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Home » Recipes » Chicken

Crispy Honey Chilli Chicken

Published: Sep 15, 2021 · by Khin · This post may contain affiliate links.

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The best Honey Chilli Chicken recipe, made with fried chicken strips tossed with delicious spicy-sweet, honey chilli sauce. You can create Chinese takeaway-style crispy honey chilli chicken at home with simple ingredients!

A white plate containing, spicy red fried chicken strips with chopped green onions and chillies.

Honey chilli chicken is very popular in the UK, US, Chinese restaurants and takeaways. In this recipe, I'll be sharing our version of crispy fried chicken with honey chilli sauce from scratch.

Creating takeout dishes from scratch can be quite challenging when you recreate them at home. But this recipe does not need any special ingredients, equipment, or cooking skills. It is so much tastier and easier than you have imagined. Every home cook can make it happen without much hassle!

If you love Chinese restaurants dishes, you will definitely enjoy our viewers' favourite Crispy Chilli Beef and Crispy Salt and Chilli Chicken recipes.

Jump to:
  • What do we need
  • How to make honey chilli chicken from scratch
  • Cooking tips
  • FAQ
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Reviews

What do we need

Labelled ingredients of chicken marinade and stir fry vegetables, displayed on the white table.
  • Chicken - We usually use chicken breast for this recipe. Cut the chicken into same size thin strips. You can swap with chicken thigh, beef, pork, or prawns.
  • Chicken Marinade - Simply season the chicken pieces with soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, sugar and garlic paste.
  • Coating - Break one egg white in the chicken to create a layer to keep the chicken moist and tender. Coat the chicken strips with corn starch or potato starch for extra crunch.
  • Garnish - Simply garish with fresh chilli slices, chopped spring onions or coriander. If you like sesame flavour, sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds.
Labelled chilli sauce ingredients, displayed on the white table.
  • Chilli sauce - I add Sriracha chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, lime juice, honey and dried chilli flakes. As this chilli sauce mixture is very versatile, you can reduce the chilli sauce and chilli flakes amount according to your taste.
  • Sriracha - Thai hot chilli sauce Sriracha is ideal for this recipe. If you cannot get it easily, you can use any of your favourite hot chilli sauce or Thai sweet chilli sauce as an substitute.
  • Tomato ketchup - Add tomato ketchup for the sweet and tangy flavour.
  • Honey - To blance the hot chilli flavour add honey or brown sugar.

How to make honey chilli chicken from scratch

Two image collage showing preparation chicken marinade and honey chilli sauce.
  • First, combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside. Slice the chicken breast into same size thin strips. Marinade with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic paste, sugar and white pepper for at least 10 to 15 minutes.
Six image collage showing, how to coat chicken strips and double fry.
  • Next, add one egg white into the chicken and mix it well. Then add the corn starch and coat each chicken pieces until separate. Add more corn starch if needed.
  • Heat the oil into high heat about 350 F, fry the coated chicken strips for 1-2 minutes until light brown. Then remove from oil and set it aside on the cooling rack for 4-5 minutes.
  • Then double fry it again until crispy golden.
Four image collage showing cooking process of fried chicken strips tossed with chilli sauce.
  • Heat the large wok/pan into medium-low heat, drizzle oil and saute the chopped garlic for few seconds.
  • Pour the chilli sauce mixture in and stir for few seconds to heat up the sauce.
  • Place the fried chicken strips in the wok and toss well to combine everything evenly with the sauce.
  • Turn off the heat and sprinkle chilli slices and chopped spring onions.
A pair of wooden chopstick holding fried chilli chicken strip. A plate of fried chicken strips with red sauce at the background.

Cooking tips

  • It's important to fry with high-heat to prevent the chicken strips from getting greasy and soggy. You can check the oil temperature with food thermometer. If you don't have it in hand, use wooden spatula or chopstick to test. Dip the wooden chopstick/spatula in the hot oil, when the oil steadily bubbling it's ready to fry.
  • Do not overcooked the chicken strips. Overcooked chicken strips can be tough and chewy.
  • Use vegetable oil or neutral flavour oils for deep frying because they do not overpower the dish flavour.
  • To prep-ahead, fry the chicken strips 2-3 minutes, then you can store in fridge or freeze with air tight bags. Make the sauce and keep it in and air-tight jar once it cool down. Deep fry the chicken strips 2nd time just right before serving and heat the sauce until hot, then toss well to combine together.

FAQ

Can I use plain flour for coating chicken?

You can use plain flour but the coating will be less in crunchiness. Recommend to use potato starch or corn starch for extra crispy coating texture.

Is this dish very spicy?

It's a medium-hot dish but you can adjust the spiciness by adding more or less hot chilli sauce and chilli flakes.

How many calories per serving?

This dish is 317 kcal per serving as an appetizer without rice. Nutritional information is calculated approximately and can be varied by a number of factors.

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📖 Recipe

A white plate containing, spicy fried chicken strips, topped with spring onion and sliced chillies.

