This Chicken With Snow Peas Chinese recipe is a tasty, warming dinner that comes together in less than 40 minutes. This Chinese-Style Chicken with Snow Peas dinner will be a family favorite that could even be served to company, as it’s always a hit! Chicken with Snow Peas is a popular recipe for Chinese food. and the health benefits of peas makes this dish more healthy to consume.
Chicken With Snow Peas Chinese
How to Make Stir-Fry in Just 35 Minutes
It’s the easiest weeknight dinner ever.
You know those busy weeknights when there are a million things going on and you just need a quick (and healthy-ish) family dinner to throw together fast? Stir-fry is the answer! It’s the perfect speedy one-pan meal, and it’s super easy to make at home—check out our tips for how to make stir-fry in minutes. Another bonus: You can prep everything in advance. Just cut up all your veggies the night before and store them in separate containers in the fridge. You’ll be good to go come dinnertime!
The best part about a stir-fry is that it’s completely customizable—just use Ree Drummond’s recipe for Chicken–Snow Pea Stir-Fry below as a guide. Throw in whatever veggies you have on hand, or try making it with steak, pork, or tofu. You can switch up the carbs, too: Serve your stir-fry over noodles or quinoa instead of rice. Swap in sliced almonds for the cashews or make it extra spicy and top it with a few dashes of hot sauce. Anything goes! It’s such an easy dinner recipe. Once you know how to make stir-fry, you can create your own version. For more inspiration, check out Ree’s Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry, or for a low-carb dinner, try her Spicy Shrimp Stir-Fry with Zucchini Noodles. To make sure you get the perfect stir-fry every time, follow these tips:
Prep ahead of time.
Things are going to move fast! Prep and measure all your ingredients before you start cooking. If you’re using a variety of veggies, cut them into small pieces that are all about the same size so they cook evenly. The same goes for your protein: Cut your meat into thin slices or small cubes.
Choose the right pan.
Woks are designed for stir-frying because they have a large surface area and retain heat well. A cast-iron skillet works great, too—cast-iron gets screaming hot so it’s perfect for stir-frying. A stainless-steel skillet is fine as well, just avoid a nonstick pan: The high temperature required for stir-frying could ruin your nonstick coating.
Crank up the heat.
Place your pan over high heat to get it piping hot—you want your veggies and meat to get a nice sear. Be sure to use an oil that has a high smoke point, like vegetable oil, peanut oil, or grapeseed oil.
Cook in stages.
Overcrowding the pan will lead to a soggy stir-fry. Instead, cook in batches: You’ll want to cook longer-cooking vegetables (like carrots or cauliflower) first, then remove them from the pan to make room for your meat and softer veggies.
Make a better sauce.
A good stir-fry needs a good sauce! Ree uses fresh ginger in this one, but you can also swap in minced garlic or add Sriracha for some heat. The secret ingredient in this sauce is cornstarch: It thickens the sauce and helps brown the meat quickly.
- YIELDS:4 – 6 servings
- PREP TIME:0 hours 35 mins
- TOTAL TIME:0 hours 35 mins
Ingredients
- 1/2 c.
- low-sodium soy sauce, plus more for serving
- 3 tbsp.
- sherry
- 2 tbsp.
- packed brown sugar
- 2 tbsp.
- cornstarch
- 1 tbsp.
- minced fresh ginger
- 1 1/2 lb.
- skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
- 3 tbsp.
- peanut oil
- 8 oz.
- snow peas, trimmed
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Cooked white rice, for serving
- Red pepper flakes, for topping
- Chopped roasted cashews, for topping (optional)
Directions
- Mix the soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger in a small bowl. Pour about a third of the mixture over the chicken in a large bowl and toss with your hands; set aside. Reserve the remaining liquid.
