It’s spicy and it’s saucy and it’s pretty freaking easy to make too! You’ve maybe figured out (if this isn’t your first visit to the Humble Housewife. If it is… welcome!) that we love us some food with flavor. I’m not shy with seasoning and I certainly love to bring the heat!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you make a purchase using one of these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This recipe really only has two parts… 1) the chicken and 2) the sauce.
We’ll start by prepping the sauce.
Firecracker Sauce
Add hot sauce, dark brown sugar, salt, garlic, and red pepper flakes to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
In a seperate cup, mix 1 teaspoons of corn starch with 1 tablespoon of water.
Add the cornstarch slurry to the saucepan and allow the sauce to thicken, then remove from heat.
Save half of the sauce for serving and we’ll use the rest to coat the chicken!
Chicken Prep
Warning: I like to cook chicken in phases… where it’s seared in a pan and then baked in the oven. It’s an extra step but makes a big difference when cooking your chicken. It spends less time in the oven, and the sear helps keep the juices in.
Place the chicken breasts in a ziploc bag and pound until they’re an even thickness. Season both sides with a little bit of salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Sear chicken for 2 minutes on each side. The chicken won’t be cooked through, but we’ll finish that in the oven.
Drop chicken breasts into the firecracker sauce and flip to coat all sides. Place the coated chicken on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake chicken for 10 minutes.
Remove chicken from oven and baste with additional firecracker sauce. Return to the oven for 10 additional minutes, or until internal temperature is 165 degrees.
This is my favorite meat thermometer!
Make a meal of it!
I served our firecracker chicken with broccoli and sneaky rice (half jasmine rice or brown rice, half cauliflower rice) with extra sauce drizzled over the plate, then topped with sliced green onions and sesame seeds for a touch of ‘fancy.’
I made little rice stacks with the sneaky rice and the kiddos loved it! They never would have guessed it was packed with veggies!
Firecracker Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp corn starch
Firecracker Sauce
- 1 cup hot sauce Franks Original Hot Sauce
- 2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat over to 400°.
- Add hot sauce, dark brown sugar, salt, garlic, and red pepper flakes to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- In a seperate cup, mix 1 teaspoons of corn starch with 1 tablespoon of water. Add the cornstarch slurry to the saucepan and allow the sauce to thicken. Remove from heat.
- Reserve half of the firecracker sauce for serving.
- Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness, if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat a skillet with oil over medium/high heat.
- Sear chicken for 2 minutes on each side.
- Dunk the seared chicken breasts into the saucepan with half of the firecracker sauce to completely cover.
- Place chicken on a baking sheet lined with parmchement paper and bake for 20 minutes, basting with additional sauce halfway through.
- Chicken is done when its internal temperature is 165°.
Recipe adapted from Little Spice Jar.
Leave a Reply