This Lemon Chicken Stirfry is a quick and easy 15 minute meal that's healthy and packed with flavour. The lemon sauce is thick and tangy and coats tender chicken breast pieces tossed amongst Asian greens.
A perfectly balanced lemon sauce that's sugar free.
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Recipe Highlights
- Make it in under 15 minutes
- The lemon sauce is thick, sticky and sweet, sour and tangy with no added sugar
- Use diced chicken breast, or a store-bought BBQ chicken
- Its great for meal prepping ahead of time and each serve is under 500 calories
- Use whatever veges you have on hand
- Eat it with white rice, brown rice or noodles
- Easy to make low carb with cauliflower rice, or zucchini noodles
Ingredients
I've always been a fan of lemon chicken, but don't love that it often comes deep fried. And that lemon sauce tastes so good when you buy Chinese takeout, but I didn't love that all the sugar it obviously needed to balance out the sourness.
This version of lemon chicken stirfry, along with my Honey Lemon Chicken are perfect companions for satisfying your takeout cravings whilst keeping it healthier.
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.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken: If using chicken breast, slice thin strips roughly the same length so that they cook evenly. Alternatively you can buy chicken breast that's already cut into strips.
- Chicken Stock/Broth: you can use pre made, or make you own with a bullion cube (stock cube) dissolved in boiling water. Because the stock/broth is also a flavour base for the sauce using a quality one is ideal. Alternatively you could use vegetable stock however it will lack a bit of flavour. Using water is a no-no as it just doesn't have any flavour and will produce a bland and boring lemon sauce.
- Soy Sauce: this adds flavour and depth to the sauce. I like to use Light Soy Sauce, however regular would also work. Avoid dark soy sauce as its too strong.
- Garlic Paste, Ginger Paste and Chilli Paste: These are the base flavours of the sauce. Even though there is chilli, its not a dominant flavour. You can use fresh garlic, ginger and chilli or a punchier hit of flavour, or the ones that come in a tube or jar which I tend to find are a little less punchier but are more convenient.
- Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is best as it provides sharpness and freshness. However if you have lemon juice from a bottle, that will work too.
- Sweetener: Sweetener is an essential ingredient to lemon chicken and replaces the sugar normally found in the dish. I use a granulated sweetener that measures like sugar and my go to one is Lakanto Monkfruit Golden. However any granulated sweetener that measures like sugar will work the same as it will dissolve in the hot liquid.
- Cornflour/Cornstarch: this is used to thicken the sauce and make it sticky so that it coats the chicken without running off.
The predominant flavour of this dish is definitely lemon with that tang and zing you would expect from Lemon Chicken. This recipe makes 3 good servings, and is made all in one pan. You don't need a wok to make this. If all you have is a skillet that will work perfectly fine.
15 minute quick and easy Asian inspired dinners are one of my favourite things to make and I've recreated this Chinese Garlic Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Cashew Nut Chicken into healthier versions that still have all the usual flavours and textures you'd expect, but they're sugar free and made with everyday ingredients.
How to Make
- Sauce: Add all the ingredients for the sauce to a jug and whisk together, then set aside.
- Chicken: Add chicken pieces to a non stick wok and cook through for a couple of minutes. If using a regular wok, use a little oil to prevent chicken from sticking.
- Vegetables: Add green vegetables and stir through for 1 minute, adding a tablespoon or two of water to create some steam and to prevent burning.
- Bring it all together: Whisk the sauce ingredients in the jug, and pour half in, stirring through for a minute, then pour remaining sauce on, stirring through. Sauce will thicken and coat chicken an vegetables.
- Serving: Serve immediately with rice, and sesame seeds sprinkled on top
Love chicken stirfrys? Check out my healthy Chicken in Black Pepper Sauce Stir Fry! Its low calorie and perfect for meal prepping.
Recipe Tips
- Chicken: If pressed for time, using a store bought BBQ chicken and shredding the breast meat with two forks I a great way to get this lemon chicken stirfry on the table even quicker.
