Firecracker Chicken
The most amazing combination of sweet and spicy flavors that tastes a million times better than take-out!
I’ve been seeing this “firecracker chicken” all over Pinterest, and you know how much I love recreating take-out dishes, so I just had to give this a try. I honestly wasn’t expecting much since I’m not the biggest fan of buffalo sauce but boy, was I wrong.
This firecracker chicken has the most amazing combination of and sweet and spicy flavors, with a hint of tanginess and zing from the buffalo sauce. And if you’re not the biggest fan of heat, you can certainly add more sugar to balance it out.
And it’s so easy to whip up! The method is just like my baked sweet and sour chicken – a quick cook in hot oil and then into the oven for about 45 minutes to let all those amazing flavors soak right in. You can serve it over rice or even some quinoa. Either way, this will be in constant rotation at our house because there’s no way that take-out can beat this!
Firecracker Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
For the sauce
- ¾ cup Imperial Sugar Light Brown Sugar
- ⅓ cup buffalo sauce, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- To make the sauce, whisk together sugar, buffalo sauce, vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes and 1 tablespoon water in a large bowl; set aside.
- In a large bowl, season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in cornstarch and gently toss to combine. Working one at a time, dip the chicken into the eggs.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; discard excess oil.
- Add chicken to prepared baking dish. Top with buffalo sauce mixture. Place into oven and bake until the sauce has thickened, about 45 minutes, turning over every 15 minutes to evenly coat the chicken.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. All opinions expressed are my own.
This is my absolute favorite chicken recipe. It has the perfect blend of sweet and spicy and the chicken is so moist. It comes out perfect every time I make it.
I was a little leery about this cooking method but after reading all of the great reviews, I gave it a go and I’m so glad I did! What an interesting way to make this dish and one I’ll be making over and over! The frying piece was simple, the sauce was quick to put together and baking it for 45 minutes in the oven gave me time to make the rice, chop up and quick saute some onions and bell pepper AND clean the kitchen.
This was a little on the sweet side for me, but I only had dark brown sugar so maybe that’s why? I’ll cut down a little on the sugar next time but other than that, this is a KEEPER. Thank you!!
Can I use a deep fryer for the chicken instead of oil in a pan?
I’m one of the last to have tried buffalo sauce on anything, and when I sampled some from my first bottle, I was really put off. But after combining it with brown sugar and vinegar and then making this recipe, I was sold. This was pure excellence! I made it exactly as written with the exception of making 1.5 times the amount of sauce per a helpful commenter. That was just the right amount, too. I’ll be making this one over and over again. Thanks again, Chungah & team!
My husband said he would eat this every day! It was a hit. I used an air fryer to fry up my chicken and then placed them in the oven with the sauce. I also tried the tip of another user and used half Siracha sauce.
Love this recipe – everyone’s always looking for seconds. I am wondering if it’s possible to make it stove top only – like a stir fry recipe? Any suggestions?
I made this but in my wok. Doubles the sauce recipe and put over brown rice. It’s one of my favorites. Spicy but delicious.
Really tasty, just the right amount of spicyness to it. Thank you
Excuse me is it okay to add regular brown or light sugar?
Just finished having this for dinner. It’s damn delicious!
My kids love this meal. It’s thier number one request. I altered a bit by using Siracha in place of the Buffalo suace. This adds some heat!!
Tried this for the first time and it is simply amazing. Now one of our firm favourites. Will be cooking this for our Christmas Eve buffet.
By far our favorite!! Always looking to try something new and this beats the restaurants !!
I made this for dinner last night and it was amazing! I have been craving Chinese food and this hit the spot! I have also used Damn Delicious recipe’s for sweet and sour chicken and orange chicken in the past. You seriously can not go wrong using any of her recipes! Everything turns out perfect and is always damn delicious!
My suggestion to anybody making this, is start it at least 2 hours before you want to have dinner. Frying the chicken took me about an hour, I think it would have been less time if I used a larger sauce pan though.
Thank you!!
I love the flavor. I just fried some chicken tenderloin in olive oil then put it in the sauce and let boil for a few minutes served over rice and some green onions as an experiment. Definitely would eat again!
We really enjoy this recipe. We have had it several times and always love it. But I have recently discovered an allergy to eggs. Does anyone know of a way to adjust this so it is egg free? Perhaps I could just omit them, but if there is another good replacement, I’m open to that! Thanks for any help you can give.
Quite delicious!
Made for the first time. It was amazing.