Crispy Honey Chilli Chicken

Chinese takeaway style Honey Chilli Chicken recipe made with coated crispy fried chicken tossed with spicy, sweet, honey sauce. Perfect as an appetizer and made with simple cupboard-friendly ingredients.
4.97 from 54 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Chicken Marinate Time: 10 minutes minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 317kcal
Author: Khin

Ingredients

  • 350 g Chicken breast ( about 12oz ) cut into thin strips about
  • 1 Egg white
  • 1 cup Corn starch
  • 1 tbsp Garlic finely chopped
  • 2 tsp Oil
  • Oil for frying Vegetable or neutral flavour oil

Chicken Marinade

  • 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Garlic paste or finely grated garlic
  • 1 tsp Sesame oil
  • 2 tsp Sugar
  • ½ tsp White pepper or black pepper

Chilli Sauce Mixture

  • 3 tbsp Sriracha sauce Or hot chilli sauce ( see details in note )
  • 2 tbsp Tomato ketchup
  • 2 tbsp Honey Or sugar
  • 1 tbsp Lime
  • ¼ tsp Chilli flakes optional

Garnish

  • 1 Red chili pepper cut thin slices
  • 2 Spring onions cut thin slices

Instructions

  • First, cut the chicken breast into thin strips. Place the chicken strips in a bowl, marinade with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic paste, sugar, and pepper for 10-15 minutes. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
  • Next, add egg white into the chicken and mix it well. Then add the corn starch and coat each chicken piece. ( Add more corn starch if needed. ) Toss the excess flour out before frying.
  • Deep fry the coated chicken pieces with pre-heated high-heat oil, 350° F for 1-2 minutes until light brown. Remove from oil and set it aside for 4-5 minutes. Then place the fried chicken back in hot oil and fry it again for another 2-3 minutes or until crispy golden. Remove from oil and place it over the wire rack.
  • Heat the wok/pan into medium-low heat, drizzle 2 tsp of oil and saute the chopped garlic for few seconds. Then pour the sauce mixture in and stir for few seconds, place the fried chicken strips back in the wok.
  • Combine the sauce and chicken pieces well. Turn off the heat and sprinkle fresh chilli slices and spring onions.
  • Transfer to serving plate and serve immediately.
  • You can serve on its own or pair it with plain rice, egg fried rice or stir fry noodles.

Notes

  • Sriracha - is a Thai hot chilli sauce made from chilli peppers, garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt. You can swap it with Maggi hot chilli sauce, or any of your favourite chilli sauce brands.  
  • Adjust the spiciness - reduce the hot chilli sauce amount or swap it with mild chilli sauce. You can omit dried chilli flakes and fresh chilli according to your preference. 
  • Coat each chicken strips well - if the chicken strips are sticking to each other, you need to add more corn starch until each chicken strips separate. Or you can dip each chicken strips in the corn starch, one by one. 
  • Fry with high heat - it's important to fry with pre-heated high heat oil. The temperature should be around 350° F to prevent the chicken from soggy and greasy. 
  • Double fry the chicken - Double frying create the chicken extra crispy coating texture while the inner meat is still moist and juicy.
  • Baking Option - Deep frying tastes best, however, if you wish to bake or air fry, spray a generous amount of cooking oil over the chicken strips. Place them over the wire rack, bake with 400F ( 200 C ) preheated oven/air-fryer for 15-20 minutes or until crispy golden. Flip halfway through. 
  • More Sauce - This recipe doesn't come with loads of sauce. The sauce mixture is just to coat the chicken strips. If you prefer extra sauce, you can double the sauce ingredients. 

Nutrition

Calories: 317kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 699mg | Potassium: 460mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 286IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @KhinsKitchen or tag #KhinsKitchen!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gillian says

    January 29, 2025 at 3:41 pm

    5 stars
    This is amazing. I would never buy it from the takeaway again. The whole family love it.

    Reply
  2. Becky says

    July 23, 2024 at 9:20 am

    5 stars
    I've made this twice this week and omg it's amazing, definitely a regular one now and had at least 5 people ask for the recipe!! I made a huge batch with 1kg of chicken so just x3'd the ingredients and came out banging 😀

    Reply
    • Khin says

      July 23, 2024 at 2:33 pm

      Glad you tried it out and enjoyed it, Becky. I love making big batches for gathering parties too.

      Reply
  3. Nan says

    May 13, 2024 at 10:52 pm

    3 stars
    This recipe is inconsistent! How much cornstarch? No amount is specified!

    Reply
    • Khin says

      May 14, 2024 at 8:30 am

      Hi Nan, you'll need about 1 cup of cornstarch. It's written in detail in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog post. Hope this helps.

      Reply
  4. Carrie says

    March 14, 2024 at 5:35 pm

    absolutely banging, loved by everyone I've made it for

    Reply
    • Khin says

      March 23, 2024 at 9:35 pm

      Wonderful! Happy hearing it, Carrie. Thanks for lovely feedback.

      Reply
  5. Ewan says

    January 27, 2024 at 12:32 pm

    5 stars
    just all round delicious

    Reply
    • Khin says

      January 30, 2024 at 3:27 pm

      Glad that you enjoyed it, Ewan.

      Reply
  6. Iona says

    January 09, 2024 at 7:16 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing recipe, best thing to do is get everything prepped beforehand so it just needs to be put together

    Reply
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4.97 from 54 votes (41 ratings without comment)

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Hi, I'm Khin! This blog is all about my family home cooking recipes. I want to share how to make delicious meals from simplest method with step-by-step cooking videos.

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