When my mom called me the other day asking me what she should make for dinner, I immediately told her she should make my Tropical Chicken Stir-Fry.
In my Flavor Crash Course, I talk a lot about how the majority of moms know how to cook 9 meals or less without a recipe. The majority of PEOPLE can cook 4 meals or less without a recipe. This Tropical Chicken Stir-Fry should definitely become one of your Nine. For me, it’s a go-to.
I have perfected this recipe to the point where I can prep and cook everything in the time it takes to make rice! (Which is approximately 25 minutes.) This one is quick, easy, delicious, and a great way to use up veggies in your fridge. (See my other go-to recipes)
I call this tropical because one of the main ingredients is fresh navel orange. We want all the orange zest AND all the fresh orange juice for this recipe. It’s also tropical because MANGO! If you don’t have mango, no worries. You can skip it. I will use fresh mango if I can get it for a good price at the store ($1/mango is average). Otherwise, I’ve been known to use frozen organic mango chunks from Costco.
TIME: 25 minutes
SERVES: 4-6
Here’s what you’ll need for Tropical Chicken Stir-Fry:
Rice
3 lbs of chicken thighs, cubed
3 TBSP butter
1 large onion, diced or in 1/2″ chunks
1 large red bell pepper, diced or in 1/2″ chunks
Greens! Either baby bok choy (or shredded cabbage)
1 serrano pepper, deseeded and minced
1 cup mango cubes
Marinade:
1-2 oranges for the juice and the rind
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 inches of ginger, minced with the juice
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBSP sesame oil
Garnish:
Sesame seeds
Red pepper flakes
Green onion
Toasted cashews
First, start some rice to go with the Tropical Chicken Stir-Fry. I usually do 1-1/2 cups of rice with 2-1/4 cups of water. I rinse the rice, then bring the rice and water to a simmer in a stainless steel pot. Then I simmer with the lid on for 25 minutes.
Make the marinade by zesting the orange, then juicing it, and combining juice and zest with the soy sauce, honey, minced ginger, crushed and minced garlic. Add your cubed chicken cubes to the marinade and set aside.
On medium heat, sauté the onions and minced serrano pepper in butter. When the onions are translucent, turn up the heat to medium high. Once it’s nice and hot, create a space in the middle of the pan, and add the chicken cubes in a single layer, RESERVING THE MARINADE TO THE SIDE. Brown chicken cubes on one side, then flip and brown on the other side.
Add marinade to the pan and simmer for 2 minutes. If it starts to stick, add a splash of water. If it needs to thicken, add a 1/2 tsp of arrowroot powder and simmer for a minute.
Stir and add sliced red pepper and baby bok choy and/or cabbage. Stir fry for about 60 seconds.
Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil. Stir. Add cubed fresh mango.
Serve over rice and garnish with green onion, red pepper flakes, and sesame seeds. Enjoy your Tropical Chicken Stir-Fry!