My hubs and I LOVE this recipe!!! It’s so so good – a great balance of sweet and spicy. We usually make it at least once a week!!! Thank you!
This recipe was amazing, and when I saw the looks on my families faces after I made this delicious treat it just lit up my day. Thank you for this recipe, and this was actually my first ever dinner that I made for my family. It takes a long time to make but boy was it worth it. It had the perfect contrast between sweet and spicy. I only for twenty minutes though because we were on a tight schedule. I’m not sure if it would have turned out better if I baked it for longer but it seemed perfect at twenty minutes to me.
I have made this recipe and it’s wonderful! Has anyone instead of frying in a pan can an air fryer for this stage .
Could you swap buffalo sauce for siracha or sweet chilli sauce?
I tried it, added about 3/4 siracha and 1/4 sweet chilli.. it is divine!
Ive got the dish in the oven now, but quick question. What did I do wrong with the chicken and oil. I had to grab a shield and eye wear!! The chicken was dry I have no idea what happened it was popping hot oil everywhere.
Hi Marlo,
I am curious if maybe you missed the dipping the chicken into the whisked egg?
I think the corn starch on the chicken might cause the oil to pop if the egg was not on it?
Honestly do not know, just wanted to try and help if I can.
This was great! I did not want to spend time dipping each piece of chicken in the eggs so I dumped the cornstarch coated chicken into the bowl of beaten eggs and stirred lightly . I can’t imagine it hurt the dish .
I did the same and worked great every time.
Made it tonight. I doubled the chicken, but I tripled the sauce (we like it saucy). Nothing Was left, I repeat, nothing. I even heard, “this is the best chicken I ever had.” So if you’re reading reviews to see if it’s worth making-just do it.
This has literally been my signature dish ever since making it for the first time over a year ago! I love to serve it with cashews and green onion on top along with rice and peas 🙂 Amazing recipe and everyone I’ve made it for absolutely loves it!!
My 16 year old son suggested we try this recipe just for something new. I was reluctant since I don’t love buffalo sauce but I have to say – this is INCREDIBLE tasting. It’s a fair amount of work (I’m an incredibly lazy cook) but it’s well worth it.
Absolutely delicious. so crispy. have never cooked chicken with cornstarch before this. Will make again and again.
Love this recipe. Both my boys think it’s better than any carryout they have had. At first the frying in batches, was going to be long and time consuming, I was wrong. They don’t take long at all and the outcome is damn delicious. Another hit Chungah, this one goes right up there with the lettuce wraps. Thank you
Can leftovers be frozen?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
A family favorite!
Best recipe ever! We turned this recipe into spicy orange chicken by adding orange zest and orange juice. So good, we haven’t tried your actual recipe for orange chicken! We serve it with rice and broccoli. Can’t get enough! Also good with beef.
Delicious! Love this Recipe! I will be serving this dish often as my family will love this sauce and the chicken is delicious prepared this way. Yum.
Awesome!
Thank you for this recipe! I don’t like to fry, so I used some of your sauce to Sous Vide chicken thighs, threw more sauce on after cutting up, and broiled until a little crispy. Served it on top of Chrissy’s coconut rice, and it was so very good..and easy! The only addition I made to the sauce was a little hot honey. I love your recipes, very adaptable, and not intimidating for beginners! You are awesome ❤️
It was delicious!! Enjoyed this dish! Thank you!
This was such a huge hit with me and my boyfriend- he says this is his favorite thing I’ve ever made (and I cook a LOT lol), although it’s perfect exactly as written I am considering a modification before I make it again (tomorrow). I cannot stand the smell that cooking in oil leaves behind, my small apartment smelled for days :(.. so any tips for either preventing that or could I just brown the chicken without breading it?
Jullian, here are some helpful tips to eliminate that deep-fried odor:
https://food52.com/blog/15135-how-to-get-the-smell-of-frying-out-of-your-kitchen.
Love this recipe so much!! It is gone in literally minutes. I am a little worried about all the cornstarch (I ended up using more than half a cup to get a full coating,) but the first time I made this I accidentally rubbed a lot of the cornstarch off by over-stirring in the vegetable oil, and it was still great, so I’m going to try lining up the chicken on a baking sheet and using a flour shaker to just lightly dust it with cornstarch for most meals, and maybe save the full, thick coating for an occasional treat!
So when you are making this and your oven suddenly dies, you can cook it on the stove top!! We cooked it in the sauce for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5. Good work around if you ever need it…and just as delicious!
