Served over white rice, this tender and juicy bourbon chicken in a sweet-and-sticky homemade stir-fry sauce is the best way to satisfy a craving for take-out. Ready in 30 minutes, it’s the perfect quick meal for weeknights!
I love making easy homemade versions of my favorite Chinese take-out recipes, from copycat char sui pork to this saucy crockpot sesame chicken.
Tossed in a thick, glossy stir-fry sauce, this bourbon chicken is a Chinese take-out dish I’ll definitely be making at home from now on! It comes together in about 30 minutes with juicy chicken (or beef) cooked in a sweet-savory mix of garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and a handful of other ingredients. Oh, and did I mention bourbon? We served ours over white rice, but I bet this chicken would be just as delicious over pan-fried noodles or zoodles, too!
3 Reasons to Love This Bourbon Chicken
- Satisfying Asian flavors. Aside from being perfectly juicy, every bite of this bourbon chicken is sweet, savory, and a teeny tiny bit boozy. Packed with lots of garlic and ginger, the longer you simmer it, the more flavor it develops.
- Approachable. The combination of brown sugar, soy sauce, and a touch of smoky bourbon is mild, while still packing the stir-fry sauce full of flavor. Of course, you can adapt this recipe with more spice, and change the ingredients to suit your tastes.
- Weeknight ready. Sprinkled with sesame seeds and served over rice, this bourbon chicken makes a quick weeknight dinner. My kitchen always smells amazing while it cooks and everyone flocks to the dinner table!
What is Bourbon Chicken?
Bourbon chicken is a New Orleans-inspired Chinese dish. Go figure! It gets its name after Bourbon Street in the city and the whiskey in the recipe. It’s a popular take-out dish consisting of small pieces of chicken cooked in a glossy sweet-and-savory sauce that’s a lot like teriyaki. It typically doesn’t come with vegetables (though you can add them in, that’s the beauty of making it at home!) and is served over white rice.
Key Ingredients
This bourbon chicken recipe uses familiar Asian staples like soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. You’ll also need bourbon, plus a few other easy ingredients covered below. Scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for a printable list with the full ingredient amounts.
- Oil – Any cooking oil like olive oil, peanut oil, canola, vegetable, or corn oil, for sautéing.
- Chicken thighs – I love the tenderness of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can also make this recipe with chicken breasts. Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces before you start.
- Salt and pepper – It’s common to use white pepper in Asian recipes, but good old black pepper works fine here, too.
- Minced garlic – You can substitute approximately 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder per tablespoon of minced garlic if needed.
- Ginger – I use fresh ginger, but you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger for every full teaspoon of fresh.
- Soy sauce – I prefer low-sodium soy sauce. You can also use tamari or coconut aminos.
- Bourbon – My rule of thumb when cooking with alcohol is that it doesn’t need to be expensive, but it does need to be something I enjoy drinking. Choose any bourbon you’d like. If you don’t have it, good substitutes are brandy or rye whiskey. There’s also the option to skip it altogether, see below.
- Brown sugar – Light brown or dark brown sugar is fine to use. Granulated sugar also works in a pinch.
- Rice vinegar – Another great option is mirin, or cooking sake (Japanese rice wine) if you have it. Otherwise, use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Cornstarch – I don’t recommend trying to substitute all-purpose flour for cornstarch in this recipe.
- Green onions and sesame seeds – Optional, but both of these make nice garnishes when serving!
Can I Make This Without Alcohol?
While bourbon is in the ingredients list and in the name, don’t worry about getting tipsy from this bourbon chicken recipe. Although it’s called “bourbon chicken,” most of the alcohol is cooked off by the time it hits the plate. However, if you’d like a 100% alcohol-free version, swap the bourbon for the same amount of apple juice.
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How to Make Bourbon Chicken
There are really three steps to this homemade bourbon chicken: Cook the chicken, whisk a sauce, and pour it in. I make this flavor-packed Chinese dish in 30 minutes on any given weeknight and it never misses! Follow along below, and refer to the printable recipe card for the step-by-step instructions.
- Cook the chicken. Add the chicken to a bowl and season it with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, add olive oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 3 minutes per side, just enough to brown it. Don’t cook it longer because you don’t want it to dry out.
- Add the garlic. Next, stir in the garlic and ginger, and let everything cook for another 2-3 minutes or until fragrant.
- Make the sauce. Now, whisk the soy sauce, bourbon, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the cornstarch with water to make a slurry, and stir the slurry into the prepared sauce. Mix well.
- Simmer it. Finally, add the bourbon sauce to the pan and stir to coat the chicken. Let that simmer until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Serve. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside. Serve with a sprinkle of green onions and sesame seeds, and enjoy! See further in the post for more serving suggestions.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Add veggies. Adding broccoli or bell peppers can make this meal heartier and give it more of a stir-fry feel.
- Different protein. Swapping the chicken for thinly sliced beef, or pork, is a great way to change things up.
- Double the sauce. For a saucier dish, double the ingredients for the sauce and cook the recipe as usual. This is also a good idea if you are adding in a good amount of vegetables.
- Marinate the chicken. Make an extra batch of the sauce and use it to marinate the chicken overnight before cooking. Discard the marinade and cook the chicken as usual.
Serving Suggestions
This bourbon chicken is best over steamed white rice with a side of veggies like Asian-style air fryer broccoli, or stir-fried peppers and mushrooms. For a more take-out style meal, serve it over fried rice or spicy peanut noodles, with a starter of wonton soup or homemade potstickers. I also love turning this juicy chicken into lettuce wraps for a fun, fresh dinner!
Proper Storage
- Refrigerate. Once fully cooled, refrigerate the leftover chicken and sauce in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Keep it away from heat and sunlight when it’s on the counter.
- Reheat. To reheat your bourbon chicken, pop it into the microwave for 2-4 minutes. You can also heat it in a pan over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Freeze. This recipe is also freezer-friendly for longer storage. Transfer the chicken to freezer-friendly bags or containers in serving-size portions. Freeze it for up to 3 months. Transfer it to the fridge to thaw completely before reheating it as usual.
More Asian-Inspired Recipes
Bourbon Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup bourbon
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- Green onions, optional garnish
- Sesame seeds, optional garnish
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Instructions
- In a large sauté pan or wok, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken thighs to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook chicken pieces for 6 minutes, flipping half way through.
- Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk to combine the soy sauce, bourbon, brown sugar, rice vinegar, water and cornstarch. Pour into the pan. Bring to a simmer, cooking and spooning sauce over the chicken until thick and fully coating the chicken.
- Serve immediately with a sprinkle of green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
Nutrition
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