This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Quick and easy Chicken Chop Suey recipe is a simple chicken stir fry that comes together in under 30 minutes. Made with tender, juicy chicken breast, veggies and a savory sauce, you can skip the take out and have dinner on the table faster than delivery. I’ve been making this easy dinner at least once a week because it’s a great way to use up leftover vegetables at the end of the week.
Notes from my kitchen: I tested this with and without Chinese cooking wine and two quick tenderizing methods – the version below gives you the same rich, savory sauce you love from takeout in 30 minutes. If you’re cooking with chicken breast, the optional velveting tip keeps it extra-juicy, chicken thighs can skip this step. For crisp-tender veggies every time, cook over high heat and add tender vegetables at the very last minute.
Table of Contents
- Why I Love This Recipe
- Ingredients For Chicken Chop Suey
- Substitutions and Ingredient Notes
- How To Make Chop Suey
- Why this Recipe Works
- What is Chop Suey?
- Kellie’s Tips and Variations on Chop Suey
- Storage & Reheat (add to your Storage section)
- What To Serve With Chop Suey
- More Easy Stir Fry Recipes
- Chicken Chop Suey Recipe
Easy from beginning to end and very tasty as well. I was missing a few ingredients (baby corn and bamboo shoots) but it was delicious anyway. Most of my time was spent on prepping and cooking literally takes minutes. Will definitely be making it again.
– Susan Cohn
Why I Love This Recipe
This Chicken Chop Suey recipe is one of our favorite dinners and you can, literally, use any vegetables you have on hand to cook it up making it perfect for a low calorie diet.
It’s a great recipe for using leftover fresh vegetables at the end of the week and chicken is always a hit with the kids. Plus, it’s super simple to whip up with just one pot to clean if you don’t count the one you use to make rice as a side dish. What could be better than a quick stir-fry with tender pieces of chicken and tons of veggies in a light, savory sauce served over a pile of fluffy jasmine rice.
Ingredients For Chicken Chop Suey
All you need is a meat, in this case chicken, vegetables and ingredients for the brown sauce. It’s fairly simple to make and I usually mix it up with whatever vegetables I have on hand.
- Chicken – I like to use boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces but you can also use chicken thighs with great results.
- Vegetables – The standard here is carrots, snow peas, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, celery and bean sprouts. Again, you can use what you have….broccoli works well and we use that often, as do water chestnuts and sugar snap peas.
- Sauce – The sauce is simple and made with chicken stock or chicken broth, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese Cooking Wine (Shaoxing or Mirin), rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, brown sugar, black pepper and corn starch to help thicken the sauce.
Substitutions and Ingredient Notes
| Item | Best Substitute | What Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing) | Dry sherry or mirin (reduce any added sugar slightly) | Similar savory depth; mirin is a touch sweeter. |
| No alcohol option | Low-sodium chicken broth | Sauce is a little lighter but still savory; add a ½ tsp sugar if desired. |
| Oyster sauce | Vegetarian oyster (mushroom) sauce | Nearly identical umami; slightly earthier. |
| Soy sauce | Tamari or low-sodium soy | Keeps it gluten-friendly (check labels). |
| Chicken thighs | Chicken breast (use optional velveting) | Leaner; velveting keeps it juicy. |
| Chicken | Pork, shrimp, firm tofu | Pork/shrimp cook fast—don’t overcook. Tofu: press 15 min for best sear. |
| Vegetable mix (onion, celery, carrots, sprouts) | Any combo: bok choy, bell pepper, broccoli, snow peas, mushrooms, baby corn, water chestnuts | Add hard veg early; tender/leafy veg in the last minute. |
| Cornstarch | Potato or tapioca starch | Similar thickening; may look slightly more translucent. |
How To Make Chop Suey
This recipe takes just about 5 minutes to cook once you have everything prepped. Be sure to have all your vegetables and chicken cut up before cooking because the process goes quickly.
- Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a wok.
- Add the garlic stirring constantly and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the onion cooking until slightly softened.
- Stir in the chicken and cook until no longer pink.
- Add the remaining vegetables and cook until slightly softened.
- Stir in the sauce and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened.
- Serve the stir fry over rice, if desired.
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
We prefer a stir fry pan over a wok because the handle makes it easy to manage and the flat bottom is suitable for both gas cooktops and electric cooktops. Made of carbon steel, this budget friendly cookware is a work horse in the kitchen.
Why this Recipe Works
- Batch if needed: If your pan is small, cook the chicken in two batches so it sears instead of steams. You’ll get better browning and flavor.
- High heat, fast moves: Preheat your pan until a drop of water sizzles on contact. Stir-frying is quick, have everything cut and ready so veggies stay crisp.
- Veg order matters: Start with harder veg (carrots, celery, onion), then add tender veg (bean sprouts, snow peas) in the last minute so they stay bright and snappy.
- Sauce cue: When the sauce hits the pan, simmer 60-90 seconds until it’s glossy and lightly coats the back of a spoon or spatula. If it gets too thick, add in 1-2 tablespoons of broth.