- Heat the peanut oil in a large cast-iron skillet or wok over high heat. Add the snow peas and stir-fry for 45 seconds. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Let the skillet get very hot again. Using tongs, add the chicken mixture, leaving most of the marinade in the bowl. Spread out the chicken as you add it to the pan but do not stir for a good minute so the chicken gets nice and brown on the bottom. Then flip the chicken and cook through, tossing occasionally, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add ½ cup water, the reserved marinade, and the snow peas to the skillet. Cook over high heat, stirring, for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. (The sauce will thicken as it sits.) Season with salt only if it needs it. Serve over rice and top with red pepper flakes and cashews, if desired. Serve with more soy sauce.
Chinese-Style Chicken with Snow Peas
- Marinade : 1 hPreparation : 10 minCooking : 15 min
- 310 calories/serving
- Best Price for 3 servings
| 1 | chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into 1×5 cm strips | 300 g | |
| 2 cups | snow peas | 180 g | |
| 1 1/2 | green peppers, cut into thin strips | 220 g | |
| 1 1/2 | onions, coarsely chopped | 300 g | |
| 2 cloves | garlic, minced or pressed | ||
| 2 tbsp | sherry [optional] | 30 mL | |
| 2 tbsp | cornstarch | 16 g | |
| 3 tbsp | soy sauce | 45 mL | |
| 2 tsp | sugar | 8 g | |
| 4 slices | gingerroot, cut into thin slices | 6 g | |
| 3 tbsp | canola oil | 45 mL | |
| 1 pinch | salt [optional] | 0.2 g | |
| ground pepper to taste [optional] |
Before you start
You will need a wok or frying pan.
Put the serving dish in the oven at the lowest setting to keep the vegetables warm while the meat cooks.
Method
- Slice the chicken breast into strips ½ to 1 cm wide and about 5 cm long. Mix with the soy sauce, sherry (optional), cornstarch, sugar, and 2-3 slices of ginger. Chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to the lowest setting.
- Prepare the vegetables. Coarsely chop the onion, thinly slice the pepper, and mince or press the garlic. Keep the snow peas whole. Cut 2-3 more slices of ginger.
- Heat ½ to 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying-pan or wok. Add the garlic, onion, and bell pepper, cook 2-3 min until they start to soften, then set aside on the warmed serving plate in the oven.
- Turn up the heat and add ½ to 1 tablespoon of oil. First add some salt, then immediately add the snow peas. Stir constantly for 2-3 min since they cook very quickly (the colour should stay dark green). Put the snow peas on the plate with the other vegetables. Keep the plate warm.
- In the same wok, add the remaining oil and the marinated chicken. Reserve the remaining marinade. Stir constantly over medium heat 7-8 min until the meat is almost cooked. Then put the vegetables back into the wok, add the new slices of ginger plus the reserved marinade. Cook another 2 min. Add salt and pepper to taste then serve.
CHICKEN WITH SNOW PEAS
Chicken with Snow Peas is a clean fresh 30 minute meal! It’s low fat, gluten free, and delicious!
In the week or so between Christmas and the New Year a certain amount of take-out and fast food is a given. For some it’s probably a meal or two, for others it’s a constant stream of styrofoam and greasy bags. Who could blame anyone for just wanting to sit on the couch and eat food from a container after all that cooking, cleaning, and entertaining we’ve done in the last couple of months. I’m down with that for sure. But for me one of the big discoveries of 2013 has been learning how to recreate my favorite take out food at home. Some of the best recipes of the year have come out of that longing for classic take out dishes made with ingredients whose quality and freshness I can control. I’m slowly working my way through all my favorites, so stay tuned. 2014 promises to be a great year for take out at home.
While I usually prefer spicy dishes, every once in a while I crave a simple clean meal like this. This recipe is a snap to make, so keep it in mind the next time you see good looking pea pods at the market. They to pop up at random times in my store, and I grab them when they look bright green and extra fresh. You can use any of the many varieties of edible-podded peas — Chinese snow peas are flat, while sugar snap peas are rounded. Be sure to taste them to see if you need to remove the little stringy thing that runs along their length. Some do and some don’t, it depends on how mature they are.
One of the things that makes this dish even better is that I buy humanely raised chicken, without hormones or antibiotics. It’s usually clearly marked at the store. It’s a little more expensive, and I compensate by using a little less of it. When you feel good about what you’re eating, it tastes a whole lot better.
