Almond Butter Broccoli Chicken Recipe: A Healthy Gluten-free Stir-fry Recipe by Donna John

On my quest to find healthier recipes for dinner, I stumbled on an almond butter chicken stir-fry recipe. After reading through the entire recipe (something you should always do before cooking a new recipe), I knew some changes had to be made. First, the broccoli was cooked and not added back to the chicken. You served the chicken with the broccoli. Why? One of the reasons we love stir fries is because everything is together and it's one complete meal. There was also 1/4 cup of butter. Why? This is my new version of that almond butter chicken recipe, which has less fat, calories and is a gluten-free one-pan dinner.

First, a simple, creamy marinade full of Asian flavors (lime, tamari, cilantro, coconut milk) and Middle Eastern flavors (curry powder and cilantro) is mixed together. The chicken is marinated in the mixture for at least one hour and up to eight hours. My chicken marinated for a little over eight hours in the refrigerator. When you're ready to cook, first sauté the broccoli until crisp-tender and remove to a plate. Now comes the chicken. The original recipe did not say if you put the chicken and marinade into the skillet. Seeing how much marinade it made, I didn't think cooking it with the marinade would work, so I put the chicken into a mesh strainer to remove as much as I could. The chicken is quickly cooked in the same skillet until just cooked through, then the broccoli is added back. Mix together and dinner is done.

You could use boneless chicken thighs instead of boneless chicken breast. If you don't have almond butter, peanut butter or your favorite nut butter would be a fine substitute. And if you don't have tamari, low-sodium soy sauce would work (but it wouldn't be gluten-free). Serve this easy chicken recipe with white rice, brown rice, fried rice, cauliflower rice (my choice) or even quinoa or rice noodles.

Cuisine: Asian 
Prep Time: 10 minutes plus time to marinate
Cook Time: 12 to 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes plus time to marinate 
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 3 - 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

Marinade

• 1/2 cup almond butter
• juice of 2 limes
• 3 tablespoons tamari 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Here's how to make it: 

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a shallow dish or plastic food storage bag. Add the chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 8 hours.
   
2. Cook the broccoli in a large skillet with a little water (a couple tablespoons) until crisp-tender. Remove to a plate.
   
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade (using a mesh colander makes this much easier to do).
   
4. Add the chicken to the hot skillet and cook about 6 to 7 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through.
   
   
5. Stir the broccoli into the chicken and heat through.
   
   

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