Bourbon Chicken with Broccoli
This recipe has been on my menu posts multiple times, and you all have asked for the recipe more than once.
I kept trying to find a time when I could make it and take good pictures of it, but it just never happened.
So I decided to say, "screw it" and I settled for pictures that are not-that-good.
Thank you for your understanding. Nursing school and all that jazz, you know?
I found the recipe in a Cook's Country magazine some years ago, and I haven't tweaked it much except that I add broccoli into mine, so then it's a one-dish meal (rice, chicken, and broccoli).
Perks of this recipe:
- it uses boneless chicken thighs, which are affordable and also hard to overcook
- it's a pretty fast recipe
- it uses mostly pantry ingredients
- it's a one-dish meal (as I said above!)
One small note: the first time I made this, it was too salty, in my opinion. Ever since then, I've used low-sodium soy sauce, and that improves the salt situation immensely.
To make this, mix soy sauce, sugar, water, bourbon, sesame oil, and pepper in a measuring cup, and microwave it for a minute or two, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Next, cut up your chicken thighs and mix them with cornstarch plus a couple of tablespoons of the soy sauce mixture.
Then cut up your broccoli into bite-sized florets.
Heat a little oil in a pan, add the broccoli, and saute for a few minutes, just until it's bright green and slightly softened.
Remove the broccoli, then heat a tablespoon or two of oil in the same pan, and add the chicken.
Cook that for about ten minutes, stirring every now and then.
Then you'll stir in garlic, ginger, and the soy sauce mixture and cook it until the sauce is syrupy.
Stir in the broccoli until it's coated with the sauce, and serve over rice.
And that's it!
Scroll down for the printable recipe with ingredients and measurements.
And click here for more main dish recipes!
Bourbon Chicken with Broccoli
A quick one-dish meal, served over rice
Ingredients
- ½ cup soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Instructions
- In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine soy sauce, sugar, water, bourbon, sesame oil, and pepper. Microwave until hot, 1-2 minutes, and stir to dissolve sugar.
- In a bowl, combine chicken, cornstarch, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce mixture; stir to combine.
- In a nonstick skillet, heat a tablespoon of oil until shimmering. Add broccoli; saute for several minutes or until bright green and slightly softened. Remove to plate.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in same skillet over medium heat until shimmering, then add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.
- Add garlic, ginger, and soy sauce to skillet with chicken, heat to boil, and cook until sauce is syrupy, about 6 minutes. Add broccoli, stir to coat, and serve over rice.
Notes
Adapted slightly from Cook's Country.
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Looks good. Since I have to make more for my family, do you think I would use less than double (or triple?) the amount of bourbon if I doubled or tripled the recipe? I'm wondering if the bourbon flavor might get too strong if I doubled or tripled it?
@Jody S., Taste it with double the bourbon and a tripled recipe and see what you think.
Hmm, I don't know! I like Rose's suggestion to triple it and just double the bourbon.
Let us know!
Yummy.
THANKS! We were having chicken stir fry tonight - but I was just going to wing the sauce. I'm planning to try this one now.
Your photos look just lovely -- and delicious! No need to apologize 🙂
Have a wonderful week!
Looks good! Might give a try! Had to laugh at your "screw it!" i think the pictures are fine!!!
@ellen, I think "screw it" is code for "I have set my priorities and the line stops here."
@ellen, I laughed at “screw it” too! Spicy Kristen 🙂 plus her mediocre pictures are my good pictures!
Haha, I probably say things like that more in real life than I do online!
Yum! The name had already sounded good and the recipe looks so tasty. I am going to try this with Coconut Aminos, since soy bothers me now. (Boy, do I miss soy sauce!)
As a fan of bourbon who nevertheless rarely buys it, I welcome an opportunity to buy a bottle, ahem. Usually, I make myself wait until Christmas time to buy a bottle for making our annual Lane cake.
@JD, if your Lane cake is anything like Maudie Atkinson's in To Kill a Mockingbird (as described by Scout), I can understand why you make it only once a year!
@A. Marie,
It is! I re-created the recipe from the incomplete notes left by my late mother-in-law. She used 6 eggs, whites beaten stiff, then folded into the batter. She used the six yolks, butter, raisins, nuts, bourbon and coconut in the filling, and since I don't like boiled frosting, I frost it with a buttercream frosting and top with the last of the filling. Her/my recipe makes a 3-layer cake and the filling has to chill and evaporate some alcohol overnight before consuming or the bourbon will knock your socks off. It takes me no less than 3-4 hours to make the cake and filling, not counting chill time, and then about an hour to make the frosting and frost the cake the next day.
Yes, once a year is IT, but my family loves it, and it reminds DH so much of his mother. DH got a slice taken to him in the nursing home last Christmas.
