Crispy fried chicken coated in the best sticky, sweet, ginger sauce. This quick and easy ginger chicken is made with simple ingredients and ready in 30 minutes! It's restaurant quality and it'll save you money on Chinese takeout.
Jump to:
Ginger chicken features tender chicken coated in starch and fried in hot oil and coated in a sweet, ginger, savory sauce. It's one of those incredibly scrumptious chicken stir fries, like General Tso Chicken, but with a strong ginger flavor.
You will find this main dish served at many Chinese restaurants and it's best served with steamed jasmine rice or noodles with vegetables for a complete meal. A great busy weeknight dish that will satisfy the whole family!
Homemade ginger chicken is one of my favorite Asian chicken dishes that doesn't get enough attention! I remember enjoying when I used to work at the office and the taste of that crispy chicken with that gingery sauce brought me so much joy!
The best part about this easy chicken recipe is that the chicken is shallow-fried in oil and not deep-fried! This means less oil is wasted saving you money and it's less to clean up. It's also slightly healthier.
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
Note: Most Asian grocery store will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: or substitute with chicken breasts. However, I highly recommend boneless chicken thighs for a juicy tender cut thanks to the dark meat. If you use chicken breast, be sure to reduce the cooking time by 1-2 minutes to avoid overcooking it.
- Neutral oil: any flavorless oil like avocado oil, peanut oil, grapeseed oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. I would avoid using olive oil or coconut oil due to its heavier scent.
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch or sweet rice flour. This is to coat the chicken so it becomes golden brown and crispy after it’s fried. Avoid using tapioca starch as it'll cause the chicken to stick to each other during the frying process.
- Green onion: optional garnish
- Toasted Sesame seeds: optional garnish
Chicken seasoning
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Fresh Ginger: to flavor the chicken and it removes most of the gamey flavor in the meat. If you can find young ginger for this recipe, that will work very well as it's more potent in flavor but feel free to use what you have.
- White pepper or black pepper
Stir-Fry Sauce
- Garlic: for that garlicky flavor and to balance out the strong ginger flavor.
- Brown sugar, or honey: or substitute with coconut sugar or white sugar as a last resort.
- Regular soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce: This adds a caramelized sweetness to our sauce.
- Fresh Ginger: this is one of the key ingredients and I would avoid using ginger powder as a substitute if possible.
- Sesame oil: to add a toasted nutty flavor.
- Shaoxing wine: a Chinese rice cooking wine. Or substitute with Dry Sherry. For a non-alcoholic or gluten-free version, substitute with any broth.
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch to thicken the sauce.
- Red pepper flakes (optional): for a spicy kick in our sweet savory sauce. You may substitute with gochugaru, red chili flakes or red chili sauce as a last resort.
- Chicken broth: ideally low-sodium chicken stock or substitute with cold water.
Expert Tips
- Prepare ingredients ahead of time as the cooking process is fast.
- Finely grate the ginger. This ensures you don't eat chunks of it in the sauce unless you prefer that.
- Do not pat dry the chicken! You need some moisture on the chicken so the starch can adhere to it.
- Evenly dice the chicken so they fry consistently.
- Use a heavy bottomed pan if possible as this maintains the oil temperature.
- Make sure oil is hot enough before frying, around 325-350 degrees F. To check if oil is hot, use a digital instant read thermometer or insert a wooden chopstick into the oil and look for bubbles. If you see bubbles, the oil is hot.
- Fry in small batches and do not overcrowd the pan because this reduces the oil temperature leading to less crispy chicken or possibly undercooked chicken.
- Spread chicken apart after tossing into pan. This allows for each piece to develop a crust.
- Avoid stir frying the chicken. This prevents it from getting crispy.
- Drain the fried chicken on a wire rack or paper-towel lined plate to remove excess oil which leads to soggy chicken.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make ginger chicken:
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Dice chicken thighs into 1.5-inch cubes. Transfer diced chicken pieces into a large bowl. Then mix in the Chicken seasoning ingredients as listed above.
- Add cornstarch over the chicken and toss with tongs until each piece of chicken is evenly coated.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Fry chicken in small batches until golden brown and crispy, about 7-9 minutes in total. The internal temperature of cooked chicken should be 165 degrees F with a digital thermometer or until juices run clear. Remove and transfer fried rice on a wire rack or on a paper-towel lined plate. Discard any excess oil in the pan.
- Reduce to medium heat, pour prepared sauce into pan. Simmer to thicken.
- Once sauce has thickened, toss in cooked chicken. Remove off heat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds and enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? This can be stored in a freezer friendly bag and frozen up to 3 months or until you see freezer burn. To reheat, defrost it and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a pan.
Pairing Suggestions
Ginger chicken serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, fried rice, chow mein, lo mein, plain noodles, soup noodles
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
- protein dishes like Mongolian Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Bang Bang Shrimp, Gochujang Chicken, Soy Garlic Tofu, Chinese Braised Tofu and more!
FAQ
Ginger chicken can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To enjoy, reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat. Note: over time the chicken will naturally become less crispy.
