Easy Bourbon Chicken

Crispy, sticky, and sweet Easy Bourbon Chicken served with broccoli and rice for a delicious "fake out take out" meal!

Have you ever had a meal that you wish you could replicate at home?   That's how I feel about Bourbon Chicken.  It's one of those dishes I've had at Asian restaurants that is bursting with flavor but every time I've tried to make it at home it just doesn't have the flavor I'm looking for.

After trying many different recipes I've finally found the one I was looking for.  This Easy Bourbon Chicken had everything I wanted.   It was sticky, it was sweet but not overpowering, had a hint of spice, and was crispy.

The original recipe I looked at made a lot of chicken.  Since it's just the three of us and I knew J wouldn't eat it I cut the recipe in half.  I also reduced the brown sugar because I find that there is almost always too much sugar in savory recipes.   There also wasn't any spice to it so I added in just a touch of chile paste which turned out to be perfect.

To start you toss the chicken with cornstarch and fry it in a pan to make it nice and crisp.  Then you start on the sauce.  I think some of the ingredients in the sauce are interesting.  I'm talking about apple juice, vinegar, and chicken broth.  However, they combine into the most delicious sauce.

Once the sauce has thickened and reduced by half I added the chicken back in along with the broccoli and red peppers.  Everything melds together in the bourbon sauce and the result is the best Bourbon Chicken I've ever made.

The chicken is super tender and gets a nice sticky coating on it while the broccoli and red peppers are cooked perfectly.  I served it over top of white rice which just absorbed all of the flavors. I can't wait to make this again!

Pro Tips and Substitutions:

• If you don't want to use bourbon in your recipe you can simply add addition apple juice in place of it.
• Add in any cut up vegetables when you add the chicken back to the sauce.   Vegetables that would work in this dish are bell peppers, onions, snow peas, or matchstick carrots.
• You could use tofu or pork in place of the chicken in this recipe.

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Easy Bourbon Chicken

Yield: serves 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Crispy, sticky, and sweet Easy Bourbon Chicken served with broccoli and rice for a delicious "fake out take out" meal!

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Ingredients

• 1 ½ lb. boneless, skinless chicken
• 3 Tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ c. water
• ⅓ c. apple juice
• 3 Tablespoons bourbon
• ¼ c. chicken broth
• ½ c. soy sauce
• ¼ c. ketchup
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ⅓ c. brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon chile paste
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 c. broccoli florets
• 1 c. red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 c. white rice

Instructions

1. Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces.
2. Combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Toss the chicken with the cornstarch mixture to coat.
3. Add the vegetable oil to a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes without stirring.
4. Flip the chicken over and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
5. Remove the chicken to a bowl.
6. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute.
7. Stir in the water, apple juice, bourbon, chicken broth, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, chile paste, and ginger. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
8. Add the chicken back into the sauce along with the broccoli and red peppers. Cook for 10 minutes or until the sauce has reduced by half and is sticky.
9. Add the remaining cornstarch to a small bowl with one tablespoon of water. Mix well then add to the pan and stir to further thicken the sauce.
10. Remove from heat and serve over top of rice.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Dinner Then Dessert