Firecracker Chicken
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Better-than-takeout firecracker chicken! Juicy crisp-tender chicken tossed in an irresistible sweet and spicy sauce (can also make it mild!).
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Why you’ll love firecracker chicken
- Faster and cheaper than takeout. Making this takeout favorite at home costs a fraction of restaurant prices using fresh, better-quality ingredients, requiring just 15-20 minutes of prep time.
- Bold, explosive flavors. Firecracker chicken has the most amazing combination of sweet and spicy flavors with a hint of tanginess and zing from the buffalo sauce. And it’s baked in the oven for about 45 minutes to let all those amazing flavors soak right into the juicy, tender bites of chicken.
- Ultra-crispy and tender chicken. The chicken pieces are coated in cornstarch and eggs first, creating a crunchy crust that stays crispy even after baking!
- Incredibly versatile recipe. You can easily adapt this recipe to make it mild or more spicy. You can also serve over a bed of vegetables, steamed rice, fried rice, or chow mein. No matter how it’s served, this will be a guaranteed family-favorite!
What is firecracker chicken?
Firecracker chicken is a popular Chinese-American takeout dish featuring crispy bite-sized chicken pieces coated in a sticky glaze that is sweet, spicy, and tangy. The dish is typically finished with sliced green onions and served over rice, noodles, or chow mein.
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- Coating: cornstarch and beaten eggs
- Sauce: brown sugar, buffalo sauce (ex. Frank’s RedHot), apple cider vinegar, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes
- Garnish: green onions
How to make firecracker chicken
- Coat the chicken. Dice the chicken breasts or thighs into uniform 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken pieces with cornstarch until lightly coated, then dip each piece into the beaten eggs.
- Cook the chicken. Working in batches, cook the chicken in vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat until golden and crispy. Set aside with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Prep the sauce. Mix together the brown sugar, buffalo sauce, apple cider vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes, and water.
- Bake and stir. Place the chicken in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish, stirring in the sauce until each piece is well coated. Bake at 325°F for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked through (internal temperature should reach 165°F).
- Serve. Sprinkle with green onions and serve warm over rice or noodles.
More asian takeout recipes to make at home
Tools For This Recipe
Firecracker Chicken: Frequently Asked Questions
The firecracker sauce is made from a blend of brown sugar for sweetness, buffalo hot sauce (such as Frank’s RedHot), apple cider vinegar for acidity, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes.
Yes! Boneless, skinless chicken breasts will be leaner whereas chicken thighs will be much more forgiving and stay extra juicy.
This dish consists of a vibrant mix of sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors. It is similar to sweet and sour chicken with noticeably more of a spicy kick of heat.
Firecracker chicken does have a kick of heat to the dish but you can control the spice level by reducing the amount of hot sauce or omitting the red pepper flakes for milder flavors.
Pair with starches and vegetables that can soak up the sweet, spicy, and tangy glaze such as white rice, chow mein, or steamed broccoli and green beans.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, gently reheating on the stovetop with a splash of water or in the oven at 350°F until heated through.
Firecracker Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, 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
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
For the firecracker sauce
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup buffalo sauce, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- 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 cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches, 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. Stir in the firecracker sauce until well combined. 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, garnished with green onions, if desired.
For the firecracker sauce
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, buffalo sauce, vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes and 1 tablespoon water.
Equipment
Notes
- Adjust the heat level. The signature firecracker sauce balances heat (hot sauce and red pepper flakes) with sweetness (brown sugar). Adjust the spice level by reducing or increasing the amount of hot sauce and red pepper flakes as needed.
- Stir every 15 minutes. The periodic stirring during baking will serve as a natural basting-step, evenly coating every piece of chicken with the sticky glaze.
- Pair with rice or noodles. Serve over steamed white rice, brown rice, or noodles (such as chow mein) to soak up the extra sauce.
- Reheat in the oven or stovetop. Gently reheat the leftover chicken on the stovetop with a splash of water or in the oven at 350°F until warmed through (to restore some of its crispness).
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. All opinions expressed are my own.
This sounds very good! Sweet and sour chicken is something my husband really loves. I bet he would love this. Pinned!
Oooooh heavens. A spicy-sweet pile of fried chicken over fluffy rice? That’s what dreams are made of! I can’t wait to give this a try, Chung-Ah. Looks so delicious!
This looks so good! I love the sweet and salty combo and never thought of combining buffalo sauce with sweet…wow! I have a feeling that my kiddos would love this. Thanks for sharing!
What an interesting flavor combo. I do think this would be a big hit in my house and your preparation couldn’t be simpler. Thanks, pinned!! : )
I would like to see a version of Seoul-style fire chicken (buldak). That might be impossible to replicate without a professional kitchen. My wife printed out a Korean-language version of the recipe, but the end result tasted nothing like real buldak.
What would be another substitute for the Buffalo sauce? I have a variety of canned tomatoes and a jar of Sambal Oelek in the house. Would a mixture of that plus a little butter work too?
There really is no good substitute for buffalo sauce – it’s one of the main and crucial ingredients in this dish.
I am a HUGE (the hugest, really) fan of buffalo sauce so I am certainly going to love this dish!
Can’t wait to try it. I’ve made your sweet and sour chicken half a dozen times already and it’s always perfect. Do you think this method would work for teriyaki chicken as well?
I’ve never tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! 🙂
I’m now craving a huge bowl of this chicken!
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