Chicken and Zucchini Stir Fry Recipe That Is Light and Full of Flavour

A chicken and zucchini stir fry is one of the quickest and most satisfying weeknight meals you can make. It comes together in under 30 minutes, uses a handful of pantry staples and delivers a glossy, savoury sauce that coats every piece of chicken and vegetable beautifully. Zucchini is 90 per cent water which means the key to getting it right is managing that moisture. Salt it before cooking to draw out the excess water and it stays crisp and tender in the pan rather than turning soft and watery.

This recipe uses Boneless Chicken Breast sliced thin and marinated briefly in soy sauce, cornstarch and ginger. The cornstarch coats the chicken and helps it stay tender during the high heat of stir frying. The sauce is built from soy sauce, oyster sauce, honey and sesame oil and comes together in seconds. Serve over steamed rice or noodles for a complete meal that is on the table in well under 30 minutes.

Chicken and Zucchini Stir Fry Recipe

Serves: 3
Prep time: 15 minutes 
Cook time: 12 minutes
Total time: 27 – 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the chicken marinade:

  • 350g Boneless Chicken Breast, sliced thinly against the grain
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 1 tsp oil

For the stir fry sauce:

  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp honey or brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp sesame oil (added at the end)

For the stir fry:

  • 2 medium zucchini, sliced into half-moon rounds about 1 cm thick
  • 1/2 tsp salt (for drawing moisture from the zucchini)
  • 2 tbsp oil for cooking
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
  • 2 spring onions, sliced for garnish
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds for garnish

Steps

  1. Salt the zucchini. Place the sliced zucchini in a colander or on a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt over the slices and toss gently. Leave for 10 minutes. The salt draws out the excess water from the zucchini which keeps it crisp in the pan and prevents the sauce from turning watery. After 10 minutes pat the slices dry with paper towels.
  2. Marinate the chicken. Combine the sliced chicken with soy sauce, cornstarch, grated ginger and oil. Toss to coat well and set aside for 10 minutes while the zucchini is salting.
  3. Make the stir fry sauce. Whisk together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, honey, cornstarch and water in a small bowl until smooth and the cornstarch is fully dissolved. Set aside.
  4. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large wok or wide frying pan over high heat until it shimmers. Add the marinated chicken in a single layer. Cook without stirring for 1 to 2 minutes until golden on the underside then toss and cook for a further 1 to 2 minutes until just cooked through. The internal temperature should reach 75 degrees Celsius. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Do not wipe the pan.
  5. Add the remaining oil to the same pan over high heat. Add the garlic and sliced onion and stir fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the bell pepper if using and stir fry for 1 minute.
  6. Add the salted and dried zucchini to the pan. Stir fry over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the zucchini is just tender at the edges but still holds its shape and has a slight bite.
  7. Return the cooked chicken to the pan. Pour the stir fry sauce over everything and toss well to coat. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the sauce thickens and turns glossy and coats every piece evenly.
  8. Turn off the heat. Drizzle the sesame oil over the top and toss once. Garnish with sliced spring onions and sesame seeds. Serve immediately over steamed rice or noodles.

Tips for Best Results

Salt the zucchini before cooking. This is the single most important step in the recipe. Zucchini is 90 per cent water and if it goes into the pan without salting it releases all that moisture during cooking, making the sauce watery and the zucchini soft. Ten minutes of salting and patting dry solves this completely.

Slice the chicken thinly and against the grain. Thin slices cook quickly and evenly in the high heat of a stir fry. Cutting against the grain shortens the muscle fibres and makes the chicken noticeably more tender. The cornstarch in the marinade also helps by coating the chicken and sealing in moisture during cooking.

Cook everything over high heat and do not overcrowd the pan. A stir fry needs high heat to sear rather than steam. If the pan is too full the temperature drops and the ingredients steam and turn soggy. Cook the chicken and zucchini in batches if your pan is not large enough.

Add sesame oil only at the very end. Sesame oil has a low smoke point and its delicate nutty aroma disappears quickly under high heat. Adding it off the heat at the very end preserves its flavour completely.

Have everything prepped and ready before you start cooking. A stir fry cooks very quickly and there is no time to pause once the pan is hot. Slice, measure and set everything out before turning on the heat.

Chicken and zucchini stir fry is the kind of recipe that earns a permanent place in your weeknight rotation. It is quick, genuinely light and satisfying in a way that most fast dinners are not. Once you have mastered the salting step and the high heat technique you will find yourself making this regularly and varying the vegetables depending on what the season allows.

Order Zorabian’s Boneless Chicken Breast from shop.zorabian.com and try this recipe at home.

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