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.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. All opinions expressed are my own.
Thank you for all your great ideas! My question is could you use Panko crumbs rather then corn starch?
You can certainly use Panko but that would just be an extra step, doing the flour-eggs-panko steps. I recommend using cornstarch – it’s a lot easier and the texture of the cornstarch is ideal for this recipe.
This looks beautiful and delicious! I can’t wait to make this for my boyfriend. Thanks for sharing 🙂
My mouth is watering….cannot wait to get this on our dinner table!
I’ve been seeing this too and have been wanting to make it… yours looks amazing!
Chung-Ah,
Cooking neophyte, here. I notice that some of your Asian-inspired recipes call for chicken to be coated in cornstarch then dipped in egg (e.g. Firecracker Chicken), while others call for dipping in egg then coating in cornstarch (e.g. Chinese Orange Chicken). Does the different order yield a different result or are the steps interchangeable?
Also, do you think this recipe could be done as a marinade that is cooked and finished entirely in the wok (similar to the Chinese Orange Chicken process) or is the two-step cook + bake necessary for texture and flavor?
Thank you in advance for your consideration and for all your inspiring recipes!
After trying both egg-cornstarch methods, I’ve found that tossing in cornstarch and then dredging in eggs is a more preferred method for me. The steps are interchangeable with such minor differences so I recommend using the method that works for you.
You can certainly cook this as a marinade and in a wok to save time but I highly recommend using the two step method for this recipe to obtain optimal texture and flavors.
Just finished making this. The entire family — ages 9 – 45 — loved it. When I first read the recipe, I really wasn’t too keen on the baking time but it allowed me time to clean up everything except the baking sheet before dinner was served; a big plus because nobody was going to want to clean the kitchen after eating this delicious meal.
I LOVE buffalo sauce – this looks amazing! Trying it tonight 🙂
I’ve never bought buffalo sauce but found a recipe for it. Very easy and so good! The firecracker chicken was a success! I have to confess that I went for seconds with rice and sauteed veggies. Thank you for a fan delicious dinner!
My machine converted D a m n for fan..no problem! Because I’m a huge fan of Chung. She’s got to get a cooking show of her own on cable or tv.
Haha thanks Cynthia! She really should!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it so much!
Would this work with just Frank’s Red hot? NO buffalo sauce in the house but a huge bottle of Red Hot!
FWIW, I believe the ‘”original” Buffalo sauce was nothing more than Frank’s Redhot mixed with a half stick of melted butter.
Yes, Frank’s red hot will work just fine!
I ONLY use Franks red hot THICK sauce in this recipe! You cannot beat the taste!
This looks amazing! Thank you so much for a healthier version of this. I have had firecracker chicken for lunch over a baked potato once before, and it was definitely a hit 😀 x
I have been seeing this all over Pinterest too and have been meaning to try it…but forgot about it for awhile. Thanks for the reminder….and for making me not want to go to the gym now, and just face plant into this instead! Pinned!
Sweet and spicy is the best! I love the name of this…firecracker! Sounds like it packs a serious punch!
I love eating these kind of fried spicy chicken dishes! I have been wanting to try it for so looong now! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I have made this dish, twice with boneless breasts. Delish. Not a chunk
of chicken left!
But the third time, for my daughter’s 36 bday, I made a ten pounds
But I used boness thighs, like I did tonight for my sister’s Superbowl Party.
The thighs gave it an extra super kick of flavor that you don’t get with
Boneless Breasts. For real, for real!
Four times, I have made this dish and everyone loves it!
Fantastic dish, easy and quick. I serve it over jasmine rice.
Marvelous!
BTW: Always make extra sauce. LOL