With being busy college students, it can sometimes be difficult to buy a bunch of ingredients from the grocery store and make a meal.

Over the weekend, I didn’t just make a microwavable dinner for the fifth time this week. 

For people who are sick of the same old meals and have a little extra time on their hands, here is a great recipe that I made over the weekend while I was stuck at home.

The recipe is chicken stir fry and it took me about 30 minutes from start to finish. Vegetables can be added or removed from this list, these are the ones I chose.

Here are the ingredients for this recipe, which typically feeds two people:

-One boneless, skinless chicken breast

-Sesame or canola oil

-White rice (can substitute for other kinds of rice or Asian noodle)

-One half cup chopped onion

-One clove of garlic

-Bell peppers

-Carrots

-Broccoli

-Spinach

-P.F. Chang’s kung pao (warning: spicy), teriyaki or sesame sauce

-Salt and pepper

First, one half cup of onions should be chopped, as well as one clove of garlic. Set those aside and also have bell peppers cut to your liking. I prefer to buy the mini ones because they are easy to cut and the perfect size for this dish.

After all necessary ingredients are chopped, set them aside and cut your chicken breast. It should be cut into bite-sized chunks so they cook quickly. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the pieces and mix them around to evenly coat.

Take the cooking oil (preferably sesame oil) and coat a large frying pan using a paper towel. This prevents sauce from getting stuck to the pan and boosts flavor.

Heat the pan to medium-low and add chopped onions and chicken breast pieces to the pan. The chicken should turn white and then a little bit of golden brown. 

Stir the pieces frequently to cook all sides. Once they are cooked, take everything out and cover to retain heat. 

Next, prepare the vegetables. Start with hard vegetables like carrots and broccoli because they take the longest to cook. 

Add minced garlic to the pan to sauté with the vegetables and stir frequently, as to not burn them.

Once carrots and broccoli start to get soft, add bell peppers to the mix. Leafy vegetables like the spinach should be added last because they cook very quickly.

I buy minute rice, so this is the perfect time to put it in the microwave so it’s not too hot when it comes time to eat.

Once the spinach is looking cooked, add the chicken and onions back to the pan. Take the P.F. Chang’s sauce of choice and pour about half a bottle along with the other ingredients. Stir frequently for one to two minutes.

That’s the final product, and then just serve with rice. I usually end up with one serving of leftovers.

Thanksgiving is coming up and although gatherings will be limited or avoided due to COVID-19, maybe this could be used as a way to impress family members.

Plueger can be reached at [email protected].