Bring the heat with this ground chicken in a spicy firecracker sauce! Serve up firecracker chicken bowls with steamed broccoli and sneaky rice for a delicious and healthy dinner in less than 20 minutes.
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What is firecracker sauce?
Firecracker sauce is usually a combination of brown sugar, buffalo sauce and apple cider vinegar. It’s great on chicken and shrimp and there are so many variations you can make of this sauce depending on your desired heat level.
The firecracker sauce will cook down to a thick and syrupy coating for whatever protein you are making with it.
How to make firecracker sauce:
Whisk together brown sugar, rice vinegar, Frank’s Red Hot original buffalo sauce, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes.
You can substitute a different buffalo sauce if you have one on hand, or use apple cider vinegar in place of rice vinegar.
I keep squeeze bottles of minced garlic and ginger in the fridge to make things easy.
If garlic or ginger is a main flavor in your dish it’s best to buy fresh and mince/slice/grate it yourself, but for this quick and easy firecracker ground chicken recipe you’ll be just fine with these!
If you want to tone down the heat of your firecracker sauce you can exclude the crushed red pepper flakes and replace the hot sauce with a mild version.
Ground chicken or ground chicken breast?
Both ground chicken and ground chicken breasts are lean and high in protein that can be used in a ton of recipes! You can use them in just about anything in place of ground beef, turkey or pork.
Ground chicken breasts have less fat and fewer calories than ground chicken, but isn’t as tender or flavorful.
Can’t make up your mind? Use one of each.
How to cook ground chicken:
Heat chili oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Season your ground chicken with salt and pepper. Don’t break your chicken up right away. Let it sear for 2-3 minutes on each side before crumbling.
Add whites of green onions to the ground chicken as it cooks.
When chicken is fully cooked, reduce heat and add firecracker sauce. Simmer 3-5 minutes until sauce thickens and coats the ground chicken.
How to serve firecracker ground chicken:
Firecracker ground chicken is an easy weeknight dinner ingredient. Keep your meals simple by creating rice bowls with steamed broccoli and sneaky rice – both can even be done in the microwave! Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
Sneaky rice: half jasmine or brown rice and half riced cauliflower. I serve this just about every time we have rice. It’s a great way to sneak some extra veggies into your diet without sacrificing the texture and flavor of rice completely. Top off with a bit of butter for good measure 😉
You can also use your firecracker ground chicken in lettuce wraps as a light lunch or appetizer. Put a few tablespoons in a leaf of Bibb or iceberg lettuce and wrap ’em up!
Share your favorite way to enjoy firecracker ground chicken by commenting below.
Firecracker Ground Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground chicken
- 3 green onions sliced – green and white separated
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup Frank's Red Hot Original
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1½ tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp chili oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat chili oil in skillet over medium high heat.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add to heated skillet and sear each side for 2-3 minutes before crumbling. Add the whites of green onions.
- In a small bowl combine brown sugar, Frank's Red Hot Original, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar and crushed red pepper flakes.
- When chicken is fully cooked, reduce heat and add firecracker sauce. Simmer 3-5 minutes.
- Serve topped with remaining green onions.
Recipe adapted from Kinda Healthy Recipes.
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