Simple & Easy Weeknight Meals: One Dish Chicken Stir Fry Recipe {Video}

As busy parents, getting dinner on the table can often be challenging. Whether you work outside the home, work from home, stay home with your children, or any combination of work-life-family situations, when it comes to dinner, you may be scrambling if you didn’t prepare ahead of time! Let’s face it – our afternoon schedules are packed with anything and everything from work and schoolwork, to after-school activities and family time. Preparing dinner should be easy so you can spend more time with your family. That’s why I’m a fan of pre-cooking parts of your meal and freezing them or using shortcuts. I’m also a huge fan of easy dishes that don’t take long to prepare or cook. It’s one of the best ways to cook easy weeknight meals for your family. Check out what I mean in the video below where I walk you through an easy one dish Chicken Stir Fry Recipe. Then scroll down for the full recipe details and more ideas from Simple Meals @ Walmart!

Easy One Dish Chicken Stir Fry Recipe

Ingredients

• Boneless chicken tenderloins, defrosted and cubed
• Olive oil, about 1-2 Tbsp
• Preferred seasonings – I used adobo and black pepper
• Bird’s Eye Recipe Ready Broccoli Stir Fry Mix, 14 oz pack
• 5 Tbsp Teriyaki sauce – I used Kikkoman Preservative Free Teriyaki Baste & Glaze
• Rice – I used Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Chicken Flavored Whole Grain Brown Rice, but Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice would work great as well. (This is not part of your one-dish stir fry, but completes your meal.)

Directions

1. Season chicken and cook on medium-high heat in a preheated pan, along with olive oil, until chicken is no longer pink.
2. Add Bird’s Eye Broccoli Stir Fry Mix to the pan. Stir and let simmer on low-medium heat for about 5 minutes or until vegetables start to get tender.
3. Add teriyaki sauce. Stir and mix well. Let simmer on low heat for about another 5 minutes or until heated thoroughly.
4. Cook brown rice according to package directions. (You can also make your own rice, if you prefer.)
5. Serve chicken and vegetable stir fry over brown rice.

5 Tips for Preparing Easy Weeknight Meals

I know you’re going to love this easy one dish chicken stir fry recipe that is sure to become a part of your regular dinner menu plan. As you think about how to easily prepare easy weeknight meals, keeping a few things in mind will help you get dinner on the table quicker for your family and will lessen the stress. Here are some tried-and-true tips I’ve learned over the years:

1. Defrost your meat ahead of time. For this one dish chicken stir fry recipe, you’ll want to defrost your chicken tenderloins either the night before as you watch TV or let the package thaw in the refrigerator during the day while you’re at work or out and about.
2. Think of ways to cut your time in the kitchen. Use frozen vegetables, pre-cut your vegetables the night before or over the weekend, and prep anything you can ahead of time. You want to make preparing dinner as seamless as possible.
3. Take advantage of leftovers. Use your leftovers to recreate meals by either re-purposing them into a new meal or simply serving them again later on in the week.
4. Consider pre-cooking meals. You can either cook entire meals or parts of your meals over the weekend or even on nights when you have a little more time.
5. Plan ahead of time and menu plan. Use tools like Simple Meals @ Walmart, where you can find recipes to aid you in putting together your weekly menu plan. Their Simple Meals site also has a grocery list making tool and coupons to really make it easier for you to shop for groceries and get yourself organized for those easy weeknight meals.

What is one of your go-to easy weeknight meals you prepare for your family on really busy nights where time is particularly limited?

All photos © Melanie Edwards/modernmami™