I’m so glad it worked out! Sorry about the oven though!
Any suggestions if we don’t have apple cider vinegar? Thx!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I use regular white vinegar. Turns out great.
Tried this tonight and the family loved it! Served it over jasmine rice with a side of Asian veggies and everything was delicious. Will definitely be making this recipe again.
I love this recipe! I like to double the sauce, microwave steam a bag of both carrots and broccoli and add it to the chicken in the final 15 minutes of baking. I like adding veggies whenever I can, and this sauce makes the broccoli taste exquisite! 😉
Do you have to put chicken in corn starch. I find it got clumps in sauce
Yes, I recommend doing so.
Can you make this recipe without cutting the chicken into bite size pieces and instead use the whole chicken breast? Thank you!
Yes, absolutely, but please note that cooking time will vary.
This looks so delicious. I want to make it this weekend. Two questions:
1. Is the texture supposed to be crispy or is it more of a soft/soggy texture? In the pictures it looks crispy but I wasn’t sure if it was possible to have crispy chicken after soaking it in sauce and baking it. Just wondering so I know what texture to expect because I’ve never tried that technique before.
2.If it is supposed to be soft, then is there anything I can do differently to make it crispy instead? Maybe just frying it all the way through and then tossing in the sauce?
Thank you! Can’t wait to try it.
Yes, absolutely. If crispiness is your ultimate goal, I would go with your suggestion! 🙂
DELICIOUS! Everyone loved this dish and not a single piece left on anyone’s plate, despite of most of us not liking sweet dishes. Spicy, but perfectly balanced w/the brown sugar.
Everyone agreed that this dish should be on the rotation. Thank you!
I have made 3-4 of your delicious and OMG every one is better than the last. This one is by far my new favorite and I will definitely make this dish all the time! Keep up the great work!
This is probably my favorite recipe of all time! It’s amazing every. Single. Time. I add frozen broccoli and it mixes perfectly with the sauce. I crave this weekly!
The gods of Pinterest smiled down on me with this recipe. Made it tonight and looooved it. Firecracker is a perfect name for it since the flavor basically explodes in your mouth.
Spicy. Sweet. Sticky. All the good things!
This looks yummy! However, I have a question! Once the chicken is already pan fried/sauted/browned, isn’t it too much to bake it in the oven for 45 minutes? Will the chicken be too dry? I know baking makes the sauce thicker, but I don’t like dry chicken either! I love your recipes>
Not at all! 🙂
My mouth waters just looking at this photo. This is one of my favorite recipes of all time! It is somewhat lengthy to prepare, so I reserve it for special occasions, but man, is it good! If you find any way to shorten the prep/bake time, I’d love to hear it! Another winner.
I am not one to leave a comment but seeing that I loved this so much I just had to. I steamed broccoli and made fried rice to go along with it. AMAZING is an understatement. I will not do takeout of this any longer. Also loved your Bang Bang chicken. Thank you!
Winner, winner very tasty will make again. I doubled the chicken recipe and tried your sweet and sour on the other batch. You know, us girls get bored. Both were great.
Does the chicken get soggy? Just wondering if it stays crispy. Can’t wait to try.
Not really – it should stay nice and crisp if served immediately. 🙂
Your Amazing, I use your recipes to feed my 3 kids and they dont like alot of food but they love all your foods. You Rock!
Just made this. It is DELICIOUS! This is a keeper. Love your site 🙂
Loved this recipe!! So easy to make and it was soooo good. Thanks for sharing 🙂
This was so so yummy!! My whole family loved it, even my 4 & 7 year olds gobbled it up. It’s a tad on the spicy side for the kiddos, but a drizzle of honey before serving tamed the spice on theirs. I also made 1 1/2 times the sauce because we like lots of sauce. Wonderful recipe!!!! It will definitely be a repeater! Thank you! I can’t wait to try some of your other Asian recipes.
Love this recipe! Had it out at a restaurant with my girlfriend but there’s a better satisfaction of making it at home and enjoying!
I made this tonight and it was amazing. The only changes I made was I used chicken thighs and doubled the sauce. I served it over white rice and the whole family loved it.
Our son found the recipe online. The Firecracker Chicken is simply delicious!! My husband even likes it, however I have to make him whole grain rice. I am making a double recipe this weekend. I follow the recipe listed. Making the chicken is a little labour intensive…So I made my chicken ahead of time. Now I just have to make the sauce and pop the pan in the oven. Thank you for such a lovely recipe.
I wondering if this is something I can make in my crock pot?
