Baked Bang Bang Chicken is a crispy chicken Chinese restaurant favorite served in a delicious spicy homemade sauce, ready in 30 minutes.
We love healthy Chinese recipes like our Skinny Kung Pao Chicken, Skinny Sesame Chicken and Skinny Moo Shu Pork.
BAKED BANG BANG CHICKEN
A chicken recipe that the whole family will enjoy with a cook time that fits into a busy schedule. This version of Bang Bang Chicken is baked rather than pan fried, making it a healthier option for dinner. The nice thing about this delicious recipe is how easy it is to find sides to go with it, because it compliments so many vegetables and proteins. Also, don’t let the breading fool you, Bang Bang Chicken is healthier than fried chicken.
To start, you are going to need four different shallow bowls to put your ingredients in. Mix together the ingredients for the sauce in bowl number one, and then set it aside while you finish making the rest. Whisk the eggs with some salt and pepper in bowl number two, and start drying the chicken with a paper towel. Once they’re dry, cut the skinless chicken breasts down into bite sized pieces. Set out your all-purpose flour in bowl number three, and your breadcrumbs, onion powder and garlic powder in your fourth and last bowl.
Next, you take your boneless chicken pieces, cover them in flour and them dip them in the egg mixture. Once the chicken is coated, set it in the breadcrumbs. Make sure to flip it over so that both sides get enough of the breadcrumbs on them, and then put the chicken on a baking sheet. Spray the chicken with vegetable oil and it’s ready to go in the oven, and with a 30 minute cooking time you have a chance to whip up a tasty side dish.
WHAT IS BANG BANG SAUCE?
Sriracha, mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar are our key Bang Bang Sauce ingredients. The spicy sauce is tangy, with just a little hint of heat to it. If you aren’t a fan of hot sauce, don’t worry: this is a mild heat that won’t melt your face off. To give it a little extra kick, try adding in some red pepper.
VARIATIONS ON BANG BANG CHICKEN
If you like the sauce, next time you should try it on other kinds of protein, like Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp. Bang Bang Sauce makes meat more tender due to the vinegar, and compliments the flavors of everything from tofu to chicken thighs. You never know what new recipes you’ll come up with by experimenting with Bang Bang Sauce on any variety of dishes.
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WHY IS IT CALLED “BANG BANG?”
Bang Bang Chicken, or Bon Bon Chicken, is a beloved Chinese dish that is thought to have come from the Qing dynasty, although some chefs claim that it is even older, from the Ming dynasty. The traditional method for making it came about because of the need to butcher chicken quickly enough to justify the cost of labor. Chefs discovered that beating the chicken with a large stick or hammer broke the meat into smaller pieces that didn’t need to be cut smaller and could be served easier.
We took few shortcuts with our tenderization process (we couldn’t find a hammer). Instead, the vinegar in the sauce keeps the chicken juicy and tender.
SERVE WITH
- Peanut Noodles: This is a great way to use that extra peanut butter you have lying around. Peanut sauce is a Thai favorite, and this delicious ramen dish has only five ingredients, so it’s easy to make.
- Tofu Stir-Fry: Tofu cooked in soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine, mixed with fresh vegetables that is ready in 20 minutes. You can also try it with Thai peanut sauce.
- Crunchy Asian Lime-Peanut Slaw: Crunchy, zesty and healthy, lime-peanut slaw is a great lunch on the go.
- Potstickers: You can’t go wrong with potstickers, they go with pretty much any dish.
FINISHED TEMPERATURE
Chicken is safe to eat once the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (73.9 degrees C), according to the USDA’s website. No matter how cooked the chicken looks, you should always test the thickest part with a probe thermometer to make sure it is completely done.
HOW LONG WILL IT KEEP?
- Serve: Once you take it off the stove to serve it, don’t leave it out of the fridge for longer than two hours.
- Store: If you wrap it in an airtight container, Bang Bang Chicken will be good for three days in the fridge.
- Freeze: Don’t freeze it. Reheating frozen breading never turns out right, so you should definitely enjoy it fresh.
An easy dinner that is filling and fun, Baked Bang Bang chicken is easy to make and fun to eat.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 2 chicken breasts , boneless skinless
- 1 cup flour
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Vegetable oil spray
Instructions
- Mix the mayonnaise, Sriracha, sugar and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Cut the chicken breasts into 1” chunks.
- Place the flour into a shallow bowl.
- Mix the breadcrumbs, onion powder and garlic powder together in a shallow bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Coat the chicken with the flour, then dredge in the egg mixture, then into the panko mixture and add to a large baking sheet.
- Spray with vegetable oil spray for 2 seconds.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- While still hot, toss with the sriracha mayonnaise mixture.
