Ginger Chicken

Ginger Chicken. Crispy, juicy chicken coated in the best sticky, sweet, ginger sauce. This is an easy dinner recipe. Way better than the restaurant version! Ready in 30 minutes. ​

Perfect as a weeknight meal for dinner or lunch. It's a good recipe that will make the whole family happy and satisfied. Pair it with steamed jasmine rice or noodles with vegetables for a complete meal.

Ginger chicken is one of my favorite Asian dishes that doesn't get enough attention. In fact, I used to eat it all the time when I worked at my corporate job.  If it's your first time making this, I share a video and images with detailed step-by-step instructions below. 

What is Ginger Chicken?

Ginger chicken is one of those incredibly scrumptious stir fries. Like General Tso Chicken but with a strong ginger flavor. Made of tender chicken thighs that is coated in starch and fried in a very hot pan in oil. Then smothered in a sweet, ginger, savory sauce. 

The sauce is a soy sauce mixture that contains grated ginger, garlic, hoisin, brown sugar, sesame oil, Chinese cooking wine, red pepper flakes for optional heat, cornstarch and chicken stock. The dish is garnished with toasted sesame seeds and fresh herbs, like green onions. 

Easy Ginger Chicken Recipe

This garlic ginger chicken is an easy stir fry recipe. It is one of those stir fry recipes takes about 30 minutes in total. The cooking time is only 10 minutes. Therefore, most of the time goes towards preparing the ingredients.

A great way to feed the whole family when time is of the essence. If you double or triple the portion, it works well for a family feast!

Ingredients

You’ll need the below ingredients for my Ginger Chicken recipe. 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. You will want to dice the chicken thighs into large chunks, about 1.5-inch pieces. 
• Neutral cooking oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils. 
• Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch, tapioca starch or sweet rice flour. This is to coat the chicken so it becomes golden brown and crispy after it’s fried. You may substitute with all-purpose flour but it won’t be as crispy.
• Green onion or spring onions: optional garnishes
• Toasted Sesame seeds: optional garnishes.

Chicken seasoning:

• Regular soy sauce: aka all-purpose soy sauce. The label will simply say "soy sauce". This is different from dark soy sauce, which is darker in color and thicker in viscosity. You may also substitute with light soy sauce. 
• Fresh Ginger: to flavor our tender chunks of chicken and this also helps remove any 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 substitute with black pepper

Stir-Fry Sauce:

• Garlic: to give our homemade ginger chicken a garlicky flavor. This balances out that strong ginger flavor. 
• Brown sugar, or honey: or substitute with white sugar as a very last resort. 
• Regular soy sauce: aka all-purpose soy sauce. The label will simply say "soy sauce". This is different from dark soy sauce, which is darker in color and thicker in viscosity. You may also substitute with light soy sauce. 
• Hoisin sauce: a thick, sweet, sticky sauce. It looks like oyster sauce in terms of color and texture, but it's completely different in flavor! So do not confuse the two. 
• Fresh Ginger: The key ingredient to this ginger chicken stir fry recipe so make sure it's a fresh ginger root. 
• Sesame oil: to add a toasted nutty flavor to our sesame ginger chicken. 
• Shaoxing wine: a popular rice wine used in Chinese cooking. Or substitute with rice vinegar. 
• Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch, tapioca starch or sweet rice flour. A common ingredient used in many stir fry sauces to help thicken them.  
• Red pepper flakes (optional): for a spicy kick in our sweet savory sauce. You may substitute with red pepper flakes. red chili flakes or even chili sauce if that's what you have. 
• Chicken broth or chicken stock, unsalted: or substitute with vegetable stock or cold water. 

How to Make Ginger Chicken

In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Dice skinless boneless chicken thighs into 1 ½-inch pieces. Transfer chicken pieces into a large bowl. Then add Chicken seasoning ingredients as listed above and mix into chicken.

Pour a heaping ¼ cup of cornstarch over the chicken and mix with tongs until each piece is evenly coated.

In a large skillet or wok on medium-high heat, add vegetable oil or any neutral oil. Once oil is hot, lower in the chicken.

Fry chicken until golden brown and crispy, about 7-9 minutes. Note: The internal temperature of cooked chicken should be 165 degrees F with a digital thermometer or until juices run clear.

Remove fried chicken with tongs or a slotted spoon and set aside 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 thickened, toss cooked chicken back in the sauce and coat evenly. Remove off heat. 

Optionally, garnish with green onions and sesame seeds and enjoy! 

Storage

This ginger chicken stir fry will last up to 4 days in the fridge stored in an airtight container. The best way to reheat is to microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or on the stove top in a non-stick pan on medium heat. 

FAQ

Below are frequently asked questions about my Chinese ginger chicken recipe:

Can I add vegetables to my Ginger Chicken? 

​Yes, feel free to add any of the suggest veggies to this gooey ginger chicken:

• Onions, diced.
• Carrots, cut into medallions.
• Bell pepper, diced.
• Fresh green beans, cut into small pieces.
• broccoli to make it into a broccoli stir fry.
• snap peas
• snow peas
• celery

Can I air fry the chicken?

Yes! To air fry 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).

Other recipes you may enjoy!

If you enjoyed this ginger garlic chicken, you may like these other fried chicken recipes: 

• ​Mongolian Chicken
• Orange Chicken
• Chinese Lemon Chicken
• Honey Sesame Chicken
• General Tso Chicken
• Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Crispy Gochujang Chicken
• Korean Sweet Sticky Chicken
• Bang Bang Chicken