This sweet chili chicken is battered chicken pieces that are cooked to crispy brown perfection, then tossed in sweet chili sauce. Serve over rice for a complete meal that’s even better than take out!
I love to make my take out favorites at home, like cream cheese wontons, egg rolls, lemon chicken and Mongolian beef. This sweet chili chicken is a remake of a dish I get at my local Thai restaurant and let me tell you, it’s a good one.
I always have a bottle of sweet chili sauce in my fridge. It goes well with so many different foods, but I have to say, this sweet chili chicken is one of my favorite ways to use chili sauce. This is an easy and flavorful dish that takes like it came from your local Thai restaurant. Looking for more Thai food favorites? Don’t miss my chicken pad thai, shrimp curry and Thai basil chicken!
Table of Contents
Sweet Chili Chicken Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need chicken breast, eggs, salt, black pepper, flour, cornstarch, oil for frying, Thai sweet chili sauce and green onions.
How Do You Make Sweet Chili Chicken?
Place eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk everything together. Next, mix the flour and cornstarch and place the mixture on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Dip each piece of chicken breast into the egg, then coat it with the flour mixture. Heat oil in a large pot until it reaches 350 degrees F. Fry the chicken in small batches until it is golden brown. After all the chicken is cooked, toss it with the sweet chili sauce. Garnish with green onions, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- This dish is best served immediately, as the coating on the chicken will start to soften when it hits the sauce.
- The secret to easy frying is to use a thermometer to monitor the temperature of your oil. You want your oil to be right around 350 degrees F. If the oil is too hot, the outside of the chicken will burn while the inside is still raw. If the oil is too cold, the coating will absorb a lot more oil and you’ll end up with a heavier dish.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat the chicken on the stove top over low heat until warmed through. The chicken will not be as crispy when reheated if it’s stored with the sauce.
- Serve your chicken over rice or noodles, with a vegetable on the side such as vegetable stir fry.
Quick Tip
This recipe calls for boneless skinless chicken breasts, but boneless skinless chicken thighs will also work well.
Recipe FAQs
Sweet chili sauce is a prepared Thai sauce that comes in glass bottles. It can be found in most grocery stores in the ethnic foods aisle. If your local grocery store doesn’t carry it, try an Asian supermarket. Despite its name, chili sauce is not overly spicy. I think of it as a Thai version of sweet and sour sauce. Sweet chili sauce pairs particularly well with chicken and shrimp.
Sriracha is hotter than sweet chili sauce. If you’re looking for a sweet and savory flavor with just a hint of spice, try the sweet chili sauce. For a hot and spicy dish, choose sriracha.
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Sweet Chili Chicken Flavor Variations
While this dish is fabulous as-is, you can easily customize the flavors to suit your tastes.
- Protein: Instead of chicken breasts, try chicken thighs, cubes of pork tenderloin or even shrimp! Shrimp will cook a lot faster than chicken or pork, so plan accordingly.
- Flavorings: Add some extra flavor to the sauce with sautéed garlic or ginger, a splash of rice vinegar, lime juice, soy sauce or honey.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add some cooked veggies to the dish such as broccoli, green beans, red onions, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, snap peas or bell peppers.
- Toppings: Finish the dish with fresh cilantro, red pepper flakes or sesame seeds.
Sweet chili chicken is a unique and delicious dinner offering that’s sure to become part of your regular meal rotation. No need to call for take out when you can make it at home!
More Asian Food Favorites
Sweet and Sour Chicken
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Thai Cucumber Salad
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Chicken Lettuce Wraps
30 mins
Thai Peanut Noodles
20 mins
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
3 hrs 20 mins
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Sweet Chili Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- oil for frying
- 3/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1/3 cup sliced green onions
Instructions
- Place the eggs in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste
- Mix the flour and cornstarch together and place in a shallow bowl or on a plate
- Heat 3 inches of oil in a deep pot to 350 degrees F
- Dip each piece of chicken into the egg, then roll into the flour mixture. Repeat with all of the chicken.
- Fry 7-8 pieces of chicken at a time for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Repeat the process with all of the chicken.
- Toss the chicken with the chili sauce. Sprinkle with green onions and serve.
Notes
- This dish is best served immediately, as the coating on the chicken will start to soften when it hits the sauce.
- The secret to easy frying is to use a thermometer to monitor the temperature of your oil. You want your oil to be right around 350 degrees F.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat the chicken on the stove top over low heat until warmed through. The chicken will not be as crispy when reheated if it’s stored with the sauce.
This was incredible. Perfectly cooked chicken and just the right amount of spice.
This was such an easy and tasty dish! Served it with some fried rice and it was the perfect weeknight dinner!
Thanks. Such an easy and yet a delicious and yummy recipe. Perfect side dish for Dinner.
I make a sweet chili shrimp similar to this, the crispy chicken looks SO GOOD.
This chicken dish was the perfect combination of crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and the sauce was amazing!
I wish I could leave a picture. This turned out very well. My first successful time making a deep fried fish too. Thank you!!
Can you make this by baking or roasting the chicken instead of frying it?
Yes you may want to pan sear it before baking to get that crispy outer coating!
Oh yum!! My mouth is watering just by looking at your amazing photo. I love chicken, rice and a bit of spice. So this dish is perfect for me!
I would love to make Sweet Chilli Tofu due to my dietary restrictions. I am sure people who eat non vegetarian food would love to try your recipe 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious! I wish I could dig right into this…I know my family would enjoy this too.
That looks really good! I bet you could use the same chicken recipe for sweet and sour hong kong style chicken. Being able to make your fav take aways is such a good idea. I need to get practicing!
great sharing!! Love your passion for recipe creating & cooking 😀 Yeah!! Gonna try making this ya 😀
cheers, siennylovesdrawing
This looks delicious, I think I will make this tonight for dinner.
I do love Thai food and had sweet chili chicken before. It is so delicious! I’d love to make this recipe at home, for one of my next week’s dinners.
Sweet chili is something I really love love love. And you right, the Thai sweet chili is what I prefer. It looks so nice on top of the white rice. I can imagine I am having them for my dinner already. May try this out for my Chinese new year celebration as we are having a big party on the first day.
This looks so yummy. Big fan of chicken so I will definitly be trying this one out. Thanks for sharing it.
For real though, this looks amazing! I can’t wait to give this a try this next week! Thinking Monday night’s dinner!!
This makes my mouth water. I can taste it already. I love sweet and spicy chicken
I am literally drooling haha! This looks INCREDIBLE! One of my favourite dishes – I am so excited to try your recipe.
I need this in my life! I love sweet and heat mixed together. It’s one of my favorite flavor combinations.
Just made it for dinner tonight, almost exactly as written (just sprinkle more sesame seeds before serving). Look and Taste are so attractive and yummy! Thanks for great recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!