Crispy Honey Chicken (Chinese Take Away Recipe)

If you are looking for a quick, but extremely flavoursome dinner recipe, look no further! Our easy Crispy Honey Chicken recipe comes together in under 20 minutes and is a real crowd-pleaser! Served on a bed of fluffy rice, this sticky, sweet and spicy fried chicken is a great substitute for a pricey takeaway, and you will make it quicker than your takeaway would have arrived! Equally delicious made with tofu if you are looking for a vegetarian option!

I’ll tell you what I love for dinner most of all! That’s right, a good Chinese takeaway, be it classic Salt & Pepper Chicken, Crispy Chilli Beef or our new favourite Tofu Kung Pao. There is one thing that is common to all these dishes – crispy coating! Try replicating your own favourite Chinese takeaway recipes at home – so much healthier and even more delicious!

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Perfect Weeknight Meal

Being one of the quickest and most delicious meals is not the only benefit of this dish. Yes, it may not be a healthy option for dinner, but the good thing is, you may not need a dessert after this Honey Chicken meal. 

If you’ve ever had Crispy Shredded Chicken in Honey sauce in any of the Chinese Restaurants or ordered it from your local takeaway, you will probably know how sweet the dish can be. Yes, it’s sweet! And whilst some people frown upon so much sweetness in a savoury dish, we love it! However, our sweet honey sauce is made deliberately a little bit less sweet. We added the juice of one orange to introduce a little bit of sourness to the sweet sauce, which makes it a little lighter and with a bit of extra flavour (a perfect balance of sweet and sour, in our opinion). 

Love citrus crispy chicken? Try Chinese-Style Lemon Chicken or Crispy Lime Chicken next!

Overall, it is an easy recipe that will please the whole family and satisfy your cravings for Chinese takeout flavours! 

If you are looking for more ideas, visit our article on Top 10 Best Chinese Fakeaway Recipes, that includes the following: 

Ingredients and Substitutes

Here’s what you’ll need to make Honey Orange Chicken. Find the quantities and full instructions on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

• chicken breast: boneless and skinless chicken breasts. It can be substituted with boneless skinless chicken thighs or even thinly sliced sirloin steak.
• cornflour: also known as corn starch.
• honey: clear runny honey will work best. 
• soy sauce: both light and dark soy sauce will work in this crispy honey chicken recipe. If you are looking for a gluten-free option, use tamari. 
• garlic cloves.
• orange: only orange juice will be used, and we highly recommend using freshly squeezed orange juice. 
• red chilli flakes: can be replaced with fresh red chili pepper, if you wish. 
• sesame seeds: for topping. 
• spring onion: also known as green onions. 
• long-grain rice: to serve. If you don’t have any white rice, brown rice will work well too, but it is more filling, so you may want to adjust the quantity. 

We tried to make this recipe as easy as possible and only included the main must-add ingredients, but if you are looking to add even more flavour to your dish, add a tablespoon of sesame oil and a tablespoon of rice vinegar to the sauce. 

If you’re looking to make a hot honey sauce, add a teaspoon of sriracha sauce or a generous pinch of red pepper flakes. To add more spice to the dish, you can also mix in a teaspoon of chili powder into the cornflour coating for the chicken. Similarly, you can add some crunchy vegetables, like stir-fried red pepper and carrots alongside the chicken for extra nutrition. 

How to Make Sure Your Chicken is Crispy?

One of the main elements of this dish is CRISPY chicken. There are a few tips and tricks to achieve the best results without having to resort to deep-frying: 

• Don’t be stingy with cornflour if you want a crispy texture. 
• Make sure every single bit of chicken is coated in cornflour before it hits the pan. 
• Whilst we are shallow frying the chicken in this recipe, make sure the bottom of the pan is fully covered with oil and it is hot before you add the chicken. 
• Use a large frying pan, so that the chicken strips are spaced out and have space to crisp up, rather than stew in steam.
• When you’re adding the chicken to the pan, add them bit by bit, ensuring the strips don’t clump together. 
• Fry the chicken quickly on high heat. Don’t let it stew and absorb the oil. 
• Once cooked, add the chicken to the sticky honey sauce only long enough to cover it all, don’t let it sit in the sauce for longer than 2 minutes, or you will lose most of the crispiness. 