- Optional velveting (extra-tender chicken breast): Toss sliced breast with ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt, rest 20 minutes, rinse and pat dry, then cook as directed. Use this only for breast; thighs are naturally tender.
What is Chop Suey?
Chop Suey, or Chop Sooy, is Chinese-American cuisine consisting consisting of bite size pieces of meat like chicken, pork or shrimp. It’s cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, or celery and drenched in a thick and savory sauce.
As with many Chinese recipes in the United States, there are really no hard and fast rules to this stir fry. You can, basically, throw in just about anything you want. This dish is common in many Chinese restaurants in this country probably for the same reason we love it, to use up leftover vegetables in the refrigerator.
The difference between Chop Suey and Chow Mien is the latter is made with noodles. American Chop Suey is cooked without them and then served over rice.
Kellie’s Tips and Variations on Chop Suey
- Fresh veggies – We use the basics but love adding green bell pepper, shiitake mushrooms and green beans.
- Sauce additions – Our sauce is mild so to amp up the flavor you can add Shaoxing wine, sesame oil and tomato paste.
- Beef up the protein – Add cubes of Crispy Baked Tofu or cooked ground beef.
- Pork – Swap the chicken for pork tenderloin or pork chops cut into bite spice pieces for a tasty pork chop suey.
- Make it vegetarian – Turn this into a Vegetable Chop Suey by skipping the meat and adding your favorite mushroom medley. You can use any type of vegetable for this recipe.
Storage & Reheat (add to your Storage section)
Storage: Cool completely, then refrigerate leftover chop suey in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Reheat (best method): Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high. Add leftovers and toss 1-2 minutes until hot and the sauce loosens a bit again. If the sauce seems thick, splash in 1-2 tablespoons broth to help it along
Microwave: Heat 60-90 seconds, stirring once halfway. Don’t overheat, remove as soon as it’s hot to keep veggies from softening.
Make-ahead tip: Keep bean sprouts and other very tender vegetables separate; stir them in during reheating for added crunch.
What To Serve With Chop Suey
While the standard is white rice or jasmine rice you can also serve it over this cauliflower rice. It’s just as good and you won’t even miss the carbs!
You can also add baby corn to the stir fry mix and then top with bamboo shoots.
More Easy Stir Fry Recipes
- Mongolian Beef Stir Fry
- Spicy Singapore Noodles (Singapore Chow Mei Fun)
- Szechuan Chicken
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Hunan Chicken
- Sesame Chicken
For more easy take out inspired recipes, follow us on Instagram and Facebook!
Chicken Chop Suey Recipe
Equipment
- wok
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken stock, or chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Mirin, Chinese Cooking Wine or Sherry
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
For the stir fry
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil, or canola oil
- 1 cup sliced onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 1 cup thinly sliced carrot
- 1 cup snow peas, sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1/3 cup baby corn, sliced (one 5-oz can)
- 1/3 cup bamboo shoots, sliced (one 5-oz can)
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the chicken stock, oyster sauce, vinegar, wine, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, pepper and cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large wok over high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the onion and cook for another minute.
- Add the chicken and stir to combine. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink on the outside.
- Add the celery, carrots, snow peas, mushrooms and corn to the pan tossing to combine. Cook for an additional minute.
- Stir in the bamboo shoots and sauce. Toss to coat. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened.
- Serve immediately over rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Yes. Use vegetarian oyster (mushroom) sauce for a similar savory result. If you don’t have either, add 1 teaspoon soy sauce and ½ teaspoon sugar to the sauce; flavor will be a bit lighter but still tasty.
Swap in low-sodium chicken broth. The sauce will be a less complex; you can compensate with a bit of rice vinegar or a pinch of sugar.
Cook on high heat, add hard vegetables first, tender vegetables last, and don’t overcrowd the pan. Pull the stir-fry off the heat as soon as the sauce thickens.
Both work. Thighs are naturally juicy; for breasts, use the optional velveting step (quick baking-soda tenderize) for restaurant-style tenderness.
Great recipe. Added some chili garlic sauce to the sauce recipe and used the vegetables I had plus topped it with chow men noodles when plated. Both my husband and I loved it !
Thank you so much, Judy!
Love this recipe. I give 5 star
Thank you so much!
Easy from beginning to end and very tasty as well. I was missing a few ingredients (baby corn and bamboo shoots) but it was delicious anyway. Most of my time was spent on prepping and cooking literally takes minutes. Will definitely be making it again.
So glad you liked it! Prepping before cooking is key because it cooks so quickly. Thank you for your comment!
I made this tonight. The sauce was delicious! We are watching our sugar and carb intake because we have put on a few pounds during quarantine. The sauce does not have a lot of sugar, and it is very flavorful. I am sharing this recipe with my best friends. We will definitely be making this again!
I’m so glad you loved it! We also gained a few quarantine lbs. 🙂
Thanks for the awesome weeknight dinner inspiration, love this so much!