This sticky chicken mince stir fry has so much flavour – a little sweetness from honey and loads of savoury from soy and oyster sauce – and it’s incredibly simple which is why we love it for a weeknight dinner. This delicious stir fry can be ready in 20 minutes.
Part of the reason this stir fry is so quick is the main ingredient – chicken mince, or you might know it as ground chicken. It just cooks so fast, making this meal midweek perfect. You can absolutely swap the mince for some sliced chicken thigh or breast or even for pork mince too. It’s so versatile.
The veggies are focused on speed too. Rather than onion, I use spring onions (green onions) that don’t need as long to cook and the carrot is grated so, again, it cooks quick plus it’s quicker to prepare too. You’ll love this Asian chilli beef mince and this chicken chow mein too.
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Ingredients you’ll need
Honey, soy and the chicken are the main flavours you’ll get in this recipe making it a quick honey soy chicken stir fry. It’s so tasty – lick the bowl kind of tasty – and the sauce ingredients are all shelf stable so you can always have them on hand.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Chicken mince / ground chicken: So underrated, chicken mince cooks quickly, it’s lean yet stays tender and it’s very budget-friendly. Just perfect for a weeknight dinner. You can swap it for ground turkey or ground pork too. Even ground beef would work.
- The vegetables: Spring onions (aka scallions or green onions) are wonderful in Asian recipes. Here they add enough onion flavour while being quick to cook. The carrot in this recipe is grated so that it cooks very quickly. You can add other veggies to this ground chicken stir fry, like capsicum (bell pepper), asparagus or green beans but make sure to chop them up finely so they cook quickly.
- Aromats: Garlic and ginger add great oomph and tang respectively and so much flavour.
- The sauce: Oyster sauce, honey, soy sauce and dark soy sauce make up the sauce ingredients. A Japanese soy sauce is great here. If you’re sensitive to salt, don’t use light soy sauce (which is saltier than a regular version). Dark soy sauce is darker than Japanese soy sauce or light soy sauce and thicker. It’s also a little sweet because it’s been aged longer. Don’t confuse it with sweet soy sauce though which is very sweet. Dark soy is great in this recipe for adding a little depth and colour. Also, if you don’t like the flavour of honey, you can swap it for the same quantity of brown sugar.
- Dried chilli flakes: These are added to the sauce. You might know them as red pepper flakes. If you prefer, you can swap these for a good squeeze of sriracha sauce instead.
- Sesame oil: Toasty, umami-rich sesame oil is a wonderful flavour and a little goes a long way. There isn’t enough in this recipe for it to be prominent but you sure do notice the difference without it.
How to make chicken mince stir fry
This stir fry comes together super-quick so make sure you have your rice and sides already on the go and all your ingredients for the sticky chicken mince stir fry ready before you start.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Combine the stir fry sauce ingredients
In a small jug with a whisk or in a jam jar (then screw on the lid and shake it up) combine the sauces, honey and chili flakes.
2. Cook the vegetables
Heat some oil, then add the carrot, spring onions (just the pale parts), the ginger and garlic. Cook it for just 2 minutes.
3. Cook the chicken mince
You can’t have a chicken mince stir fry without chicken mince so add that in now and cook it until it’s changed colour all over and there is no pink left.
4. Cook the sauce
Pour in that sauce and cook it for 4-5 minutes until it’s almost disappeared into the chicken. It’ll be thick and unctuous now.
5. Finishing touches
Finally, just stir in the green parts of the spring onions and sesame oil and it’s ready to serve.
Tips and tricks
This honey soy chicken stir fry is so easy there really isn’t any technical tips. The biggest one would just be to have everything ready before you start so you don’t have to pause cooking, for instance to gather sauces.
This ground chicken stir fry is so adaptable though, and you could use chicken thighs or chicken breasts just sliced up if you like. If you have those on hand but really want the texture of mince, you can simply process them in a food processor until you have ground chicken – easy. Pork mince (ground pork) is a really great swap in this one too and you can swap part or all of the chicken for that.
What to serve with stir fry
I serve this on top of some steamed jasmine rice – such a classic – but noodles would be great too, like ramen noodles. If you want to keep the carbs low, try cauliflower rice.
