Bang Bang Chicken
by Chungah
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This bang bang chicken is a family-favorite dinner! Made with super crispy chicken bites and the dreamiest sweet and spicy bang bang sauce!
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Why you’ll love bang bang chicken
- 30 minute recipe. This recipe comes together in 30 minutes or less, making this an ideal candidate for quick, weeknight dinners for the whole family.
- The bang bang sauce is everything. The sauce is a simple mix of four ingredients – mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, honey, and hot sauce, yielding a creamy, sweet and spicy sauce to coat the perfectly crispy, golden brown chicken. The sauce is so good, you’ll want to eat it with a spoon!
- Can be served in so many ways. This is one of those great dishes that can serve so many purposes. For example, it can be served over steamed white rice, as a crowd-favorite appetizer, or even as tacos.
What is bang bang chicken?
This is a popular dish made with ultra-crispy bite-sized chicken tossed in a signature bang bang sauce.
The bang bang sauce consists of:
- Mayonnaise
- Sweet chili sauce
- Hot sauce (Frank’s RedHot or Sriracha)
- Honey or lime juice
How to make bang bang chicken
- Make the bang bang sauce. Whisk together the mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, honey, and hot sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
- Prep the coating. Combine the buttermilk, flour, cornstarch, egg, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.
- Coat the chicken. Dip each chicken piece into the buttermilk mixture before dredging in Panko, pressing to coat and shaking off any excess.
- Cook the chicken. Cook the Panko-coated chicken in a Dutch oven until golden brown, working in batches to avoid an overcrowded pan. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain the excess oil.
- Toss or drizzle. Toss (or drizzle) the cooked chicken with the bang bang sauce, adding as little or as much sauce as desired.
- Serve. Lastly, garnish with parsley, serving over a bed of steamed white rice or arrange on a platter with toothpicks.
Deep-frying tips to cook the chicken
Deep-frying chicken may seem a bit daunting, but with some attention to detail and these easy-to-follow tips, you’ll be making restaurant-quality (if not better!) bang bang chicken in no time.
- Use the right oil. Use vegetable or peanut oil, a neutral oil with a high smoke point.
- Maintain a consistent oil temperature. Use a clip-on deep-fry thermometer to monitor the oil closely, maintaining a steady temperature between 325 and 375°F.
- Work in small batches. Cook the chicken in small batches, about 5-6 pieces at a time.
- Let it rest on a wire rack. Let the chicken rest 5-10 minutes on a wire rack for even air circulation, achieving that perfect, shatteringly crispy coating.
How to serve bang bang chicken
Appetizer
Arrange the crispy chicken on a platter with toothpicks, serving the sauce on the side for dipping, if desired.
Bowls
Serve over white rice or jasmine rice with steamed broccoli.
Tacos or wraps
Spoon the chicken into warmed tortillas or bib (or butter) lettuce for lettuce wraps.
More bang bang recipes
Tools For This Recipe
Bang Bang Chicken: Frequently Asked Questions
Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store. While both panko and breadcrumbs can be used as a coating for fried foods, panko is much flakier and yields a crunchier, crispier texture.
Yes, there is a mild to medium kick of heat from the hot sauce. For milder flavors, reduce the amount of hot sauce, to taste.
Absolutely! The recipe works well with both chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Breasts are leaner whereas thighs will be juicier.
Store the chicken and the sauce separately in airtight containers in the fridge for 3-4 days, reheating the chicken in the oven or air fryer at 350°F until warmed through.
Bang Bang Chicken
Video
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 bang bang sauce
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons Frank’s Hot Sauce
Instructions
- 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 the buttermilk mixture, then dredge in Panko, pressing to coat.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven to 350°F. 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; discard excess oil.
- Serve immediately, drizzled with bang bang sauce, garnished with parsley, if desired.
For the bang bang sauce
- Whisk together mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, honey and Frank’s Hot Sauce in a small bowl.