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional stovetop recipe to be used in a slow cooker without further recipe testing. However, here is an article worth checking out on a possible conversion guide: http://www.thekitchn.com/5-tips-for-converting-recipes-to-the-slow-cooker-189343.
Love this recipe! I’ve made it four times. When I don’t have a lot of time I skip the egg and cornstarch steps and just fry the chicken in a pan and then put it in the oven with the sauce. Still tastes great!
I make this about once a week using siracha sauce instead of buffalo sauce. Sooooo good. I actually can’t even imagine eating it with buffalo sauce. That seems weird to me. I also use the Skinny Taste’s chicken nugget recipe for the chicken and then top the chicken and some steamed broccoli with the sauce over white rice. It’s amazing. I have tried quite a few of your recipes and have yet to be disappointed!
I just had to write and let you know how AWESOME this dish is!! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!!!! I am learning to cook and my husband hasn’t loved anything I have made yet…(we’ve been married for a year and a half) but tonight he was so excited and had multiple servings! He told me to put this recipe on rotation. Yay! Thanks again!!!!!!
P.S. We won’t have to order takeout ever again-this is SO much tastier!!!
Hey! I love your recipes! I was wondering if I could use less sugar in this one to make it low carb friendly. I’m already using cauliflower rice instead. How could I balance out the flavors? Thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot advise how to change the recipe by using less sugar. Please use your best judgment.
Made this for Chinese New year for my hubby and I using only two chicken breasts. Prob for that reason it took the sauce a little lonģer to thicken up. I also only had franks hot sauce. Even with all that, this was absolutely gorgeous. The perfect balance of sweet and spicy. I aldo added in some soy sauce which I loved. This is definitely how I’m going to cook chinese chicken dishes from now on. I think this type of dish is also great for entertaining as you can do all the prep work in advance and have it in the oven as guests arrive!
We made this last night and OH. MY. GOD. it was delicious!!! I’m the worst cook ever and I could manage this dish. The family was so impressed! We did add extra red pepper for a little extra kick. So yummy! Thank you!
Made this tonight it was AMAZING!!! Little sweet little spicy kick. So SO Good!! Worth the time it took to make!! Even my husband said he loved the sauce and we should have it again. Maybe do this with wings for the Superbowl this weekend!! Love this website!! It’s finally got me cooking at home and not grabbing fast food
Hey boo,
What are the nutrition facts on this? Love your recipe index! Made several dishes from it
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can gooogle “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
I tried this recipe about two months ago and it is now a house favorite!! I make this once a week for myself and my husband and it is so unbelievably delicious! I am not a huge fan of spicy foods but you can hold off on the red pepper or add more if you love hotter foods. Thank you, Damn Delicious for a yummy dish!
I cooked this recipe on Friday night and it went down an absolute treat! We like our food pretty spicy so i added half Franks Buffalo sauce and half Franks Original Sauce – it was delicious! I honestly can’t rave about it enough. Thank you for introducing the recipe into my life!
Just tried the recipe, it was quick, easy and scrumptious! The best thing about firecracker chicken is that it was enjoyed by the whole family. Thanks for sharing this simple recipe.
I am doing two pounds do I need to double the ingredients
Yes – as the recipe calls for one pound, it would be best to double the recipe.
This was the first recipe of yours I’ve made and this turned out awesome! Looked just like the picture and taste just like take out but better. The texture of the chicken is amazing, hard to believe it isn’t deep fried! My boyfriend devoured it. He likes his food pretty spicy so in addition to the franks buffalo sauce I added a generous squirt of siriracha it was perfect. Thanks for the great recipe!
Okay, this was amazing. I made this tonight and my husband and I loved it. I got a little worried after the cornstarch,egg, then oil step because my chicken looked pretty “eggy”, but it turned out perfect.
I tried the recipe and made my own buffalo sauce (franks redhot pepper sauce and butter). Between the 15 minute intervals, the sauce separated. What would cause this?
Miles, it may be best just to use Franks Red Hot as the addition of butter may have caused the sauce to separate.
This recipe was amazing! I will admit I was skeptical of using the buffalo sauce at first but it worked out great. I used Budweiser hot n spicy wing sauce as the buffalo sauce btw.
My boyfriend had a long day at work and called saying he wanted a “good” dinner and he was hungry.
Let me start off by saying I had 0 plans for dinner tonight, but i guess the fuzziness of Xmas made me want to be a nice gf today. I ran across the street bought some boneless chicken and this recipe was such smoooooth sailing I was scared it wAs too smooth it would sacrifice the turnout. Needless to say, he LOVED it lol.
