Chilli Chicken Recipe

Chilli Chicken is one of the most popular appetizers from the Indian-Chinese cuisine. Crispy tender bites of chicken are tossed in a spicy, tangy and umami chili sauce. In this post I share how to make the BEST Chili Chicken at home, in fact better than your favorite restaurant. Super crispy, saucy and definitely healthier than the current day restaurant versions. You can also make a egg-free and no-fry version with my recipe.

Indo-Chinese cuisine originated from the Chinese immigrants in India, during the 18th century. This fusion cuisine uses Chinese wok-style high heat cooking adapting Indian spices & flavor profiles.

Over the years it evolved and became immensely popular among kids and the youth. Today, Indo-Chinese dishes are a staple in most restaurants and many households across India. It’s a crowd pleasing appetizer made for weekend meals, parties, game-day and potlucks.

About Chilli Chicken

Chilli Chicken is one of the most ordered dishes on the restaurant menus and is often eaten as an appetizer or served with Hakka Noodles or Fried Rice. Sweet Corn Soup, Manchow Soup and Vegetable Soup are some sides that are served in the meal.

The process of making chili chicken starts by coating the diced chicken/ strips with sauces, flour and egg white. They are fried until crispy and then tossed in an aromatic sauce made with garlic, onions, bell peppers, spring onions and various Chinese sauces. The resulting dish is finger-licking good, moderately spicy, tangy and umami.

The dish is not hot or super spicy. But restaurants often serve it with green chilies in vinegar (chilli vinegar), green chili sauce and various other condiments as a complimentary, to increase the heat levels & flavor while eating.

Unfortunately, the restaurant versions are loaded with oil and msg. So many years ago I started to make this at home & this recipe is one of the readers’ favorite on Swasthi’s. Some foods are better made at home because we have the choice to use organic ingredients and the chicken can be air fried or oven baked.

There are 2 versions of Chili Chicken – dry and gravy. I have shared the dry version with stepwise photos and the gravy version in the recipe card notes, at the end of this post.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Chicken: Skinless boneless chicken thighs are most commonly used for deep frying recipes because they don’t dry out while cooking. But we prefer using chicken breasts. (Take care not to over fry if using breasts)
• All-purpose flour: Maida is type of all-purpose flour used in India but I use all-purpose flour. Use organic or at least unbleached flour. It is used to give a crisp texture to the chicken.
• Corn starch: Also known as white corn flour, it is used for extra crispness. It helps chicken to stay crisp for a little longer. Use organic corn starch or at least non-gmo starch. Rice flour works in a pinch and is best served right away.
• Egg White: Egg white keeps your chicken tender & prevent drying out or chewy, by locking the juices. If you can’t eat egg, you may omit it and brine the chicken following my expert tips section below.
• Red chili sauce: While red chili sauce is used for a mildly sweet, garlicky and tangy flavor, some restaurants also add green chili sauce for heat. Ching’s & Maggie are the 2 popular sauce makers for Indo-Chinese foods. But any other Asian red chili sauce works.
• Tomato ketchup: Ketchup adds a tomatoey flavor and taste. Every brand is different so use this with caution, starting with lower amounts.
• Soya sauce: Add umami Chinese flavors. Avoid using too much because chilli chicken is not soya heavy like Chicken Manchurian. I use regular soya or tamari rather than dark soya sauce.

More chicken recipes
Easy Chicken Jalfrezi
Chicken Shashlik
Chicken Lollipop
Dragon Chicken
Chicken 65

Photo Guide

How to make Chilli Chicken (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. To a mixing bowl, add the following ingredients:

• 250 grams (9 ounces or ½ lb) sliced boneless chicken cut to 1 by ½ inch
• 1 ½ teaspoon soya sauce or tamari
• 1 ½ teaspoon red chili sauce (sweet and spicy)
• ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder or paprika for color (optional)
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper (powder)
• ⅛ teaspoon salt (or as needed)

2. To the same mixing bowl, add

• 2 to 3 tablespoons cornstarch (organic white corn flour)
• 1½ to 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (preferably organic)

3. Add 2 tablespoons from 1 egg white (use only as needed). Mix all the ingredients to coat the chicken well. If it is too dry, add a splash of water or egg white.