She also made it only at Christmas, but she was unable to make it anymore by the time I married DH and I didn't try it myself until after she was gone. She was a non-drinker and wouldn't allow alcohol in the house, except for that one bottle of bourbon at Christmas.
@JD, yep, that's a serious Lane cake! And your last "...except for that one bottle of bourbon at Christmas" has me bringing in another literary allusion: the passage in Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory," where the young narrator and his elderly cousin go down to Mr. Haha Jones's for the necessary annual purchase of hooch for the cousin's fruitcakes.
Has anyone tried this minus the bourbon?
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, There's such a thing as bourbon flavoring, if you want to stay away from alcohol.
I never have! I don't drink alcohol (I just don't like it) so I buy a small bottle of bourbon and keep it in my pantry for this recipe.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, maybe you could sub a little chicken stock?
The recipe sounds tempting! However, I'm a broccoli hater, so I'll probably do a substitution for it (cauliflower florets, snow peas, green beans, etc.).
I've never tried drinking bourbon! So my little bottle for cooking lasts me a long time.
@Kristen, I tend not to like any hard liquor. (I like wine and beer OK.) Son was drinking some Maker's Mark yesterday (no wait, it was Monday). I said this morning, "Save me two tablespoons for bourbon chicken later on this week!" Did he? Nope. Maybe he just wanted an excuse to buy another bottle.
Anyone have suggestions for substations for the sesame oil? Thanks!
Hmm, well, it's a small amount and you COULD just leave it out.
Sonia has an allergy to sesame seeds, but luckily since the proteins are what most people are allergic to, and the oil doesn't have the proteins, she was ok eating the oil.
@Kt, you could use any oil to sub, it will just be missing the nice sesame flavor. 🙂
@Jan G, have you heard of or tried pumpkin seed oil? It’s fantastic for things like this and many other things- popcorn, salad dressings, desserts…
The one I get is from Austria from a company named Schlacher & Sohne Stygian Pumpkin Seed oil- the very best I’ve ever tried. Costs about what good olive oil costs, and a little goes a long way!
Printed it out already!! Thanks for the recipe! It looks so yummy and simple 🙂
Happy Wednesday!
Thank you. That sounds good. I have a lot of frozen broccoli that came in a food box. It will be a good way to use it I think. I use low sodium soy sauce all of the time. And since we do have bourbon in the house and I just went to the meat store, this is now on the menu this week.
It is our anniversary this week. We don't need anything or we go out and buy it ourselves anyway. Gift times I usually get my husband a special bourbon (I choose it by the bottle design) and he gets me a box of turtles from a local candy store--it's a specialty of theirs.
Done is often better than perfect!
That's what I figured; this way you all can have access to the recipe sooner. 🙂
As a member of the "Screw it" club, I salute you. And I thought the pics were great!
Haha, thank you, Lindsey!
This sounds delicious for dinner this week, I have everything except the bourbon but I’ll try substituting whiskey that I have on hand.
Sounds yummy! Interestingly, I have a casserole baking for our dinner tonight as I’m reading/responding to your post. The casserole is fresh broccoli, rice and chicken thighs covered in a ginger/ maple sauce. We’ll have leftovers from this meal for tomorrow’s dinner.
Any ideas when you have no bourbon anyone? (and actually no booze in the house)
@Connie, Little bit of brown sugar?
Yum .I order this out,but I rather make my own .This is on my rotation.
I made this IAW the recipe and it's very good. I used Eligh Craigh 95 proof small batch bourbon. I used the 2 TBS as directed; the bourbon was barely detectable so i added another teaspoon full and it added some flavor. Next time i make this (this is in my favorites folder) I will use the same Bourbon but go to 3 TBS. My wife is NOT a bourbon girl and she l0ved it. If you used a cheap Bourbon like a Jim Beam you will get a much different flavor. OI was tempted to go for a more robust Bourbon such as Three Roses or a heftier one yet, but after making this, i will stick with a good middle of the road Bourbon.
The only other change i will make is maybe a bit more corn starch for a slightly thicker sauce.
Bottom line for this recipe it's all about the bourbon used. as a bourbon guy and a picky one at that, i would spend the few extra bucks and get a good bourbon you like. stay away from the cheap stuff. it will spoil the wonderful flavor it brings to the table.
Just mad this tonight for dinner. It was really good and simple. The one thing I did different, was put a little cayenne pepper into it for a little kick. I would definitely make this again. Also, was thinking, make the chicken chunks little bigger and serve as an appetizer.
Oooh, yes, I bet the cayenne was a good addition!
If this is a weight watcher recipe why aren’t the points shown?
Oh, it is not a weight watchers recipe! Just a regular ol' recipe that I make. I don't do Weight Watchers.