Sweet And Tangy Bourbon Chicken Recipe

If you have a hankering for weeknight takeout, put that Chinese restaurant menu down and try this delicious and surprisingly easy sweet and tangy bourbon chicken recipe from food stylist and recipe developer Michelle McGlinn. This is a mildly spicy, sticky, and sweet fusion recipe that comes together in under half an hour and tastes absolutely delicious.

Bourbon chicken originally got its name from Bourbon Street New Orleans' French Quarter and didn't originally contain bourbon whiskey. While most versions of this recipe stick with a strictly Chinese takeout interpretation, McGlinn added smoked paprika and cayenne pepper as a nod to the dish's Louisiana roots. "My favorite thing about this particular recipe [are] the Cajun spices — they give it a pleasant, fiery heat that goes really well with the otherwise sweet and sticky sauce," McGlinn says. "You can add more if you prefer hotter food, but the recipe is designed to be just above mild."

For this recipe, you'll need chicken tenderloins or breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes. You'll also need soy sauce, brown sugar, ground ginger, cornstarch, a sliced green onion, salt, honey, a Spanish onion, cooking oil, and rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. And of course, you'll need those special ingredients, the cayenne pepper and paprika. "I added cayenne and paprika to give the chicken a spicy Cajun flair under the sweet bourbon sauce," McGlinn says. "You can use regular paprika, but I highly recommend using smoked paprika for a smoky flavor. It pairs so well with bourbon!"

As this is bourbon chicken, you'll also definitely need some bourbon. McGlinn uses Benchmark bourbon for this recipe and recommends using an affordable bourbon that you like to make this dish, saying, "I would not use an expensive bourbon to cook with as you will be using quite a bit and imparting just the flavor — not the alcohol content — so it is wise to pick something you enjoy taste-wise for a good price."

Toss the chicken pieces with salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Set the chicken aside. 

Whisk the soy sauce, brown sugar, ground ginger, vinegar, and honey until they are fully combined. Set the soy sauce mixture aside. 

Whisk the cornstarch and water together until they are fully combined, and set the cornstarch slurry aside as well.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and add the onions to the wok. Cook the onions until they begin to soften, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the chicken to the wok and toss occasionally until it's cooked through. 

Remove the chicken from the wok with a slotted spatula, making sure to leave as much onion and garlic in the wok as possible. Set the chicken aside.

Reduce the heat in the wok to a simmer and add the bourbon. Deglaze the wok with alcohol, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the wok. If it feels a little strange having to deglaze around diced onion, McGlinn says that there's a reason to leave the onions behind. "Keeping the onion pieces in the wok while you reduce the bourbon quick-caramelizes them using the sugars from the bourbon," she says.

Once the liquid has reduced by half, add the soy sauce mixture and stir well. Then, add the cornstarch slurry and bring the pan to a simmer.

Stir the sauce as it continues to thicken — the sauce will thicken quickly once the cornstarch is heated through. Once that happens, remove the wok from the heat and toss the chicken into the sauce. Be careful, though — according to McGlinn, it's easy to make this sauce too thick. "As soon as you notice the sauce thickening, remove the wok from the heat and toss in the chicken — it will all come together in the wok's residual heat," she says. "You'll know when it is thickening because it will begin to bubble and 'tighten' into a thick sauce."

That's it! Your bourbon chicken is done and ready to eat. McGlinn suggests serving it topped with sliced green onion and with a side of rice, but you could also try topping it with red pepper flakes or sesame seeds. "You can keep this for 3-5 days in the refrigerator and you can store it in the same container as the rice! It makes for a great meal prep option," McGlinn says. This bourbon chicken should last, in an airtight container without rice, for up to 6 months in the freezer.