Sweet and Spicy Chicken Stir Fry
Spicy Chicken Stir Fry is made with tender, juicy chicken thighs and crisp stir fry vegetables all mixed together in a sweet and spicy homemade stir-fry sauce.
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With so much flavor, it's hard not to want to make a stir fry every night of the week. I love how simple this dinner is to make. You can swap out the protein and make a Sweet and Sour Pork Stir Fry, or try making my Sweet Chili Shrimp Stir Fry, or another favorite, Beef Stir Fry.
Why This Stir-Fry Works
Stir fry recipes are a great way to use up leftover veggies and protein you already have, helping to eliminate your list of things to grab from the grocery store.
This is an easy and flavorful dinner that whips up in under half hour like this cashew chicken.
It's a great recipe to use when you have those busy weeknights and is easily customizable, so the whole family will be ready for this stir-fry chicken dinner!
Let's Gather The Ingredients
- Boneless chicken thighs: boneless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces. You can swap this out for chicken breasts.
- Cornstarch: Helps to thicken the sauce.
- Salt and black pepper
- Soy sauce: Low-sodium soy sauce to control the sodium content of the recipe.
- Rice vinegar: White vinegar can be used in a pinch.
- Brown sugar: Light to dark brown sugar will work.
- Garlic chili sauce:
- Ketchup:
- Veggies: yellow bell pepper, red bell pepper, sugar snap peas, and green onions for garnish
- Garlic: Fresh minced is always best.
How to make this Spicy Chicken Stir Fry
- Step 1: Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and add them to a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch, salt and pepper together until combined. Transfer the mixture on top of the chicken strips and use tongs to coat the chicken pieces.
- Step 2: In a second small bowl, add soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, chili sauce, and ketchup. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- Step 3: Add cooking oil to a large skillet and heat it up. Working in batches if necessary, transfer coated chicken to the heated oil and cook. Remove cooked chicken and set aside until all chicken has been cooked.
- Step 4: Once all the chicken has been cooked, it's time to move to the veggies. Add sliced onions and peppers to the skillet and cook.
- Step 5: Add snap peas with the garlic and cook.
- Step 6: Transfer cooked chicken back to the pan. Pour soy sauce mixture over the contents of the pan and simmer so the sauce has time to thicken up. Garnish, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- If you don't have rice vinegar, you can try using lemon juice in its place.
- Adjust the heat level of the spicy sauce by adjusting the garlic chili sauce quantity.
- You can easily swap out the veggies in this recipe for other ones you may have, like cauliflower, broccoli pieces, carrot and peas, snow peas, baby corn cobs, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, edamame, green beans, etc.
- Swap out the chicken for shrimp, it's equally as delicious.
Recipe Faq's
This recipe with tender chicken and fresh vegetables is a meal in itself, but you can serve it with a side of white rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice to help it go further.
Absolutely! This recipe works great with shrimp, beef, pork, or even tofu for a vegetarian option.
It has a mild to medium kick, but you can adjust the spice level by adding more or less chili flakes or sriracha.
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Sweet and Spicy Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons Garlic chili sauce depending on your heat level
- 3 tablespoon ketchup
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 small onion cut into slices
- 1 cup yellow pepper cut into slices
- 1 cup red pepper cut into slices
- 1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- Green onions chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Cut chicken thighs into thin strips and place in a bowl. Add cornstarch, salt, and pepper and mix until combined.
- In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, chili sauce, and ketchup until combined. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet (I use a cast iron skillet or wok on high heat. Add chicken in batches and cook for 5-6 minutes. Remove to a bowl and repeat until all chicken is cooked.
- Add onions, peppers and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add in snap peas and garlic, cook another minute.
- Add back in the chicken and add sauce mixture, mix until combined. Simmer for 1-2 minutes for the sauce to thicken up a bit.
- Serve with rice and garnish with green onions.
Happy it was a hit Jennifer!