Why You’ll Love This this Sweet & Crispy Chinese Honey Chicken
This Chinese Honey Chicken delivers that perfect balance of crispy, golden batter and sticky-sweet glaze that makes you want to lick your fingers – and honestly, who’s judging.
The double-fry technique guarantees each bite stays crunchy even when coated in that glossy honey sauce, because nobody wants soggy chicken pretending to be restaurant-quality.
It’s the kind of dish that transforms your kitchen into your favorite takeout spot, minus the delivery fee and the mystery of what exactly makes it taste so good.
Ingredients List
Getting this Chinese Honey Chicken just right starts with gathering the perfect lineup of ingredients that’ll transform your kitchen into a takeout paradise.
For the Chicken & Batter:
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Oil for deep frying
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white
For the Honey Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
- 2 teaspoons ginger, minced
- 3 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon water
- Sesame seeds for garnish
Health Considerations:
- This recipe involves deep frying, so it’s definitely more of a treat-yourself meal than an everyday dinner option
- The honey adds natural sweetness, but it’s still sugar, so keep portions reasonable if you’re watching your intake
- You can lighten things up by using chicken thighs instead of breast meat for more flavor with less need for heavy battering
- Consider serving with steamed vegetables or a fresh salad to balance out all that crispy, saucy goodness
Step by Step Directions
Time to turn those ingredients into restaurant-quality Chinese Honey Chicken that’ll have everyone asking for seconds. For an authentic smoky flavor that elevates this dish to the next level, consider using a premium BBQ smoker to add depth to your chicken before coating and frying.
Step 1: Prepare the Batter and Chicken
- Mix cornstarch, flour, baking powder, water, salt, egg, and egg white in a large bowl until smooth.
- Cover the batter and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Add chicken chunks to the batter and toss until completely coated.
Step 2: First Fry the Chicken
- Heat oil in deep fryer to 350°F.
- Fry chicken pieces in small batches for 2 minutes until batter becomes firm.
- Remove and drain on paper towels.
Step 3: Make the Honey Sauce****
- Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a wok over medium-high heat.
- Add minced garlic and ginger, stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add salt, honey, rice wine vinegar, and water, mixing well.
- Stir in the cornstarch-water mixture and simmer for 2 minutes until thickened.
Step 4: Combine and Serve
- Add the fried chicken to the wok with the honey sauce.
- Toss until chicken is completely coated in sauce.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Substitutions and Variations
- Air fryer method works too – spray the battered chicken with oil and cook at 400°F for about 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Chicken thigh lovers can absolutely use boneless thighs instead of breast meat. They’ll actually stay more tender and juicy.
- Sesame oil twist – add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil to the sauce for deeper, nuttier flavor.
- Orange honey variation uses orange juice instead of some of the water, plus a bit of orange zest for citrusy brightness.
- Cashew honey chicken tosses in roasted cashews with the final coating step for extra crunch and richness.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
This honey chicken practically begs for some delicious sidekicks to round out your meal.
- Steamed jasmine rice is the classic choice – it soaks up that sticky-sweet sauce like a dream and keeps things traditional.
- Fried rice with scrambled eggs and peas turns this into a complete one-stop dinner situation.
- Lo mein noodles or chow mein work beautifully if you’re feeling more noodle-y than rice-y today.
- Steamed broccoli adds some green to your plate, plus the florets catch all that honey goodness in their little tree branches.
- Asian cucumber salad with rice vinegar brings a cool, crisp contrast that cuts through all that rich sweetness.
- Egg rolls or pot stickers make this feel like a proper Chinese takeout feast at home.
- Simple stir-fried vegetables like snap peas, carrots, and bell peppers keep things colorful and add some crunch variety.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
Getting this honey chicken just right comes down to mastering a few key techniques that’ll make the difference between restaurant-quality results and, well, something that looks like it went through a blender.
- Double-fry for maximum crunch – that first quick fry at 350°F sets the batter, then you can fry again right before serving to get that shatteringly crisp exterior that stays crunchy even under all that sauce.
- Don’t skip the batter rest time – those 30 minutes aren’t just a suggestion, they’re when the flour hydrates properly and creates that light, airy coating instead of dense bread armor.
- Keep your oil temperature steady – invest in a candy thermometer if you don’t have one, because oil that’s too cool makes greasy chicken while too-hot oil burns the outside before cooking the inside.
- Pat chicken completely dry before battering – any lingering moisture makes the batter slide right off like it’s wearing a raincoat.
- Make the sauce in a separate pan – resist the urge to dump everything into your fryer oil situation, because controlling that sauce consistency is where the magic happens.
- Toss, don’t drown – you want each piece lightly coated in that glossy honey goodness, not swimming in a puddle of sauce that’ll make your crispy coating surrender immediately.
- Serve immediately – this isn’t a make-ahead dish, because crispy chicken waits for no one, and neither should your dinner guests.
Nutritional Facts
Based on 4 servings, each portion of this Chinese Honey Chicken delivers a satisfying balance of protein and energy, though the deep-frying method does boost the calorie and fat content considerably.
- Calories: 385 per serving
- Protein: 36g (excellent source for muscle maintenance and satiety)
- Carbohydrates: 18g (primarily from cornstarch coating and honey)
- Total Fat: 18g (mostly from frying oil absorption)
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Sodium: 890mg (about 37% of daily recommended intake)
- Sugar: 9g (naturally occurring from honey)
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Cholesterol: 145mg (from chicken and eggs in batter)
- Vitamin C: 2mg (trace amounts from garlic and ginger)
- Iron: 1.2mg (from chicken)
- Calcium: 25mg (small amounts from baking powder and sesame seeds)
Fun “Did You Know?”
Did you know that honey chicken isn’t actually a traditional Chinese dish? I find it fascinating that this beloved restaurant staple was created by Chinese-American immigrants who adapted their cooking to suit Western palates.
They combined familiar sweet-and-sour flavors with crispy fried chicken to create something entirely new. The dish gained popularity in the 1970s alongside other American-Chinese favorites like General Tso’s chicken.
What’s interesting is how honey became the star ingredient – it’s much sweeter than traditional Chinese glazes.
Today, you’ll rarely find authentic honey chicken in China, but it’s become a cornerstone of Chinese-American cuisine worldwide.
