Fried chicken tossed in a sweet, savory sauce with spicy flavors with a tingling sensation. This easy Szechuan chicken rivals Chinese takeout with authentic flavors! A great weeknight meal that saves you money!
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What is Szechuan Chicken
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 a great main best served with rice.
This is a classic Chinese dish that comes from Sichuan, China. I remember my first time having this dish after a long day at work at the office. I was hungry and needed some Chinese food and this hit the spot!
Shallow Fried not Deep Fried! I love this recipe because the chicken is shallow fried using less oil, you don't need a wok and it works well for meal prep!
Ingredients & Substitutions
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.
- Sichuan red chillies are recommended and you can find this at the Asian market in the spice aisle. Or substitute with 1-2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes or 1-2 fresh chopped red chili peppers.
- Red and Green Bell peppers: or use any color you enjoy
- Onion & Fresh Ginger
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato 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. Do not confuse this sauce with Oyster sauce.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce.
- Brown sugar: it's important to use brown sugar to give the dish that molasses flavor over just using white sugar.
- Sesame oil: omit if you're allergic
- Ground Sichuan Peppercorn Powder: omit if you don't like that numbing feeling
- Corn starch: or substitute with potato starch
- Low-sodium Chicken Broth: or substitute with cold water
Chicken Marinade
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch. These ingredients help the chicken retain its moisture.
- Cold water
- Baking soda: do not skip! This makes the chicken tender by increasing the acidity on the meat's surface making it harder for the proteins to bond creating a more moist and tender taste.
- Neutral oil: this adds moisture to the velveting process so don't skip!
Variations
- For a vegetarian version: Substitute the chicken with extra-firm tofu and the chicken stock with vegetable stock or water and skip the marinade process. I would recommend seasoning the tofu with some salt, black pepper and garlic powder before coating it in starch.
- For a gluten-free version: substitute the soy sauce substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce. Substitute the hoisin with a gluten-free version.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
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. Avoid making them any larger as it prevents the marinade from tenderizing the chicken properly. Transfer chicken pieces into a large bowl.
- Add Marinade ingredients as listed to the diced 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 vegetable oil or any neutral 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 the chicken. Remove and transfer cooked chicken to a plate. Reserve 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and remove the rest.
- 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. Once combined, remove off heat and serve immediately with hot rice.
Storage & Reheating
- 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 and frozen up to 3 months. To reheat, defrost it and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a pan.
Pairing Suggestions
This Chinese dish serves well with crab rangoons, hot and sour soup, white rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, fried rice, and chow mein.
FAQ
Yes, feel free to substitute the bell peppers with another type of vegetable with low water content, such as carrots, snap peas, or snow peas.
General Tso's Chicken and Szechuan Chicken can be quite similar in Chinese cuisine as they use similar sauce components. But Szechuan Chicken contains Szechuan peppercorns, Sichuan dried chillies and more veggies so it's spicier and has a tongue-tingling sensation unlike General Tso's Chicken.
This can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. When ready to enjoy, reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat.
Other recipes you may enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Szechuan Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast or sub with skinless boneless chicken thighs
- ⅔ cup red bell pepper diced
- ⅔ cup green bell pepper diced
- ½ cup onion diced
- 20 dried red chilies or substitute with 1-2 fresh large red chillies chopped
- 5 slices ginger peeled
- ¼ cup cornstarch or potato starch
- ¼ cup vegetable oil or neutral oil
Szechuan Sauce
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1.5 teaspoon sichuan peppercorn powder optional
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch
- ½ cup chicken broth low sodium or substitute with cold water
Chicken Marinade
- 1.5 tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch
- 1.5 tablespoon water cold
- ½ teaspoon baking soda do not skip!
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Instructions
- Dice chicken into 1-inch pieces. Avoid making them any larger as it prevents the marinade from tenderizing (or velveting) the chicken properly. Transfer chicken pieces into a large bowl.
- Add Marinade ingredients as listed to the diced 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.
- Heat ¼ cup vegetable oil or any neutral oil in a large skillet or wok on medium-high heat. Dip a wooden chopstick into the oil and when you see bubbles, carefully lower the coated chicken into the hot oil.
- Fry chicken until golden, about 4-5 minutes. Flip over and fry on the other side for 4-5 minutes. Do not overcook the chicken. Remove and transfer cooked chicken to a plate.
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and remove the rest. 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. Once combined, remove off heat and serve immediately with hot rice.
Jd
Hope, it's nt hard to cook Szechuan chicken,will try to cook d way u do it I'm nt as good d way u cook it will just try
Steve R
I have prepared many Asian recipes; however, this is undoubtedly the BEST Schezuan chicken recipe I have made! It’s easy to prepare and bursting with flavour! It’s definitely a keeper!
Christie Lai
Thank YOU so much for the kind review and I am so glad it's the best Szechuan chicken you've made! This is truly music to my ears.
Galen
What a great recipe! Simple but delicious. We followed it precisely with respect to the size of the chicken, adding the baking soda to the chicken marinade etc. We will definitely make it again.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for sharing your positive cooking experience, Galen! Happy you enjoyed it 🙂