Kid-Friendly Chicken Stir Fry
If you’ve spent a nano-second reading this blog, you know that I’m passionate about good food, and love learning and coming up with original recipes.
And you also know that I have twin babies.
So we’ve simplified a lot of things this year and our dinners are no exception. The benefit for you is we’ve come up with quite a rotation of kid-friendly, quick and easy dinners. I am a BIG believer that home cooked meals made with fresh seasonal ingredients whenever possible feeds our bodies and our souls. And also that real life requires a repertoire of dinners that come together fast. Where the two meet is what’s for dinner.
Since a lot of our weekday meals are ones I consider our everyday food, with no fancy recipes, just simple real ingredients, with kid-friendliness and shortcuts galore, I often think, ‘oh they can find this recipe somewhere else’ and don’t think it is worthy of a whole post. But since SO many people asked for just this kind of help on my Instagram, I’m going to be posting these dinners (dare we call it a series?) here over the next few months.
I realized in order to make my weekly menus as easy as possible for you, I should have a separate blog post I can link to for each meal. I’ll also be tagging them as ‘Everyday Dinners’ on the side bar so you can see them at a glance. I have a lot of great meals captured with my big girl camera waiting in the wings and will be sharing a new one every week, so check back here often. You can also enter your email address on the side and when I start to email out my meal plans you’ll have them in your inbox.
This stir fry is one of my oldest dinners – I think I learned how to make it when I was a nanny in grad school. Their kids loved it, and so when I had my own I tried it and low and behold my kids loved it too. Something about the salty sweet teriyaki chicken and the way the sauce gets over all the veggies and caramelizes on them. (My new stove does a great job with high, even heat, I love it!)
And of course, the healthy factor is off the charts. My kids eat these veggies! Probably because they are doused in salt and sweetness. I always feel like I am serving a rainbow of colors when I prep for this meal just like all the nutritionists tell us too. And this dinner makes you feel so good after you eat it.
I do have a few kids who don’t love chicken, and if they are having a hard time plowing through their meat, I have let them dip it into…wait for it…strawberry jam. This came about becaus I love to add sriracha or red pepper jelly on the side of my stir fry and my kids were like, can I have some? I grabbed the strawberry jelly instead and said try this its not as hot. They loved it an now we just serve it with this dinner. Too weird for you? Sorry not sorry because it gets my pickiest eaters to eat all this health. If it helps one other family then I am happy. Solidarity, mommas.
Another bonus: the ease factor. I almost always have all the ingredients in my fridge and pantry. And once the first step of stirring together the marinade and pouring it over the chicken is done, I always feel like dinner is practically made. I store it in the fridge for a half hour or so, and then pour it into a pipping hot pan. The rest of it comes together easily in the same pan, and I add the veggies and stir while I am doing homework with the kids or cleaning the kitchen (who doesn’t love a clean kitchen before you eat dinner?).
I usually make chicken flavored rice or rice pilaf for my kids. My husband and I usually have ours with cauliflower rice. So if you are doing a paleo/Whole 30/gluten free diet this ones a winner winner.
So play around with it and see what veggies your family likes. My youngest eater loves the mini corn so I try to add that often too. And if you’re lucky, there will be some left over because it makes the best leftovers the next day. If you have a big crew to feed, this meal is so easy to stretch with extra veggies and soy sauce and rice.
I hope this becomes one of your go-to meals too!
Happy Eating, xoxo Katie
Chicken Stir Fry (printer version here):
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
For the marinade:
⅓ cup teriyaki
⅓ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup olive oil
3-4 chicken breasts, cubed (can also use 1.5 pounds of steak or pork)
5 cups of your favorite stir fry veggies:
Sliced Carrots (if using baby carrots allow for extra cooking time or steam first)
Red peppers
Yellow peppers
Broccoli
Snap peas
Water chestnuts
Baby corn
Directions:
Combine all teriyaki, soy sauce and oil together in a measuring cup and stir to combine.
Cube chicken, and place in a non-reactive bowl such as glass or plastic.
Pour marinade over meat and refrigerate from 30 minutes or up to two hours.
Heat large skillet or wok to high heat. Add chicken and stir, cooking for 5-8 minutes or until the meat is just cooked through. Add vegetables, starting with the firmest first. Carrots, then broccoli, then peppers, then snap peas.
Continue to stir, add more soy sauce or oil if the veggies look dry at all. Cook until veggies are tender, about 7-10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook chicken or it will become tough.
Serve with rice or cauliflower rice.