I ended up using flour rather than cornstarch because I had none, and it came out great. I did sift the flour thoroughly and make sure the chicken pieces were completely coated evenly.
Thank you for this recipe it will be forever recycled in my household!
I am making this for sure! Looks amazing. It looks a little on the dryer side though, and I like having my meat with little sauce but my boyfriend likes to drown his rice in sauce, almost as if it is soup. What can I do to make this a bit more saucy?
You can try doubling the sauce if you’d like!
This has become one of my family’s favorite dishes. It is SO VERY GOOD!! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!! 🙂
I just cooked this recipe and it was amazing ! I was scared it might be too spicy for me -since I was making this specifically for my father- but it turned out I liked it better than him. Might try with more buffalo sauce next time. Thanks !
Wow! This was such a yummy meal. I broiled the meat instead of baking it for 45 mins because the prep time took longer than I anticipated. It turned out great!
I made this last week. I forgot the buffalo sauce when I went shopping, so I used sriracha chili sauce instead. It was AMAZING! Making again tonight.
Made this the other night — crazy, crazy good. We are gluten-free and loved this dish, as well as many others you have posted. Thanks for all the great recipes –love your site!
Hi ! This sounds great I was just wondering, as a vegetarian. if the cornstarch-egg method would work on vegetables ? thanks!
I actually haven’t tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
This looks fabulous, and completely adaptable to my lo-sodium diet. Question is… do you think this could be made ahead of time and frozen? Maybe coat and fry, and then freeze in the sauce so all you have to do is thaw and bake?
Mandy, unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I will let you know! 🙂 Thanks for the quick response!
I’ve made this twice in the past week!! Family loves it. I added a little extra apple cider vinegar though the 2nd time to make a little more sauce.
Just made it, came upon by luck. My lucky day for sure. It was delicious, easy, and delicious again. Family loved it too. Thank you.
I made this tonight, I loved it! The sauce has perfect amount of heat. I used two chicken breasts and I doubled the amount of sauce. It is a bit time-consuming dipping the pieces and then frying them a few at a time, but it is worth it! I love your site, the design is beautiful, I will be trying more of your recipes for sure!
This is the most amazing and delicious chicken dish i make these days. It’s a staple in my house, and I have to triple the recipe so there are leftovers. The only thing I do different is I cook with boneless chicken thighs because they are the best and most flavorful (says Gordon Ramsey…and I agree with him totally). Thanks for this!!!! Love love LOVE it
I made this for dinner and my youngest son ate the whole pan practically by himself! This was after watching me make the sauce and saying he didn’t think he would be eating any. Chinese isn’t his favorite food. Well he loved this and so did everyone else. Thank you! Julie
This is amazing. While making it I told myself I wouldn’t do it again because it’s a bit putsy (And I don’t have a dishwasher) but I take it back. I would totally do it again. I love the “fake fried” aspect and the sweet/spicy. It’s so tasty! Thank you!
This recipe is a keeper!! I did tweak it slightly. I just chopped up chicken and placed it in a large ziplock bag with flour and shook to coat all the pieces. Then pan fried I’m a little oil until browned. I added a quarter cup apple cider vinegar and a water cup water to sauce. This gave me more of it and balanced out the flavors I think. The vinegar cooks out you don’t taste it. Then I baked at 375 for 30 minutes. Pieces browned up nicely this way. Oh and I used Frank’s red hot that’s what i had. Fantastic flavor! Just enough of a kick. Definately worth a try.
This was so easy to make and the flavor was awesome! My husband and I have had to move to a tiny town and the Chinese food in town is awful, so happy to be able to create some fabulous recipes right at home! Can’t wait to try another!
I’ve made this dish 2x now – and it’s absolutely delicious!! I did have a tough time finding Buffalo Sauce – but I found that Walmart carries it. Great stuff! Never cooked with Buffalo Sauce before — Great dish!! Great recipes! Keep em coming.
Made this recipe just as you instructed, no substitutions, and it was soo good!! My boyfriend loved it, definitely going in the recipe box! Thanks, thanks!!
Thank you for this great tasty recipe. My whole family loved it. Will be making it again.
Made this today and it was delicious! I ate so much that I’m miserable!
Yum! Spicy and sweet–what’s not to love? Teenage son absolutely loved this but hubby wanted more sauce when I served it on white rice. Will double the sauce next time and both should be pleased. Thanks for a great tasting recipe with easy instructions.
