This one-pan sweet & spicy chicken is mind-blowingly good. The chicken meat is juicy, tender, and coated in the most surprisingly simple and addictively delicious sauce.
This recipe is super easy and a perfect one-pan dinner idea if you're busy but still want to put something delicious together for your family. These sweet and spicy chickens only use easy and budget-friendly ingredients. In fact, all of them probably are available in your pantry already.
If you want more inspiration, you can check out some of my other quick, one-pan recipe ideas: skillet marry me chicken and easy peasy beef nachos.
One-pan sweet & spicy chicken
Sweet, savory, and spicy are all the flavors included in this recipe. It is not only delicious, but it's also perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. Simple and so easy to make, you MUST NOT pass this recipe.
The sauce comprises budget-friendly ingredients: tamari (less sodium), chili sauce, honey, and water. This may be your new family favorite because the sauce can catch the attention of the pickiest family member.
Why you'll love this one-pan chicken recipe
- Sweet & spicy: a surprisingly simple and utterly delicious sauce that has a mix of heat and sweet flavor.
- Juicy: the chicken is marinated simply with salt & pepper but yields the moistest and tender texture.
- Quick: it takes roughly 1 hour and 5 minutes to finish this sweet & spicy chicken.
How to make this chicken recipe
- Marinade chicken using salt, pepper, sesame oil, minced garlic, and minced ginger for at least 15 minutes.
- Pan fry chicken in a skillet until they turn light golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side.
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a cup, and mix well. Do the same for the slurry.
- Add the sauce to the chicken and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by half.
- Turn the chicken to coat them thoroughly with the sauce.
- Add the slurry to the pan (this step can be optional if the sauce is thick enough for you).
- Serve the sweet & spicy chicken immediately with hot bowls of steamed rice.
FAQs
First, this tamari can easily find in any Asian market or on Amazon. However, if you have difficulty finding this ingredient, you can always substitute it with less sodium soy sauce.
Tamari is usually darker and thicker than soy sauce. Furthermore, tamari is brewed without a trace of wheat, while soy sauce typically contains wheat. And one is a Chinese ingredient while the other one (tamari) is Japanese ingredient.
You can reheat this chicken over medium heat. If the sauce is thickened, add ¼ cup of water to the pan, then carefully stir to coat everything thoroughly with the sauce.
This one-pan chicken recipe will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days in an airtight container. Just reheat it following instructions above.
Are you looking for more easy chicken dinner recipes?
Check these recipes out; they're also good to serve with a hot bowl of steamed rice:
- Easy and crispy Chinese sesame chicken
- General Tso's chicken
- Soy sauce chicken thighs
- Pan-fried parmesan crusted chicken
- Sriracha char-siu chicken
- Hong Kong style soya sauce chicken
Did you make this recipe? If so please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comment section. Also, don't forget to tag me #cookmorphosis @cookmorphosis on social media.
One-Pan Sweet & Spicy Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken drumettes or chicken wings
- ¼ c vegetable oil for frying
Marinade mixture
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger minced
Sweet & spicy sauce
- ¼ c tamari less sodium
- ⅔ c water
- 2 tbsp chili sauce
- 3 tbsp honey
Slurry
- 2 tsp potato starch or corn starch
- ¼ c water
Garnish
- 1 tbsp green onion chopped
- 1 tbsp cilantro chopped
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, put chicken drumettes and marinade mixture together. Mix until everything is well incorporated. Let the chicken marinate for at least 15 minutes.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together all sauce ingredients to combine. Set aside for later use.
- In a small bowl, mix slurry ingredients together.
- Add vegetable oil to a large skillet, heat over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add chicken and fry until they become light golden, approximately 4 minutes on each side.
- Once the chicken is done cooking, use a spoon to take out & discard any excess oil in the pan. Then slowly add the sweet & spicy sauce to the pan.
- Then lower the heat to medium and let the whole pan simmer for 15-20 minutes, or the sauce reduces by half. Turn each chicken piece to coat them thoroughly with sauce.
- Carefully stir the slurry into the pan. When the sauce becomes thickening, turn off the heat.
- Remove the pan from the stove, and garnish with chopped green onion and cilantro.
- Serve immediately with hot bowls of steamed rice.
Notes
- The slurry can be optional if the sauce is already thick enough for you after reduction.
- Besides drumettes, wings or thighs can also be used in this recipe. If you decide to use substitution, beware of cooking time. Chicken wings might take the same time to finish, but chicken thighs might take longer to cook.
Nutrition
Followed the recipe and the result was fantastic ! Indeed it is quite addictive 😉
Hi Lara,
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe. So glad that you love it. Have a wonderful holiday time ahead.