Chicken Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce
This Chicken Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce brings the marvelous flavors of Chinese takeout into your kitchen and is totally customizable!
The Chicken Stir Fry Sauce nails the flavors of Chinatown! Now it’s easy to make an authentic-tasting stir fry at home.

Why You Must Make
Growing up, my first exposure to “Asian” food was my mom’s Egg Foo Yung. A can of veggies, including bean sprouts, was fried up with eggs and soy sauce. Not exactly gourmet, but we loved it as kids. Years later, we went with a big group of physicist families to The House of Lum in Aspen, Colorado, where we sipped on piping hot black tea, ate wonton soup, egg rolls, and more until we finished the meal with fortune cookies. That was our first foray into more traditional Chinese dishes.
- When I first tried this Chicken Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce recipe from Pam Anderson’s The Perfect Recipe (affiliate link), I knew I had found a dish I would make over and over.
- This entree may not be authentic, but it reminded me of the Chinese restaurant food I grew to love during our summers in Aspen and our time exploring Vancouver’s Chinatown during our year abroad. The flavors were spot on!
- Stir-fry recipes are perfect dinners on busy days.
Ingredient Notes
- Kitchen Staples – Soy Sauce, Sugar, Ground Black Pepper, Vegetable Oil, Cornstarch
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts – Sliced or cubed into bite-sized pieces.
- Dry Sherry (affiliate link) – I keep a bottle of this Spanish fortified wine in the refrigerator for recipes.
- Assorted Vegetables – Cut or slice into bite-sized pieces about the same size as the chicken. I used snow peas, asparagus, red bell peppers, and carrots.
- Oyster Sauce (affiliate link) – Found in the international aisle at larger grocery stores.
- Toasted Sesame Oil (affiliate link)- Adds more Asian flavor.
- Garlic (affiliate link to garlic press) – Use a garlic press to “mince” it.
- Fresh Ginger (link to zester)- Peel, then zest. I use a zester to “mince.” You can also place some peeled ginger on a cutting board and finely chop it so it distributes nicely throughout the dish.
- Steamed Rice – To serve. PRO-Tip: Make sure to cook your rice in salted water or salted broth unless your diet prohibits salt. My kids still remember when Bill made rice years ago while I was out of town and didn’t season it!! It wasn’t very tasty and they made sure to tell me about it, LOL.


How to Make






Tips for Making Stir-Fries
- Prep your ingredients early in the day to streamline the cooking process at dinnertime. Cut your vegetables, cube your chicken, and then keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook.
- PRO-Tip: Marinate your protein so that it has time to absorb the flavor and tenderize via any acidic ingredients in the marinade. The sherry does the job in this recipe.
- PRO-Tip: Note that seafood and chicken will take less time to marinate than pork or beef. Overmarinating can make for mushy meat. The USDA guidelines are 6-24 hours for chicken and 3-5 days for pork, beef, and lamb. But generally, I marinate overnight.
- Make your sauces ahead of time, too.
- Then, when it’s dinnertime, it will take 20 minutes or less to finish your stir-fry.
- Change out the vegetables to varieties your family enjoys.
- PRO-Tip: Add the vegetables that take longer to cook, like carrots and broccoli, first so they will be tender at the same time the other vegetables are tender.
- PRO-Tip: If you want thin slices of chicken or beef, try freezing it first. It will be much easier to cut!
- Try beef or shrimp instead of chicken. Note that these selections won’t need to cook as long as the chicken.

