Easy College Meals: Chicken Stir Fry

I’m excited to announce a new series here on Living the Gray Life! In my Easy College Meals series I will be focusing on providing easy, inexpensive recepies that only require a few ingredients and, at most, a pot and a pan.

This week I’m going to start off with one of my favorites, chicken stir fry. I based this recipe off one of the Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry from Give Me Some Oven — possibly my favorite Pinterest finds ever. Keep reading to find out how to make this amazing dish!

INGREDIENTS & SUPPLIES

• 2 chicken breasts (you can use as many as you want. I used 2)
• 1 lb. bag of frozen stir fry mix (onion, red peppers, yellow peppers, green peppers)
• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped (optional)
• soy sauce
• honey
• rice (optional)
• olive oil
• frying pan

For the chicken, I really like the frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Target. You get close to 8 or 9 breasts per bag at around $6. That’s not a bad deal considering 2 fresh chicken breasts will cost you around the same. I just picked up this stir-fry mix from Food Lion.

Thaw (if you’re using frozen) and chop the chicken into 3/4-inch cubes. If you want smaller pieces of chicken, feel free to cut them smaller as long as they’re all a uniform size.

Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of honey over the chicken. I don’t percisesly measure this.

Then, partially cover the chicken in soy sauce like the picture above. You really can’t go wrong with this marinade. Then, cover the chicken and stick it in the fridge for an hour or overnight. I also like to tenderize the chicken in the marinade. I feel that it gives it a really nice texture and flavor.

I love onions and felt that the stir-fry mix did not have enough in it. I chopped half of a medium white onion and threw it in with the vegetables.

Throw all of your vegetables into a frying pan and cook over medium-high heat.

Note that because these vegetables are frozen, there is going to be a lot of water coming off of them. Boil the water off. Once the liquid is fully evaporated, drizzle some olive oil over the vegetables.

This is what the vegetables should look like when they’re done. They should be tender and slightly browned.

I am eating this for four meals, so I portioned the vegetables into four containers. Please pardon the sink.

To cook the chicken, pour the chicken, juice and all, into the same sauce pan, again over medium-high heat. The goal is to, again, boil off the liquid.

Once the liquid has evaporated, this is what the chicken should look like. I added a bit more soy sauce to give it a nice carmelization. And DON’T wash the pan right after you distribute the chicken. Add some water to the pan to get up all of that really delicious browned bits that are stuck to the pan. As you can see in the picture below, I poured the “sauce” over the chicken and vegetables to give it even more flavor.

If you’re making this meal ahead of time, you’re done! If you’re eating this right away, this goes really well with rice or even Asian rice noodles!

To reheat, I popped it in the microwave for about a minute. I also added some rice, and let me tell you, this was one of the most amazing meals I’ve made so far. You can also cook half of a block of ramen (without the seasoning), drain it, and mix it in with this. An inexpensive way to add some carbs if you don’t have rice! It’s quick, easy, and inexpensive. Plus, you’re left with extra honey and soy sauce which means you can make it again!

To get the PDF version of this recipe, click HERE!

What are some of your favorite easy and inexpensive meals? I’m always looking for good recipes to try out!

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out my Staying Healthy in College post. I talk about all of the easy ways to be healthier in college!

-Abigail T.