Easy Hunan Chicken – Better than Takeout!

This easy Hunan Chicken recipe is a classic Chinese stir fry dish that’s better than takeout! Loaded with fresh veggies, tender chicken, and a spicy kick, it’s always a family favorite. Ready in under 30 minutes!

I love making our favorites from our local Chinese restaurant at home like Honey Sriracha Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, or Crab Rangoon. This Hunan Chicken – with its rainbow of fresh, colorful veggies and tangy, spicy sauce – is always a hit!

The BEST Hunan Chicken – Why you’ll LOVE this Hunan Chicken recipe

• A perfectly balanced sauce – a little tangy, a little spicy, a little sweet
• Lots of fresh, colorful veggies that are tender-crisp and not soggy
• Tender, juicy bites of chicken
• Control the spice level by adding as much chili paste as you like
• Quick and easy without a long list of ingredients
• Made with ingredients easily found in your local supermarket
• Simple, fuss-free cooking method
• Ready in under 30 minutes
• A healthy meal your family will love

What is Hunan Chicken?

Chinese Hunan chicken is a healthy, popular Chinese-American dish made with tender pieces of chicken stir fried with lots of veggies and tossed in a tangy, sweet, and spicy sauce. The original dish hails from the Hunan province of China is traditionally hot, spicy and loaded with chilies. Chinese restaurants toned down the heat to suit the American palate so that it’s sweeter and milder. In this recipe, you can control the spice level by adding as much chili paste as you like.

Easy Chinese Stir Fry Recipe

Chicken Hunan style is the perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner or a fun meal to share with friends. It’s ready in under 30 minutes and can be made as mild or spicy as you like it.

You can cut the chicken into bite sized chunks or in thin slices. I like bite sized chunks because they all fit into my pan at one time. They’re cooked so fast that the chicken stays juicy and gets a little crispy on the outside.

If you want to cut the chicken into thin slices, putting the chicken breasts into the freezer for about a half an hour before slicing makes it easier to get them very thin.

What’s in Hunan Chicken

Hunan Chicken ingredients include:

• Chicken – skinless and boneless. I’ve used breasts but you can also use thighs.
• Cornstarch – to get a crispy coating on the chicken and to thicken the sauce.
• Fresh veggies – I’ve used broccoli, baby corn, and red pepper. There’s a list for you below with ideas for other veggies you can use to customize your own Hunan chicken.
• Garlic and ginger
• Hunan Sauce – see below

What’s in Chinese Hunan Sauce

Hunan Sauce is a classic Chinese stir fry sauce that’s a little spicy, a little tangy, and a little sweet. It contains:

• soy sauce
• oyster sauce
• rice wine vinegar
• honey (or sugar)
• Sambal Oelek chili paste
• Chicken broth
• cornstarch
• optional: DoubanJiang (spicy chili bean sauce)

DoubanJiang (Toban Djan)

DoubanJiang is a spicy chili bean sauce that gives Hunan Chicken its characteristic savory, spicy, salty flavor. It’s made of chili paste and fermented beans, so it really packs an umami punch.

It’s optional in this recipe because the recipe is fantastic without it, and it’s an ingredient that’s less likely to be on hand. If you’d like to try it, add a tablespoon to the sauce.

Vegetables for Hunan Chicken

Use your favorite stir fry vegetables in this classic Chinese stir fry dish:

• Broccoli
• Bell pepper
• Baby corn
• Fresh chili peppers for added heat
• Mushrooms
• Bamboo shoots
• Carrots
• Zucchini
• Water chestnuts
• Snow peas
• Sugar snap peas
• Celery
• Slice red onion
• Green onion
• Asparagus
• Bok choy

How to make Hunan Chicken

Make the Hunan sauce: Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.

Lightly dust the chicken with cornstarch then stir fry in a hot skillet or wok until the chicken is just done on the inside and starting to turn golden brown on the outside.

NOTE: Chicken that is cut in thin slices won’t have a chance to turn as golden on the outside before it’s cooked through on the inside. That’s ok, don’t overcook!

Remove the chicken from the pan, add a little oil, then add the garlic and ginger. Stir fry for about 5 seconds then add the veggies. You don’t want the garlic and ginger to brown, however, you put it in the pan before the veggies because you don’t want to overcook them.

