Cucumber Chicken
Cucumber Chicken is an Asian Stir Fry Dish featuring tender chicken and chunks of cucumber in a spicy garlic sauce. Serve it over Jasmine rice to complete the meal.
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Cucumber Chicken Recipe
This recipe for Cucumber Chicken is one of my favorites that I have been eating for a long time.
I first had it at my Aunt and Uncle’s house when I lived with them for the summer while working as a lab helper at the age of 15 in their Pharmacology lab at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
It was my first job as a teenager and such a great experience I came back the next summer. I always liked to help out in the kitchen as a child, but it was there that I really got involved in cooking.
We cooked a lot together, ate a lot together, and had a lot of fun. Sometimes I cooked dinner by myself for the three of us because I got home from work before they did. Such fun!
I tried a lot of new things for the first time on that summer. It was my first time to eat real, authentic Indian food. My first time to eat feta cheese or fresh mozzarella. It was even my first time to have Pesto Sauce.
I came home with all sorts of things that I wanted to cook for my parents and siblings, and my mom was only too happy to let me take over some of the cooking.
I believe the original book the Cucumber Chicken came from was out of print at the time we first made this together and I’m not even sure what the book was called, so naturally this recipe is a recreation because along the way I lost the recipe I wrote down.
★★★★★
Reader says –
“This was amazing!! The prep took me a bit of time but the cooking part made up for it, so short and to the point! I didn’t have any cooking sherry so I substituted this with mirin and still turned out delicious. This might be a dinner staple for my family. Thank you.”
Tools Used to Make this Recipe
You’ll need a few kitchen tools to prepare this cucumber chicken recipe. Here’s what I recommend having on hand before getting started:
- Sharp Knife and Cutting Board: to cut the vegetables and chicken.
- Vegetable Peeler: to peel the cucumbers.
- Soup Spoon: to scrape the seeds out of the cucumebr.
- Colander: to drain the cucumbers when salting.
- Measuring Spoons and Cups: to measure ingredients for the sauce.
- Glass Bowl or Large Measuring Cup: to make the sauce in.
- Wire Whisk: to whisk the sauce ingredients together.
- Wok: I recommend a wok, such as this Carbon Steel Wok, for preparing the cucumber chicken recipe in.
- Wooden Spoon: I like to use a bamboo stir fry spatula when cooking this recipe, but a regular wooden spoon or heat-safe spatula will work well, too.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This cucumber chicken recipe doesn’t call for a lot of ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to add to your shopping list before getting started:
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
- English Cucumbers
- Green Onions
- Fresh Garlic
- Cooking Oil (I recommend avocado oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, or other neutral flavored high-smoke point oil)
- Soy Sauce
- Cooking Sherry
- Chili Powder
- Chili Garlic Sauce
- Cornstarch
- Salt and Pepper
For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.
How to Make Cucumber Chicken
This chicken and cucumber stir fry recipe comes together quickly, especially if you’ve prepped the broth in advance. Here’s how to make this simple dish:
- Prepare the vegetables: Slice the green onions, then set aside for later. Peel and halve the cucumber lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and cut into small chunks. Sprinkle with salt and set aside in a colander for 20 minutes. Afterward, rinse and pat dry.
- Make the sauce: In a bowl, combine garlic, soy sauce, sherry, chili powder, chili garlic sauce, and cornstarch.
- Prepare the Chicken: Slice the chicken thin and at an angle, then add it to the sauce and let it soak.
- Cook the chicken: Heat oil in a pan (test by sprinkling a drop of water – if it sizzles, it’s ready). Add the chicken with the sauce and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, stirring regularly.
- Finish the dish: Add the cucumber and cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in the green onions and serve immediately with rice.
The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.
Tips for Making this Recipe
- Salting the cucumbers helps rid them of excess moisture, so you don’t want to skip this step.
- Slicing the chicken thin and at an angle against the grain will result in very tender chicken.
- Cornstarch wasn’t an original ingredient, but I added it for a slightly thickened sauce.
Recipe FAQs
Got questions about how to make cucumber chicken? Here are the answers to a few commonly asked questions. Feel free to leave any other questions in the comments on this post and I’ll respond with answers.
Can This Recipe Be Prepped in Advance?
This recipe doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare, but if you do like to meal prep ahead of time, I suggest the following make ahead options for this recipe:
- Prepare the stir-fry sauce up to 3 days in advance and store in a jar in the refrigerator.
- Slice the chicken up to 24 hours in advance and store an an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- If chicken is purchased fresh (not frozen) from the grocery store, you can also cut it and freeze it in the freezer for a later day. Just make sure you properly defrost your meat.
- Chop the veggies up to 48 hours in advance and store in the refrigerator.
- Rice can be made a few days in advance. Or, if you want to freeze rice you can make it even more ahead of time.
More Chicken Stir-Fry Recipes
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Cucumber Chicken
Cucumber Garlic Chicken is an Asian Stir Fry Dish featuring tender chicken and chunks of cucumber in a spicy garlic sauce. Serve it over Jasmine rice to complete the meal.
Ingredients
- 2 large Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 2 English Cucumbers
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- 5 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
- 1/4 cup Dry Cooking Sherry
- 1 - 2 teaspoons Chili Powder, depending on heat level preference
- 2 teaspoon Chili Garlic Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Corn Starch
- 1 bunch Green Onions, sliced
- Prepared Jasmine Rice, for serving
Instructions
Prepare the Vegetables
- Slice the green onions, set aside in a bowl for later.
- Peel cucumber and half long ways, then scrape out seeds with a spoon and cut into small chunks.
- Sprinkle cucumber with salt, set aside in colander 20 minutes.
Prepare the Sauce and Chicken
- Combine the garlic, soy sauce, sherry, chili powder, chili garlic sauce, and cornstarch in a bowl or large measuring cup. Whisk until ingredients are well mixed.
- Trim any excess fat from the chicken and discard.
- Then, thinly slice the chicken at an angle against the grain. Add chicken to sauce and let sit until time to cook.
Cook the Cucumber Chicken
- After cucumbers have sat in colander for 20 minutes, rinse and pat dry.
- Heat oil in pan (test by sprinkling a drop of water – if it sizzles, it is ready), add chicken with sauce and cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, stirring regularly.
- Add cucumber and cook 3 more minutes. Stir in green onion.
- Serve immediately with rice
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 116Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 34mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 14g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
Elizabeth says
This was amazing!! The prep took me a bit of time but the cooking part made up for it, so short and to the point! I didn’t have any cooking sherry so I substituted this with mirin and still turned out delicious. This might be a dinner staple for my family. Thank you.
Katie says
So glad you liked it!