Spicy Asian Chicken
Spicy Asian Chicken is easy enough to make on a work night and this tasty low-carb chicken dish is delicious served with cauliflower rice. And you can make this recipe as spicy or mild as your family prefers!
Pin this Spicy Asian Chicken to make it later!
Today I’m reminding you about this absolutely delicious Spicy Asian Chicken that I think is perfect for a spring dinner idea! And something like Roasted Asparagus with Soy-Sesame Glaze would be a tasty side dish for this chicken if you’re feeling the asparagus love this time of year.
My niece Kara and I experimented with several variations of this recipe, and this version was the winner! It’s made with strips of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a sauce with Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves (affiliate link), gluten-free soy sauce (affiliate link), rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic puree, ginger puree, Chili Garlic Sauce (affiliate link), and Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice.
The sugar-free apricot preserves we used contain Splenda, but no worries if you don’t want artificial sweeteners, just look for no-sugar-added apricot preserves instead. That change will make a sauce that’s slightly higher in sugar, but still pretty carb-conscious for this kind of sauce.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- peanut oil (or use the oil of your choice)
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- toasted sesame seeds (affiliate link), for garnish (optional)
- Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves (affiliate link)
- Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link)
- rice vinegar (not sweetened)
- sesame oil (affiliate link)
- garlic puree (from a jar)
- ginger puree (in a jar)
- Chili Garlic Sauce (affiliate link)
- Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link)
What gives this Spicy Asian Chicken the Asian flavors?
We’re not claiming this is an authentic Asian dish, but there are plenty of Asian flavors from soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, chili garlic sauce, and sesame seeds. And if you’re experienced at making stir-fry recipes, you might want to cut the chicken pieces a little smaller and cook this in a wok. That version will be delicious as well!
How spicy is this Spicy Asian Chicken?
Maybe we should have called this recipe Just Barely Spicy Asian Chicken because the sauce is slightly sweet but still relatively low in sugar, and just spicy enough to be interesting. And of course you can use more or less Chili Garlic Sauce to make it as spicy or mild as you prefer.
Can you use chicken thighs for this Asian chicken recipe?
You can definitely use boneless, skinless chicken thighs to make this recipe if you don’t mind a bit more trimming.
How to Make Spicy Asian Chicken:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Whisk together the sauce ingredients.
- Trim chicken breasts and then cut each breast crosswise into about 5 or 6 pieces.
- Heat the oil in a 12 inch frying pan; I used my favorite Green Pan (affiliate link) for this.
- When the oil is hot, brown the chicken briefly on one side, seasoning with salt and pepper.
- When chicken pieces are barely brown, turn them over, pour in the sauce, and cook on medium low (turning a few times) until the chicken is cooked through and glazed with sauce.
- Cook chicken just until it’s barely cooked through; do not overcook.
- Serve hot.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
Spicy Asian Chicken would be delicious with rice or Cauliflower Rice on the side if desired. Stir-fried vegetables like broccolini or sugar snap peas or Spicy Cilantro Peanut Slaw would also be great with this.
More Spicy Chicken or Turkey Recipes:
- Sweet and Spicy Baked Sriracha Chicken
- Asian Lettuce Cups with Spicy Ground Turkey
- Sriracha-Glazed Grilled Chicken Kabobs
Spicy Asian Chicken
This Spicy Asian Chicken tastes like it came from a restaurant, but it’s easy enough to make any night of the week! And you can make this Asian chicken dish as spicy or mild as you prefer.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (see notes)
- 1 T peanut oil (or use the oil of your choice)
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- toasted sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)
Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup sugar-free Apricot preserves (see notes)
- 2 TÂ gluten-free soy sauce
- 1 T rice vinegar (not sweetened)
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 1 tsp. garlic puree (from a jar)
- 1 tsp. ginger puree (in a jar)
- 1 T Chili Garlic Sauce (see notes)
- 2 T Golden Monkfruit Sweetener
Instructions
- Whisk together the sugar-free apricot preserves, gluten-free soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic puree, ginger puree, brown sugar (or sweetener), and granulated Stevia to make the sauce.
- Trim chicken pieces, removing fat and any undesirable parts. (If using thighs, I use kitchen shears to cut out the little pockets of fat on the back side.)
- Heat the oil in a 12 inch frying pan. (I used my favorite Green Pan (affiliate link), which was perfect for this.)
- When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces skin side down, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and cook over medium-high heat just until the chicken starts to brown, about 4 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium low, add the sauce, and continue to cook the chicken in the sauce, turning a few time, just until chicken pieces are cooked through and glazed with sauce, about 4-5 minutes longer. DO NOT OVERCOOK or the chicken will be tough.
- Garnish with toasted sesame seeds if desired and serve hot.
Notes
You can also make this with or use 12 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.
We used Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves, gluten-free soy sauce, and Chili Garlic Sauce for this recipe. (affiliate links) If you don’t want artificial sweetener use no-sugar-added apricot preserves, which will be just slightly higher in sugar.
Use more or less Chili Garlic Sauce to taste; this was probably too spicy for kids so reduce the spiciness if desired.
I originally made this with a mixture of sweetener and brown sugar, but now I would use Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link).
This recipe created by Kalyn and Kara, with lots of experiments that were not quite right!
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 180Total Fat 5.9gSaturated Fat 1.3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 68mgSodium 496mgCarbohydrates 8.2gFiber .2gSugar .5gProtein 25g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
When it’s made with Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves and Golden Monkfruit Sweetener, this Spicy Asian Chicken is a great dish for low-carb diets. Since it contains apricot preserves it would be limited to Phase 2 or 3 for the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Easy to Cook Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Spicy Asian Chicken recipe was first posted in 2015. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.
19 Comments on “Spicy Asian Chicken”
Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious 😋 Left out the additional sweetener and it was plenty sweet for me. Served mine over riced cauliflower and my husband’s over brown rice. Will definitely be making this again.
Thanks for the recipe !!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the tip about leaving out the sweetener. I need to try it that way.
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This was delicious! I added in some green beans and onions for a one dish meal. As I was puting away ingredients, I realized that my sugar-free “apricot” jam was peach but it was wonderful nonetheless. Sweet, spicy, savory awesomeness!
I love the idea of making it a one-dish meal; I need to try that!
I made this tonight and I had a lot of chicken which gave off a fair amount of water when I tried to fry it. In spite of this (I drained most of the water off but left a bit too much) it turned out great! I also had misplaced my Stevia so ended up using 2 T brown sugar and the dish was really good – kind of a Sweet and Sour Chicken.
So glad you enjoyed it! I hate it when the chicken releases water like that, but it usually doesn't affect the finished dish.
This looks like a dish my family would love. Thanks for the link love.
Barbara, my pleasure. I twas so good!
Thank you, everyone gets to make their own choices.
I followed your link and saw the ingredients on the chili garlic sauce. No lecture here.
This is perfect just as it is. I've got it prepped in the kitchen and we're good to go. I love the sweetness and hubs loves the hotness. Win-win.
Thanks Maureen, hope you enjoy!
This recipe has my name on it! I love the combination of sweet and hot. I'll probably add a bit more of the hot, of course…. Thanks to you and Kara for testing and tasting!
Lydia, double the hot for you! Hope you enjoy like we did.
This comment is not "honesty" it is just plain rudeness. I made it clear in the post that I realize some people won't want artificial sweeteners and offered a 100% natural alternative to that. So why the complaint? Just don't make this recipe if it doesn't appeal to you, but no need to lecture me and anyone else who like it.
The sauce sounds so yummy!
Thank you, we loved it!