Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry Quinoa Bowls
on Jan 18, 2015, Updated Jul 16, 2024
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Stir fry, gosh I love the stuff! I love how easy it is to make, that you can add whatever vegetables and meat are your favorites, and that there is the perfect amount of sauce to coat everything. This past week I had a craving for some Asian food so I decided to make these Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry Quinoa Bowls.
I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to share a recipe for stir fry with you guys. I mean I make the stuff almost every week! I think what was scaring me was photographing it. Sure there are lots of colors in the vegetables, but the sauce is rather brown along with the chicken and that usually doesn’t make for the most appetizing photos. I mean does a blob of browness really make you hungry? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
Anyways I was completely surprised by how beautiful the pictures actually turned out. I really wasn’t expecting all those colors in the vegetables to show up after being tossed in the sauce! This is good news for all of you because you can expect more easy, healthy, and delicious stir fry recipes in the future now that I have more confidence in my ability to share appetizing photos of the dinner I love so much!
For this particular stir fry I used chicken which is my favorite protein in Asian food. If you prefer beef, pork, or tofu, feel free to use those instead. Next comes my favorite part, all of those bright, delicious vegetables. I used a combination of carrots, yellow bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, broccoli, and zucchini. I like using those vegetables because they hold up nicely in a stir fry and don’t turn to mush. I like my vegetables to still have some crunch to them. The light, savory, and slightly sweet sauce brings all of the wonderful flavors together. It is made up of soy sauce, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, sesame oil, honey, and of course a little sriracha for some spice!
I chose to serve the stir fry over red quinoa because I love the texture and all the protein that quinoa contains. Brown rice is of course another great option if quinoa isn’t your thing. The Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry Quinoa Bowls are an easy to make weeknight dinner. Most of the time is spent chopping vegetables while the cooking time is minimal. Not only are the bowls easy to make, but they are packed full of healthy nutrients, low in fat, and high in protein. They are everything you need in one beautiful bowl!
Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry Quinoa Bowls
Ingredients
Marinade
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger finely grated
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
Stir Fry
- 1 pound of chicken breasts diced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil, divided
- 1/2 cup carrots diced
- 1/2 cup yellow onion diced
- 1/2 cup mushrooms diced
- 1 cup broccoli cut into florets
- 1/2 cup zucchini diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds optional
- 1 cup red quinoa uncooked
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger finely grated
- 1/2 teaspoon sriracha
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- In a medium sized saucepan over high heat add one cup of rinsed quinoa, 2 cups of water, and a pinch of salt.
- Bring to a boil then cover with a lid, reduce the heat to medium low, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed.
- While the quinoa is cooking, whisk together all of the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl.
- Add the diced chicken to the marinade, tossing to coat, then set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk together all of the sauce ingredients, then set aside.
- Chop all of the vegetables for the stir fry.
- Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat, heat 1/2 tablespoon of the sesame oil.
- When the wok is very hot add in the carrot and onion and cook for 1 minute, stirring often.
- Add in the mushrooms, broccoli, and garlic and cook for another couple minutes.
- Add in the zucchini and cook for another minute before removing all of the vegetables from the wok onto a plate.
- Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil to the wok then add in the diced chicken and some of the marinade if desired.
- Cook the chicken until it is fully cooked, stirring often.
- Add the vegetables back into the wok along with the sauce.
- Stir everything together until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken and vegetables.
- Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top of the stir fry if desired.
- Serve the stir fry over the cooked quinoa.
More Easy Dinners:
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This looks so delicious and healthy!! Great recipe and wonderful pictures, pinned!
Thanks Erica! :-)
Wow this is perfectly made and must be delicious too. My mouth is watering now lol. Thanks for sharing
Thanks so much Lubna!
The sesame seeds are super pretty! Love how balanced this meal is :)
Thank you Medha!
I’m coming to YOUR house for dinner!
Haha! Come on over Dorothy!