You’ve done it AGAIN! I can’t say enough how perfect the flavors are in this dish. I got a little nutty and used a mix of plain Greek yogurt and skim milk instead of the eggs before frying, and while it didn’t turn out as crispy as traditional take-out, the flavor did not suffer. Two thumbs up from our house!
This was so damn good!! My husband and I love it!!!
I made this tonight, and it is delicious. I used the Frank’s Red Hot Sweet & Fiery Wing Sauce mixed with Buffalo Sauce. There was no need for sugar so I left that out. Amazing. I’m a fan.
I LOVE spicy food, but my husbands “baby mouth” as I call it does not do too well with foods that are too spicy. He always requests all sauces to be on the side – how would you rate the spiciness of this dish? Thanks! 🙂
It’s not all that spicy. There’s actually a great balance with the sweetness to offset the heat.
Added cubed canned pineapple chunks before baking. Amazing! Thanks.
I am in Australia and we dont have Buffalo Sauce. What could I use as I am dying to try this. We have a Hot Chilli Sauce would that do. If not what.
Wajan, you can certainly try making homemade buffalo sauce as I do not recommend using a hot chili sauce as a substitute.
What about Franks Red Hot Sauce. I have found my local Woolworths stock this. Would I have to add anything else to it.
Frank’s Red should work just fine! No need to add anything else.
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I tried this recipe a few weeks back and it was ahhh-mazing!! I’m making it again tonight and doubling the sauce because it’s just soooooo good!
I’m having trouble frying the chicken. The eggs keeps slipping off when I throw it into the saucepan. Any tips on this?
Tyler, it is best to completely shake off all excess egg drippings before throwing it into the skillet.
Thank you for your help with the honey. I made this tonight and I am always skeptical when I read comments and everyone says their family loved it. I have picky eatters and guess what….my family loved it. I made my buffalo sauce by melting butter and mixing it with hot sauce. It was a no name brand hot sauce but looked like Franks. I just melted a half stick of butter and poured about 1/3 cup of sauce and then just tweaked it till it tasted good. I will definitely make a double batch of sauce next time because there was no sauce in my dish after baking and I think it would be good oozing onto the rice. Chopped green onions, which are shown in the picture were the perfect touch too. Thanks for sharing this great recipe. P.S. I did find the process to be long and messy, but it was worth it.
I made this last night and used Franks Red Hot Pepper Sauce as that’s all I could find in a store in the UK.
Absolutely amazing and I have enough left for a generous sized portion this evening and I can’t wait to tuck in to it again! YUM!
I love the idea of swapping out the sugar for honey, but can you be more clear as to how much honey I shuold use instead of the sugar. I am super bad in math so the ratio 1:4 means nothing to me.
Thanks!
Daria, the general ratio of honey to sugar is 1:4. Now the recipe calls for 3/4 cup sugar so by following this ratio, you will be using 1/4th (or 25%) of 3/4 cup for honey.
I made this last week and was so excited to try it that I popped a straight-from-the-oven chunk of chicken in my mouth and promptly burned the roof of my mouth. The blister was painful but it was so worth it. Absolutely delicious! This is definitely a keeper!!
ps. I went with the sugar, as stated in the recipe, but think I’ll try swapping it out with honey as you’ve indicated above.
My husband said the word “sensational” more than once during dinner tonight!!! This one is a keeper!!!
This was AMAZING. I think I’ll make it for dinner every night. Seriously.
I’m really excited to try this recipe! One question though.. can I swap out the sugar for some honey and, if so, what amount would you suggest?
Yes, you can certainly use honey in place of sugar. The general ratio of honey to sugar is 1:4.
Thank you, that’s great to know!
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confused on the third step. What am I stirring my cornstarch into? A bowl of seasoned chicken? Could I sub flour rather than cornstarch?
Amanda, as the recipe states, you are stirring the cornstarch into the bowl of chicken that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.
“In a large bowl, season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in cornstarch and gently toss to combine.”
It is best to use cornstarch to obtain the best results possible.
I’m not a good cook usually at all. I just cooked this and WOW!!! Sooo so good! It’s really simple and not many ingredients at all! I’ll definitely start making this more often! Thanks a lot!!
I like to think I’m good at handling spice, so I used extra wing sauce and doubled the amount of red pepper flakes because I thought I could handle it. Whoops.
But delicious nonetheless, I’m making this (exactly how the recipe reads) for my girlfriend as a “Congrats on Finishing Finals” meal on Friday. Thank you.
