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 love this recipe! I like to double the sauce, microwave steam a bag of both carrots and broccoli and add it to the chicken in the final 15 minutes of baking. I like adding veggies whenever I can, and this sauce makes the broccoli taste exquisite! 😉
Do you have to put chicken in corn starch. I find it got clumps in sauce
Yes, I recommend doing so.
Can you make this recipe without cutting the chicken into bite size pieces and instead use the whole chicken breast? Thank you!
Yes, absolutely, but please note that cooking time will vary.
This looks so delicious. I want to make it this weekend. Two questions:
1. Is the texture supposed to be crispy or is it more of a soft/soggy texture? In the pictures it looks crispy but I wasn’t sure if it was possible to have crispy chicken after soaking it in sauce and baking it. Just wondering so I know what texture to expect because I’ve never tried that technique before.
2.If it is supposed to be soft, then is there anything I can do differently to make it crispy instead? Maybe just frying it all the way through and then tossing in the sauce?
Thank you! Can’t wait to try it.
Yes, absolutely. If crispiness is your ultimate goal, I would go with your suggestion! 🙂
DELICIOUS! Everyone loved this dish and not a single piece left on anyone’s plate, despite of most of us not liking sweet dishes. Spicy, but perfectly balanced w/the brown sugar.
Everyone agreed that this dish should be on the rotation. Thank you!
I have made 3-4 of your delicious and OMG every one is better than the last. This one is by far my new favorite and I will definitely make this dish all the time! Keep up the great work!
This is probably my favorite recipe of all time! It’s amazing every. Single. Time. I add frozen broccoli and it mixes perfectly with the sauce. I crave this weekly!
The gods of Pinterest smiled down on me with this recipe. Made it tonight and looooved it. Firecracker is a perfect name for it since the flavor basically explodes in your mouth.
Spicy. Sweet. Sticky. All the good things!
This looks yummy! However, I have a question! Once the chicken is already pan fried/sauted/browned, isn’t it too much to bake it in the oven for 45 minutes? Will the chicken be too dry? I know baking makes the sauce thicker, but I don’t like dry chicken either! I love your recipes>
Not at all! 🙂
My mouth waters just looking at this photo. This is one of my favorite recipes of all time! It is somewhat lengthy to prepare, so I reserve it for special occasions, but man, is it good! If you find any way to shorten the prep/bake time, I’d love to hear it! Another winner.
I am not one to leave a comment but seeing that I loved this so much I just had to. I steamed broccoli and made fried rice to go along with it. AMAZING is an understatement. I will not do takeout of this any longer. Also loved your Bang Bang chicken. Thank you!
Winner, winner very tasty will make again. I doubled the chicken recipe and tried your sweet and sour on the other batch. You know, us girls get bored. Both were great.
Does the chicken get soggy? Just wondering if it stays crispy. Can’t wait to try.
Not really – it should stay nice and crisp if served immediately. 🙂
Your Amazing, I use your recipes to feed my 3 kids and they dont like alot of food but they love all your foods. You Rock!
Just made this. It is DELICIOUS! This is a keeper. Love your site 🙂
Loved this recipe!! So easy to make and it was soooo good. Thanks for sharing 🙂
This was so so yummy!! My whole family loved it, even my 4 & 7 year olds gobbled it up. It’s a tad on the spicy side for the kiddos, but a drizzle of honey before serving tamed the spice on theirs. I also made 1 1/2 times the sauce because we like lots of sauce. Wonderful recipe!!!! It will definitely be a repeater! Thank you! I can’t wait to try some of your other Asian recipes.
Love this recipe! Had it out at a restaurant with my girlfriend but there’s a better satisfaction of making it at home and enjoying!
I made this tonight and it was amazing. The only changes I made was I used chicken thighs and doubled the sauce. I served it over white rice and the whole family loved it.
Our son found the recipe online. The Firecracker Chicken is simply delicious!! My husband even likes it, however I have to make him whole grain rice. I am making a double recipe this weekend. I follow the recipe listed. Making the chicken is a little labour intensive…So I made my chicken ahead of time. Now I just have to make the sauce and pop the pan in the oven. Thank you for such a lovely recipe.