4. This is how the chicken looks. Avoid adding too much egg or water. Cover and keep this aside until you prepare the ingredients for the sauce. You can also refrigerate overnight.

5. Add the following ingredients to a small mixing bowl :

• 1 tablespoon soya sauce (naturally brewed)
• 2 tablespoons red chili sauce (adjust to taste) (sweet & spicy)
• 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup (adjust to taste, can vary depending on brand)
• ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder (optional for color) or paprika or red chili paste
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon vinegar (rice or apple cider)
• ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar

6. Pour 2 to 3 tablespoons water.

7. Taste test and adjust the sauces to your preference. This is the consistency you will have. Not runny and not too thick.

8. You will also require the following to make the sauce:

• 1 medium onion thinly sliced or cubed
• 1 tablespoon garlic fine chopped
• 1 to 2 green chilies slit and deseeded (Thai or Indian chili peppers, optional)
• ¼ to ½ cup bell pepper (capsicum) – cubed
• 1 sprig spring onion or scallions chopped (optional)
• 1 to 3 tablespoon Spring onion greens to garnish

Fry Chicken

Instead of frying, you can also air fry or bake the chicken in oven but the results won’t be the same. I have the instructions below to air fry and bake.

9. On a medium flame, heat oil about 1 inch in a deep pan. The oil is hot and ready to fry, when a small portion of batter dropped, sizzles and rises to the surface steadily without browning or burning. Add the chicken pieces one by one without crowding the pan.

10. Fry on a medium high heat stirring often (only after 2 mins) until crisp, golden and evenly cooked from inside. Over frying at this stage will dry out the chicken. When the chicken is cooked completely, bubbles in the oil begin to reduce.

11. Remove to a kitchen steel colander or a wired rack. For extra crisp chicken, once done frying the entire chicken, refry them in hot oil again.

To Air fry

Place the chicken on an air fryer perforated parchment paper. Air fry at 375 F or 180 C for 8 minutes, flip them and air fry for another 3 to 4 mins adjusting as needed. Adjust the timings a bit as every air fryer is different.

To Bake in Oven

Preheat your oven to 200 C or 400 F for at least 15 mins. Place the battered chicken pieces on a tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 to 25 mins until crispy, flipping after 15 mins. Adjust the baking time depending on the size and thickness of your pieces. They are fully cooked when your meat thermometer reads 165F / 74C.

Make the Chilli Chicken Sauce

12. Heat 1½ tablepsoon oil in the wok or a pan on a high flame. Add garlic and green chilies. Fry for a minute.

13. Add onions, spring onion whites and bell pepper. Fry until they turn slightly tender. They must still keep the crunch.

14. Pour the sauces we prepared above. Let it bubble and turn thick. Taste test the sauce & the chicken as well at this stage and adjust salt or spice to taste.

15. Add the chicken and toss.

16. Fry on high for 1 minute and sprinkle ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.

Garnish Chilli Chicken with green onions and serve hot as an appetizer. Hakka noodles or vegetable fried rice & corn soup are the perfect choices for an Indo-Chinese meal.

Expert Tips

• To omit egg white, you may brine the chicken in buttermilk for a minimum of 1 to 4 hours in the refrigerator. For this, whisk together ¼ cup yogurt with 2 cups water and ¼ tsp salt. Later drain completely and pat dry with kitchen papers before mixing in other ingredients.
• MSG, also known as ajjinomotto or monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used in the restaurants for a unique flavor. Trust me! you can still make the best without it. If you are sensitive to msg, make sure your store bought sauces do not have that.
• Food color is also used to bring a deep red color. To avoid that I prefer to use Kashmiri chilli powder for a vibrant color. You can also use paprika.
• Use a thick wok, high smoke point oil and high heat for the real Chinese wok flavors. I use a carbon steel wok for this but steel triply woks also work the same way.

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Recipe Card

This post was first published in September 2012. Updated in August 2026.