We love chicken stir fry in this house but it does tend to get a little boring. Chicken, onions, peppers and the same old boring spicy brow sauce is what I usually make. Not that it isn't tasty, but like I said - it can get a little boring!
If you are a fan of Panda Express, chances are you have tried their Sweet Fire Chicken. Sauteed breaded chicken, peppers and onion coated in a sweet and tangy sauce with pineapple chunks and served over rice. If you have picky eaters in the family, give this recipe a try. The sweetness of the sauce might be just the right thing to get them to eat it!
One thing that makes this chicken stir fry recipe so tasty is that the chicken is the use of cornstarch to coat the chicken pieces. Doing that give you a nice and thick breading on the chicken to really absorb the sauce. I'm not going to claim that it makes for a super-healthy dinner but it sure makes for a delicious one. You can, of course, skip the breading if you are looking to cut calories but it certainly won't be as good!
Like my Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas Recipe, this Copycat Panda Express Sweet Fire Chicken is an easy recipe that you can whip up on the fly with ingredients that you have on hand (and if you don't have the Thai Chili Sauce, it is available in the ethnic foods section of most grocery stores) so go ahead and add this to your last-minute dinner ideas file!
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- ¾ cup Flour
- 1 cup Corn Starch
- 2 Eggs beaten
For the Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- ½ Onion
- 1 ½ cup Pineapple Chunks drained
- ½ cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
To Serve
- White Rice prepared according to package directions
- 2 Green Onions
Instructions
To Cook the Chicken
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Cut chicken into roughly 1" chunks.
- Take each piece of chicken and coat in flour (shaking off excess), then dip in egg and then coat in corn starch (if needed, press the corn starch in to the chicken to make sure it sticks).
- Cook chicken in the oil, several pieces at a time until golden and crispy (about 2 minutes per side).
- Drain chicken on paper towels.
To Prepare the Rest
- Remove the seeds and top of the pepper and cut in to 1" pieces
- Cut onion into roughly 1" pieces.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Cook pepper, onion and pineapple, stirring occasionally, until tender.
- Add in chicken and chili sauce until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.
- If sauce doesn't appear thick enough, make a slurry of 2 tablespoons of corn starch and 2 tablespoons of water and add to skillet and continue stirring.
- Serve over rice and garnish with sliced green onions