Hey Chung-Ah!
I frequent your blog and don’t often comment on blogs in general, but I just felt compelled to do so today 🙂 I have made many of your recipes and just tried firecracker chicken tonight and OH MY GOD it was unbelievably delicious!!! My sister and I gobbled up the entire batch we made (we halved the recipe). I just wanted to say that I have NEVER had a bad recipe from this website (and I have made quite a few) You are one of the most consistently innovative cooking bloggers I have found with recipes that are easy for the average cook to make and perfect! Keep up the awesome posts, you will always have a reader in me!
Wow! This recipe was incredible! Not only was it easy to make, with very few required ingredients, but the taste was so delicious as well! Perfect amount of spice — Will definitely make again! Thanks! 🙂
I love a recipe with just a few ingredients. My cupboards and frig are already too crowded.
I have tried a few of your recipes, they don’t disappoint, for this one, since we like really spiced I will ‘tweet’ it..
If you want to kick the spice up a notch, use Thai Garlic Chili Sauce. I would also add the juice of one fresh lime. Enjoy
Could this be made with Shrimp instead?
Yes, absolutely! But you will have to adjust cooking time as needed.
Would you say halve the cooking time for shrimp?
Unfortunately without further recipe testing, I cannot advise on cooking time. Please use your best judgment.
Has anyone made this using Sriracha instead of Frank’s Hot Sauce or Buffalo Sauce? Do you think it would be too hot?
I do not recommend substituting Sriracha for the buffalo sauce as it may be too spicy to consume. You can always add 1-2 tablespoons of Sriracha though for that extra touch of heat.
I wish that I had read your reply before I made this dish, but it looked so good and I couldn’t wait to try the recipe. I didn’t have buffalo sauce, so I used the Sriracha. WOW . . . it carried some heat!! If you are one of the people that love really, really hot food like my son, then use the Sriracha. Personally, I like a good dose of heat, but it was just too hot for my liking. It was absolutely delicious though. Next time I make it, I will use your suggestion of just adding 1-2 tablespoons of Sriracha to buffalo sauce. Thanks you for your reply!
DELISH! Perfect mix of spicy and sweet and wonderful over white rice. The baking of the chicken and sauce was perfect, thickened up the sauce nicely, 3 out of 3 recipes that I made
From this website have been 5 stars, thank you
I just tried this tonight. I will say it had some kick to it I loved it my boyfriend said it wasn’t his favorite……:-)
Man this looks amazing. I need to try it!
I ended up making a separate buffalo sauce recipe that I found online then adding it into this sauce! I just wanted to say that I made this for my family and they literally all loved it! Were practically licking their plates afterwards. I made it with some pretty generic egg fried rice and it went really nicely with this 🙂 !
Thanks for sharing, this recipe was fantastic. Couldn’t find buffalo sauce in Australia but did find frank’s red hot sauce at my local supermarket. Leftovers were even better the next day. Love your website
Hi Nellie
What supermarket did you find Franks’ Red sauce … I live over in WA …
Thanks
Made this dish last night and it was soooooooo yummy!! I’ll definately be making this again and again! 🙂 Your recipes and pictures are wonderful!
I couldn’t actually find a sauce at the Superstore that said “buffalo sauce”. Maybe it’s because I live in Canada, I don’t know. So just out of curiosity when you say buffalo sauce, do you mean making buffalo sauce and then adding that to this, or actually going out and buying it? I could literally find nothing!
I used Frank’s Red Hot – do you have access to that in your grocery store? If not, you can always purchase it from amazon.
Assuming you mean buffalo wing sauce by “buffalo sauce” , President’s Choice makes it and I buy it at the Superstore all the time.
We used franks buffalo wing sauce. You should find it in the condiment aisle. Look for any wing sauce. Or you can get cayenne pepper sauce and mix with 1/2 a stick of butter to make your own buffalo sauce.
Oh my gosh do I ever need to make this!
This sounds very good! Sweet and sour chicken is something my husband really loves. I bet he would love this. Pinned!
Oooooh heavens. A spicy-sweet pile of fried chicken over fluffy rice? That’s what dreams are made of! I can’t wait to give this a try, Chung-Ah. Looks so delicious!
This looks so good! I love the sweet and salty combo and never thought of combining buffalo sauce with sweet…wow! I have a feeling that my kiddos would love this. Thanks for sharing!
