Easy Sweet Chilli Chicken
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This easy and fast sweet chilli chicken recipe is not only loaded with bold flavors – its texture is heavenly. We crisp up the chicken which then absorbs the sticky, sweet, savory sauce, ensuring every mouthful is explosive with flavor. If you’re into this style of quick sticky pan chicken, my soy garlic chicken breast is made in the same way and just as good for a speedy weeknight dinner.
Recipe Summary:
- ✅ Recipe Name: Easy Sweet Chilli Chicken
- 🕦 Ready in: 15 minutes
- 🤝 Serves: 4
- 🍴 Calories: 317kcal
- 🧑🍳 Main ingredients: chicken breast, cornflour, sweet chilli sauce, cayenne pepper
- ✨ Summary: In less than 15 minutes, you get a sticky, salty and delicious sweet chilli chicken which makes for the ultimate fakeaway.
Why you’ll love this recipe
There are so many reasons you should throw crispy chilli chicken into your rotation. To name a few:
- Quick and Easy: I love a protein recipe that’s whipped up in less than 15 minutes, which doesn’t compromise on flavor. Making this crispy chili chicken recipe great for a weeknight meal. Pair with microwave rice and boiled frozen veg for the easiest balanced meal.
- Bold flavors: With the spice blend that I use + the sweet chilli sauce, it’s a shortcut to flavortown. My secret ingredient is cayenne pepper, which I feel balances the sweetness in the sweet chilli sauce really well, creating a greater depth of flavor. If you love that bold spiced-glaze approach, my crispy soy chicken wings are a great one to try.
- Gluten Free: The key to the stickiness in this sweet chili chicken is cornflour, making this recipe gluten free! Be sure to check your chicken stock and sweet chilli bottle- most sweet chilli sauces are gluten free but it’s always best to double check!
Pair this yummy sweet chicken chilli with one of these vegetable-rich sides for an even tastier meal: Roasted Tenderstem Broccoli, Cauliflower Rice (Fast), Celeriac Soup
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Sweet Chilli Chicken
The main ingredients that make this Sweet Chicken Chilli recipe fantastic are the following:
- Chicken breast: I like to use breast for this sticky chili chicken rather than thighs as it makes the dish lighter. The cornflour also tenderizes the chicken which ensures that we don’t get dry chicken breast for an end result.
- Cornflour: This is the key to achieving the best texture with the chicken and also to thickening the sauce. It’s the same trick I use in my crispy soy tofu.
- Sweet chilli sauce: Use your favourite brand! Some have more spice, others lean into the sweetness more, this is a matter of preference!
See the recipe card for full information on all ingredients and quantities.
Variations/ Adaptations
- You could lean into a fakeaway vibe / try to emulate chinese shredded chicken with this sauce: boil and shred your chicken breast, then follow the steps of the recipe. Ensure to reduce the cook time to make sure you don’t overcook the chicken.
- Instead of diced chicken breast: use chicken goujons, chicken fingers, shredded chicken, grilled chicken, or a deep fried chicken breast.
- No chicken breast? If you’re worried about the chicken breast drying out, that wont happen with this recipe so rest easy! But if you still love chicken thighs over chicken breast, you can sub them for this crispy chili chicken recipe.
- Make them vegetarian sweet chilli bites: Use vegetarian chicken pieces such as seitan chicken to make this recipe suitable for vegetarians. My crispy air fryer halloumi uses the same sweet chilli sauce finish and works as a swap too.
- Skip the spice: if you don’t like spice at all, omit the cayenne pepper in this recipe. It’s actually closer to a chicken katsu curry when you strip the heat back.
- If you don’t’ have rice vinegar: the dash of rice vinegar provides balance to the richness of the dish- you could also use a squeeze of lime juice if you don’t have rice vinegar.
How to make Sweet Chilli Chicken
- Start by cutting the chicken breasts into cubes using a sharp knife (Image 1).
- Place the cut chicken into a bowl and coat with cornflour, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. If you have time, place the chicken in the refrigerator for an hour before cooking (Image 2).
3. Preheat a large frying pan with the oil over medium-high heat. Add the coated chicken to the hot pan and fry without moving the chicken for 3-4 minutes (Image 3).
4. After 3-4 minutes, stir the chicken and continue to cook for a few more minutes then add the ginger and salt. (Image 4).
