Chinese Chicken Recipe (2024)

This Chinese Chicken Recipe is quick-fried tender diced chicken glazed in a sweet and garlicky brown sugar soy sauce! So impressive but easy enough for any weeknight meal.

Today’s recipe has become my go-to “Asian” night meal. It is so easy and extremely delicious, I guarantee your family will be asking for seconds!

It is so good I have been making it at least once a week. I randomly came up with the sauce, I knew Jeremy loved brown sugar, so I thought making a sweet sticky sauce would make him fall in love with me all over again. *wink wink*

The best part is this Chinese Chicken Recipe is so easy too, you can serve it with steamed rice and veggies.

The garlicky brown sugar glaze would also be amazing on grilled pork or salmon!

If you are looking for a recipe that will wow your guests and have them begging for more, you have to try my Chinese Chicken Recipe.

Some of my other favorite recipes with brown sugar that we have on our site include: Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Chicken, Brown Sugar Bacon Little Smokies, and Banana Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

• Easy pantry ingredients make this an approachable meal.
• Double the recipe to feed a crowd
• Even the pickiest eaters go nuts over this recipe.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):

• Chicken breasts
• Cornstarch
• All-purpose flour
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Black pepper
• Vegetable oil for cooking
• Scallions
• Sesame seeds
• Garlic
• Soy sauce
• Light brown sugar
• Rice wine vinegar

HOW TO MAKE CHINESE CHICKEN RECIPE:

1. Cut the chicken into 1-inch bite-sized pieces. Place the chicken in a bowl and add the cornstarch, flour, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Toss until all the chicken pieces are coated.
2. In a skillet with deep sides, add enough oil to go about ½ inch up the side. Heat over medium heat until hot. Place about half of the chicken into the oil, in a single layer, and make sure no pieces are touching. Allow the chicken pieces to get brown on all sides, turning as needed. This takes about 5-7 minutes. When chicken is cooked through to 165°F, place them on a paper-towel-lined plate. Cook the remaining chicken and set aside.
3. You can make the glaze while cooking the chicken. Place the vegetable oil into a small saucepot over medium heat. Add in garlic until fragrant, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds.
4. Whisk in the soy sauce, followed by the brown sugar, vinegar, and pepper. Continue to whisk until the brown sugar is well combined, and bring to a simmer.
5. Simmer the sauce until thickened to a syrup consistency, this will take about 10 minutes but keep an eye on it, so it doesn’t burn, stirring every minute or so. When simmering, it WILL bubble up from the sugar, do not be alarmed. If it looks like it will overflow, you can take it off the heat until it dies down, then put it back on.
6. In the same skillet you cooked the chicken, wipe out any excess oil that is left over. Place the chicken back in the pan over medium heat and pour the glaze over it. Toss chicken with the glaze until everything is coated. Serve over steamed rice or with your favorite sides, garnish with optional sliced green onions and sesame seeds.

DO I HAVE TO USE CHICKEN BREASTS?

No, you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins.

Just cut them into bite-sized pieces and proceed with the recipe as written.

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THE SAUCE IS READY?

The sauce is ready when it reaches a syrup/caramel consistency. The sauce will coat the back of a spoon.

If you take the sauce off the heat, it will actually thicken too much as it cools, so you need to keep it warm until you pour it over the chicken.

DO I HAVE TO FRY THE CHICKEN?

No! If you don’t want to coat the chicken and quickly fry it you can prepare it another way.

If you are not frying the chicken, do not add the cornstarch and flour. Still season the chicken with the garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. After that, you can simply sear it in the pan in a little oil or grill the chicken, then toss it in the sauce to serve.

HOW TO STORE:

Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze any leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

To reheat, you can microwave it until warmed through or place it back in a skillet with a splash of water or chicken stock until warm.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

• Use chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins in place of chicken breast.
• This can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
• You can cook the chicken in different ways, see some of my ideas above.
• This can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.
• The sauce is ready when it is a caramel consistency and coats the back of a spoon.

Looking for a delicious, quick, and easy Asian recipe that the whole family will love? Then you’ll absolutely adore this Chinese Chicken Recipe.

If you like this recipe you might also like:

• • The Best Sweet and Sour Chicken
  • Baked Cream Cheese Wonton Cups
  • Asian Marinated Grilled Shrimp Skewers

If you’ve tried this CHINESE CHICKEN RECIPE let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!