Soy And Citrus Chicken Stir-Fry Recipe

Cooking up a stir-fry is a wonderful and speedy way to produce a flavorful and nutritious dinner without eating up hours of your precious time in the evenings. This soy and citrus chicken stir-fry from the kitchen of recipe developer Jennine Rye is a wonderfully light and tasty dinner option that's packed full of flavor yet mild enough for the whole family to enjoy.

This dish fries naturally succulent chicken thighs in a seasoned cornstarch coating alongside rice noodles, onion, red bell pepper, and sugar snap peas for a well-balanced, nutritious meal offering. The ingredients are coated in a simple, deeply zingy, and rich stir-fry sauce comprising orange juice, lemon, soy sauce, honey, and rice vinegar. Fresh garlic and ginger are pan-fried along with the vegetables to add heaps more flavor to the resulting dish. If you are looking for a quick and delicious dinner option that you'll come back to time and time again, reach for this super-satisfying soy and citrus chicken stir-fry.

To begin this soy and citrus chicken stir-fry recipe, you will first need to gather the ingredients. For the stir-fry sauce, you will want orange juice, a lemon, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt, and pepper. To prepare and cook the chicken, you will need diced boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cornstarch, and vegetable oil, for frying. To assemble the stir-fry, you will want rice noodles, toasted sesame oil, a yellow onion, red pepper, sugar snap peas, a garlic clove, fresh ginger, and bean sprouts. You may additionally want fresh cilantro when serving the stir-fry.

Place the dry noodles in a large, heatproof bowl.

Pour boiling water over the noodles until they are well covered and let them sit for 2 minutes, until softened.

Drain the noodles.‌

Toss in the toasted sesame oil and set aside.

In a bowl, stir together the orange juice, lemon juice and zest, honey, soy sauce, and rice vinegar to make the stir-fry sauce.

Mix the cornstarch with a little salt and pepper in a medium-sized bowl.

Toss the chicken with cornstarch to coat it.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a pan or wok to a medium-high temperature.

Add the coated chicken pieces to the pan.

Fry the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes, until it is colored and cooked through.

Remove from the pan.

Add the remaining oil along with the onion, bell pepper, and green beans.

Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add chopped garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant.

Add the cooked noodles, the chicken, and the stir-fry sauce to the pan.

Heat together for 2 minutes, stirring to combine.

Serve immediately, topped with the bean sprouts and, if desired, garnished with cilantro.

There are many different ways that you can switch up this citrus chicken stir-fry recipe to keep things interesting and to accommodate your personal preferences or any allergies around the table. One of the most simple and quick ways is to swap out the vegetables. As long as they are cut to a similar size, most vegetables will cook evenly. We recommend trying broccoli, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms, zucchini, and baby corn as different options in this stir-fry.

Another simple way to switch up this stir-fry recipe is to use a different protein. While chicken thighs are naturally succulent, chicken breast can offer a slightly leaner and lighter finish to the dish. Pork is another great option for this stir-fry to make it extra meaty. If you prefer seafood, shrimp pairs wonderfully with the citrus flavors and natural lightness of the stir-fry. If you would prefer to avoid meat all together, tofu works especially well when it's pre-marinaded in the stir-fry sauce, and mushrooms make an excellent and nutritious option that will provide a savory, earthy element to the finished dish.

There's an almost dizzying variety of noodles available today on the supermarket shelves, and it can be hard to know which ones to reach for when preparing your meals. Flat rice noodles make an excellent option here and are what Jennine Rye uses for this specific dish. Rice noodles offer a tender and chewy texture, and their lightness works well with the other elements of this dish. They also make the stir-fry accessible to anyone who has an intolerance or allergy to gluten. The higher the content of tapioca or cornstarch in rice noodles, the denser and chewier they will become. 

Rye's personal favorite noodle option are Vietnamese bánh canh noodles. These noodles are made with tapioca starch and are gluten-free, giving almost the same resilience and chewy texture as gluten-containing noodles without the penchant for disintegrating when overcooked. Other options are lo mein and chow mein noodles, both made using wheat and egg. These egg noodles are usually found in takeout dishes and are pretty failsafe when it comes to a stir-fry.