Skip to Content

Spicy Asian Chicken Stir Fry

This spicy Asian chicken stir fry has a delicious sweet and spicy sauce made from a blend of sriracha, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and ginger. An easy recipe that's a hit with the whole family!

This recipe takes only 10 minutes of cooking time and is a super quick and easy weeknight dinner! I'll show you the secret to making restaurant-style stir fry chicken that's always tender and never chewy.

Spicy Asian Chicken Stir Fry in a bowl
Jump to:

Asian chicken stir fry

The secret to the success of this stir fry is the soft texture of the chicken and the AMAZING stir fry sauce that combines honey and sriracha for that perfect sweet and spicy flavor balance.

I almost licked the bowl, and my husband packed the leftovers for lunch the next day and said it was one of the best lunches he's had.

Related recipe: Easy Fried Rice with Egg

Velveting chicken with baking soda

Have you ever noticed how the chicken you get in Chinese restaurants has a unique texture? It's usually really thin and tender, and doesn't have that chewy factor that home-cooked chicken sometimes has. Well, that's due to a technique called velveting.

All you have to do is combine your sliced chicken with some baking soda, let it sit for 15 minutes, and then rinse it off. THAT'S IT!! 

This easy step will give your chicken that "Chinese take-out" texture, and make you feel like an Asian cooking rock star.

Sliced chicken on a cutting board
Chicken sprinkled with baking soda to velvet chicken

Related recipe: Asian Tuna Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoon sriracha (or use less for less spicy stir fry sauce)
  • 3 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced or grated
  • 2 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 3 scallions, chopped
  • 8 oz sugar snap peas
  • white rice for serving
Chopped green onion, garlic, grated ginger and snow peas

Instructions

Step 1: To velvet the chicken: Thinly slice the chicken breast and cut slices in half to create pieces about 1.5-2 inches long. In a bowl, toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon baking soda. Set aside for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, rinse thoroughly in a colander and pat dry.

Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, honey, sriracha, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and cornstarch to create the stir fry sauce.

Step 3: Combine the chopped garlic, ginger, snap peas, and scallions in another bowl.

Step 4: In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons canola oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and a splash or two of the sauce. Stir-fry until chicken is cooked through (no longer pink). Remove the chicken to a plate.

Step 5: Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to the pan and pour in the snap peas, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until snap peas are tender, but still crisp.
Step 6: Return the chicken to the pan, and add the remaining sauce. Cook and stir until sauce thickens (about 4 minutes). Serve over rice.

Spicy stir fry sauce

This easy spicy stir fry sauce is made with sriracha, honey, and chicken broth to add flavor without adding too much heat or sourness. It has a little bit of soy sauce and rice vinegar for tang, and has cornstarch to thicken it.

This stir fry sauce has got just the right amount of spice, in my opinion, and it far surpasses most sauces I've had in even the best Chinese restaurants. It's completely addicting. 

That said, I love things spicy, so what's perfect to me might be a little too much for you. If you don't like heat, get out of the kitchen!

Just kidding. You can simply omit the sriracha, or reduce the amount to one tablespoon instead of two.

If you are a fan of spice, also make sure to check out my Spicy Asian Noodles recipe.

Whisking together spicy stir fry sauce ingredients

Stir fry veggies

You can use any vegetable you like in this chicken stir fry, but I chose sugar snap peas because they cook up so quickly without any blanching or pre-cooking required.

If you're not a fan of snap peas, you could substitute broccoli or another vegetable, but you may need to pre-cook it a little bit in boiling water or the microwave to make sure it reaches its desired tenderness in the sauté pan without starting to burn.

Try adding any of these veggies to your spicy Asian stir fry

  • Shredded carrots (add in with the sugar snap peas—no pre-cooking required)
  • Snow peas
  • Fresh or frozen peas
  • Canned or frozen corn
  • Leftover roasted broccoli or steamed broccoli
  • Sliced zucchini
  • Thinly sliced bell peppers
  • Sliced mushrooms

Quick stir fry—10 minute cooking time

In this easy stir fry recipe, everything except the chicken and sauce gets thrown into the pan at once, so it's completely fool-proof.

After you've velveted your chicken, chopped your veggies, and combined your stir fry sauce ingredients, you'll only be spending 10 minutes of actual cooking time at the stove.

If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!

Spicy Asian Chicken Stir Fry

This easy Asian chicken stir fry has an addicting sriracha sauce and tender "velveted" restaurant style chicken. You'll never want to order take-out again! Read the notes for time-saving tips for this recipe.
4.85 from 19 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian
Diet: Kosher
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Velveting chicken time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 297kcal
Author: Kate

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons sriracha or less for less spice
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 cloves garlic diced or grated
  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger
  • 3 scallions chopped
  • 8 oz sugar snap peas
  • white rice for serving

Special equipment

  • Large skillet or wok

Instructions

  • To velvet the chicken: Thinly slice the chicken breast and cut slices in half to create pieces about 1.5-2 inches long. In a bowl, toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon baking soda. Set aside for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, rinse thoroughly in a colander and pat dry.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, honey, sriracha, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and cornstarch to make the stir fry sauce.
  • Combine the chopped garlic, ginger, snap peas, and scallions in another bowl.
  • In a large skillet or wok, warm 2 tablespoons canola oil over med-high heat. Add the chicken and a splash or two of the sauce. Stir-fry until chicken is cooked through (no longer pink). Remove the chicken to a plate.
  • Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to the pan and pour in the snap peas, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until snap peas are tender, but still crisp.
  • Return the chicken to the pan, and add the remaining sauce. Cook and stir until sauce thickens (about 4 minutes). Serve over rice.

Notes

Time saving tip: start velveting the chicken with baking soda first (step 1), then prep the rest of the ingredients.
Try these other veggies—add them with the snap peas: shredded carrot, thinly sliced bell peppers, thinly sliced zucchini or yellow squash, snow peas, steamed or boiled broccoli, fresh or frozen peas, corn, sliced mushrooms.

Nutrition

Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 1115mg | Potassium: 607mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 740IU | Vitamin C: 43.4mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2.1mg

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

JJStryder

Wednesday 19th of April 2023

That "velveting" was a great tip. Using it with all chicken stir-fry recipes. Does it work with steak or whole boneless skinless chicken parts?

Stephen C Wren

Tuesday 23rd of March 2021

Excellent and simple. I used pepper, onions and jalepinos instead of peas. It was easy to make and the velvetting technique made the chicken tender. Super good.

kbaby

Tuesday 18th of August 2020

This turned out outstanding ? Thank you so much?

Rebecca

Sunday 28th of June 2020

This was delicious! My family loved it. I substituted asparagus for the snap peas since that was what I had on hand. Will definitely make this again.

Diana H.

Friday 26th of June 2020

It was fabulous!! We all loved it. And so easy. Diana H. Bellevue, WA

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.