Chicken with Snow Peas
Ingredients
- 1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp peanut or other vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger grated
- 8 oz can of water chestnuts drained and quartered
- 2 big handfuls of snow peas or sugar snap peas strings removed, if necessary
for the sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp sesame oil
for garnish
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken in the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and cornstarch for 2 hours. You can put all the ingredients in a zip lock baggie, add the chicken, and massage in well.
- Mix the sauce ingredients together in a measuring cup and set aside.
- Cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces.
- Heat the peanut oil in a wok until hot, and then add the chicken, garlic and ginger. Stir fry until the chicken is cooked through.
- Add the water chestnuts and the pea pods and stir fry just until the pea pods have turned bright green, just a couple of minutes. Don’t overcook them, they will continue cooking as you make the sauce.
- Shift everything to one side of the wok and add the sauce to the pan. Stir while the sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Then mix the sauce into the chicken and veggies.. Make sure everything is heated through, and then serve over rice, garnished with sesame seeds.
Cook’s notes
This is a mild dish. You can bump up the flavor with added ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Be sure to give the sauce a taste before serving to adjust it to your liking. Whatever you do, don’t over cook those pea pods. They go from brilliant green and crisp to faded and saggy in the blink of an eye.
Health Benefits of Peas
If you think that peas are humble, ordinary vegetables, think again! These tiny bead-sized jewels carry quite a punch when it comes to nutrients and health benefits.
Peas are in the group of foods known as legumes. Legumes are plants that produce pods with seeds, or beans, inside. Other foods in the legume family include lentils, soybeans, chickpeas, and all types of beans.
There are three varieties of peas that you eat:
- Garden or green peas
- Snow peas
- Snap peas
Garden or green peas grow inside green, rounded pods. The peas inside are sweet and starchy. Snow peas and snap peas grow inside edible pods, and their taste is slightly sweeter than garden peas.
Peas are part of the plant family, Fabaceae, also known as the bean family or pulse family. Although their beginnings may trace back to Asia and the Middle East, peas are grown worldwide today.
Health Benefits
The high concentration of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients in peas provides important health benefits that range from keeping your eyes healthy to protecting you against certain cancers.
Eye Health
Peas contain the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. These nutrients help protect your eyes from chronic diseases, such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Lutein and zeaxanthin act as filters from harmful blue light, which contributes to cataracts and macular degeneration.
Digestive Health
Peas are rich in coumestrol, a nutrient that plays a role in protecting against stomach cancer. A 2009 study done in Mexico City showed that daily intake of peas and other legumes lowered the risk of stomach cancer by 50%.
Peas are also high in fiber, which helps move food through your gut for easier digestion.
Immune Health and Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Peas are packed with antioxidants, which help build your immune system. The following are nutrients in peas that act as antioxidants:
- Vitamin C
- Vtamin E
- Zinc
- Catechin
- Epicatechin
Anti-inflammatory nutrients in peas have been associated with lowering the risk of inflammatory conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.
The following vitamins and nutrients found in peas help reduce inflammation:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B
- Coumestrol
- Ferulic
- Caffeic acid
- Catechin
- Epicatechin
- Pisumsaponins I and II
- Pisomosides A and B
Blood Sugar Control
Peas are loaded with fiber and protein, which help to regulate the way you digest starches. The protein and fiber in peas slow the breakdown of carbohydrates and helps to control your blood sugar. Studies show that eating a high-protein diet decreases postprandial (after meals) blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes.
Peas also have a low glycemic index. This means that you are less likely to have sudden spikes in blood sugar after eating them.
Heart Health
Inflammation and stress caused by free radicals (oxidation) can contribute to plaque formation along blood vessel walls. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids found in peas help to reduce oxidation and inflammation and prevent plaques from forming.
In addition, magnesium, potassium, and other minerals found in peas can lower your risk of high blood pressure.
Nutrition
Peas are a good source of vitamins C and E, zinc, and other antioxidants that strengthen your immune system. Other nutrients, such as vitamins A and B and coumestrol, help reduce inflammation and lower your risk of chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.