Sweet and Spicy Chicken is perfectly crispy and coated in the most delicious sweet, sticky, and spicy sauce. It can be made in one pan in only 30 minutes!
Recipe by Catalina Castravet on June 2, 2024
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT15M
Total time: PT30M
Rating
4.86 stars (14 reviews)
Keywords
Sweet and Spicy Chicken
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs (cut into 1 inch chunks)
1/3 cup cornstarch
oil (for frying)
6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon ginger (minced)
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
3 dried red peppers (optional)
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoons hot sauce
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Categories
Main Course
Cuisine
Chinese
Steps
Toss the chicken thighs with the cornstarch well in a large bowl so every chicken piece is covered in cornstarch. Set aside.
Add all the "Sauce" ingredients to a bowl and whisk together to combine. Set aside. You can double the Sauce ingredients if you want more sauce.
Add vegetable oil to a large pan so it reaches the middle of the pan.
Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and fry on medium-high heat until crispy and golden.
Remove chicken from the pan, save one tablespoon of oil, and discard the rest.
Add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook on low heat for about 30 seconds until you smell the garlic. Stir continuously; be careful, as the garlic and red pepper flakes can burn quickly.
Add the chicken back to the pan and toss.
Give the sauce a quick stir and add it to the pan.
Stir to coat the chicken well for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the sauce thickens.
You can serve immediately with rice.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 497 kcal
Carbohydrates: 27 g
Protein: 31 g
Fat: 28 g
Saturated Fat: 8 g
Trans Fat: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 167 mg
Sodium: 1681 mg
Sugar: 12 g
Unsaturated Fat: 18 g
Reviews
April on 2025-09-18 (5 stars): One of my favorite chicken recipes! Easy to make, and tastes absolutely amazing. Yum!
Beth on 2025-09-18 (5 stars): This is so good! I love the sweet and spicy flavors with the chicken. I always love food that puts a little sweat on my brow!
Carolyn Huff on 2024-09-22 (5 stars): This is awesome! We both loved it! Added onion, red pepper and broccoli. So good!!
Nanajee Travels on 2024-09-05 (5 stars): This Sweet and Spicy Chicken sounds absolutely mouthwatering! The combination of crispy chicken coated in a sweet, sticky, and spicy sauce is irresistible. And the fact that it all comes together in just 30 minutes and one pan makes it a perfect go-to recipe for any busy day. Thanks for sharing such a delicious and convenient meal idea!
OrbitKitchen on 2023-12-01 (5 stars): This evening, I prepared it for my family. Everyone adored it and requested that I prepare another one soon. We will certainly include it in our regular rotation. Many thanks for the incredible recipe!
Rose Sommers on 2023-11-26 (5 stars): We loved this sweet n spicy chicken and fun to make just one skillet. Thank you for sharing it.
susan paquette on 2023-08-11 (3 stars): You must use low sodium soya sauce and 6 tablespoons of vinegar is way too much. I would not make it again or I would need to increase my blood pressure meds due to all the salt in the soya sauce.
Carly on 2023-02-19 (5 stars): SO GOOD
Katrina on 2023-02-06 (5 stars): I made this last night. It's easy to prepare and tasted great. I'll definitely make this again. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other recipes.
Robyn on 2022-04-28 (5 stars): I made this tonight. It was sooooo good! Will definitely make it again.
Haylee on 2022-01-28 (5 stars): I appreciate this easy, and yummy recipe. Straight forward steps, as well as quick. I tweaked it a little, just based on the availability of ingredients in my kitchen. My family loved it and so did I, especially after a bad Chinese food order, THIS IS BETTER!!! Keeping this recipe forever. Thank you!
Kelly on 2021-11-02 (5 stars): This is the bomb! I don’t use soy or sugar in my diet so I used coconut aminos and coconut sugar…..fantastic! I have used the Swerve brown sugar also and it was just the same. My husband thinks it’s in the top 3 ever! Also used arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch. Thank you for the best recipe !
Elle on 2021-05-16 (5 stars): This was amazing! I tweeked it a bit.... only 4 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar as we're not huge vinegar fans. Also added stir fried veggies and yum yum! Thank you. 😊
Melanie on 2021-03-10 (5 stars): I made this tonight for my family. My daughter who isn't the biggest fan of spicy dishes went back for seconds! They all loved it and asked me to make it again soon. Definitely will put it in the regular rotation. Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe!!!
