This crispy chilli chicken recipe should be on your list of fakeaway recipes to try. This Chinese inspired recipe is so simple and delivers such an amazing result.
Instead of deep frying twice like many crispy shredded chilli chicken recipes do (sooo good of course), this recipe pan fries the chicken pieces, which results in a healthier recipe that you can eat all the time.
This recipe is whipped up in under 30 minutes, making it a perfect weeknight dinner or a weekend dinner to impress friends/family, as part of a feast. Instead of ordering a healthy takeaway – make your own!
I used chicken thighs, as I love the texture and flavour they provide. They’re also a lot cheaper! In a lot of crispy shredded chicken recipes, they use chicken breast which you could alternatively use here as well.
The salty, umami flavoured foundation to our sticky sauce, that coats our crispy chicken.
This brightens and sweetens the sauce. It’s such a common ingredient to have in the fridge, so it’s a perfect addition to this recipe.
The cornflour allows us to achieve the crispy chilli chicken texture.
Helps us to bind the cornflour to the chicken.
To brighten the crispy chicken sauce.
Use any neutral oil that can be taken up to a high heat.
Place the prepped chicken thighs in a large bowl. Add the whisked egg into the bowl and coat the chicken. Then stir the cornflour into the bowl, until each piece of chicken is covered in the light batter.
To a large non-stick frying pan, adding 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil at a time, fry the pieces of chicken in batches on a high heat.
Rotate the chicken thighs until golden and crispy, after around 4 minutes.
Set each batch aside on a tray once golden on both sides.
Meanwhile, steam or boil your tenderstem broccoli and green beans. Also pop your rice on to cook at this point. Once all the chicken is golden and crispy, using the same pan, reduce the heat & add the garlic and chillies.
Fry for a couple of minutes before adding the sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce, cornflour slurry and lime juice.
Heat until the sauce thickens. Then, pour the chicken into the pan and toss to combine.
Serve with a portion of rice and greens and a sprinkle of spring onions and thinly sliced chillies.
Veggies to serve with this recipe:
Carbs to serve the crispy sweet chili chicken with:
Can I reheat this recipe?
To get the most authentic crispy chicken chinese vibe, I would say the recipe is best served immediately, but it is still super delicious reheated. The chicken is just a little softer, whilst the flavours are still amazing. To reheat, pop in the microwave for 2 minutes and serve with the spring onion & sliced chilli.
Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze this recipe?
I wouldn’t freeze this recipe, as it would ruin the texture of the chicken that we’ve achieved.