When preparing family dishes, it’s often difficult to strike the right balance between tasty food and healthy food. Then another concern is the preparation technique – you don’t want to fry your food, but not everything can be baked too, right?
But don’t worry, we’ve had the perfect solution to all your cooking woes. Today, we will discuss a very delicious and healthy fried chicken and broccoli recipe that’s been prepared in an air fryer.
An air fryer is a device that allows you to enjoy crispy food without the side-effects of traditional oil frying. So you get the taste and nutrition without the extra calories of frying your food.
Ready? Let’s begin!
Air Fryer Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe
Air Fryer Chicken and Broccoli
A chicken and broccoli stir fry made in the air fryer.
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 LB Boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 LB Broccoli cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 medium Onion sliced
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Fresh ginger minced
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce can sub Tamari for gluten-free option
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- 2 tsp Rice vinegar
- 2 tsp Sriracha Can substitute any hot sauce of your choice, or leave out entirely
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Fresh lemon juice optional
Instructions
- Start the marinade by combining oil, ginger, garlic powder, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and hot sauce. Mix the ingredients well.
- Add the chicken breast, onion, and broccoli into the bowl, tossing all the ingredients together. The idea here is to ensure the chicken breast, broccoli, and onion are all evenly coated with the marinade so they can absorb it properly. Make sure not much of the sauce is left in the bottom of the bowl. And if it is, mix all the ingredients again.
- Transfer your ingredients into the air fryer basket after preparing the device. Air fry your chicken breast, broccoli, and onion at 380°F or 193°C, shaking and tossing the ingredients after every 10 minutes of cooking. The whole process should go on for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- You have to ensure that while tossing, all the ingredients cook evenly. Otherwise, the chicken might end up being raw. The next step is to check the readiness of the chicken. If you find that it’s still uncooked, you can air fry again for another 2 to 5 minutes.
- Once finished cooking, add salt and pepper according to taste. If you like a little citrusy flavor in your food, you can squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of the chicken and broccoli before serving the dish warm.
Notes
- The chicken and broccoli will cook down and shrink, which is why you don’t have to worry about the quantity too much. If your air fryer basket feels full at first, keep in mind that the volume will reduce after you finish frying the ingredients.
- Make sure you cut the broccoli at the same size as your chicken. In fact, it would be better if the broccoli is a little larger. You see, if the broccoli is too small, it will burn and char way too quickly when compared to the chicken.
- If you still like your broccoli to be cut into smaller pieces, you’ll have to add them to the air fryer after the chicken has cooked for about five minutes. This will help ensure all the ingredients are cooked at the same pace.
- It’s also important to not overcrowd the air fryer basket. If you want to cook a bigger batch, it’s better to make it in multiple batches instead of a single long batch. Additionally, the first batch will always take longer to cook, especially if your air fryer isn’t already preheated, so keep that in mind.
- You can also play around with your veggies and choose an ingredient that cooks faster. This can include potatoes – just remember to air fry the potatoes for 10 minutes before putting in the chicken. Zucchini and bell peppers – red, green, or yellow – are another great option that fries very well in an air fryer.
- While you can always opt for Italian seasoning, you can experiment with your own spice blend as well. For instance, you can use tabasco, cajun, lemon pepper, or any other blend. The only thing here is to adjust the amount of salt you add while cooking later to avoid making the dish too salty.
- Not using too much oil is a golden rule of healthy cooking. More so, in an air fryer because that is what makes it so healthy. So make sure you don’t drown the chicken breast and broccoli with too much oil.
- This recipe was made in a 3.4 to 6 qt air fryer. So if you are using a larger air fryer, you will have to adjust the cooking time accordingly as the ingredients will cook faster.
About the author: This week’s guest article was written by author Annabelle Carter Short, a NY-based food writer, blogger, and photographer. She loves cooking, creating recipes, and making healthy food that tastes delicious. She’s a big fan of a keto diet and she sees it as a life-long style of eating.
