Bourbon Chicken is one of our favorite easy Chinese Takeout meals to make at home on busy nights. This Bourbon Chicken Recipe is the best sweet and spicy chicken recipe, with the best bourbon chicken sauce. Even better, you can make it in minutes! So much flavor and so little fuss!
Bourbon Chicken Recipe
Bourbon Chicken is one of our favorite Chinese take out meals, so I’m really excited to be able to make it at home. This recipe includes the best bourbon chicken sauce!
Chinese takeout used to be one of my favorite go-to meals on lazy nights. When you just want some good food to eat at home on the couch while watching reality TV…this is what I went for. Bourbon Chicken with lots of rice. While ordering from a Chinese restaurant might seem easier, I finally decided to just start making it myself instead.
And you know what? Making this Bourbon Chicken recipe at home is actually easier than takeout. Crazy right? I never thought I’d see the day when cooking seemed easier than picking something up from a restaurant, but I’ve been proven wrong. Plus this recipe tastes better, and it just feels healthier. Basically, it’s just all around a better option.
Just cook up some chicken in the best bourbon chicken sauce, serve it over white rice, and enjoy. Let the lazy night of reality TV and Chinese food begin!
This Sweet & Spicy Bourbon Chicken recipe is so easy and so delicious. The perfect simple meal to eat on weeknights!
Bourbon Chicken Sauce
The real standout of this recipe is the bourbon chicken sauce. I mean, it’s not Bourbon Chicken without the sweet and spicy sauce, and that’s what we’re here for. So yes, the sauce recipe is important!
Bourbon Chicken Sauce Ingredients:
- Soy Sauce
- Cider Vinegar
- Brown Sugar
- Ketchup
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Apple Juice (or apple sauce)
- Water
- Bourbon (optional but highly recommended)
The recipe is essentially just throwing the sauce ingredients into a pan, cooking the chicken in it, and then serving with rice. So simple and so delicious!
How to Make Bourbon Chicken
This Bourbon Chicken recipe is beyond easy. There’s really nothing to it. Cook the chicken, make the sauce, let it simmer, and done! It’s a quick dinner to make, and even quicker to eat. I love making this on nights when I’m craving something delicious, but just don’t feel like cooking. Anyone can throw chicken into a skillet for 30 minutes. Plus my little secret…I serve it with minute rice to make it as easy as possible!
How to make Bourbon Chicken at home:
- Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
- Cook the chicken in a skillet, just until browned, then remove them from the pan.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the skillet and let everything cook together.
- Place the chicken back into the skillet, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and then let it simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce thickens.
When the chicken is ready, serve it over rice. If you want to save any leftover chicken, just place it all in an airtight container and refrigerate it. It will keep for a few days.
Watch the Video and Check the recipe card for details on how to make Bourbon Chicken. Enjoy!
If you like this recipe, try some of our other Asian-inspired favorites:
- Best Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken
- Honey Chicken
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
- Beef Lo Mein
Sweet and Spicy Bourbon Chicken Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 garlic clove crushed or 1 tsp. pre-minced garlic
- 1/4 t. ginger
- 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 c. apple juice or apple sauce
- 1/3 c. brown sugar
- 2 T. ketchup
- 1 T. cider vinegar
- 1/2 c. water
- 1/3 c. soy sauce or Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce
- 2 T. Bourbon opt.
- Cooked White Rice I use Minute Rice - prepared per instructions
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet.
- Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
- Remove chicken.
- Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium Heat until well mixed and dissolved.
- Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened to the desired consistency.
- Serve over hot rice.
- ENJOY!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Nutrition Information
I tried out your recipe tonight and I had the same issue with the sauce as Ashley did, it never cooked down to become a glaze it just remained soupy.
Not sure what went wrong as the only ingredient that I did not add was the burboun.
I am sorry it didn’t work out for you, Vanessa!
Delicious and easy to make. Followed as written including the bourbon. Next time will garnish with some scallions and perhaps a few red peppers (chopped).
That sounds like a fantastic idea! I’ll have to try that myself!
This is one of my favorite chicken recipes. This one looks really good.
Let me know if you like it!! Thanks for stopping by :)
Made this for dinner tonight…They all loved it…thanks for a great, ease, time saving recipe…
I tried making this for my boyfriend and we had almost no ketchup at all, the sauce came out very soupy. Could that be because of the lack of ketchup or did I do something else incorrectly?
Hey Ashley, Susie here. I’m not sure what went wrong. I think the lack of ketchup shouldn’t make a huge difference, but the sauce would be thinner without the ketchup. I would suggest substituting tomato paste and upping the brown sugar to 1/2 cup next time if you don’t have ketchup. The only other thing I wonder is if you simmered the sauce for the whole 20 minutes. If the 20 minutes wasn’t enough, it won’t hurt to cook the sauce longer until reduced to the desired consistency. I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you and encourage you to please try it again. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns. Thanks so much for visiting our blog.