Sweet and spicy Chinese Honey Sriracha Chicken – better tasting and healthier than take out!
Why order out when you can make these delicious recipes at home? Try Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken, The Best Fried Rice, Sticky Chinese Lemon Chicken, and Kung Pao Noodles.
Why This Recipe Works
Better than takeout — This honey sriracha chicken is hands-down one of the best meals I’ve ever made that I consider better than what you can get at a restaurant. There’s no heavy oil, no extra fat, no preservatives, no nothing extra. Just chicken, sauce, and spice. Make it next time you want Asian-style take out and see if you agree with me!
Perfect amount of spice — I have to have my spicy food cravings satisfied just about daily. This recipe for Chinese spicy chicken is a little sweet, a little spicy, and a whole lot better-than-takeout homemade Asian-style yum. The best part? You can customize the flavors to meet your personal preference. If you love it spicy (like me) then go heavy on the sriracha and/or add crushed red pepper flakes on top. If you tend to favor the sweet side of things, don’t hold back on the honey. Ta da! Honey sriracha chicken just how you like it.
Great meal for busy days — This dish only takes 30 minutes to make, from start to finish. It doesn’t get much quicker than that!
Simple ingredients — Nothing fancy to buy here. Every item in this honey sriracha chicken recipe can be found at any regular grocery store, and most of it in the Asian/international aisle.
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts — Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are perfect for this dish. Cut them into 1-2 inch chunks.
- Corn starch — Corn starch in this recipe is used as both a coating for the chicken and later, with water, to make a slurry for the sauce.
- Sriracha — I start with 2-3 tablespoons of sriracha as a baseline and add more from there. But I LOVE spicy. Adjust to your liking.
- Soy sauce — I use low-sodium soy sauce because I think the regular soy sauce can be too salty. But you can use whatever you have.
- Minced garlic — The minced garlic in a jar? Yes, please. Mince fresh? Also fine. Or if you like your garlic to be super finely minced, you can use the frozen cubes.
- Sugar — Regular old white sugar is great here.
- Honey — Add a couple tablespoons of regular honey to get that sweet to offset the heat.
- Crushed red pepper flakes — If you want more spicy, add a few crushed red pepper flakes over the top of the honey sriracha chicken. This ingredient is optional.
- Cooked rice for serving — Another optional ingredient, but I almost always serve this chicken with honey sriracha sauce over cooked rice.
Here’s How You Make It
You’ll be able to whip this Chinese spicy chicken up in just 30 minutes by following these simple instructions:
- First, get out a small or medium saucepan, and combine 1 cup of water, the sriracha, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and honey and stir it all together. Then, bring the sauce mixture to a boil over medium heat. (not pictured)
- While the honey sriracha sauce is cooking, whisk together 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and the remaining 2 tablespoons of water together until the corn starch is dissolved. Add the slurry to the sauce pan and stir it all together until the sauce begins to thicken. Reduce the heat to low. (photo 1)
- Next, add the diced chicken and 1/3 cup of cornstarch to a large plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake it all around to give the chicken a good coating. Drizzle a large pan or skillet with oil over medium heat. Add the coated chicken to the oil and sauté it until it’s browned and the chicken is cooked through. (photos 2-4)
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and stir it all around to coat every piece. (photos 5-6)
- Sprinkle with crushed pepper flakes if desired and serve over warm rice.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Control the spice level by adding more or less crushed red pepper flakes (and/or more or less sriracha).
- This honey sriracha chicken will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days in a container with a lid. You can freeze this dish for up to 3 months, in an airtight container.
- I know there is sometimes a sriracha shortage. Purchase whatever brand you can find and stock up. In a pinch, you can substitute Sambal Oelek or Gochujang.
Sriracha is one of the “spicier” hot sauces I’ve encountered, but it’s still only considered moderately spicy by most standards. Common in Asian cuisine, sriracha is made with red jalapeno peppers. According to the Scoville scale, sriracha sits at a scale of 2,200, while Tabasco sauce comes in at 3,750.
Serving Suggestions
Wondering what to serve with this honey sriracha chicken dish? I serve this over rice typically, but you can also serve this with:
- An Asian noodle like soba, rice, vermicelli, or ramen.
- Zucchini noodles or cauliflower broccoli for a low-carb meal.
- Glazed baby carrots make an interesting flavor combination when eaten with this Chinese spicy chicken.
- Roasted broccoli is, hands-down, my favorite side dish to serve with this chicken. Pro-tip? Double the honey sriracha sauce so you have enough to pour over the chicken and the broccoli.
- Roasted potatoes are another great side dish. Skip the rice and try it next to potatoes instead.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Sticky Sesame Chicken
- Baked Honey Sriracha Lime Salmon
- Honey Lime Garlic Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
Did you try this recipe? Fantatic! Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo of your CDLC creation – I love seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Honey Sriracha Chicken
Ingredients
- 3-4 chicken breasts - diced
- ⅓ cup corn starch
Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 2-3 tablespoons sriracha - (depending on how spicy you want it)
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons honey - (depending on how sweet you want it)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- optional: crushed red pepper flakes, cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- In a small-medium sauce pan, combine the 1 cup of water, sriracha, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and honey and stir. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat.
- Whisk together the 2 tablespoons corn starch and remaining 2 tablespoons of water until dissolved. Add to sauce pan and stir until thickened. Reduce heat to low.
- Add the sauce and stir to coat. Sprinkle with crushed pepper flakes if desired and serve over warm rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Is this about 1.5 lb of chicken?
About yes 🙂 the average chicken breast weighs about 6 oz.
Best chicken I’ve made. Hands down. I’m a college student and this recipe has gotten me many compliments from friends. They think I’m a chef!
Haha that’s great! So glad it turned out well! 🙂
My husband’s favorite
AMAZING. used the low recommendation of sriracha and honey. light brown sugar, halved the soy and added a little salt. Doubled the cornstarch/water mix. (actually doubled the whole recipe for fam of 8) served with store bought tempura battered chicken nugs *not preferred but needed a shortcut-they were delicious*, fried rice and brocolli. Hubs and oldest son asked if it was store bought and didn’t believe me when I said no. I have printed this twice and double filed it in my recipe book HA!!
This recipe is so good for something so easy. I substituted breast with leg quarters. I used a little less sugar, coated the chicken with black pepper before frying, toasted the red chili flakes with sesame seeds before garnishing the final dish. Do not hesitate to try this out.