Chicken chop suey cooked in a delicate savory sauce is a quick and easy meal. This simple recipe is great if you are busy but still want homemade Chinese! Cooking time: less than 20 minutes.
Table of contents
What is Chop Suey?
Chop suey is a popular Western Chinese dish consisting of meat such as chicken, pork, or shrimp, that is stir fried with eggs, and a variety of vegetables such as celery, bean sprouts, snow peas, and cabbage. The ingredients are cooked in a gooey white sauce and are typically served with a side of rice.
Where Does Chop Suey Come From?
There are a handful of conflicting stories as to the origins of chop suey. However, none of them seem to stem directly from China nor can they prove to be 100% true. One rumor is that it was invented in NYC in 1896, while another states it was invented in San Francisco during the gold rush. Then there is the one where Chinese American cooks working on the transcontinental railroad came up with the recipe.
There are so many different stories that it’s impossible to tell exactly where the dish came from. But according to anthropologist and Chinese cooking expert E. N. Anderson, tsap seui, a Cantonese dish that translates to “miscellaneous leftovers”, which is very similar to chop suey, can be traced back to the 1890s, in the county of Taishan (Toisan), located in the Guangdong province.
Ingredients for Chicken Chop Suey
Chicken breast: I’m using a boneless, skinless chicken breast, but feel free to us fillets or other cuts if you prefer.
Oil: Any neutral oil such as grapeseed oil or vegetable oil works. Or you can also use peanut oil.
Garlic: The garlic infuses the dish with a little sweetness and gives it a little pungent kick.
Celery: Celery adds a crunch. I suggest slicing your celery thin if you don’t like it too crunchy as the cooking time is short.
Bell pepper: I’m using a red bell pepper for its vibrant color, but feel free to use a green or yellow one as it will not make a difference.
Bean sprouts: The bean sprouts add a beautiful refreshing, cooling crunch to the chop suey.
Oyster sauce: Oyster sauce adds a pungent and salty kick to the stir fry. Make sure you are using a good oyster such such as Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce since cheap ones tend to lack depth of flavor and are mostly sweet.
Soy sauce: Use regular soy sauce such as Kikkoman or Yamasa, or Chinese dark soy sauce (not Thai since it’s too sweet).
Chicken broth: Chop suey has a mild taste that’s not too salty so I recommend using a low sodium chicken broth. However, if you only have regular chicken broth, use half chicken broth and half water to dilute it.
Sesame oil: Sesame oil adds nuttiness to the stir fry. For an even more intense sesame taste, use toasted sesame oil.
Cornstarch: The cornstarch is used to make the chicken juicy and to thicken the sauce. You can use potato starch as a substitute as well.
Ground white pepper: Ground white pepper isn’t as floral as black pepper and has a stronger pepper taste.
Ingredient Variations
I suggest trying this recipe as is and then getting creative the next time you give it a try. Here are some common ingredients others like to use when switching up how they make their own version of this easy stir fry.
- Firm tofu, as a vegetarian option
- Other fresh veggies such as shiitake mushrooms, snow peas, or baby corn
- Green onions, chopped, as a topping
- Brown sugar, to add a little sweetness
- Dry red chili, for heat
- Ground black pepper, to add a floral and spicy element
How to Make Chicken Chop Suey
Scroll all the way down to the recipe card for the full recipe.
- Have all the ingredients measured and prepped to start the recipe.
- Fill a medium pot with water and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat off, add the chicken and cover the pot with a lid. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Drain the water, place the chicken on a cutting board and slice it into bite size pieces. Set aside.
- In a large frying pan or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil and when the oil is hot, add the celery and bell pepper. Stir fry for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft but still yielding a slight crunch.
- Add the garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Return the chicken to the pan and cook for 1 minute, until the chicken is warm.
- Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken stock and sesame oil and stir well.
- Give the cornstarch and water mixture a stir and add it to the pan. Stir until the sauce thickens.
- Add the bean sprouts, toss, and turn the heat off.
- Season with a good amount of white ground pepper, transfer the dish to serving plate and serve immediately.
What to Serve with Chop Suey
Aside from the typical side of steamed white rice chop suey is known to be served with, you can pair it with brown rice, rice noodles, or egg noodles. Since the flavors are quite delicate, I suggest serving sides that are a bit more bold in taste. Some of my favorites are:
Other easy, delicious Chinese stir fries:
- Moo goo gai pan
- Easy chicken and broccoli stir fry
- Szechuan chicken
- Empress chicken
- Mongolian chicken
Did you like this Chicken Chop Suey Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
Print
Chicken Chop Suey Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 2 people 1x
- Category: Poultry
- Method: Stir frying
- Cuisine: Chinese
Description
Easy chicken chop suey cooked in a delicate savory sauce. Ready in less than 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 stalks celery, sliced on the bias
- 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped bite size
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- ground white pepper
Instructions
- Fill a medium pot with water and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat off, add the chicken and cover the pot with a lid. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Drain the water, place the chicken on a cutting board and slice it into bite size pieces. Set aside.
- In a large frying pan or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil and when the oil is hot, add the celery and bell pepper. Stir fry for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft but still yielding a slight crunch.
- Add the garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Return the chicken to the pan and cook for 1 minute, until the chicken is warm.
- Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken stock and sesame oil and stir well.
- Give the cornstarch and water mixture a stir and add it to the pan. Stir until the sauce thickens.
- Add the bean sprouts, toss, and turn the heat off.
- Season with a good amount of white ground pepper, transfer the dish to serving plate and serve immediately.
Notes
Store this chicken chop suey in an airtight storage container, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 330
- Sugar: 5.3g
- Sodium: 646.1mg
- Fat: 10.8g
- Saturated Fat: 2.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14.4g
- Fiber: 2.5g
- Protein: 42.2g
- Cholesterol: 128.5mg
Questions and Reviews
This looks delicious! One question – should the chicken be cut up into bite-size pieces before or after poaching? The recipe says both.
Hi Scott, good catch! I have updated the recipe card – the chicken breast should be poached whole and then sliced into bite size pieces. Thank you for letting me know 🙂
have made this several times and love it. I add about 1/4 lb of cook ground beef or pork the gravy base.
That’s great Tom!
Hello Folks,
Just read the ingredients list. For those reading this and are not familiar with cooking Chinese style or Cantonese style, I’d like to point out an ingredient and it is oyster sauce. You should use it sparingly as it is very salty. However, should you taste the same dish made without and with the oyster sauce, you would notice a great difference. It is a magical flavoring agent. Used wisely, it is wonderful.
Lastly, the white pepper gives the sauce a touch of peppery bite of peppery heat.
And yes, I will be trying this recipe as it is very similar to my own.
Love colorful meals. This would be really one of the favorite one.
Thank you.