There is some veg (carrot) in the stir fry already which is great. If you don’t feel like adding more, then don’t but you can easily add some simply steamed vegetables like snow peas, broccoli or pak choy to the side. Salad style vegetables are great too like sliced cucumber and lettuce.
In fact, you can serve up lettuce leaves and serve this sticky chicken mince stir fry, san choy bow style wrapped in lettuce cups.
A little crunch goes really nicely too so add some toasted and chopped peanuts or cashews.
Storage
Store any leftover chicken mince stir fry in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. It reheats really well either for a few minutes in the microwave or in pan.
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (notes 1)
- 4 spring onions sliced pale and dark parts kept separate
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste or minced fresh ginger (notes 1)
- 1 medium carrot grated
- 500 g chicken mince (ground chicken)
- ¼ cup oyster sauce (60ml)
- ¼ cup honey (60ml)
- ¼ cup soy sauce (60ml)
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (not sweet soy)
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes or to taste
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
TO SERVE
- Rice
- Sliced spring onions
- Steamed veg like broccolini snow peas or pak choy
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Wok or skillet
Instructions
- To a pan over medium heat, add the oil, pale parts of the onions, garlic, ginger and carrot. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken mince and adjust to medium-high heat. Cook, breaking up lumps with a wooden spoon, until it changes colour, from pink to a creamy all over with no pink bits left.
- In a small jug, or old jam jar, combine the honey, oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy and chilli flakes.
- Add the sauce to the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring every now and then to make sure it’s not catching on the bottom, until the sauce has thickened and almost disappeared into the chicken mince.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil and green parts of the spring onions, then serve.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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26 Comments on “Sticky Chicken Mince Stir Fry”
First recipe I’ve made from here. Really liked it ! Will definitely be making it again. I would cut back on the honey a bit as my pallet found it a bit too overpowering on the sweet side. However, I can easily adapt that next time. Good easy to make recipe that packs a great flavour punch.
So happy you enjoyed it, Steve. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.
I was looking for a simple recipe like this as i usually kind of make it up. I did it without spring onions or carrots (stir-fried veggies separately) and used a bit less ginger and oyster sauce. I also added cornflour and water towards the end as I thought it would be too dry. My fussy kids actually ate it! So that’s a win!
I’d love to see if you’d give it that extra star if you stuck to the recipe, Harini but so happy you and the kids liked it 🙂
Outstanding! So tasty, and quick and easy.
I’m so happy you love it, K. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.
Tasty, but soooo salty! Followed the recipe correctly!
Sorry you found it salty, Natalie. Try experimenting with different soy sauces. Mine doesn’t turn out overly salty and they all have different levels of sodium.
Nice recipe! I used pork mince. With carrots, beans, brócolli, mushroom and cabbage and served it with cauliflower rice. Thank you for sharing 🙂
That sounds like a great combo, Annabelle.
Too good, too easy
I’m so happy you love it, Lyn. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.
Extremely salty… I followed the instructions correctly. This dish is completely inedible!
I actually don’t love super salty food and I don’t find this dish too salty. I’m wondering if maybe just trying a different brand of soy sauce or oyster sauce. Or try a low-sodium soy sauce.
oops! forgot to rate so here you go.
Thank you so much, Ali.
Hi I think this recipe is very adaptable. I add some finely sliced pak choy and also add the broccoli to the fry process. I also added a teaspn of fish sauce to the sauce and a squeeze of lime to the finished dish together with some toasted chopped cashew nuts and toasted sesame seeds. Making it next time I would fry off the mince to a caramelised state as we prefer it slightly firmer. I also used a lot less honey also as prefer our food less sweet. Husband has said its a keeper!
I’m so happy you love it, Ali and even happier that it was a great base for you to create your own version – sounds almost a little Thai inspired.
I make this every week. So quick, tasty and healthy!
I’m so so happy to hear this, Alice. Thank you for sharing your review 🙂
Came out great! I added a sunny side egg on top of each bowl- and it was delicious!
I’m so happy you love it, Parizaad. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.
Made this recipe tonight. So quick and easy and the family loved it! Even my fussy one gave it a thumbs up!
So happy to hear this, Michelle. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.
So easy and really tasty! The family loved it. I’ll be adding this to the dinner rotation!
I’m so happy you love it, Catherine. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.