Asian Chilli Chicken is a quick chicken dinner that’s an explosion of (spicy!) sticky, savoury Asian flavours. 287 calories of tasty goodness in 8 minutes flat!
Asian Chilli Chicken
Calling a dish “Asian”-something always feels a little generic, a lazy label that people seem to use loosely if a recipe happens to contain a dash of soy sauce.
I can assure you that there’s more than just soy sauce in this! Ginger, garlic, chilli, sesame, sriracha and lime juice all make the roll call of ingredients. While it may not be strictly traditional to any particular cuisine, the flavours still plant this quick chicken recipe firmly in the “Asian” genre in my book.
It’s got a nice kick of spiciness to it but not “blow your head off” spicy, has a balanced sweet-savoury-tang and a hint of sesame to round things off.
What you need for Asian Chilli Chicken
Here’s what you need:
Chicken – Two breasts cut in half horizontally to form 4 steaks in total. Alternatively, 4 to 5 boneless skinless chicken thighs or about 500g/1lb chicken tenderloins;
Garlic and ginger – Aromatics for the flavour base;
Chilli flakes aka red pepper flakes, and Sriracha – For the spice factor! I like to use both:
Chilli flakes for the earthy warmth, which is sautéed with the garlic and ginger;
Sriracha – For the spiciness along with vinegar, garlic and other flavours that are in the sauce. Also, Sriracha thickens the sauce.
Can’t handle the heat? Skip or reduce the chilli flakes and substitute some of the Sriracha with ketchup. This provides the same sauce thickening qualities. Yes, the spicy sauce at the end will be more sweet but will still have the savoury / tangy qualities of the base recipe – and still be delish!
Honey – For the sweetness. You can substitute with sugar or maple syrup;
Sesame – For that nutty flavour;
Soy sauce – For salt and a bit of flavour. Use all-purpose or light soy sauce here. Don’t use anything labelled “dark soy sauce” (it’s too dark and intense for this recipe) nor “sweet soy sauce” (too sweet). More on different soy sauces here;
Lime (or rice vinegar) – For the tang; and
Rice flour or just ordinary wheat flour (plain/all-purpose) – To dust the chicken. This creates a light crust that the sauce can clings to. Without it, the sauce just kind of slips off the skin.
How to make Asian Chilli Chicken
This chicken takes 8 minutes to cook: 4 minutes for the chicken itself, then 4 minutes for the sauce. If it takes any longer than that, you’ve overcooked the chicken – nooooo!!!
Season chicken – Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, and a light dusting of flour;
Pan-sear chicken until golden. For chicken this thin, it should not be any longer than 2 minutes per side;
Sauté aromatics – Remove the chicken. In the same pan sauté garlic, ginger and chilli flakes until they are golden and smell amazing. But don’t inhale too deeply otherwise the chilli will send you off on a coughing fit!
Add sauce ingredients – Now add the Sriracha, honey, soy sauce and honey, and simmer for a couple of minutes until it reduces to a fairly thick and syrupy consistency. Because there’s not much sauce, it will thicken very quickly;
Add lime juice then let it simmer for a minute to thicken again;
Coat chicken – Return chicken to the pan and turn to coat in the sauce. You’re done!
What to serve with Asian Chilli Chicken
There isn’t loads of sauce because the flavour is quite concentrated, almost like a glaze. But there’s certainly enough to serve this with just plain rice – white, brown or cauliflower rice for a low carb option.
For a flavoured rice side, try one of these:
The greens you spy on the side of the plate are steamed baby bok choy with oyster sauce dressing which, contrary to popular belief, is more than just oyster sauce. Recipe here.
And a few more side salad soptions for you!
If you’re after a works-with-anything option, try my all-rounder Asian Sesame Dressing drizzled over literally any fresh, steamed or otherwise cooked greens. You just can’t go wrong with that dressing! – Nagi x
PS. Once you’ve tried and loved this, make the shrimp/prawn version → Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns
Watch how to make it
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Asian Chilli Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 500g / 1lb breast fillets, skinless and boneless (2 large) (Note 1 other cuts)
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp rice flour, or all-purpose/plain flour (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil , vegetable or canola
Sauce:
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 2 tsp ginger , finely minced
- 1 tsp chilli flakes / red pepper flakes (reduce for less spicy)
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tbsp sriracha (sub ketchup for not spicy, Note 3)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce , light or all purpose (Note 4)
- 1/4 cup honey (sub brown sugar)
- 3 tbsp lime juice (sub 2 tbsp rice vinegar)
Garnishes (choose):
- Green onion (finely sliced), sesame seeds, fresh chilli, lime wedges
Instructions
Chicken:
- Season: Cut each chicken breast in half horizontally to form 4 steaks total. Sprinkle each side with salt, pepper and rice flour, shaking off excess.
- Pan-fry: Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for 2 minutes, then remove to a plate.
Sticky Chilli Sauce:
- Sesame oil: Allow the skillet to cool a bit then return to the stove on medium. Add sesame oil and heat.
