Bang Bang Chicken
This Bang Bang Chicken recipe features homemade crispy chicken nuggets covered in a creamy sweet chili sauce. Enjoy this delicious recipe for an appetizer or add it to your favorite rice or pasta dish.
This is by far one of my favorite chicken recipes to make. Crispy chicken is doused in a Bonefish Grill copycat bang bang sauce; it’s saucy and packed full of flavor! This one’s perfect for your game day recipes lineup, a work party spread, or even a quick and easy dinner.
If you’re looking for more chicken recipes, try out these Oven Baked Chicken Tenders, Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, or this Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken next.
Why you’ll love it
- Quick and easy: After brining the chicken, this recipe is ready in 30 minutes!.
- Packed with flavor: Thanks to a homemade sauce, this chicken is tangy, zesty, and a little bit spicy!
- Versatile: Enjoy the chicken on its own, use it as a filling for wraps, add it to a rice bowl, or use it as a unique pizza topping.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Chicken Ingredients
- Buttermilk – when brining chicken in buttermilk, the acidity helps tenderize the meat and adds flavor.
- Egg – the egg acts as a binder and helps the flour adhere to the chicken.
- Hot sauce – you might not have used hot sauce in your brine before, but it infuses the chicken with so much flavor! I like Frank’s Red Hot, but you can also use sriracha sauce.
- Cornstarch – adding cornstarch to the brine can help tenderize the meat by breaking down proteins and enhance the crispiness of the coating when frying or baking, resulting in a more delicate texture.
- All purpose flour – adding flour to a brine can help thicken the liquid, creating a more substantial coating when frying or baking the chicken.
- Seasonings – you will need black pepper, kosher salt, smoked paprika and garlic powder to flavor the brine.
- Vegetable oil – this is what you will fry your chicken in, you can also use olive oil if you like.
- Chicken breast – I like to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts for my homemade chicken nuggets, but you can use chicken thighs too if you prefer!
- Panko bread crumbs – I like to use panko for frying chicken instead of traditional breadcrumbs because it creates a lighter and crispier coating.
Bang Bang Sauce Ingredients
- Mayonnaise – mayo is added to this sauce as a base because it has a mild flavor. It will create the perfect creamy consistency.
- Honey – the sweetness of honey helps cut the spice from the chili sauce and chili paste.
- Sweet chili sauce – it’s tangy, sour, and spicy. It gets its spice from red chili peppers and adds the signature reddish-orange color of the sauce.
- Red chili paste – Red chili paste helps spice up the sauce. Mixed with honey, it creates a perfectly balanced sweet and spicy flavor.
- Kosher salt – I like to add a little bit of salt to this sauce. I prefer kosher salt that isn’t too coarse. We don’t want any large pieces of salt in the sauce.
- Black pepper – brings an earthy, pungent flavor to the sauce. I like to use fresh cracked pepper.
*For a detailed list of instructions, ingredients and measurements, please reference the recipe card down below.
How to Make Bang Bang Chicken
Step 1: Brine the chicken. Add the chicken cubes to the buttermilk mixture, tossing to fully coat, and brine for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Bread the chicken. Add panko to a shallow plate and dip chicken cubes into the breadcrumbs. Press to coat each piece of chicken evenly and shake off any excess.
Step 3: Fry the chicken. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Add the chicken in an even layer and cook for 5 minutes, turning every 1-2 minutes.
Step 4: Serve. Transfer the cooked chicken onto a serving platter and drizzle with bang bang sauce, then garnish with fresh parsley on top.
More Easy Chicken Recipes
- Air Fryer Chicken Katsu
- One Pot Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Parmesan Burgers
- Chicken Fajita Nachos
- Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders
- Air Fryer Asian Wings
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Bang Bang Chicken
Ingredients
Bang Bang Sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsps honey
- 2 tbsps sweet chili sauce
- 1 tsp red chili paste, (Gochujang)
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
For the chicken
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ¼ all-purpose flour
- ½ tbsp smoked paprika
- ½ tbsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch cubes
- 2 cups panko
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- To make the sauce, combine the mayonnaise, honey, sweet chili sauce, red chili paste, salt, and ground black pepper in a bowl. Cover it and chill in the refrigerator until it’s time to serve.
- In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, hot sauce, cornstarch, all-purpose flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Add the chicken cubes to the buttermilk mixture, tossing to fully coat, and brine for 30 minutes.
- Add the panko to a shallow plate and dip the chicken cubes into the breadcrumbs. Press to coat all the chicken pieces evenly and shake off any excess panko. Work in batches, don’t add all the chicken cubes at once.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a cast iron frying pan on medium-high heat. Once sizzling, add the chicken in an even layer and cook for about 5, turning every 1-2 minutes, or until it is evenly golden brown and the internal temperature has reached 165℉.
- Transfer the cooked chicken onto a serving platter and drizzle with bang bang sauce, then garnish with fresh parsley on top.
Notes
- Make the sauce ahead of time. You can prepare the sauce before you make your chicken and keep it in the fridge for up to three days. I recommend reheating it on the stove before drizzling it onto the chicken.
- The chicken can be brined for up to 4 hours if you want to prepare it ahead of time. Make sure you at least plan for 30 minutes of brining to keep your chicken nice and juicy.
- When breading the chicken, try to keep one hand “wet” and one hand “dry,” meaning use one hand to put the buttermilk-covered chicken into the breadcrumbs and then use your other to take it out.
Nutrition
Recipe FAQs
Bang Bang Chicken originated in the streets of the Hanyang district in China. Street vendors served cold chicken drizzled with bang bang sauce on the top. At this time, it was mainly served as a snack but has transitioned into a delicious dinner. Bang Bang Chicken got its name from the way they loosened the chicken fibers, which was hitting it with a hammer or cleaver.
You could easily use this recipe to make chicken tacos with some taco slaw, make a chicken rice bowl with ginger rice, or a chicken sandwich complete with homemade pickled onions!
To store leftover chicken and bang bang sauce, be sure that it cools down first, then place them in separate airtight containers. I don’t recommend putting them together because they will get soggy. You can keep leftovers in the fridge for three to four days. Or keep them in the freezer for about three months.
You can reheat your leftovers on the stovetop or in an air fryer. I don’t recommend reheating them in the microwave because this will affect the texture and quality of the chicken. To reheat in the oven, cook at 350 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes. In the air fryer, preheat it to 350 degrees F and heat the chicken for 4-6 minutes.
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