This Garlic Ginger Chicken Chilli Stir Fry is on the table in 20 minutes. Made with tender chicken breast and a simple sauce with toasted cashews for crunch. Serve with rice or your favorite noodles.
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Recipe Highlights
- Lots of garlic and ginger flavor
- Sweet, spicy savory sauce that is sugar free
- Warm roasted crunchy cashew nuts
- Its quick and easy to make and under 500 calories
- Easy to adjust the level of spice
- Perfect for meal prep
- Make with beef, chicken, fish or salmon!
Ingredient Notes
Chicken: this garlic ginger chicken recipe uses skinless chicken breast cut into bite sized chunks. You could use chicken thigh if you like, but the cooking time would be longer.
Chili, Garlic and Ginger: these ingredients form the basis of the sauce. A store-bought chili paste, or Sambel Olek will work better than fresh chilies. Go for fresh garlic and ginger if you can, otherwise the ones from a jar are almost as good
Sugar Free Maple Syrup, Soy Sauce, Chili Paste and Lemon Juice: these are my secrets to getting that sweet and spicy factor that is makes you want to lick you fingers! Use fresh lemon juice if possible, and a hot chili paste as the maple syrup will take the bite out of it. The soy sauce will give it a nice savory base.
Sesame Oil: with stir fry recipes, nothing beats the warm earthy undertones of toasted sesame oil and the deep flavor that it gives the dish.
This dish is lightly stir fried with a little oil, not deep fried. I like to keep my dinners pretty clean, especially during weeknight, and this dish is no exception. Another one of my favorites is this 15 minute Healthy Teriyaki Chicken! Its sticky, sweet, and savory and very mooreish, just like this Healthy Chinese Orange Chicken!
Making dinners under 500 calories is my specialty, with many of my most popular being low calorie chicken recipes, low calorie meal prepping recipes and low calorie slow cooker recipes.
How To Make This Recipe
- Get your rice cooking so that it will be ready. Alternatively if you’re super short on time, you might want to consider using those pre-cooked packets of rice you zap in the microwave. I use these sometimes during busy weeknights.
- Lightly toast the cashews. For crunchy, toasty nuts, lightly toasting is a must.
- Make the garlic ginger chicken stir fry sauce. Add all of the sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk together, then set aside
- Chop your chicken into small chunks about 2cm by 2cm, add the sesame oil to the wok on high heat and toss the chicken until cooked and lightly golden
- Reduce the heat on the wok down to medium. Add the sauce and stir through for a couple of minutes.
- Add in toasted cashews/green onions or shallots and stir through. Serve with your favorite Rice.
Recipe Tips
- Cooking: A wok is ideal for this recipe as it distributes the heat more evenly and you use less oil. It also allows the sauce to coat the chicken better. If you don’t have a wok though, just use a normal pan, it will still taste great.
- Oil: My preference is for coconut oil, as it gives the chicken a beautiful golden color with out burning it or it sticking to the wok
- Chicken: Chicken breast is best for this recipe, cut into 2cm cubes. Although you could also use skinless chicken thighs with fat trimmed, chopped small.
- Other Meats: This recipe works with cubed beef and turkey as well
- Sauce: Dip your finger into the sauce once you;ve made it. Check to see if the level of spiciness is to your liking or if there are any other ingredients you might like to add.
- Rice: I used jasmine rice, but I also love making this with brown rice.
- On Top: Sesame seeds and fried shallots are my go to. Maybe some coriander if that’s your thing.
Check out this Honey, Soy Garlic Chicken and rice bowl that's on the table in less than 15 minutes!
Your Questions Answered
Making the recipe as instructed will result in a medium level of spiciness.
Reduce the amount of chili paste to 1 teaspoon which will give a subtle warmth without the spicy heat.
How To Make This Dish Low Carb
There are a few ways to make this recipe low carb and its as easy as swapping out the rice for cauliflower rice or for some of the suggestions below:
- With stirfried garlic greens: Literally greens stirfried in garlic and a little vegetable stock/broth
- With steamed greens: this is my super clean option and for me its green beans and broccoli with a little salt, sesame and flaked almonds.
- Healthy Noodles: spiralized zucchini noodles are perfect for a noodle fix without the carbs.
This easy Chicken Stir Fry is a healthy twist on Asian takeout and super quick to whip us mid week. With low carb options and lots of ways to vary this dish with different meats and vegetables, this is a recipe that is so versatile that in summer you’ll be using it every week.
More Quick & Easy Asian Recipes:
Garlic Ginger Chicken with Chili Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 500 grams/1 pound Skinless Chicken Breast - (diced into 2cm x 2cm chunks)
- 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
For the Sauce
- ½ cup Soy sauce
- ½ cup Sugar Free Maple Syrup
- 2 tablespoons Crushed garlic
- 2 teaspoons Freshly grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 2 tablespoons Chilli Paste or Sambel Olek
Other
- ¾ cup Unsalted cashews
- ½ cup chopped green shallots/green onions
- 1½ cups Cooked Brown rice
Instructions
- Lightly roast the cashews for 4 to 5 minutes at 180 C/360 F¾ cup Unsalted cashews
- Add all the ingredients for the sauce to a bowl and whisk until combined, then set aside.½ cup Soy sauce, ½ cup Sugar Free Maple Syrup, 2 tablespoons Crushed garlic, 2 teaspoons Freshly grated ginger, 2 tablespoons Chilli Paste or Sambel Olek, 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
- Heat a wok on high heat, add the Sesame oil. Once oil is hot, add the diced chicken. Use a pair of tongs or wooden spoon to cook chicken through until juicy and golden. Make sure to turn frequently so as not to burn the chicken.500 grams/1 pound Skinless Chicken Breast, 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
- Once chicken is cooked, decrease the heat to medium and pour in the sauce. Stir through for a minute or two.
- Add the cashews and chopped shallots/green onions, stirring through for another minute. Remove from the heat.
- To Serve: divide rice among bowls, along with chicken. On top add, a little more fresh chopped shallots/green onions, white sesame seeds and fried shallots.
Notes
- Heat Intensity: 2 tablespoons of sambel olek in the honey chilli sauce creates a “medium heat”. If you’d like it a bit milder, go with 1 tablespoon of sambel olek in the sauce, and then you can add additional chilli upon serving if needed.
- Sambel Olek: this is an Indonesian chili paste available from the Asian food aisle of supermarkets. If you can't find this, any chili paste will work.
- Substitutions:
- Lemon Juice - sub with Rice Wine Vinegar (same quantity)
- Soy Sauce - sub with Oyster Sauce (same quantity)
- Veges: if you’re looking to add veges, I’d recommend choosing ones that cook quickly, like sliced green beans, spinach, kale, bok choi, red or green capsicum/peppers.
- Alternatives to Rice: Aside from brown rice, you could use cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles for a low carb option, or any other type of noodle
- Cashews: Make sure to buy unsalted, otherwise this dish will be way to salty. Alternatives to cashews: Almonds, Walnuts, or hazelnuts, or even a tin of drained water chestnuts will still give you a nice texture and crunch but without the nuts.
- Storage: Store in an air tight container in the fridge for upto 2 days.
- Is this freezer friendly? No. This dish is best eaten when its cooked or as leftovers within a couple of days
- Nutritional information is per person and includes rice.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
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