Keto Chicken Stir Fry with Vegetables
This Keto Chicken Stir Fry recipe is made with lots of low carb vegetables and a deliciously thick stir fry sauce! Serve this chicken stir fry over a bed of steamed cauliflower rice for a delicious keto-friendly dinner!
How to make Keto Chicken Stir Fry (with Vegetables)
If you are a huge Chinese food take-out fan, this stir fry with chicken recipe is for you! Make sure you also check out my Keto Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry recipe too! It is a favorite in our house. A stir fry is such a well-rounded meal that is super low in carbs and full of fiber. Plus, they are usually packed with veggies that are completely “swappable” for lack of a better word. So if you dislike broccoli, add cauliflower, if you dislike that, add in some green beans instead. Or how about some mushrooms? The veggie choices are totally up to you!
Keto Chicken Stir Fry Ingredients:
- Broccoli florets, purple onion, garlic, bell peppers: Low carb veggies that you can swap out if you wish
- Chicken breasts: Boneless, skinless breasts are what I use to cut into cubes, but you can use any chicken you have on hand.
- Chicken broth, Braggs aminos, brown sugar, sesame oil, Xanthan gum: These ingredients are what make up your stir fry sauce.
Steps for making keto chicken stir fry:
Step 1: Chop the broccoli heads into small florets and rinse them. Follow the instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post for how to cook them through. You can also buy a pre-chopped steam bag of broccoli and steam in the microwave if you prefer. Set your broccoli aside.
Step 2: Saute the onion, yellow pepper, red pepper, and garlic cloves in a skillet for about 5 minutes on medium heat or until they are softened then remove from pan.
Step 3: Sear your diced chicken in the same pan until golden brown on all sides. It does not need to be cooked through.
Step 4: Add the sauce ingredients once the chicken is done searing and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the sauce begins to reduce and chicken is cooked all the way through. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the recipe card to add Xantham Gum to thicken the sauce.
Step 5: Add the veggies back to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes so that everything gets nice and hot again.
Step 6: Serve over top of steamed cauliflower rice!
Keto Chicken Stir Fry Sauce
I believe a good stir fry is all about the sauce. And this stir fry sauce does NOT disappoint.
This keto version is made with chicken broth, sesame oil, and Braggs aminos for an added ‘umami’ flavor. Most stir fry sauces are sweetened with either honey or sugar, but to keep this keto-friendly, I used a brown sugar substitute to add the sweetness. The result is more of a sweet and savory sauce, which is pretty traditional in a stir fry recipe and also pretty darn delicious!
For a brown sugar substitute, I like MonkFruit Golden Sweetener the best!
How to thicken your stir fry sauce without flour
It is often hard to thicken sauces while cooking on a keto diet since we cannot use flour or your typical “roux” to thicken sauces. We also cannot use cornstarch, which is another great gluten-free thickening agent because it is made from corn, which is a grain. So instead, we used xanthan gum as our thickener. It works well and is free from grains!
Tip: When using Xanthan gum, a little goes a long way. It will thicken pretty quickly but give it time to simmer. Also, make sure you use a whisk to break up the clumps.
What kind of chicken is best for a stir fry?
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are best for stir fry recipes because they are easy to dice up into small cubes. If you want to use chicken thighs, you can. You just may not be able to chop your chicken into “cubes,” but that’s okay! As long as the pieces of chicken are bite-sized, your stir fry will be delicious! Keep in mind that chicken thighs are typically higher in fat and more tender than chicken breasts.
Tips for making keto chicken stir fry:
- Use whatever low carb veggies you have! Other keto veggie options are mushrooms, cauliflower, green onions, zucchini, green beans or asparagus.
- Make sure your chicken is all cut small and consistent, so it all cooks at the same time.
- Don’t skip out on the xanthan gum. It is what will thicken your sauce and help coat your veggies and chicken.
- Feel free to add freshly grated ginger for more yummy Asian flavor.
- Don’t skip the cauliflower rice! It is needed to soak up all those yummy juices from your stir fry sauce.
- To make this recipe even faster, purchase a store-bought frozen bag of veggies. Just allow your sauce to simmer a bit longer, so the water evaporates from your vegetables.
- Add in shrimp with the chicken or instead of it for a yummy variation.
- Don’t overcook the chicken before adding it to your sauce. You don’t want to dry it out.
Other delicious keto chicken recipes:
Low Carb Chicken Fajita Soup {Keto Friendly}
Keto Chicken Salad (Quick & Easy)
Oven-Baked Chicken Drumsticks w/ Marinade (Low Carb)
Keto Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Recipe
Keto Chicken Stir Fry with Vegetables
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp water
- 3 cups small broccoli florets
- ¼ purple onion, sliced
- ⅓ yellow pepper, sliced
- ⅓ red pepper, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into bite sized cubes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients:
- ⅔ cup chicken broth
- 3 tbsp Bragg's aminos
- 2 tbsp Lakanto monkfruit golden
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- ½ tsp Xanthan gum
Instructions
- Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat and bring 3 tbsp of water to a boil. Turn down to medium heat add broccoli florets. Simmer with the lid on for 3-5 minutes or until broccoli reaches desired tenderness.You can also buy a steam bag of broccoli and steam in the microwave according to instructions.
- Remove the broccoli from the pan and set aside.
- In the same skillet, add 1 tbsp olive oil, the purple onion, yellow pepper, red pepper, and garlic cloves and saute for 5 minutes on over medium heat or until they are softened. Then remove and set aside with your broccoli.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in the same skillet over medium/high heat and sear your cubed chicken on all sides.
- Once the chicken has seared, add all of your sauce ingredients, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the sauce thickens, and chicken is cooked all the way through.(It won’t look at first like the Xanthan gum is doing anything, but as it simmers it will thicken nicely.)
- Add the veggies back to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes to warm everything through.
- Serve over steamed cauliflower rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
verry good love it
Glad you enjoyed it!
This was easy and delicious!
I did reduce xanthan gum to 1/4 tsp bc I’m not a fan and it still thickened the sauce and I also added garlic salt to the chicken when stir frying it. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs bc it’s what I had on hand.
Another family favorite! Thanks
This was absolutely delish! IT reminded me of Chinese food. So flavorful! This is a keeper in my house!
Awesome! So glad you loved it!
Do you have to use the monk fruit?
What is considered a serving?
The number of servings is listed at the top of the recipe card. I simply divide it evenly by that number.
That looks so fresh and delicious!
Delicious! I didn’t steam the broccoli first, I just threw it in the pan first and then a few minutes later added the peppers, onions, and garlic. It worked beautifully and eliminated a step. I served it with cauliflower fried rice. Yum!