Bang Bang Chicken
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Amazingly crisp chicken bites drizzled with sweet chili mayo – so good, you’ll want to double or triple the recipe!
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So our move back to Los Angeles has officially begun. The movers came yesterday and after 8 very long hours, they packed everything into a truck and started making their way down south. We will be meeting them at our new place on Monday but until then, we will be cruising along the California coast with our puppy. We’re both so excited since this is our first family trip with Butters!
But before we leave San Francisco, I just had to share this bang bang chicken recipe because it is really the best chicken recipe ever. No joke.
Now it’s a super simple recipe that comes together in less than 30 min. Easy peasy. All that takes time is coating the chicken in Panko and throwing it in the skillet until it gets that wonderfully golden brown crispness. From there, all you have to do is drizzle on that epic sweet chili mayo and you’re set!
The sauce is so good, you’ll want to eat it with a spoon!
Bang Bang Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 cup Panko*
- 3 cups vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
for the sweet chili sauce
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons Frank’s Hot Sauce
Instructions
- BUTTERMILK MIXTURE: In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, flour, cornstarch, egg, hot sauce, salt and pepper, to taste.
- Working one at a time, dip chicken into BUTTERMILK MIXTURE, then dredge in Panko, pressing to coat.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat until it registers 360 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.
- Working in batches, add chicken to the Dutch oven and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve immediately, drizzled with sweet chili sauce, garnished with parsley, if desired.
for the sweet chili sauce
- Whisk together mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, honey and Frank’s Hot Sauce in a small bowl.
Video
Notes
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Um ok, so there could be a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story called “Noelle and Bang Bang Chicken Sauce.” I cannot believe how amazing this is and how quick everything is to make!
Thank you for this recipe. Making tomorrow but for Panko do you use the plain or seasoned? Best wishes for your move back to LA. My son lived in Santa Monica. Loved it there.
It is best to use plain Panko.
This is gonna sound stupid but I would rather double check – what’s the difference between the “1 tablespoon – hot sauce” and “2 teaspoons- franks red hot” do you use franks for both or is the first one a different brand?
Not a stupid question at all! The Frank’s Red Hot is for the drizzle sauce. The hot sauce is to simply add a little bit of heat and spiciness to the batter. It’s completely optional and you can use your favorite brand of hot sauce for this.
Great recipe! One question, what is the little green thing in The finished chicken? In what part of the preparation proccess do you put it? Thanks!
Carrol, those are parsley flakes used only as a garnish.
I live in NZ and dont know what Franks Hot Sauce is. Can u advise so I can try to find an alternative
There are many homemade Frank’s Hot Sauce recipes on the web that you can try out.
Franks Hot Sauce is good but just used the brand you like most, except Tabasco. Tabasco in just hot vinegar imho that adds zero flavor.
Did the lady from New Zealand use Worcester Sauce ad hot sauce?
I live near Buffalo, NY, the birthplace of chicken wings at Frank & Teressa’s Anchor Bar. Anchor Bar has a facebook page and you can purchase Frank’s Hot Sauce on the page.
Do you cook the Chicken first?
Gail, there is no need to pre-cook the chicken beforehand.
I just began trying your recipes, and so far they are AMAZING! Yesterday I made the red pepper pasta and it was sooooo good, I wanted to eat mounds of it. Simple ingredients and fantastic flavor. Today I made the bang bang chicken and of course it was delicious. Between bites I couldn’t stop talking about how good it was. FYI, this is a great chicken nugget recipe for anyone out there who doesn’t care for the sauce ingredients. I used Sriracha because I didn’t have sweet chili sauce, but next time I want to try it your way. Thanks for these recipes, I can’t wait to try more.
Every recipe you’ve had on here is amazing, and I can’t wait to try this. So far my boyfriend and I have tried your Firecracker Chicken and Thai Peanut Beef. Both were so good. Keep the recipes coming! Yum!
This looks so good. I love Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish but I feel like it would be so much better on chicken. Bookmarking your blog!
They have bang bang chicken at Bonefish… just had it last night. I like it better than the shrimp. Now I can make it at home! Sweet!
Thank you for your great recipes! They all look delicious! Can you bake these chicken bites or is it better to fry them? I just hate frying things and prefer baking if possible. If you can bake them – what temperature and for how long would you recommend?
Teresa, I highly recommend frying these. You just won’t get that amazing crispness by baking!
I totally agree… Not as good baking…. Awesome recipe and the left overs warm up great and my husband doesn’t do left overs…. Big hit in my house..thanks for sharing!!!
Baking these would be a big disappointment for you!
Tried this recipe. It was a big hit with the family. Probably will double sauce next time. It’s a little more time consuming than I like for a nightly meal than I’m used to, but frying stuff usually is. I used shrimp as well. I also did a little research and realized I needed Thai chilli sauce, not the Heinz stuff. Almost made a big mistake!
I have Chili Garlic Sauce, will this work for sweet chili sauce??
Amanda, it is best to use sweet chili sauce. I recommend using the Mae Ploy brand.
Ok thank you, was going to try & make this tonight but I’m pretty sure our little grocery store won’t have that
Any suggestions on what to serve this with, other than just white rice?
You can also serve this with roasted vegetables.
Maybe on a salad? I think that’s where I’m leaning if doing for a meal…..
Was checking for something different in chicken. Definetly will try out. Sounds & look delicious. Will keep u posted on results. Thank you
Just wondering, could I possibly use greek yogurt instead of mayo? And for the sweet chili sauce, what would be your recommendation for substituting that with Srihacha and honey? Thanks so much, your recipes are fantastic!!
You can certainly use those substitutes but I cannot speak for how much this will change the taste/texture of the overall dish. I highly recommend using the ingredients listed out in this recipe to obtain the best results possible.
Ok, thank you so much!
Hi! I can’t find buttermilk at my local stores. Can I use a different substitute? Thanks!
Jeanette, you can create a buttermilk substitute with 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Just be sure to let the mixture stand for 5-10 minutes.
Thanks so much! We love the recipes on your site so much!
Take a cup of whole milk, add a tbl of vinegar or lemon juice and let sit for 10 min. You now have buttermilk.
*faints* This looks delicious! Definitely have to try it soon.
Damn delicious is right!! Holy smokes! I stumbled on your blog from somewhere (pinterest I think). I made these this weekend. They were easy to make and were amazing. The chicken nuggets alone were awesome, but then add that sauce! the sky opened up and angels were singing! THANK YOU so much for the cooking inspiration!!
Anyone reading this have any suggestions as to how long this bang bang sauce would keep in the fridge? I’d love to make a bigger batch, keep it in a squeeze bottle, and drizzle it over.. everything! 🙂
The sauce should keep for a week or so.
More like a month. Whatever the experiation date is on the mayo.
I used your black bean quinoa salad recipe today. It was for a baby shower and it earned rave reviews. This was from a bunch of meat eaters . It was the first thing to go.