What an interesting flavor combo. I do think this would be a big hit in my house and your preparation couldn’t be simpler. Thanks, pinned!! : )
I would like to see a version of Seoul-style fire chicken (buldak). That might be impossible to replicate without a professional kitchen. My wife printed out a Korean-language version of the recipe, but the end result tasted nothing like real buldak.
What would be another substitute for the Buffalo sauce? I have a variety of canned tomatoes and a jar of Sambal Oelek in the house. Would a mixture of that plus a little butter work too?
There really is no good substitute for buffalo sauce – it’s one of the main and crucial ingredients in this dish.
I am a HUGE (the hugest, really) fan of buffalo sauce so I am certainly going to love this dish!
Can’t wait to try it. I’ve made your sweet and sour chicken half a dozen times already and it’s always perfect. Do you think this method would work for teriyaki chicken as well?
I’ve never tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! 🙂
I’m now craving a huge bowl of this chicken!
Thank you for all your great ideas! My question is could you use Panko crumbs rather then corn starch?
You can certainly use Panko but that would just be an extra step, doing the flour-eggs-panko steps. I recommend using cornstarch – it’s a lot easier and the texture of the cornstarch is ideal for this recipe.
This looks beautiful and delicious! I can’t wait to make this for my boyfriend. Thanks for sharing 🙂
My mouth is watering….cannot wait to get this on our dinner table!
I’ve been seeing this too and have been wanting to make it… yours looks amazing!
Chung-Ah,
Cooking neophyte, here. I notice that some of your Asian-inspired recipes call for chicken to be coated in cornstarch then dipped in egg (e.g. Firecracker Chicken), while others call for dipping in egg then coating in cornstarch (e.g. Chinese Orange Chicken). Does the different order yield a different result or are the steps interchangeable?
Also, do you think this recipe could be done as a marinade that is cooked and finished entirely in the wok (similar to the Chinese Orange Chicken process) or is the two-step cook + bake necessary for texture and flavor?
Thank you in advance for your consideration and for all your inspiring recipes!
After trying both egg-cornstarch methods, I’ve found that tossing in cornstarch and then dredging in eggs is a more preferred method for me. The steps are interchangeable with such minor differences so I recommend using the method that works for you.
You can certainly cook this as a marinade and in a wok to save time but I highly recommend using the two step method for this recipe to obtain optimal texture and flavors.
Just finished making this. The entire family — ages 9 – 45 — loved it. When I first read the recipe, I really wasn’t too keen on the baking time but it allowed me time to clean up everything except the baking sheet before dinner was served; a big plus because nobody was going to want to clean the kitchen after eating this delicious meal.
I LOVE buffalo sauce – this looks amazing! Trying it tonight 🙂
I’ve never bought buffalo sauce but found a recipe for it. Very easy and so good! The firecracker chicken was a success! I have to confess that I went for seconds with rice and sauteed veggies. Thank you for a fan delicious dinner!
My machine converted D a m n for fan..no problem! Because I’m a huge fan of Chung. She’s got to get a cooking show of her own on cable or tv.
Haha thanks Cynthia! She really should!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it so much!
Would this work with just Frank’s Red hot? NO buffalo sauce in the house but a huge bottle of Red Hot!
FWIW, I believe the ‘”original” Buffalo sauce was nothing more than Frank’s Redhot mixed with a half stick of melted butter.
Yes, Frank’s red hot will work just fine!
I ONLY use Franks red hot THICK sauce in this recipe! You cannot beat the taste!
This looks amazing! Thank you so much for a healthier version of this. I have had firecracker chicken for lunch over a baked potato once before, and it was definitely a hit 😀 x
I have been seeing this all over Pinterest too and have been meaning to try it…but forgot about it for awhile. Thanks for the reminder….and for making me not want to go to the gym now, and just face plant into this instead! Pinned!
Sweet and spicy is the best! I love the name of this…firecracker! Sounds like it packs a serious punch!
I love eating these kind of fried spicy chicken dishes! I have been wanting to try it for so looong now! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I have made this dish, twice with boneless breasts. Delish. Not a chunk
of chicken left!
But the third time, for my daughter’s 36 bday, I made a ten pounds
But I used boness thighs, like I did tonight for my sister’s Superbowl Party.
The thighs gave it an extra super kick of flavor that you don’t get with
Boneless Breasts. For real, for real!
Four times, I have made this dish and everyone loves it!
Fantastic dish, easy and quick. I serve it over jasmine rice.
Marvelous!
BTW: Always make extra sauce. LOL