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This looks super delicious! Love that it’s baked and not fried.
Thanks, Julie.
I just have a question. Do you toss it in the mayo mixture or drizzle it over it? The pic looks like a drizzle but recipe says toss.
Toss it, I just drizzled a bit extra on for flair for the photos.
It is so cool when you can mimic a restaurant dish at home and do it well. This bang bang chicken is to die for! I have tried it with shrimp and it is good too.
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Easy to make. I made one pan of chicken and one of shrimp. My husband is a kinda picky eater, but he loved it! I had the sauce on the side, and dipped into it.
I’m totally sold! I love bang bang chicken, but hate deep frying, so definitely will give this baked version a try.
So much easier without losing any of the flavor.
Can’t wait to try this!
I hope you enjoy it!
Yum! I love how you were still able to get that delicious, crisp coating even through baking. And it comes together so easily too!
Easy peasy!
Is this spicy ?
It’s got a mild heat to it, but also tangy. If you want more heat, I would add some cayenne pepper to taste.
Hi Sabrina, Can’t wait to make this one! One question, what would be the weight of two chicken breasts? A pound or more as it makes 6 servings?
Yes that’s correct, a pack of 2 breasts is 1lb or just a bit more.
Made this for the women in the house…. used my Air fryer instead of baking. Ladies loved it!
Awesome to hear! I’ll need to try it out in the Air Fryer – I know it’s a great tool!
I was wondering about the temperature and length of time for cooking it in the air fryer. Any insight?
I haven’t tried this yet but I might try this in the Ninja Foodi. Looks amazing.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Does it have to be rice vinegar ?
I’m so sorry this got caught in my spam filter. No it does not have to be, but the flavor will be more authentic. If you need to swap, use apple cider if you can. The bit of sweetness helps.
This was really good! I’ve never had bang bang chicken or shrimp but always hear about how amazing it is! With a house full of kids we don’t make it out to eat often so I loved that I could recreate Asian cuisine at home for them. It was a tad spicy but we love spicy stuff.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Can I try this in a ninja foodi?
Delicious!
Thank you!
It was delicious! I needed an extra egg and ended up not having enough sauce for my chicken but it made enough for 3 people (2 men so their portions were a little bigger!) and I just saved the extra chicken for salads. It was so good and I’ll definitely be making it again! Thank you!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
This turned out amazing! Will definitely be making it again soon.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the review!
What is the calorie count for each serving?
Good recipe, not as difficult as it may seem when you review it. I used half of the flour and still had plenty. I will add chopped cilantro to the sauce next time. Might be good with gochujang paste substituted for sriracha too. I made it in a countertop smart oven and the last 5 minutes were on broil setting for color.
Instead of baking could you cook these in an air fryer?
We love this!! Easy and so very tasty!!
My toddler goes APE over this recipe! We make it at least twice a month!
Great recipe, great heat in the sauce. My wish is that it creswer dirty dishes!
definitely going to be on my recipe rotation list! I had to add more eggs to coat all the chicken and ended up with more raw chicken than we could eat. Really pleased with this recipe, good instructions unlike many online recipes that leave out key elements of how-to. KUDOS to you!
Thank you so much!
Could you put the chicken in the air fryer ?
Yes, but I haven’t tested it that was yet. Let me know if it works well for you and the timing, I would LOVE to try it in the air fryer too.
I have made this maybe 4 or 5 times now over the past few months, and my entire family LOVES it! My 11 year-old loves spicy food and slathers on the sauce, while my 9 year-old isn’t HUGE on spicy, so he only uses a little dollop. Even then, when I made this tonight he said, “My favorite chicken!” The chicken itself is the single best crispy recipe I have found, as the breading does NOT fall off, so it can be used in a variety of dishes…I once made a katsu curry sauce to dip it in. Definitely a keeper!
This came out great! So crispy and delicious – this was a hit with the kiddos even
so yummy!! the sauce is a perfect amount of creaminess/spiciness. Adding the sauce while the nuggets are hot is a game changer!!
This recipe is so good. Simple to make and I just left off the sauce for kids, but used it for me and my hubby. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for sharing!
Just so so good. We threw ours in the oven on a wire rack over a baking sheet for extra crispiness. It’s so dang simple which makes it ever more appealing for our family! Our toddler and preschooler enjoy this too (it’s like fancy nuggets 🙂 ) It even reheats well.
So good! Another recipe for chicken breast! Love it thank you!
OMG this is sooooo good and easy! The only modification that I made was to omit the salt. I have had so many compliments. I served it with Asian Slaw with Ginger Peanut dressing. Thank you!