Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry

I think stir fry meals are the easies and best way to have your protein and veggies in one skillet. The choices for amazing sauces to use is endless. Spicy Chicken stir fry, gets its kick from red pepper flakes. Hot and Spicy Chicken lives up to its name, using dried red chili peppers. My Orange Chicken has a sweet sauce that originally used sugar free ingredients. You can easily substitute regular orange jam and granulated sugar in the recipe.

I love making homemade sauces for stir fries because I can customize it to our preferences. If I want it spicier, sweeter, tangier, it's easy to tweak and I always know exactly what is in it. And I'm picky, so there's that too. My homemade sweet chili sauce has the perfect blend of spicy, savory and a touch of sweetness.

Ingredients

Ingredient Substitutions

• Chicken-you can use boneless thighs in this recipe. They may need to cook 1-2 minutes longer due to higher fat content.
• Vinegar-you can use white wine vinegar or white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Balsamic is too strong for this sauce.
• Red chili flakes- For the heat, you can use sriracha, chili oil, red pepper flakes or sambal oelek. Start with a few teaspoons, taste, then add a bit more if needed.
• Sugar-Use a sugar free substitute if desired. Or you can use honey for a bit more thick and sticky sauce.
• Sweet Chili Sauce- You can buy a ready-made sauce. Some brands to try are Thai Kitchen, Franks and Trader Joe's. For a sugar free option, I love G Hughes brand.

How to make Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry

1. To make the homemade sweet chili sauce: combine the vinegar, sugar, water, chili flakes, garlic, soy sauce in a medium saucepan. Bring to a low boil. Stir in cornstarch, press out any lumps and simmer for 3 minutes until thickened.

2. In a skillet or large frying pan, heat oil on medium heat. Carefully add chicken pieces and stir fry until golden brown.

3. Pour sauce over chicken and simmer 2-3 minutes.

4. Add stir fry vegetables, cooking on low-medium heat.

Serving Suggestion

We served the Sweet Chili Chicken with Basmati rice that I had cooked in my Instapot. I usually make lot of extra rice and freeze the leftover in portioned freezer bags. They defrost in the refrigerator perfectly and the rice is reheated on a plate in the microwave.

You can choose brown rice, cauliflower rice, rice noodles or just have the meal with stir fry veggies. For this dinner I used broccoli and pickled red peppers. Green beans, cauliflower, zucchini and snow peas would be delicious in a stir fry as well. And we top it with chopped scallions.

If you tried this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love if you left a rating and a comment to let me know!

If chicken is on the menu this week, try one of our favorite chicken recipes:

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Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry

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• Author: Deb Belsha
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 5 servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Asian-American

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Description

Sweet Chili Chicken has tender chicken quickly browned and coated in a savory, spicy sauce. Choose the spice level with the amount of dried red pepper used in this dish. This quick stir fry is perfect for busy weeknight dinner and is ready under 30 minutes.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Sweet Chili Sauce

• ¼ cup rice vinegar or white vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup granulated sugar or sugar substitute
• 2 teaspoon garlic paste or powder
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon up to 1 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
• 2-3 teaspoons cornstarch

 

• 1 ½ pounds boneless chicken breast, sliced into 2 inch long strips
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Optional vegetables for stir fry:

• 1 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets
• ½ cup grated carrot
• ¼ cup roasted red pepper, chopped
• chopped scallions, optional

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Instructions

1. Make the sauce by combining all sauce ingredients into a cup or bowl and stir well, pressing out any lumps from the cornstarch.  Pour into a medium saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened.
2. Heat oil in large skillet and cook the chicken strips for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned.  
3. Add sauce to skillet and stir to coat chicken, simmer for another 1-2 minutes.
4. 4. If using vegetables, remove chicken and sauce to a large bowl, add another tablespoon oil, while you cook the veggies until crisp-tender.  
5. Add chicken and sauce back to skillet, stir and heat on low for 1-2 minutes.
6. Top with chopped scallion if desired.

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Notes

*FYI- Grocery store bottles of sweet chili sauce has red food coloring in the ingredients.  This sauce is a natural, homemade version.

• Taste the stir fry sauce before adding it to the pan. Add more sugar, vinegar or soy sauce to taste.
• If your skillet or wok is not large enough for the chicken to cook in a single layer, then cook it in batches. 
• Store leftover chicken and sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  Reheat in the microwave until hot.  Or reheat in a skillet with a few tablespoons broth or water on low-medium heat until hot.
• Freeze for up to 3 months.  Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat as above.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1
• Calories: 239
• Sugar: 1.69g
• Sodium: 411mg
• Fat: 9.2g
• Carbohydrates: 5.6g
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 32.3g
• Cholesterol: 99mg