Hot And Spicy Chinese Chicken is one of the easiest and most delicious recipes. Marinate the chicken with simple ingredients and toss it into the tasty, spicy sauce, ready in under 30 minutes.
I always take inspiration from my family favorites for making everyday meals, like this jalapeño Chinese chicken.
This Chinese jalapeño chicken is simple to make and uses easy-to-find ingredients. The chili, garlic sauce, and soy sauce create a delicious coat to the tender cooked chicken, leaving you wanting more.
By making this recipe at home, you'll enjoy a homemade meal that's even better than your favorite takeout place.
This recipe is a breeze if your kitchen has a basic stock of Asian-style sauces.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe?
⭐️It’s quick to prep and easy to make!
⭐️With simple tips, you can’t go wrong with this recipe.
⭐️ It's a one-pan dish and a crowd-pleaser as well!
Ingredients
- Chicken: You can use chicken tenderloins, breasts, or thighs. If you're using frozen chicken, thaw it to room temperature before cooking.
- Soy sauce: I have used light soy sauce. You can also use dark soy sauce but note that dark soy sauce is slightly salty, so adjust the salt accordingly in this recipe.
- Chili garlic sauce: This one ingredient adds heat to this hot and spicy Chinese chicken. You can substitute this sauce with store-bought bottled Hunan sauce or Szechuan sauce.
- Rice wine vinegar is an Asian-style ingredient that brings up all the flavors and adds a bit of acidity. It is good to replace this with another Asian ingredient called mirin.
- Garlic: Mince it for the smooth textured sauce.
- Corn starch: Its thickness makes the sauce and provides a glossy finish.
- Spring onion: Its contrasting color makes the dish pleasing to look at. In addition, it adds a complex flavor and nutrition to the dish.
How To Make Hot and spicy Chinese chicken?
- Cut chicken into strips. Marinate with cornstarch, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce. Set aside.
- Cook marinated chicken over medium heat until fully cooked. Transfer to a plate.
- In the same pan, add oil and minced garlic. Saute until fragrant. Switch off the heat and add cornstarch, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and water. Stir until smooth. Now turn the heat ON and stir until thickened.
- Toss in chicken and garnish with green onions.
♨️How To Adjust The Heat
This hot and spicy Chinese chicken recipe uses chili garlic sauce as the heat source, and you can adjust the quantity according to your personal heat tolerance.
If you want to increase the heat in this recipe, add more chili garlic sauce, use authentic Chinese Szechuan peppercorns, and stir in bottled Sichuan sauce.
Storage & Reheating
You can refrigerate this leftover hot and spicy Chinese chicken for up to four days or freeze it for up to two months.
When you're ready to enjoy it again, you can thaw the spicy chicken by leaving it in the refrigerator overnight or by microwaving it gently in 30-second intervals until it's heated.
and reheat on the stovetop (over medium heat) or in the microwave(in increments of 30 seconds) by adding a little water to preserve its moist texture.
FAQ
Enjoy this hot and spicy Chinese chicken by serving it with steamed rice, fried rice, noodles, Asian-style stir-fried vegetables(try Chinese green beans), dumplings, or pan-fried wontons.
Yes, all great options are vegetables such as broccoli, bell peppers, snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, and onion.
You can absolutely make this recipe vegan by swapping the chicken for tofu. Use firm tofu, cut it into cubes, and follow the same steps in the recipe.
More Asian Take-Out Style Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know your thoughts in the 📝 comments section below the recipe.
📖 Recipe
Hot And Spicy Chinese Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 2 chicken breast boneless, skinless
- 1 tablespoon corn starch divided
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar divided
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
For the sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- ½ cup water /chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ cup green onion roughly chopped
Instructions
Marinate
- Cut the chicken into slices along its grain.
- In a mixing bowl, add chicken, one tablespoon of cornstarch, one teaspoon of rice wine vinegar, one tablespoon of soy sauce.
- Mix until chicken stirps coated well with other ingredients. And set aside.
Make the sauce
- In a small mixing bowl, add corn starch, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and water.
- And stir until it turns into a smooth consistency. And set aside.
Cook the chicken
- Over medium heat, place a pan, and add marinated chicken.
- Toss until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.
- Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Make the spicy chicken
- To the same pan, add one tablespoon of vegetable oil and minced garlic.
- Saute until the garlic is fragrant.
- Turn the heat low and add the prepared sauce.
- Stir continuously until the sauce turns glossy and slightly thicker consistency.
- Now stir in cooked chicken and toss until the sauce coats evenly to the chicken.
- Sprinkle chopped green onion, and remove from the heat.
Notes
- Adjust the heat by adjusting the chili garlic sauce in this recipe.
- Serve with steamed rice, fried rice, noodles, stir-fried veggies, dumplings, or wontons.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated for four days or frozen for up to two months. Reheat on the stovetop or microwave with a splash of water.
Sara Welch says
Enjoyed this for dinner last night and it does not disappoint! Perfectly savory and spicy; easily, a new favorite recipe!
pepperbowl says
So happy to hear it, thanks Sara!
Maggie says
I really need to stop looking at food picture when I'm hungry. I want this chinese chicken right now! lol. Looks delicious!
pepperbowl says
Hi Maggie! Love it! Thanks for sharing!
Angela says
Oh my goodness, this dish is so good! Way better than takeout for sure. The flavors are spot on!
pepperbowl says
AMAZING! Thank you Angela!
Liza says
Soooo flavorful and easy to make! My family loves this spicy chicken, and we followed your serving suggestion and had it with fried rice. Amazing meal!
pepperbowl says
Great to hear, Liza!