Honey Sriracha Chicken

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: 

1. 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)
2. 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)
3. 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)
4. Pour the sauce over the chicken and stir it all around to coat every piece. (photos 5-6)
5. 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.