Method

1. Prepare the chicken. Cut the chicken breast into strips (about 1 cm thick). Mix 2-3 tablespoon of cornflour with a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Put the chicken in the corn flour mixture and mix well to cover.

2. Cook the rice. Cook rice following the instructions on a packet.

3. Fry the chicken. Heat 3 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan (large skillet) on medium heat. Tap excess flour off and add the pieces of chicken to hot oil and fry for approx. 10 minutes until the exterior of the chicken is golden brown and crispy. Take it out of the pan using a slotted spoon. If they look oily, place them on a plate lined with a sheet of paper towel. 

4. Make the savory honey sauce. Chop up the garlic cloves very finely. Squeeze all the juice from one small orange. Place all sauce ingredients (honey, soy sauce, garlic, chilli flakes and juice of an orange) in a medium sauce pan on low heat. Stir to combine. Mix the remaining cornflour with two tablespoon of water, then add this cornstarch slurry to your honey chicken sauce and stir to combine. Heat until the sauce thickens.

5. Garnish and serve. Slice the spring onion thinly on the diagonal for the garnish. Add the cooked chicken pieces to the sauce and mix to coat. Serve your Chinese Crispy Honey Chicken on a bed of white rice with sesame seeds and spring onion scattered on top.

Watch How To Make It

What To Serve With Crispy Honey Chicken?

For an easy dinner option, simply serve the chicken with sweet honey glaze on a bed of white rice or noodles. But if you want some delicious side dishes, look no further than Griddled Pak Choi, or Asian Broccoli Salad. Alternatively, try Korean-style Cucumber Salad – this spicy salad goes very well with the honey flavor in the chicken. 

Chinese Crispy Honey Chicken

If you are looking for a quick, but extremely flavoursome dinner recipe, look no further! Our quick and easy Honey Chicken recipe comes together in under 20 minutes and is a real crowd pleaser! Served on a bed of fluffy rice, this sticky, sweet and spicy chicken is a great substitute for a pricey takeaway, and you will make it quicker than your takeaway would have arrived! Equally delicious made with tofu, if you are looking for a vegetarian option!

5 from 12 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 2 portions

Calories 619 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 250 g chicken breast cut into strips
• 3 -4 tbsp cornflour
• 3 tablespoon runny honey
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic chopped finely
• 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1 spring onion sliced
• 180 g long-grain rice

Instructions

 

• Mix 2-3 tablespoon of cornflour with a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Put the chicken in the cornflour and mix well to cover.
• Cook rice following instructions on a packet.
• Heat 3 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Add the chicken and fry for approx. 10 minutes until the chicken is golden brown, crispy and cooked through (see tips above on how to get your chicken crispy).
• In the meantime, make the sauce. Place honey, soy sauce, garlic, chilli flakes and juice of an orange in a medium pan on low heat. Stir to combine. Mix the remaining cornflour with two tablespoon of water, then add this mixture to your sauce and stir to combine. Heat until the sauce thickens.
• Once the chicken in cooked, add it to the sauce and mix to coat the chicken.
• Serve on a bed of rice with sesame seeds and spring onion scaterred on top.

Video

Notes

Serve Crispy Honey Chicken immediately – storing it for later will make the coating lose its crispiness. 

Nutrition

Calories: 619kcalCarbohydrates: 113gProtein: 31gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 155mgPotassium: 704mgFiber: 4gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 538IUVitamin C: 38mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 2mg

Keyword Chinese Fakeaway, Chinese Takaway Recipes, Crispy Chicken Fakeaway, Crispy Chicken with Honey Sauce, Crispy Honey Chicken, Homemade Chinese Takeaway, Homemade HOney Chciken, Homemade Honey Chicken Recipe, Honey CHicken, Honey Chicken Fakeaway, Honey Chicken Recipe, Quick Honey Chicken

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