5. Add the sweet chilli sauce, the chicken stock, and the cornflour slurry to the pan with the chicken (Image 5).
6. Cook until the sauce has thickened into a nice sticky chilli sauce (Image 6).
Consider making these other delightful Asian dishes during the week: Crispy Chilli Chicken (Healthy Fakeaway Chinese), Leftover Turkey Chinese Curry, Gochujang Pork Ramen
Tips for the best result
- Ensure that the chicken breast is evenly coated with the cornflour and seasoning blend.
- If you have time, refrigerate the chicken breast after coating in the cornflour and seasoning. This will further tenderize the chicken.
- For the first stage of frying, leave the chicken undisturbed for the best browning/colour/texture.
Serving Suggestions
This sweet chilli chicken is great piled over Singapore fried rice for a proper fakeaway Friday, or tossed through one-pot chicken vermicelli noodles if you want to make it go further. If you’re more of a heat person, swap the noodles for spicy Korean gochujang noodles.
For sides, easy sautéed savoy cabbage is a brilliant one as it’s cheap, quick, and the buttery softness works so well against the sticky sauce. Or go all out and do the crispiest diced air fryer potatoes alongside.
Leftover Storage and Reheat Instructions
Refrigerator: Good news, the flavors of this crispy chili chicken get even better after spending time in the fridge! Store in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Freezer: You can freeze this recipe for up to 3 months. Bear in mind though that the texture will change slightly, so I prefer to whip this up fresh or from the fridge as it only takes 15 minutes to make. If you are going to freeze it, ensure that it’s sealed in an airtight container to prevent any freezer burn.
Reheat: The easiest way to reheat this sweet chilli chicken is in the microwave. Reheat on high for 1-2 minutes until piping hot.
Sweet Chilli Chicken FAQs
Absolutely! I would follow the same step for coating the chicken and then in the airfryer, I’d place the chicken into the basket, coat with oil and fry for 8-10 minutes at 200°C/400°F. Make the sauce separately in a saucepan until thickened, then coat the crispy chicken in the sauce.
This may be because you’re using a stainless steel pan or another pan that isn’t non-stick. I would recommend a non-stick pan for this recipe as we aren’t using a huge amount of oil.
You can! If you’re serving to a crowd, you could coat the chicken in the cornflour and seasoning ahead of time and complete the frying and sauce making on arrival. Or you could crisp the chicken and make the sauce later. Finally, you could make the whole dish ahead of time, the chicken will be less crispy but the flavors will have got to know each other even more, so it’s still really great.
For more chicken recipes, try Air Fryer Chicken Bites, The BEST Teriyaki Chicken Bowl, One Pot Chicken & Rice next.
If you tried this Sweet Chilli Chicken Recipe, it would mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Easy Sweet Chilli Chicken
Ingredients
- 600 g chicken breast, roughly diced (£4.32)
- 60 ml (4 tbsp) sweet chilli sauce (£1.20/2= £0.60)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated (£0.72=£0.36)
- Fresh chives (£0.60/2= £0.30)
Cupboard Essentials
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp onion granules
- 3 tbsp cornflour
- ½ – 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp rice vinegar
- 200 ml chicken stock
- Salt
Method
- Start by coating your roughly diced chicken in the garlic granules, onion granules, 2 tbsp of the cornflour, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. Mix to combine. If you have time, pop the chicken in the fridge for an hour.
- To a large non-stick frying pan, add the oil and allow the pan to preheat. Add the seasoned chicken and evenly distribute across the pan. Fry over a medium/high heat and leave undisturbed for around 3-4 minutes.
- After this time, the chicken should have taken on some colour. Stir the chicken and continue to fry for a couple of minutes. Add the ginger and season generously with salt.
- Next, add the sweet chilli sauce, chicken stock and cornflour slurry (remaining 1 tbsp cornflour combined with 2 tbsp cold water). Continue to cook until you achieve a sticky thick sauce. At this stage, stir the rice vinegar into the pan.
- Top with fresh chives and an optional crack of black pepper. Dive in!
Notes
- If possible, refrigerate the chicken breast after coating it with the cornflour and seasoning. This helps to further tenderize the meat.
- During the first stage of frying, avoid moving the chicken to achieve optimal browning, color, and texture.
- Make sure the chicken breast is coated evenly with the cornflour and seasoning mixture.
Nutrition
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