When the veggies are half way to tender crisp (about a minute for baby corn, red bell pepper, and broccoli), add the Hunan sauce. It should bubble up and thicken pretty quickly, about a minute or two. Turn off the heat, stir in the chicken, and serve.

What does Hunan Chicken taste like?

This slightly spicy Hunan Chicken Chinese stir fry has a mildly spicy, tangy, and lightly sweet flavor that is perfectly balanced. The oyster sauce and soy sauce give it a rich umami, Asian flavor. Sambal oelek gives the sauce it’s spicy, garlicy flavor. The garlic and ginger round out the flavors. Using DoubanJiang (spicy chili bean sauce) gives it a unique, spicy fermented flavor.

It’s easy to adjust the heat to make it as mild or as spicy as you like.

Classic Chinese Chicken Stir Fry Variations

Hunan Chicken is easy to adapt to your own taste and what you have on hand:

• Increase or decrease the heat by using more or less chili paste
• Use your favorite stir fry vegetables
• Add some whole dried red chilies if you like it spicy
• Add a spoon of Doubanjiang (a spicy chili bean paste used to create an extra dimension of savory, sour, salty, and spicy flavor) or use it in place of the sambal oelek.
• Use thinly sliced chicken or bite sized chunks

Tips for the BEST Hunan Chicken

*Tender crisp veggies – The texture of the vegetables can make or break this dish. When stir frying the veggies, only cook them to about half way to their desired doneness, they will continue to cook and soften when the sauce is added.

For me, this is about 1 minute of stir frying. If they are already too soft from the stir frying, they will turn mushy and soggy.

The beauty of this dish is the colorful, fresh vegetables. Overcooking them also dulls their color. Put the veggies in the pan according to how long they take to cook. The veggies that take the longest go in first. I always put the broccoli in last because it’s the easiest to dull in color and turn mushy.

*Tender, juicy chicken – The chicken is lightly dusted in cornstarch, then pan-fried until done. Use a hot pan so that the chicken gets a bit of golden color on the outside by the time it’s done on the inside.

I use organic chicken from my local butcher so it’s always very tender and stays tender even if cut into bite sized chunks. If your chicken is tough, consider slicing it thinly across the grain. Freezing the chicken breasts for about a half an hour makes it easier to get very thin slices.

For even more tender chicken, consider velveting.

Velveting chicken

Ever notice how chicken in Chinese restaurants is incredibly tender? One easy method of velveting chicken is to toss 1 pound of chicken with 1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda. Let it marinate for 20 minutes, then rinse off, pat dry, and continue with the recipe.

How to serve Hunan Chicken

Serve Hunan Chicken with steamed white rice, fried rice, or a noodle dish.

FAQ

Hunan Chicken vs Szechuan Chicken

Hunan cuisine, also known as Xiang cuisine, belongs to the region near the Xiang river, Dongting Lake, and the western Hunan province. Szechuan cuisine belongs to the Sichuan or Szechuan province located in southwestern China.

Both cuisines are known to be spicy. While both cuisines use lots of chilies, Szechuan cuisine uses Sichuan peppercorns, which add aromatic hints of citrus along with tingly numbness to your mouth. Szechuan cuisine also heavier on the garlic and onion flavors.

While Hunan Chicken has lots of veggies, Szechuan Chicken is often fried and gets its crunch from nuts such as peanuts or cashews.  

Hunan Chicken vs General Tso’s Chicken?

Hunan Chicken is dusted in cornstarch and stir fried or lightly pan fried while General Tso’s Chicken is battered and deep fried.  General Tso’s Chicken is mildly spicy and sweeter than Hunan Chicken. General Tso’s Chicken also does not contain any vegetables while Hunan Style Chicken has a generous amount.

Hunan Chicken vs Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken is sweeter and less tangy than Hunan style chicken.  While Hunan chicken has lots of veggies, peanuts add crunch and give a nutty flavor to General Tso’s Chicken. 

More favorite Asian recipes:

• Honey Sriracha Chicken
• Better Than Takeout Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Crab Rangoon
• Honey Sriracha Chicken Breasts

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