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.
Hot damn lady this was good!!! I dont deep fry anything because my husband hates the way it makes the house smell and your method was spot on! Still had the great battered taste without the gross oder! We loved it! Thank you
This dish is a staple in our home! I follow the recipe to a T and it is perfection! I have made this more times than I can count and each time everyone loves it. I pair it with a rice pilaf and it is to die for!!!!
Incredible! I did everything in a wok. ( I thought baking would dry out the chicken). I doubled the sauce recipe (as other reviewers suggested) using 1/3 c Frank’s and 1/3 c Sriracha. I also added extra red pepper flakes…we love spicy foods! It was so delicious! YAY…my husband and I also had leftovers for lunch. Wonderful recipe!
I am trying this tonight and was curious, can this be done in a wok? It seems like a stir-fry sort of dish and I have a HUGE wok. Thanks!
Yes it works in a wok and is much quicker! I just add a tablespoon if cornstarch to the sauce so it thickens up.
My family loves it! I can’t have enough of the flavour and texture. This recipe is absolutely lovely, I made this for the second time today. First it was for Mother’s Day and now for the 4th of July, thank you guys for this. 100% recommended and it might seem intimidating but substitutes like ketchup and white vinegar are just as great! Good Luck ♡ ps- cornstarch keeps the chicken crisp and delicate.
This is amazing!!! Made recipe as is except used apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar because it is what I had. So good, there was a mad dash for who got the left overs!
We (husband and I) used Apple cider instead of rice vinegar also. This was a meal we both enjoyed making and eating!
I used sriracha and it was yummo! Definitely a winner!
I make this recipe exactly as written. Everyone in the family loves it and we NEVER have leftovers. I have even quadrupled the recipe, hoping there would be some left for me to take to work. There never is. Thank you for posting such a yummy and easy recipe!!!
I’ve made this for dinner several times now; I love it! It’s the perfect amount of mildly deliciously spicy.
It only tends to come out a little dry after baking, so I coat it with a tiny bit of extra sauce at the end and it is perfect! Great recipe!
Super easy and good. No matter how much I make, it all gets eaten. I keep upping the servings, but still no leftovers. I even added tofu one night, it still got completely devoured. We like extra spicy, so I substituted Frank’s Red Hot Cayenne which is one notch up from the Buffalo Style. Sometimes, when I’m in a hurry, I cut the protein smaller to reduce oven time.
Hi! This recipe looks great – I just have a problem getting Buffalo sauce here in The Netherlands. Do you have a recommendation for a substitute?
Any other hot red pepper sauce is fine!
I’m one of those people that doesn’t like eating the same meals week after week. I love trying out new recipes especially to get my kids used to all different foods. I will say I enjoy this recipe so much i make it at least twic a month. I love everything about it sweet, spicy, sour chicken you can’t go wrong. We typically do jasmine rice with steamed broccoli and roasted cauliflower.
So good!!!!!! I generally alter recipes when I make them but to me this didn’t need any changes. I served it with cauliflower rice and steamed broccoli, and we will absolutely be making this again.
Very easy and very tasty. It is spicy so be prepared. I will definitely make this again!
Thank you for this recipe! It came out dee-lish!!!! Its become a staple in my home ☺️
I made this recipe for the first time tonight and was so good!! I personally added a little more red pepper flakes because i like extra spicy. Overall this was super good!! I will be making this again
I searched for this recipe trying to copy what a local restaurant serves! This is it!!!! Thank you!!!
A tad spicy for us, but otherwise it’s fantastic! We tripled the sauce, next time we’ll do less red pepper flakes. We ate this with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli.
I’ve made a handful of your recipes and they’ve all come out so good! I come straight to your website now when I’m looking for something 🙂 Thanks again!!
This is at least a “monthly” dish in our house, we LOVE it! Served with basmati rice and either sauted or steamed veggies (mostly broccoli). We are sauce people so I double and it’s the perfect amount for us. Have turned on several people to this recipe and they love it just as much as we do! Thank you!
Us too! I have been making this at least 1 time a month for the last year and half since I discovered the recipe. It NEVER gets old.
Spicy but so good
This recipe is legit! Really tasty dish served with Bell peppers, mangetout and basmati rice
Cheers!
Delicious… I served it with boxing day fried rice (made with Christmas day leftovers)
We added 1/3 cup Sarah’s sauce and 1/3 cup Buffalo hot sauce , used flour instead of cornstarch. Double sauce. We used 2 of the 3 pkg of Costco chicken.