Equipment
Notes
- Cut the chicken into similar-sized pieces. Whether you’re using chicken breasts or thighs, dice the chicken into similar bite-sized pieces (about 1-inch chunks) for even, consistent cooking throughout.
- Panko yields a flakier crust. Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb made from crustless white bread with much larger flakes than traditional breadcrumbs, yielding a crunchier, crispier texture.
- Check the temperature. Use a clip-on deep-fry thermometer to maintain a consistent oil temperature (about 325-375°F). If the oil goes past 375°F, the exterior will burn before the inside of the chicken is cooked, and if the oil is too cool, the chicken will absorb most of the oil, resulting in soggy, greasy chicken.
- Cook in batches. Cook the chicken in multiple batches as needed to avoid an overcrowded pan. An overcrowded pan will result in a drop in temperature, yielding soggy chicken instead.
- Sauce just before serving. This is crucial to avoiding soggy bang bang chicken. Toss or drizzle the cooked chicken with the bang bang sauce just before serving for maximum crispness.
- Prepare for leftovers. Store the chicken and bang bang sauce separately if preparing for leftovers to preserve the crisp texture of the chicken bites.
Did you make this recipe?
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I decided to try and make one of your recipes for each meal this week. I started with this bang bang chicken and it was delicious. Although it was time consuming to pan fry the chicken (I doubled the recipe for my 5 kids) I don’t think I will buy frozen chicken nuggets again. They turned out perfect! Even my son, who hates chicken, gave this 5 stars.
These are amazing! Easy, and delicious.
I’m looking forward to making this. In my mind’s taste buds it will be damn delecious. I have thighs in the freezer. I rarely use breasts. Will thighs will work with this or will the meat come out tough?
Yum add a bit more heat to the sauce and perfection
Damn delicious!!!
Made this several times for my family! So delicious! The sauce is amazing! My family would dip anything that didn’t move in the sauce!!
So so good. This is a go to recipe in our house and the sauce is always in a container in the fridge. My son puts it on everything.
Can you bake the chicken in the oven?
Sounds really good but can it be cooked in an air fryer instead?
Thanks for a great recipe! Made this the other night with my 20 year old son..both he & my husband loved it! My son put the sauce on his rice the next day and has asked for the recipe to take back to school with him.
Do you think I can substitute cauliflower florets for the chicken? Thanks!
Absolutely!
Seriously SO good! We usually double the sauce recipe and dunk the nuggets in the sauce. We also use some regular bread crumbs with the panko because we like it a little less crunchy.
For those of you wondering, it works great in an air fryer, too!
Do you mind sharing how long to cook in the air fryer?
Amazing and easy dinner. Unbelievably crisp. I served with rice and edemame. I haven’t tried the leftovers yet, I’m crossing my fingers the chicken is still a little crispy.
Great flavor, especially the dipping sauce! However, next time I’ll double or triple the ingredients for the sauce and cut in half the ingredients for the coating. Also, I needed more than 1 c of panko crumbs.
I’d like to try this in my air fryer next time…
Excellent!! I’m wondering if I could make it with ground chicken?
This is one of my husbands favorite things! It has now become our annual Superbowl dinner and has been for the last three years. I serve it on a bed of lettuce and it goes really well with the crunchy chicken bits. Very delicious! Thank You.
Delicious! I will be using these nuggets with all kinds of sauces! Next time will be honey key lime! Thank you for sharing!
This was so good! It was quick and easy, spicy enough for my husband to enjoy, but not too spicy for the kiddo. I will definitely make this again!
Love the recipes
YUM! I made the recipe as is and it was fantastic! I could bathe in that sauce <3
Right?! So glad you liked it.
What temp to cook chicken plz.
The oil should be heated to 350-375 degrees F. When you add the chicken, the temperature will drop. I recommend keeping it at 300-325 degrees F while the chicken cooks through.