, allow it to marinate on the counter. Don’t let it sit out longer than 30 minutes for food safety reasons.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Recipe Serves 4
- Calories: 399.1
- Sugar: 5.7
- Sodium: 398.5
- Fat: 14.8
- Saturated Fat: 3.2
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: .2
- Carbohydrates: 9
- Fiber: 1.8
- Protein: 54.1
- Cholesterol: 144.6
Keywords: Keto Stir Fry Recipe, Low Carb Chicken Stir Fry Recipes, Ginger Chicken Stir Fry
Easy keto stir fry recipe that’s perfect for dinner, and even makes a quick lunch with a little bit of keto meal prep.
★★★★★