Chicken Stir-Fry with Pineapple and Mushrooms

Fresh, fast, and flavor-loaded—that’s stir-fry. Keep it simple and choose ingredients that both complement and balance each other. Here, it’s lean chicken breast, sweet pineapple, and earthy mushrooms rounded out with an easy sweet and sour sauce.

And remember the golden rule of stir-fry: Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you turn on the heat.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Sauce

• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 2 tsp sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
• 1 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped 

For the Stir-Fry

• 6 tsp water
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp peanut oil, divided
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into small, bite-sized pieces
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 6 oz crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced and separated
• 2 small serrano chiles, thinly sliced
• 1-1/2 cups small pineapple chunks
• cooked white rice, for serving

Prepared Chicken

Prepared Ingredients

Preparation

For the Sauce

1. Whisk the first 6 ingredients (through sambal oelek) in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat a wok over medium-high heat and add the peanut oil. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry 35-40 seconds. Add the broth mixture and simmer 2 minutes. (Reduce the heat if the mixture comes to a hard boil.)
3. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and set aside. Do not wipe out the wok.

Broth Mixture

Garlic and Ginger

Stir-Fry Sauce

For the Stir-Fry

1. Whisk the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until the cornstarch is completely dissolved.
2. Re-heat the wok over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of peanut oil, swirling to coat. 
3. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the wok. Stir-fry until the chicken is just cooked through, 6-7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl.
4. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok. Add the mushrooms, white parts of the scallions, and chiles and stir-fry 3 minutes. Add the pineapple chunks and stir-fry 2 minutes.
5. Return the chicken to the wok and stir in the reserved sauce. Simmer 1 minute.
6. Re-whisk the cornstarch mixture and add to the wok. Stir well until the sauce is slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. 

Chicken Beginning to Cook

Mushroom Mixture added

Pineapple Added

Chicken and Sauce Added

Thickened Sauce

To serve, divide the rice among 4 shallow bowls. Divide the chicken mixture on top and sprinkle with the green parts of the scallions.

Chicken Stir-Fry with Pineapple and Mushrooms