Firecracker Chicken
The most amazing combination of sweet and spicy flavors that tastes a million times better than take-out!
I’ve been seeing this “firecracker chicken” all over Pinterest, and you know how much I love recreating take-out dishes, so I just had to give this a try. I honestly wasn’t expecting much since I’m not the biggest fan of buffalo sauce but boy, was I wrong.
This firecracker chicken has the most amazing combination of and sweet and spicy flavors, with a hint of tanginess and zing from the buffalo sauce. And if you’re not the biggest fan of heat, you can certainly add more sugar to balance it out.
And it’s so easy to whip up! The method is just like my baked sweet and sour chicken – a quick cook in hot oil and then into the oven for about 45 minutes to let all those amazing flavors soak right in. You can serve it over rice or even some quinoa. Either way, this will be in constant rotation at our house because there’s no way that take-out can beat this!
Firecracker Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
For the sauce
- ¾ cup Imperial Sugar Light Brown Sugar
- ⅓ cup buffalo sauce, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- To make the sauce, whisk together sugar, buffalo sauce, vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes and 1 tablespoon water in a large bowl; set aside.
- In a large bowl, season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in cornstarch and gently toss to combine. Working one at a time, dip the chicken into the eggs.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; discard excess oil.
- Add chicken to prepared baking dish. Top with buffalo sauce mixture. Place into oven and bake until the sauce has thickened, about 45 minutes, turning over every 15 minutes to evenly coat the chicken.
- Serve immediately.
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. All opinions expressed are my own.
I have made this recipe and it’s wonderful! Has anyone instead of frying in a pan can an air fryer for this stage .
Could you swap buffalo sauce for siracha or sweet chilli sauce?
I tried it, added about 3/4 siracha and 1/4 sweet chilli.. it is divine!
Ive got the dish in the oven now, but quick question. What did I do wrong with the chicken and oil. I had to grab a shield and eye wear!! The chicken was dry I have no idea what happened it was popping hot oil everywhere.
Hi Marlo,
I am curious if maybe you missed the dipping the chicken into the whisked egg?
I think the corn starch on the chicken might cause the oil to pop if the egg was not on it?
Honestly do not know, just wanted to try and help if I can.
This was great! I did not want to spend time dipping each piece of chicken in the eggs so I dumped the cornstarch coated chicken into the bowl of beaten eggs and stirred lightly . I can’t imagine it hurt the dish .
I did the same and worked great every time.
Made it tonight. I doubled the chicken, but I tripled the sauce (we like it saucy). Nothing Was left, I repeat, nothing. I even heard, “this is the best chicken I ever had.” So if you’re reading reviews to see if it’s worth making-just do it.
This has literally been my signature dish ever since making it for the first time over a year ago! I love to serve it with cashews and green onion on top along with rice and peas 🙂 Amazing recipe and everyone I’ve made it for absolutely loves it!!
My 16 year old son suggested we try this recipe just for something new. I was reluctant since I don’t love buffalo sauce but I have to say – this is INCREDIBLE tasting. It’s a fair amount of work (I’m an incredibly lazy cook) but it’s well worth it.
Absolutely delicious. so crispy. have never cooked chicken with cornstarch before this. Will make again and again.
Love this recipe. Both my boys think it’s better than any carryout they have had. At first the frying in batches, was going to be long and time consuming, I was wrong. They don’t take long at all and the outcome is damn delicious. Another hit Chungah, this one goes right up there with the lettuce wraps. Thank you
Can leftovers be frozen?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
A family favorite!
Best recipe ever! We turned this recipe into spicy orange chicken by adding orange zest and orange juice. So good, we haven’t tried your actual recipe for orange chicken! We serve it with rice and broccoli. Can’t get enough! Also good with beef.
Delicious! Love this Recipe! I will be serving this dish often as my family will love this sauce and the chicken is delicious prepared this way. Yum.
Awesome!
Thank you for this recipe! I don’t like to fry, so I used some of your sauce to Sous Vide chicken thighs, threw more sauce on after cutting up, and broiled until a little crispy. Served it on top of Chrissy’s coconut rice, and it was so very good..and easy! The only addition I made to the sauce was a little hot honey. I love your recipes, very adaptable, and not intimidating for beginners! You are awesome ❤️
It was delicious!! Enjoyed this dish! Thank you!
This was such a huge hit with me and my boyfriend- he says this is his favorite thing I’ve ever made (and I cook a LOT lol), although it’s perfect exactly as written I am considering a modification before I make it again (tomorrow). I cannot stand the smell that cooking in oil leaves behind, my small apartment smelled for days :(.. so any tips for either preventing that or could I just brown the chicken without breading it?
Jullian, here are some helpful tips to eliminate that deep-fried odor:
https://food52.com/blog/15135-how-to-get-the-smell-of-frying-out-of-your-kitchen.
Love this recipe so much!! It is gone in literally minutes. I am a little worried about all the cornstarch (I ended up using more than half a cup to get a full coating,) but the first time I made this I accidentally rubbed a lot of the cornstarch off by over-stirring in the vegetable oil, and it was still great, so I’m going to try lining up the chicken on a baking sheet and using a flour shaker to just lightly dust it with cornstarch for most meals, and maybe save the full, thick coating for an occasional treat!
So when you are making this and your oven suddenly dies, you can cook it on the stove top!! We cooked it in the sauce for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5. Good work around if you ever need it…and just as delicious!
I’m so glad it worked out! Sorry about the oven though!
Any suggestions if we don’t have apple cider vinegar? Thx!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I use regular white vinegar. Turns out great.
Tried this tonight and the family loved it! Served it over jasmine rice with a side of Asian veggies and everything was delicious. Will definitely be making this recipe again.