Quick & Easy Szechuan Chicken

Name: Quick & Easy Szechuan Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 lb chicken breast (or skinless boneless chicken thighs); 2/3 cup red bell pepper (diced ); 2/3 cup green bell pepper (diced ); 1/2 cup onion (diced); 20 dried red chilies (or 2 fresh chopped red chillies ); 5 slices ginger (peeled); 1/4 cup cornstarch (or potato starch); 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or neutral oil); 3 cloves garlic (minced); 4 tablespoon hoisin sauce; 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce; 2 tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark brown sugar both work); 2 teaspoon sesame oil; 1.5 tsp sichuan peppercorn powder (optional); 1 tbsp cornstarch (or potato starch); 1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium kind, or cold water); 1.5 tbsp cornstarch (or potato starch); 1.5 tbsp water (cold); 1/2 tsp baking soda (do not skip!); 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)

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Fried chicken tossed in a sweet, savory sauce with spicy flavors and a tingling sensation. This quick and easy Szechuan chicken rivals Chinese takeout with authentic flavors! A great main dish for all the chicken-lovers!

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Ingredients & Substitutes
Expert Tips
Instructions
Storage
Pairing Suggestions
FAQ
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Szechuan Chicken features crispy chicken tossed in a spicy, sweet, savory sauce with bell peppers, dried red chillies, Szechuan peppercorns, which give you that numbing sensation on your tongue!

It's best served with rice and your favorite vegetables. This is a classic Chinese dish that comes from Sichuan, China and it's served at many Chinese restaurants.

The best part about this chicken recipe is that the chicken is shallow fried, not deep fried, using less oil and it's made in one-pan! It's also fantastic for meal preparation too.

I also share how to air fry the chicken below if you're not keen on shallow frying.

Ingredients & Substitutes

Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.

Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts or substitute with skinless boneless chicken thighs if you prefer a fattier cut. Not a fan of chicken? Substitute with boneless pork shoulder, beef, shrimp or extra-firm tofu if you're vegetarian.
Dried Sichuan Red Chillies: these are sold at Asian grocery stores or online. Or substitute with 1-2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes or 1-2 fresh chopped red chili peppers.
Bell Peppers: or use any color of your choice. I'm using red and green ones. Or substitute with carrots, celery, broccoli florets, cauliflower, snap or snow peas.
Onion: or substitute with shallots.
Fresh Ginger: or substitute with ginger powder.
Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch or arrowroot starch.
Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid heavy scented oils with a low smoke point.

Szechuan Sauce

Garlic Cloves
Hoisin Sauce: This adds a caramelized sweetness to our sauce. If you're gluten free, substitute with a gluten-free hoisin sauce.
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.
Brown Sugar: light or dark brown sugar both work. Or substitute with coconut sugar, palm sugar, honey or light corn syrup.
Sesame Oil: or substitute with sesame seeds. If you're allergic, omit this ingredient.
Ground Sichuan Peppercorn Powder: omit if you don't like that numbing feeling
Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch, tapioca starch or arrowroot starch.
Low-Sodium Chicken Broth: or substitute with cold water. If you're making this vegetarian, substitute with cold water or vegetable stock.

Chicken Marinade

Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch. This helps the chicken retain its moisture.
Cold water
Baking soda: do not skip! This tenderizes the chicken.
Neutral oil: this adds moisture to the velveting process so don't skip!

Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check online stores, like Amazon.

Expert Tips

Evenly dice chicken into 1-inch pieces. This way the marinade can tenderize it or the marinade won’t be able to penetrate through if wider.
Allow the chicken to velvet for 20 minutes for moist tender chicken.
Prepare ingredients before cooking as the cooking process is fast.
Don’t overcook the chicken. Fry about 4-5 minutes on each side is suffice.
Toast the chillies in oil. This infuses the oil with that chili flavor so don't skip this step!

Instructions

Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make szechuan chicken:

Dice chicken into 1-inch pieces. Transfer chicken pieces into a large bowl.
Add Marinade ingredients as listed above to the chicken and marinate for at least 20 minutes (or overnight or a few hours in advance) in the fridge.
In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients as listed above until well combined. Set aside.
Add ¼ cup cornstarch to the marinated chicken and toss with tongs until diced chicken is evenly coated. Set aside.

Heat ¼ cup or 60 ml vegetable oil in a large pan or wok on medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, fry chicken until golden, about 4-5 minutes. Flip over and fry on the other side for 4-5 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove and transfer cooked chicken to a plate. Reserve 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and discard the rest of the oil.
On medium heat, add dried red chilies and stir fry for 20 seconds. Stir fry onions, ginger, and bell peppers for 30 seconds.
Pour in sauce and simmer to thicken.
Once thickened, toss back in the fried chicken until evenly coated. Remove off heat and serve immediately with hot rice.

To Air Fry

Evenly spray the air fryer basket with neutral oil or cooking spray.
Place the diced coated chicken into the air fryer basket in a single layer giving each piece enough space.
Evenly spray oil or cooking spray over the chicken pieces.
Air fry for 10-12 minutes at 400 F until golden, flipping the chicken over halfway.

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 but give the dish a few splashes of water to help loosen the sauce.
Freezer friendly? This can be stored in a freezer friendly bag after cooling down and frozen up to 3 months. To reheat, defrost it and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a pan.

Pairing Suggestions

Szechuan chicken serves well with:

starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, or 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.
other protein dishes like Mongolian Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Bang Bang Shrimp, Shrimp Omelet, Soy Garlic Tofu, Chinese Braised Tofu and more!

FAQ

Can I make this in advance?

Szechuan chicken can be made in advance up to 4 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave for a few minutes or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat until hot.

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