Yes, feel free to add onions, carrots, bell peppers, green beans, broccoli, snap peas, snow peas or celery.
Yes! To airfry the coated chicken:
1. Lightly spray air fryer basket with neutral oil.
2. Place coated chicken in a single layer. Do not overlap. You may need to air fry in batches depending on the size of your air fryer.
3. Lightly spray oil over the chicken.
4. Air fry at 400 degrees F for 10-14 minutes until golden brown, crispy and the internal temperature is 165 F with a digital thermometer (or until juices run clear).
Yes, feel free to substitute the chicken with diced pork shoulder, beef steak, extra-firm tofu or jumbo shrimp.
Other recipes you may enjoy
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Ginger Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs or with chicken breast
- ¼ cup vegetable oil or any neutral oil for frying
- ⅓ cup cornstarch or sub with potato starch for coating chicken
- 1 green onion finely chopped (optional for garnish)
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds toasted (optional for garnish)
Chicken seasoning
- 2 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ginger peeled & grated
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper or black pepper
Sauce
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar or honey, coconut sugar or white sugar
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon ginger peeled & grated
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil toasted
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine or Dry sherry wine or chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or sub with potato starch
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes optional for a spicy kick
- ½ cup chicken stock low-sodium kind
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Dice chicken thighs into 1.5-inch cubes. Transfer diced chicken pieces into a large bowl. Then mix in the Chicken seasoning ingredients as listed above.
- Add cornstarch over the diced chicken and toss with tongs until each piece of chicken is evenly coated.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Fry chicken in small batches until golden brown and crispy, about 7-9 minutes in total. The internal temperature of cooked chicken should be 165 degrees F with a digital thermometer or until juices run clear. Remove and transfer fried rice on a wire rack or on a paper-towel lined plate. Discard any excess oil in the pan.
- Reduce to medium heat, pour prepared sauce into pan. Simmer to thicken.
- Once sauce has thickened, toss in cooked chicken. Remove off heat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds and enjoy!
Notes
To air fry the coated chicken:
- Lightly spray air fryer basket with neutral oil.
- Place coated chicken in a single layer. Do not overlap. You may need to air fry in batches depending on the size of your air fryer.
- Lightly spray oil over the chicken.
- Air fry at 400 degrees F for 10-14 minutes until golden brown, crispy and the internal temperature is 165 F with a digital thermometer (or until juices run clear).
Manon Sheiman
I've been studying the recipe for about an hour, and I am eager to make it along with others you have listed here such as orange chicken, but it is so difficult to try to get past the ads and to find the X to get them out of the way of the print that I am completely flummoxed and frustrated.
I would love to pay for the recipes in order to get a clean recipe sheet without ads covering the page. Is there a way to do that, or do you have a cookbook I can purchase?
Please and thank you very much!
Christie Lai
Hi Manon, sorry to hear that you're experiencing difficulties with the ads. I would suggesting clicking "Jump to Recipe" and then click "Print recipe" (the green button under the recipe description) for an Ad-less version. Hope this helps!
Nina
Excellent, delicious. Good instructions!
Christie Lai
Yay! So happy to read this, Nina. Thank you so much for making it and sharing your positive experience here!
Liz from Canada
I'm rating this recipe a 10, out of 5!
I made this for dinner tonight, and all I can say is WOW!!
It was fun to prepare and so delicious to eat.
I served it over white and wild rice.
I had NO idea cornstarch could make chicken THIS tender.
No. Idea.
Thank YOU for this great recipe.
I'll have to try them all. lol..
Christie Lai
I am soooo thrilled to hear this! Glad it worked out well and I appreciate the raving review. Happy to hear it was fun to prepare and delicious. Cornstarch is really a wonder when it comes to tenderizing meat 🙂 I hope you enjoy the rest of my recipes 🙂
Liz from Canada
Because of your tip💡 on cornstarch, now I just used it on pork🥩.
WOW! What a find🕵️♀️.
Soon, I plan on making👨🍳 ginger fried beef🥩, yum!
Believe it or not, it's a 🇨🇦 "thing", but more specifically in British Columbia and Alberta provinces.
It's insanely good🤪😜😂.
克里斯蒂，再次感谢你提供的这份美妙的食谱和令人惊叹的配料提示。❣️
Christie Lai
I am so glad my cornstarch trick worked well and have fun making ginger beef! I've had ginger beef many times in Toronto (I agree, it's deliciously addictive!) and I will be creating a recipe for it soon in the future.
Jd
How I'd wish I can make all of your recipes
Indy
Just tried this and it was fantastic. Really tasty, and yes, it's beats a takeaway!!
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for the positive review, Indy 🙂 So glad it beats takeaway! Have a fantastic day 🙂
Margaret
An amazing recipe. So simple. Flavor out of this world. Air fried the chicken as recipe option instructs- so tender and crispy! A must try
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Margaret! So happy the flavor was out of this world! Also happy to read that the air frying option worked out well 🙂