Bourbon Chicken Easy Recipe Wellplated Com

Bourbon chicken is a stir fry style recipe that features pieces of fried chicken thighs in a sweet, sticky, and savory brown sugar bourbon glaze. It tastes sweet and a little salty and tangy, similar to other popular Chinese-American dishes like General Tso Chicken and Healthy Orange Chicken. These days, you can find Bourbon chicken well beyond Bourbon street.

As the story goes, the dish was popularized in a Chinese restaurant that was located on Bourbon Street.

Bourbon chicken does actually have alcohol in the sauce, though most of it cooks off.

In keeping with the name, bourbon is used in Bourbon chicken. It helps balance the sauce and keep it from tasting too sweet.

It’s a frequent menu item at shopping mall food courts or when ordering your favorite Chinese takeout. The Bourbon chicken you find in a mall is battered, fried, and the sauce contains a hefty amount of brown sugar.

I wanted to created Bourbon chicken like the food court in taste and spirit, but I wanted mine to be lightly pan-fried instead of deep fried.I also wanted to reduce the amount of sugar in the Louisiana Bourbon chicken sauce.For example: many authentic Bourbon chicken recipes call for 1 full cup of brown sugar or more, which to me is more akin to dessert.

With the help of my reader-favorite Crock pot Bourbon Chicken recipe as a starting point, I arrived at today’s lighter Bourbon chicken recipe. The sauce is thick and sticky (one of the best parts of this dish!), the meat is fork tender and juicy, and it has enough sweetness to satisfy that food court craving, without going overboard.

How to Make Bourbon Chicken

The Bourbon chicken sauce uses sweet, salty, and acidic ingredients to achieve the right balance. Typically, it is served with rice, though you can certainly turn it into lettuce wraps, mix in sautéed vegetables (what we usually do), or serve it with a crisp salad, like this Asian Cabbage Salad.

The Ingredients

Chicken Thighs. Bourbon chicken thighs are my absolute favorite! The thigh meat stays tender, is more flavorful, and won’t dry out during cooking.

Soy Sauce. Gives the sauce a boost of umami flavor. Bourbon. This recipe’s namesake. The flavor it’s strong; rather, it helps balance the sauce. Maple Syrup. Helps make the sauce sweet, sticky, and delicious. Brown Sugar. A modest amount for additional sweetness. It also helps thicken the sauce. Apple Cider Vinegar. Adds necessary acidity. Cornstarch. Cornstarch helps the outside of the chicken brown to mimic the deep fried original, and it thickens the sauce. Green Onions. Adds color, crunch, and a mild onion flavor. Perfect for a garnish. Also could use sesame seeds and red pepper flakes for a kick!

The Directions

Storage Tips

To Store. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight storage container for up to 4 days. To Reheat. Rewarm chicken in a skillet on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave. To Freeze. Freeze leftovers in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe

Liquid Measuring Cup. You can measure and mix ingredients in this glass measuring cup.Large Skillet. Perfect for making this recipe. Could even us a wok!Measuring Spoons. This recipe has lots of ingredients to measure, and these measuring spoons are up for the job.

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