- Garlic and ginger: Add garlic and ginger, cook for 15 seconds.
- Chilli flakes: Add chilli flakes and cook for 30 seconds until garlic is golden.
- Sriracha, soy and honey: Turn heat up to medium-high. Add water, sriracha, soy sauce and honey, stir well, scraping the base of the pan to dissolve all the golden bits into the liquid.
- Simmer for 2 minutes until it reduce to a thick syrup. Add lime juice, then simmer for a further 30 seconds until it thickens back to a thick syrup.
- Coat chicken: Turn heat off. Return chicken to pan, turning to coat in sauce.
- Serve chicken, topping with remaining sauce in skillet, garnished with green onions, sesame seed and extra lime wedges, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
- Thighs will take longer to cook through, about 4 minutes on the first side, 3 minutes on the second side;
- Tenderloins are (typically) smaller so they should take the around the same time as breast.
- Breast and tenderloin: 65°C / 150°F
- Thigh: 75°C / 167°F
- If you want less spicy, sub some of it with ketchup. If you sub all of it, the dish becomes quite sweet so add a dash of extra lime to compensate (it’s also totally not what this recipe is intended to be, but it’s still tasty!)
- If you want spicy but don’t have sriracha, also sub with ketchup plus any other hot sauce to taste, or cayenne pepper or more chilli flakes.
Nutrition Information:
A few more quick chicken dinners
Life of Dozer
Just another morning in Life of Dozer – sunrise walk along Pittwater.
Hi, could I make this without the sesame oil? (sub for olive or canola?) My husband really dislikes the taste of sesame oil (don’t get me started) but he can literally taste even a trace of it.
2nd time making this but this time I followed the recipe precisely and wow, my lips are still burning. Think I’ll revert to halving the chilli. Quick and easy dish, and I’m definitely a fan of the rice flour coating. My 22yo son adores this dish so I’ll be making it again for sure – thanks for another tasty recipe!
This was amazing!! Fast and really quite delicious! Made the recipe exactly as directed. I used chicken fingers and honey. My husband actually asked for it 2 nights in a row 🤯
This sauce is amazing with salmon too.
Tasty and easy recipe. I’ll be using rice flour as a crumbing flour from now on. I’ll make it again, but it was ‘blow your head off’ hot. I think my Masterfood Chillie Flakes are nuclear strength. Next time I’ll halve the siracha & chillies and add extra to taste.
Made this last night according to recipe, mostly. The only change I made was to pound the chicken to the same thickness, then cut in two. The Asian Chili Chicken was incredible!! Served Asian Slaw with peanut ginger sauce and Spicy garlic edamame beans in the pod. Beyond delicious!!!
Just made this. I didn’t use the chili flakes, ran out of Sriracha so used 1 tbsp of sambal oelek (sp?) And 2 tbs of ketchup. It was perfect for us and we ate it all! Served with mango and napa cabbage sauteed with onion, soy, and sesame oil.
Another thumbs up Nagi, keep them coming. Delicious 😋 👍
Am I able to bake this chicken in the oven. If so what temp.
Weirdly I decided to try this recipe because of the source. I say weirdly because there are few chicken dishes that I really like and I’m not a fan of savory dishes that are sweet. This recipe was amazing. Something about the heat of the siracha and red pepper flakes made the sweetness work for me. It was incredibly quick, easy, appeared elegant, and tasted fantastic, even though I forgot the lime juice.
Awesome and easy to make. I’m a vegetarian that still cooks meat for my family. This was very well received. I love the high heat in the beginning to give the chicken the perfect crispy outer layer and tender inside. Sauce reduces beautiful. Will make again in vegan form! Thanks so much!
Love this! Husband loved this, friends loved this… quick, easy and so tasty. Make weekly,
Serve it with rice and fresh sliced cucumber on the side.
Thanks Nagi!
Hi Nagi,
The Asian chilli chicken was a hit with me. Simple and very tasty!
Ill be trying thr chilli prawns next.
Thank you for sharing your recipes.
This is great! But it also works with skinless salmon. The only thing I changed with the salmon was to reduce the cooking temp to medium for the fish.
Another super simple but delicious recipe. I’m actually very excited to eat the leftovers! Didn’t have any dry chilli flakes so opted for one whole fresh chilli. Also substituted the honey for maple syrup.
I love this recipe! I’ve made it so many times that I’ve pretty much memorised it – perfect quick and easy for a work-night.
I do have one question – is there a trick to neatly slicing the chicken breast in half? One half always seems to be thinner and more raggedy, which means I need to juggle the cooking time a bit.
Truly amazing, warming chilli hit. This recipe demonstrates why making it yourself knocks the socks of any takeaway. Thanks Nagi for sharing such great recipes.
I always say fakeaway over takeaway any day!! N x
Amazing! So simple and so delicious! Thank you!
I am happy you liked it Stephanie!! N x
I’ve no words. I usually make your recipes but today, even my bf said “forget restaurant x, this sauce is amazing”! Xoxo
Delicious and easy to make! Thank you
So so so yummy!!