- Spiciness: For a little extra spiciness, add an extra half a teaspoon of chilli paste, or alternatively sprinkle dried chilli flakes on top to serve.
Check out my Mongolian Chicken and my Sweet Chili Chicken for more quick and easy weeknight dinners that are also perfect for making ahead for meal prepping.
Serving
- Rice: Jasmine Rice or Brown Rice are good options. To get this recipe on the table quickly, you could use minute or microwave rice.
- Noodles: precooked packet noodles are great when you want a change from rice. Thick or thin or somewhere in between, Egg Noodles, Udon noodles, Hokkien Noodles are perfect to throw into the pan to heat through for a minute or two at the end as they cook quickly.
- Low Carb: For convenience, you can't beat frozen cauliflower rice that cooks I the microwave in four minutes. Alternatively heat some store bought zucchini noodles in a little water in the microwave and pour the chicken, vegetables and sauce over to serve.
Once you realise how easy it is to create healthy lemon chicken at home, it'll become a regular on your menu. I know it has in our household.
More Quick Healthy Dinners
With that moreish flavour combination of sweet, sour, sticky and tangy, this low calorie chicken recipe satisfies all the food cravings at once whilst providing a filling and nutritious meal that won't weigh you down.
Lemon Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
Chicken
- 500 grams 1lb Chicken Breast, sliced into ½ inch pieces
Sauce
- 1 Cup Chicken Stock/Broth
- 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Paste
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Paste
- ½ teaspoon Chilli Paste
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice
- 1 tablespoon Sweetener
- 1 tablespoon Cornflour/Cornstarch
Vegetables
- 1 head of Bok Choy or Pak Choy or Choy Sum
- 16 Green beans - chopped into 1 inch pieces
Rice
- 2 cups Jasmine rice - cooked
Other
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients for the sauce to a jug and whisk together, then set aside.
- Add chicken pieces to a non stick wok and cook through for a couple of minutes. If using a regular wok, use a little oil to prevent chicken from sticking.
- Add green vegetables and stir through for 1 minute, adding a tablespoon or two of water to create some steam and to prevent burning.
- Whisk the sauce ingredients in the jug, and pour half in, stirring through for a minute, then pour remaining sauce on, stirring through. Sauce will thicken and coat chicken an vegetables.
- Serve immediately with rice, and sesame seeds sprinkled on top
Notes
- Chicken: If using chicken breast, slice thin strips roughly the same length so that they cook evenly. Alternatively you can buy chicken breast that's already cut into strips.
- If pressed for time, using a store bought BBQ chicken and shredding the breast meat with two forks I a great way to get this lemon chicken stirfry on the table even quicker.
- Chicken Stock/Broth: you can use pre made, or make you own with a bullion cube (stock cube) dissolved in boiling water. Because the stock/broth is also a flavour base for the sauce using a quality one is ideal. Alternatively you could use vegetable stock however it will lack a bit of flavour. Using water is a no-no as it just doesn't have any flavour and will produce a bland and boring lemon sauce.
- Soy Sauce: this adds flavour and depth to the sauce. I like to use Light Soy Sauce, however regular would also work. Avoid dark soy sauce as its too strong.
- Garlic Paste, Ginger Paste and Chilli Paste: These are the base flavours of the sauce. Even though there is chilli, its not a dominant flavour. You can use fresh garlic, ginger and chilli or a punchier hit of flavour, or the ones that come in a tube or jar which I tend to find are a little less punchier but are more convenient.
- Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is best as it provides sharpness and freshness. However if you have lemon juice from a bottle, that will work too.
- Sweetener: I use a granulated sweetener that measures like sugar and my go to one is Lakanto Monkfruit Golden. However any granulated sweetener that measures like sugar will work the same as it will dissolve in the hot liquid.
- Cornflour/Cornstarch: this is used to thicken the sauce and make it sticky so that it coats the chicken without running off.
- Spiciness: For a little extra spiciness, add an extra half a teaspoon of chilli paste, or alternatively sprinkle dried chilli flakes on top to serve.
- Nutritional information does not include 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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