Szechuan Chicken
This easy Szechuan Chicken recipe is a sweet and spicy chicken stir fry dish that can be made in just 20 minutes! It’s perfect for serving over rice or noodles for a fast, family-friendly weeknight meal!
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Szechuan Chicken is an easy and flavorful classic Chinese dish. It combines the perfect amount of sweet and spicy. If you’re craving Chinese tonight, make this fast and easy recipe in just 20 minutes!
What readers say
“Tasted great and super fast to make, thanks!” -Christine
“This is a fast, delicious recipe! Excellent for a weeknight and really good on jasmine rice.” -Glynda
What is Szechuan Chicken?
Szechuan chicken is a sweet and spicy dish from the Chinese province of Sichuan. It traditionally incorporates the Szechuan peppercorn, however this recipe substitutes cayenne pepper as it is easier to find in most US grocery stores. Szechuan chicken can also contain vegetables and sometimes peanuts.
This recipe is a basic version of what you would find in your local Chinese restaurant. It is mild and not too spicy (so very family-friendly). I’ve included notes below on how to add more spice to the dish.
Ingredients
- For the chicken: chicken breast, cornstarch, vegetable oil
- For the sauce: garlic, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, sugar, cayenne pepper
- For serving: rice and green onion
Step by step
This recipe is super easy, you’ll never go back to take out once you try it!
- Toss the cubed chicken breast with cornstarch and then brown them in a skillet.
- Add garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and water and simmer for just five minutes to finish cooking through-that’s it!
- Serve over slow cooker rice or with veggies with sliced green onion to complete the meal!
Tips for best results
- Don’t skip the cornstarch step, it really makes this dish have its signature texture!
- If you prefer more sauce on the final dish you can easily double or triple the sauce ingredients in the recipe.
FAQs
I have had good results making this dish substituting cubed tempeh for the chicken. I have not tried tofu but I think it would probably work as well.
Variations
- add in chopped bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, and/or carrots
- add chili peppers to make it spicier
- add peanuts, cashews, or sliced almonds
- substitute steak, shrimp, chicken thighs, or tempeh for the chicken
- serve over noodles, quinoa, or riced cauliflower
Storage
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. This recipe reheats easily in the microwave, making it a great meal prep option!
This is a great freezer meal. Allow it to cool then store in a freezer-safe container (affiliate link) or bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave.
If you try this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
Print
Szechuan Chicken
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Szechuan Chicken is a sweet and spicy chicken stir fry dish that can be made in just 20 minutes! It’s perfect for serving over rice and noodles for a fast weeknight meal!
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 green onions, sliced diagonally
- long grain rice, cooked
Instructions
- Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes.
- Place chicken cubes into a plastic bag and add cornstarch. Seal and shake to coat.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Brown the chicken on all sides, stirring often.
- Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and water.
- Cover and simmer 4-5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Stir in green onion and cayenne pepper and cook additional 2 minutes.
- Serve over rice.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: main course
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Chinese
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 554
- Sugar: 1.2 g
- Sodium: 284 mg
- Fat: 7.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 79.1 g
- Protein: 38 g
- Cholesterol: 99.3 mg
This is a fast, delicious recipe! Excellent for a weeknight and really good on jasmine rice.
Next time, I’ll use rice vinegar and I think it will be *chefs kiss* perfect!
I did crush up Sichuan Peppercorns, instead of Cayenne Pepper Powder, but I got that idea from the name of the recipe! And Cayenne Pepper is *always* too spicy for me.
I only wanted to cook in one pan, so, after adding the sauce ingredients, I added a bag of frozen broccoli and that was great!
The chicken is so super delicious cooked in this sauce and in this fashion!
What about the hoisin sauce?
Thanks for noticing that, I actually took the hoisin out of the final version of the recipe and mistakenly left the reference to it in the text.
Tasted great and super fast to make, thanks!
My entire family LOVED this!!
Great recipe!