This firecracker chicken recipe is chunks of crispy chicken tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. An easy dinner option that the whole family will love!
I am a big fan of Asian food, I have a ton of recipes on my site for everything from broccoli beef to chicken chow mein. This firecracker chicken is the latest recipe to add to the collection. It’s crispy, sweet, spicy and utterly delicious! This chicken is not deep fried, but is browned until crisp, then covered in sauce and baked to perfection.
Tips for achieving crispy firecracker chicken
The chicken in this recipe is dipped in egg and cornstarch, which forms a crust on the chicken when it hits the oil. The best way to get a browned and ultra crispy crust is to start with a very hot pan – crank up the heat! The next trick is to be sure that the chicken isn’t crowded in the pan. If the chicken pieces are too close together, they’ll steam instead of brown. You may need to brown the chicken in batches, but it’s totally worth it.
After the chicken pieces are browned, the sauce is poured over the top and the whole thing goes into the oven. The cornstarch in the chicken coating will help to thicken the sauce as it bakes. This is a spicy dish, so if you’re heat adverse, beware! If you’d like to turn down the heat, you can omit the red pepper flakes. I like to serve this firecracker chicken over rice, but it’s also nice over Asian rice noodles or chow mein noodles.
I love being able to make my own take out favorites at home – it’s cheaper, healthier and often tastes better!
You’ll love these other Asian food recipes
Firecracker Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup buffalo hot sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9"x13" pan with cooking spray.
- Place the chicken pieces on a plate and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chicken and toss to coat evenly.
- Dip each piece of chicken into the beaten eggs.
- Heat the oil over high heat in a large pan. Place the chicken in a single layer and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. You may have to work in batches.
- Place the chicken pieces in a single layer in the 9"x13" pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the buffalo sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar and red pepper flakes.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken. Bake for 35 minutes, stirring once halfway through to coat the chicken with the sauce. Top with green onions and serve.
Angie says
Only thing I changed was to double the sauce! This recipe is delicious!!! Put over rice & is definitely a keeper & will be in our dinner rotation 😀
Carrie says
Have you made this with shrimp instead of chicken? If so how much shrimp would you suggest?
Sara says
That would work, you’d use the same amount, 1 1/4 lbs!
Penelope says
What about using Tabasco instead of wing sauce.
Sara says
That should work!
Dee says
Can I use olive oil?
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Karrie mulvey says
Wow. We’ve just tried this tonight and I must admit I feel like a chef even though it was the easiest thing to make. The family loved it, will definitely be making it again. It is spicy so I’d be wary if you have family members who are not into spice, but we loved it 👌
joanne says
love it
Sharyn says
Is there a substitute for buffalo hot sauce. My kids don’t like anything too spicy.
Sara says
You could just omit it!
Joan says
Loved this recipe & so did everybody else . Will be doing it more often . Thank you.
Eric D Nash says
This is seriously one of my family favorites that gets made a lot. I made it recently for my son’s bandmates and they came back for 2nds and 3rds! So so good. Thanks Sara for your amazing recipes. There are just too many to comment on.
S says
A new family favorite!!!! Almost impossible to please everyone but this dish delivered. One of the best things I can remember making in a long time! Thank you times a million
Racheal says
I can’t wait to try!! It looks good !!
Sam says
Great recipe! We loved it. Chicken was not as crispy though. Most recipes require dipping chicken in the egg first then flour. This recipe requires coating the chicken with flour first and then dipping in egg. Do you think that chicken will be crispier if top coating is flour before placing in hot oil?
Thank you for an easy, spicy and delicious recipe. I served with quinoa (cooked like vegetables fried rice).
Zenya says
Hey there 🙂 great recipe
But what if we Sautee the chicken with the sauce instead of baking it?, would it work??
Sara says
Yes that should work fine!
Elizabeth Smith says
delicious! Next time i will try it with natural sweeteners like honey and molasses, which is usually what I use instead of brown sugar but I had to try the recipe, as is, at first. I also made pad tai noodles to go with it, with mushrooms – YUM!
Nique says
Amazing recipe and so simply to make.
I’d like to make it more saucy though, what do you recommend adding to it?
Sara says
I’d just double the sauce ingredients!
julianna says
Hello can I use bone in chicken wings ?
Sara says
You could possibly try baking the wings and tossing them in the sauce, but the dish as written is meant to be more of a stir fry and I’ve never tried it with wings!
Chris says
Very good recipe. I made extra sauce to make it saucy. Tasted delicious.
josie says
how many chicken breasts is 11/4 pounds roughly?
Sara says
about 4!
Janet says
In my local supermarkets it’s between 1 and 1 1/2–for some reason the boneless chicken breasts these days are HUGE, between 12-20 oz each. I haven’t seen a 6 oz boneless chicken breast in years.
Loved this recipe!
Jordan says
Soooo good!!!! Added some ginger & sesame oil.. and a little extra brown sugar. Love this ❤️
JennyM says
Loved this! Great way to eat a buffalo type chicken meal without the deep fried stomach ache after. I doubled the sauce just because we wanted some to soak the rice. This is a keeper.