When the mood strikes for Asian food, nothing else will do. If you live near a great place for takeout, that can be great. But if you want to save some money, make your own, or don’t have a great place nearby these easy Chinese Chicken recipes are the perfect solution.
These easy Chinese chicken recipes are simple and delicious, and much cheaper than buying Chinese food at a restaurant. The first 4 recipes start from the same Chinese chicken base recipe and then each has its own sauce and variations. You’ll find an easy sweet and sour chicken recipe, sesame chicken, garlic chicken, an easy orange chicken recipe and more!
The base Chinese chicken recipe is breaded. If you do not want the chicken to be breaded or if you are gluten free, you can fry the bite sized pieces without the breading and then serve with the rice, sauces and add-ins, if desired.
You can split the chicken between multiple sauces depending on what you like. If you prefer to serve more than one flavor, this is a quick and easy way to make multiple styles of Chinese Chicken at the same time.
All of these recipes are delicious and they are especially popular with teenagers and picky eaters!
You can find this and other tasty recipes in our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks! (The Chinese chicken is from Volume 2 and the stir fry is from Volume 1.)
How To Make The Chinese Chicken Recipes
Chinese chicken dishes are not only delicious but also surprisingly easy to make at home. The beauty of these recipes lies in their simplicity and versatility. The first 4 Chinese chicken recipes begin with a foundational base recipe, which serves as the perfect canvas for a variety of flavorful sauces and creative variations.
- First, pour the frying oil into a medium frying pan and heat it on high until hot.
- While the oil is heating, mix the batter for the chicken. Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and water and mix until the batter has a smooth consistency. (If you don’t want your chicken to be breaded, you can skip this step and the next one. Instead, season with seasoned salt and fry unbreaded.)
- Add the chicken pieces to the batter and stir to coat them with the batter.
- Drop the chicken pieces individually into the hot oil so that they don’t clump together. (If you just pour them all in, they will fry into one large clump of breaded fried chicken pierces.)
- Be careful not to splatter the hot oil on yourself as you add the chicken to the oil. I like to use a large metal ladle or spoon to carefully drop the chicken pieces into the oil.
- Fry the chicken pieces until they are golden brown. As they cook, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and lay them on a plata covered with a couple paper towels to catch the extra oil drippings. (If you skipped breading, the chicken will only brown a little.)
- If you will be adding any optional vegetables that you would like sautéed, sauté them now. For example, you may want to sauté bell peppers and onions for Sweet and Sour Chicken. For a crunchier texture, only lightly sauté them.
- To make your desired sauce (recipes below): Add the sauce ingredients to a medium saucepan, stir to mix. Cook for 5 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. Then pour over the chicken or serve on the side if some people might not want sauce.
- Serve over white rice, fried rice or Chow mein noodles.
Easy Chinese Chicken Variations and Tips
- If you would like to add Chinese vegetables to the chicken as these dishes are served in your favorite restaurant, you can also lightly sauté your choice of veggies like bell peppers, chunks of white onions and carrots. Then, when the chicken and the sauce are finished, you can add the vegetables and pour the sauce over the top. The vegetables add a little extra flavor and color, and make the dish look even more like a restaurant served meal.
- If you have picky eaters, you can make the Chinese chicken base and then serve the rice, chicken, vegetables, and sauce separately so each person can customize to his or her own taste.
- If you would like fresh homemade eggrolls to go with the Chinese chicken recipes, you can make our easy eggrolls recipe and serve them along with the chicken.
- You can also make a big batch of Chinese Chicken, split it into two or three bowls, and add a different sauce to each. I’ve included the basic chicken recipe plus four sauce recipes in this post. Each of the sauce recipes makes enough sauce for two pounds of chicken.
- If you do not want the chicken to be breaded or if you are gluten free, you can fry the bite sized pieces without the breading. If you are gluten free, be sure that all of your ingredients for the sauces and add-ins are also gluten free. For example, you would want to use gluten free soy sauce.
These Easy Chinese Chicken Recipes Are From Our Dining On a Dime Cookbook, Volume 2.
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Sauce Variations for our Chinese Chicken Recipes
If you’d like to make more than one flavor of chicken for the same meal, prepare as much chicken as your family wants. Then make two or more of the sauces and serve separately from the chicken so each person can choose his or her own sauce.
Each of these sauce recipes makes enough sauce for two pounds of chicken. If you have extra sauce, freeze the extra portion in a freezable plastic jar to thaw and use later when you want Asian food again.
If you prefer, here is our Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe cooked without the breading.
What To Serve With These Chinese Chicken Recipes
White Rice. – How To Cook Rice Recipe – Easy Way To Make Rice
Easy Fried Rice Recipe – Homemade Chinese Fried Rice
Vegetable Spring Rolls
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The batter turned out beautifully. With a store bought teriyaki sauce and cooked rice, we had a lovely meal. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for these recipes. I love Chinese food but getting expensive and the closest restaurant with good food is 30 miles away. So spotted these at a great time. Love all of your videos and advise.