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.
can i make this in advance? if so, what shall i do to keep it crispy
You can make the sauce in advance for sure. It would be difficult to keep the chicken crispy once it’s in the sauce.
The Firecracker Chicken is the bomb dot com!! Very easy to make, and I doubled the sauce to make sure that all of the chicken pieces were coated. I also made some Fried Rice and Egg Rolls on the side. Thank you for sharing this amazing and life changing recipe! This will now be my go-to whenever my sister and I are craving Chinese food!
Do you dip the chicken in the cornstarch again after the egg?
You do not dip it again!
Fantastic recipe we have made several times. Usually we double and then double the sauce again cause it’s so good. We subbed in tofu for the chicken which is really good (although I always love meat).
was amazing & easy, would def make again! 🙂
Easy to follow recipe, one of my monthly favorites that I look forward to.
Also very easily adjustable if you don’t like spice, just add a bit more brown sugar, and if too mild after cooking, I just sprinkle more chili flakes on.
My kids absolutely LOVE this recipe. I made it as written the first few times. After that I just eyeballed ingredients. This is always a winner and the college kids request it weekly when they are home. My only recommendation…use lard instead of vegetable oil. So much better.