How to Make
- For this healthy Stir Fry Chicken, you can utilize different veggies and protein, but I suggest adding cabbage, red bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, pea pods, mushrooms, and then a protein like chicken or beef. I shook up the mix as I had fresh asparagus in the refrigerator, plus I humored the picky hubby by not adding mushrooms.
- PRO-Tip: Have your vegetables cut into similarly sized pieces so they finish cooking at the same time. This also applies to the chicken pieces.
- PRO-Tip: Don’t overcook your veggies. Mushy carrots aren’t as appealing as those that offer a slight resistance when pierced with a knife or fork.
- PRO-Tip: Use a neutral cooking oil with a higher smoke point. Peanut Oil works well, as does Canola Oil. Do not use olive oil.
- Cook in batches so the mixture fries instead of steaming.
Packed full of vegetables and lean meat, this healthy entrée allows room for a sweet bite after dinner. Always a bonus!! I hope you’ll add this Easy Chicken Stir Fry to your menu soon.
Frequently Asked Questions
The first key is to use a hot pan and cold oil. Next, cook the meat first. Finally, remove the meat before cooking the vegetables so it remains juicy and tender.
If your stir fry still needs more flavor, consider adding broth, herbs, more garlic, ginger, citrus zest, or soy or oyster sauce to pep it up.
Steamed rice is essential, but you can also serve fried rice or even quinoa instead. Other side dish options include Wonton Soup, Sweet and Sour Soup, Egg Rolls, Spring Rolls, or Chinese Dumplings.
You May Also Like:
- 15-Minute Shrimp, Snow Pea, and Ginger Stir Fry from A Beautiful Plate
- Orange Chicken from The Noshery
- Beef Broccoli Stir Fry
- Beef Bulgogi
- Asian Beef with Peppers
- Chicken, Bell Pepper, and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Plus, check out all my favorite Chicken Recipes.
Chicken Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce
This better than take out recipe is adapted from The Perfect Recipe by Pam Anderson
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy
- I tablespoons dry sherry
- 1 ½ pounds vegetables cut approximately the same size as chicken (snow peas, asparagus, red bell pepper, carrots)
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
- Steamed rice
Instructions
- Toss chicken with soy and sherry and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat some salted water in a large saucepan. Blanch and hard vegetables (like carrots or broccoli) till softened slightly. Remove from water and set aside.
- Prepare sauce by combining all ingredients. Set aside.
- Heat one tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large saute pan or wok. Cook half the meat, and remove to a serving dish. Add another tablespoon of oil and cook the rest of the chicken. Remove.
- Add the last tablespoon of oil. garlic and ginger, and then add the soft vegetables, and stir fry till tender crisp.
- Add blanched vegetables and chicken.
- Add sauce and stir to coat all pieces. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook till juices thicken.
- Serve with steamed rice.
Notes
You may use beef instead. And swap out any of the vegetables for your favorites. If you're not a fan of rice, quinoa would be a delicious alternative.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 542Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 116mgSodium: 497mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 8gSugar: 6gProtein: 47g
Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

59 Comments on “Chicken Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce”
This stir-fry was so quick to pull together for dinner. The sauce has the perfect balance of flavors, and the chicken came out nice and tender. It’s definitely going into our regular rotation!
Yes oyster sauce adds wonderful flavor boost, I tried this chicken stir fry so good, I am going to make it again.
A very nice and authentic Cantonese stirfry!
This Chicken Stir Fry is one of my go-to recipes! So easy and full of flavor!
Your recipe made one of the best stir-fry I’ve eve had. The oyster sauce really enhanced the flavors.
My family loves this dish! It really is like getting takeout, but at home so I can know all the ingredients are healthy!
BF loves stir frys and I love mixing it up for him. This one sounds like an instant win in our house. Thank you for the inspiration!
This does look healthy and delicious.
This looks so good. I want to get that cookbook in a big bad way. I love stirfry. I should probably make it more.
Sounds like a healthy and fresh meal. Perfect for me right now as I’m curbing some of my gluttonous ways. 😉
Love the simplicity of this dish – but the list of ingredients and your photos say that it tasted awesome:)Beautiful presentation too,as always!
This is so beautiful! Are my winter eyes weary? Or do I just know a gorgeous stir-fry when I see it? My daughter goes to Iowa City in a few days to check out a graduate program…it’s the 2nd best one in the nation – and just a few hours away…
I love oyster sauce dish and this is a really quick and delicious meal with veggies, meat, and carb! Maybe I’ll make this tonight as my husband doesn’t need dinner and I’m still sick to make several meals… Thanks for the great inspiration today!
This looks delicious – light and colourful. Perfect!
Stir fry is a favorite in this house, whether with chicken shrimp or beef, we love it. This recipe is a great mix of veggies and flavors, healthy and yummy, who can ask for more!
Lovely recipe Liz!I love these Asian preparations, so easy and quick.I make them at least once a week.Will be making this very soon 🙂
It sounds light and delicious. I make stir-fries all the time. They are such a wonderful way to include more vegetables into our diet.
I see we have more in common than chocolate. When we’re not indulging in chocolat we try to balance it with stir-fries. Yummy recipe!
Liz, this is a terrific dish! I’d have to substitute the oyster sauce with soy because of allergies, but before I DID have allergies – I LOVED oyster sauce! No wonder you love this – it’s a terrific recipe!