This Sweet Chili Chicken is tender but slightly crispy, with sweet and spicy flavors. Serve over rice and have the perfect dinner recipe.

Chicken is one of my go-to recipes, there are so many things that you can do with chicken that it really is never ending.
This Sweet Chili Chicken is a household favorite, its not too spicy where kids won’t eat it, it’s the perfect balance of flavors.
This is a dinnertime staple in our house and we make it more often than not. Mainly because we love it and we always have chicken in the house!
Also we cannot resist the combination of sweet and spicy. They go hand in hand with me, just like sweet and salty.
With the thick sauce, the seasoned chicken and the garnishes, you will really have yourself a delicious meal with this recipe.
If you’ve been looking for different ways to make chicken, then you have to make this Sweet Chili Chicken ASAP!
Some of our other favorite chicken recipes that we have on our site include: Popcorn Chicken, Grandma’s Fried Chicken and Baked Cheesy Chicken.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- The sweetness from the honey and spice from the red pepper flakes is the perfect contrast.
- This goes great with so many side dishes.
- If you want extra crispy chicken you can bake it or air fry it.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST):
Water
Cornstarch
Thai sweet chili sauce
Garlic
Honey
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Red pepper flakes
Ginger
Oyster sauce
Paprika
Chicken, boneless skinless
Coarse kosher salt
Black pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Avocado oil
Green onions, optional
Chili peppers, optional
HOW TO MAKE SWEET CHILI CHICKEN, STEP BY STEP:
- In a small bowl add 1 Tablespoon of water and 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix to make a slurry and set aside.
- To a small bowl add the Thai sweet chili sauce, minced garlic, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, grated ginger, oyster sauce, and paprika.
- Mix until the sauce has combined. Set aside.
- To a medium bowl, add the chicken, ยฝ cup cornstarch, paprika, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Mix until the chicken is fully coated.
- In a skillet over medium-high heat add the oil and allow it to get hot, roughly 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chicken to the skillet, cook for 4 to 7 minutes or until the juices run clear and internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
- To the skillet add the sweet chili sauce mixture and cornstarch slurry.
- Stir for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the sauce is thick and the chicken is fully coated in the sauce.
- Then add the chili peppers to the skillet, if desired.
- Mix until coated in the sauce, serve and enjoy.
CAN I MAKE THE CHICKEN CRISPIER?
Yes, if you do not want to pan cook the chicken you can also bake it or air fry it to make it a little bit crispier.
We do slightly bread the chicken which will give it some crispiness in the pan, but to get really crispy then you can choose to bake it or air fry it instead.
DO I HAVE TO USE FRESHLY GRATED GINGER?
While we highly recommend this for the flavor, you can use ground ginger in a pinch.
You will want to use between 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger in place of the fresh.
WHAT CAN I SERVE WITH THIS RECIPE?
While this is a meal in itself, you can absolutely serve it with other things. I always say the more the merrier. Some ideas include:
- Green Beans
- Fried Rice
- Hibachi Noodles
- Cream Cheese Wontons
DO I HAVE TO MAKE THE SLURRY?
This is an important step that I do not want you to forget, if you EVER want to thicken up a sauce you will want to use a slurry.
Since we want this chicken to be nice and coated in the sauce, the slurry is absolutely necessary so the sauce is not watery.
HOW TO STORE:
This recipe can be store in the refrigerator in an airtight container where it will keep for up to 5 days.
To reheat, place in the microwave until heated through.
I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- We love serving this over rice or noodles.
- You can air fry or bake your chicken to make it crispier.
- DO NOT skip the slurry, this will ensure the thickness of the sauce.
- You can use ground ginger in place of fresh, see above on how to do that.
- We do not recommend freezing this recipe.
- This can be served with so many dishes to make it a larger meal, see above for some ideas.
- If you do not want to use avocado oil, you can use any of your favorite cooking oils.
- You can easily double this recipe to serve a larger crowd.
- Make sure your chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Can’t resist a good chicken recipe? Then this Sweet Chili Chicken needs to become your next meal, you won’t regret it!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried thisย SWEET CHILI CHICKENย or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Sweet Chili Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce:
- ยฝ cup + 1 Tablespoon water divided
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ยผ cup Thai sweet chili sauce
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- ยฝ Tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons ginger grated
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- ยฝ teaspoon paprika
Chicken:
- 1 pound chicken boneless skinless, cut into cubes
- ยฝ cup cornstarch
- ยฝ teaspoon paprika
- ยผ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- ยผ teaspoon black pepper
- ยผ teaspoon garlic powder
- ยผ teaspoon onion powder
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- โ cup sliced green onions
- 6-10 chili peppers optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl add 1 Tablespoon of water and 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix to make a slurry and set aside.
- To a small bowl add the Thai sweet chili sauce, minced garlic, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, grated ginger, oyster sauce, and paprika.
- Mix until the sauce has combined. Set aside.
- To a medium bowl, add the chicken, ยฝ cup cornstarch, paprika, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Mix until the chicken is fully coated.
- In a skillet over medium-high heat add the oil and allow it to get hot, roughly 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chicken to the skillet, cook for 4 to 7 minutes or until the juices run clear and internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
- To the skillet add the sweet chili sauce mixture and cornstarch slurry.
- Stir for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the sauce is thick and the chicken is fully coated in the sauce.
- Then add the chili peppers to the skillet, if desired.
- Mix until coated in the sauce, serve and enjoy.
Notes
- Rice is not calculated in the nutritional value.
- We love serving this over rice or noodles.
- You can air fry or bake your chicken to make it crispier.
- DO NOT skip the slurry, this will ensure the thickness of the sauce.
- You can use ground ginger in place of fresh, see above on how to do that.
- We do not recommend freezing this recipe.
- This can be served with so many dishes to make it a larger meal, see above for some ideas.
- If you do not want to use avocado oil, you can use any of your favorite cooking oils.
- You can easily double this recipe to serve a larger crowd.
- Make sure your chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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