Dinner at the Zoo

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Firecracker Chicken

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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!

Firecracker Chicken Recipe | Asian Chicken | Spicy Chicken Recipe

A bowl of sweet and spicy firecracker chicken.

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.

A pan full of crispy firecracker chicken.

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.

A bowl of rice topped with spicy firecracker chicken.

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

A bowl of sweet and spicy firecracker chicken.
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4.89 from 18 votes

Firecracker Chicken

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!
Course Main
Cuisine Asian
Keyword chinese chicken, firecracker chicken
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 429kcal
Author Dinner at the Zoo

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.

Notes

Adapted from The Recipe Critic.

Nutrition

Calories: 429kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 172mg | Sodium: 206mg | Potassium: 591mg | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 4% | Vitamin C: 2.1% | Calcium: 4.2% | Iron: 6.4%

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Comments


  1. Gotta say I never comment anything but this receipt was yummy!!!!! Definitely will do this again. Quick and amazing. Sesame seeds to top it off. Yummy!

    Reply


  2. I made this tonight and it was great but my wife was concerned with all the sugar. In the nutrition section you list that each serving is 429kcal. That would be 429,000 calories. That cannot be correct. Could you please explain.

    Reply

    • Kcal is an abbrevation for kilocalorie which is the same as a calorie. The recipe contains 429 calories per serving.

      Reply


  4. Great great, recipe. I made it tonight shared it with my girlfriend and she loved it. We really enjoyed it together .We can’t believe the ingredients would actually turn out to taste that great . Thank you very very much. Clean healthy anyone can cook at home meal. Great take out food taste with a boost and a low cost .

    Reply

  6. Sara,
    I asked my son, who is a senior, what would you like for dinner and he said something spicey! I googled and found your website with Fire cracker chicken. Both he and my daughter and I loved it! So flavorful. I didn’t add as much red pepper flakes as I tasted the sauce and it was hot, but as it baked it took off the heat. Next time I’ll be braver with the red pepper flakes. This is a keeper recipe and look forward to trying more of your recipes. My family has wanted me to try new things but I don’t like to go to the effort and money when they end up not liking it. Your website gives me lots of new options to try.
    Thank you!

    Reply

  9. I made this tonight. It was so good. I the changed the method a little bit just because I’m lazy…. instead of baking the diced fried chicken in the sauce; I returned all the batches of diced Fried Chicken to my original pan without any oil an added the sauce to it let it cook for about 3 minutes, then threw it on top of some lightIy -steamed green spinach. It looks just like the picture above and tasted like it was made in a restaurant. Thank you for such an easy good recipe.

    Reply


  10. I just made this and it tasted great! Pretty easy too. Definitely be careful with the cooking time though. I did 2 mins per side in the pan and 15 mins in the oven, and that was more than enough to cook through. Next time I might try a little less. I also halved the brown sugar to make it less sugary, and I thought that was a good balance of sweet and spicy. Thank you!

    Reply


  12. Most reviews say this recipe ‘looks, sounds’ delicious so I thought I would comment since I just prepared it. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed your spicy hot concoction! Some may want to reduce the red pepper flakes, increase the rice vinegar (since it is a taste sensation). I thought the sauce insufficient to really coat the chicken maybe bump up a couple ingredients. Finally, if cooking in batches, one may want to add more oil between sessions. Wonderful entree!

    Reply

  15. Hi
    This looks lovely, i like to plan ahead and prepare my meals and freeze for the following week.
    Is this dish freezable?
    Thank you in advance.

    Reply


  16. Just to clarify, you fry the chicken pieces and then bake 30 minutes with sauce? Just wondering if the chicken gets dry? I really want to make this tonight! Sauce sounds amazing! TIA

    Reply

    • Yes that is correct. Baking the chicken cooks it through and also thickens the sauce so it clings to the meat. Hope that helps!

      Reply


  17. this recipe was super easy and has easily became a favorite of ours! i did add a tbl of soy sauce and a dash of hot sauce.

    Reply


  18. I love this recipe! I’ve made it two times. I double the sauce (because it is delicious) and double the red pepper. I top with green onions and sesame seeds and serve it over jasmine rice.

    Reply


  19. Recipe sounds great. Should the chicken pieces be dipped again in cornstarch after putting it into the egg mixture?

    Reply

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