Sweet Thai Chili Chicken Stir Fry turns vegetables and chicken breast into something magical. Fast and flavorful, the sweet chili sauce for chicken has a spiciness that’s not too overpowering but can easily be kicked up a bit with the addition of red chili flakes. This crispy chicken stir fry cooks fast for a simple weeknight dinner and stores well for a tasty make ahead meal or easy lunch option.
Chinese chicken and green beans is a flavorful dish that’s far from ordinary. It’s the perfect make-at-home alternative to your favorite restaurant-style sweet Thai chili chicken stir fry and can be customized with your favorite vegetables.
If you like spicy chicken recipes, try my Sweet and Spicy Asian Chicken, Spicy Sriracha Chicken or Spicy Cashew Chicken Recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Crispy Chicken Stir Fry
- It’s loaded with veggies. Fresh green beans and two colors of bell pepper add color and goodness, but they are just the beginning. Add your favorite veggies to make this dish shine.
- It’s sweet and spicy. The flavorful sweet chili sauce for chicken is just the right amount of sweetness and heat to tantalize your tastebuds.
- It’s perfect for making ahead. Chinese chicken and green beans reheats exceptionally well, so it’s the ideal make ahead recipe for a quick dinner later in the week or reheat the leftover for a lunch option that’s anything but boring.
Chicken Stir Fry Ingredients
- Chicken: use chicken breasts, cut into cubes.
- Seasonings: salt and ground black pepper season the chicken.
- Cornstarch: to coat the chicken and make it crispy.
- Oil: use olive oil or your favorite light, neutral-flavored oil, divided.
- Garlic: use freshly minced garlic.
- Vegetables: red and yellow bell peppers and fresh green beans add lots of goodness to this dish.
- Sweet Heat: a combination of sweet chili sauce and crushed red chili flakes give this chicken stirfry a sweet and spicy flavor.
- Garnish: sesame seeds and chopped chives are used for garnish.
How To Make Sweet Thai Chili Chicken Stir Fry
- Season and coat the chicken. In a bowl, combine chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and stir until the chicken is coated.
- Stir fry the chicken. Heat a deep skillet on a medium flame, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add in the chicken pieces. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside.
- Saute the garlic and veggies. To the same skillet, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet and add the minced garlic. Cook for a minute. Add in the veggies; bell peppers and green beans. Saute for 6-8 minutes until the veggies are slightly cooked.
- Prepare the sauce. Stir the chicken back into the skillet along with the sweet chili sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is coated with the sauce.
- Garnish and serve. Finally, add the crushed chili flakes and sesame seeds, toss it. Garnish the chicken stir fry with chives and serve it on a bed of rice.
Tips To Make Chinese Chicken and Greenbeans
- Prep the chicken and veggies before you start cooking. Once you get going, everything comes together quickly.
- Want more veggies? Add mushrooms, sliced carrots, broccoli, zucchini and more!
- Let the pan get really hot before adding the chicken. After the chicken is cooked, give the pan a few minutes to heat back up before stir-frying the vegetables.
- While fresh green beans are preferred, you can use frozen or even canned green beans in a pinch. Canned beans will be much softer.
- Substitute the chicken with steak, shrimp or tofu.
- Bring the chicken to room temperature for 20-30 minutes before stirfrying for more even cooking.
- Cut the chicken into similar sized cubes.
- Stir fry the veggies to the desired level of tenderness.
- To make this dish spicier, add more red pepper flakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
We always have chicken breast on hand, but you can certainly use other chicken cuts. Cubed chicken tenderloins or cubed boneless, skinless chicken thighs would also be tasty.
Thai sweet chili sauce, known as nam chim kai in Thailand, is a sweet and sour and slightly spicy condiment often used as a topping, dip or stir fry sauce.
This recipe is perfect for making ahead. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet or microwave until warmed through. Add a tablespoon of water if the sauce becomes too sticky.
Cool and transfer to a freezer-safe container and store for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight and reheat in a skillet or the microwave until warmed through.
Serve this crispy chicken stir fry with jasmine rice, brown rice or cauliflower rice. You can also serve it over a bed of lettuce for a warm and delicious salad.
More Stir Fry Recipes
- Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry
- Teriyaki Salmon Stir Fry
- Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Sweet and Spicy Shrimp Stir Fry
- Pepper Steak Stir Fry
- Soy Marinated Flank Steak Stir-Fry
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Sweet Thai Chili Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb chicken breasts cut into cubes
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 bell peppers red and yellow , thinly sliced
- 12-15 stems fresh green beans cut into halves
- 1 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
- 2 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
Instructions
- In a bowl combine chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and stir until the chicken is coated.
- Heat a deep skillet on a medium flame, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the oil is heated add in the chicken pieces. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside.
- To the same skillet add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet and add the minced garlic. Cook for a minute.
- Add in the veggies; bell peppers and green beans. Saute for 6-8 minutes until the veggies are slightly cooked.
- Stir the chicken back into the skillet along with the sweet chili sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is coated with the sauce.
- Finally add the crushed chili flakes and sesame seeds, toss it.
- Garnish the chicken stir fry with chives and serve it on a bed of rice.
Video
Notes
- Prep the chicken and veggies before you start cooking. Once you get going, everything comes together quickly.
- Want more veggies? Add mushrooms, sliced carrots, broccoli, zucchini and more!
- Let the pan get really hot before adding the chicken. After the chicken is cooked, give the pan a few minutes to heat back up before stir-frying the vegetables.
- While fresh green beans are preferred, you can use frozen or even canned green beans in a pinch. Canned beans will be much softer.
- Substitute the chicken with steak, shrimp or tofu.
- Bring the chicken to room temperature for 20-30 minutes before stirfrying for more even cooking.
- Cut the chicken into similar sized cubes.
- Stir fry the veggies to the desired level of tenderness.
- To make this dish spicier, add more red pepper flakes.
This recipe was great added a tiny bit of nutmeg and some butter with the olive oil for veggies skipped on the red pepper flakes(spicy enough with my Thai sweet chili sauce) when done let it sit for a bit to marinate in all of it and then served over white rice with a beautiful sunny side egg on top and it was perfect boyfriend loved it and said it was definitely a keeper will definitely be making over and over again! Thanks for the great inspiration will definitely add more veggies next time to change it up like zucchini and squash and maybe some mushrooms.
Thanks for leaving a review. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Is the chicken suppose to be crispy? Cause I had to cook mine much longer that stated so that it would be.
No not really, they are not crispy. Just a small coat of flour on the outside. For their size it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to deep fry plus they get more cooking time later on.
Very easy and very tasty! Delicious
Thanks David. I am glad you enjoyed it!
Instead of sesame seeds, used cilantro with scallions. My partner loved this dish.
Thanks for the review! Glad you liked it.