Bang Bang Chicken

This Bang Bang Chicken is crispy panko coated chicken bites under a creamy, sweet, slightly spicy sauce that people will ask you about. The sauce takes 4 ingredients and about 2 minutes. The chicken you can fry, bake, or air fry depending on how much effort you’re willing to put in tonight.

The Best Bang Bang Chicken Recipe

Bang bang sauce is one of those things that seems like it must be complicated and absolutely isn’t.

Mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, sriracha, honey. That’s it. Stir them together and you’ve got the creamy, sweet, gently spicy sauce that restaurants charge extra for. It takes 2 minutes and you’ll want to put it on everything afterward, which is a warning as much as a recommendation.

The chicken underneath is bites of breast coated in a seasoned batter and panko, then fried until they’re crunchy and golden. There’s a bit of technique to getting the coating to stay put, and I’ve explained it properly below because it’s the thing that goes wrong most often.

This has been on the blog since 2012 and it’s still one of the recipes people email me about. If you can’t do shellfish, this is your way into the bang bang thing that everyone else is having with shrimp.

Drizzle the sauce at the last possible second. There’s a reason for that, and it’s below too.

What Is Bang Bang Sauce?

It’s a creamy, sweet, mildly spicy sauce that turned up in American restaurant chains and then took over the internet, and it’s built on 4 things.

• Mayonnaise is the base and gives it body. Full fat, and Greek yogurt works if you want it lighter and tangier.
• Sweet chili sauce is the flavor. Sweet, a little garlicky, faintly hot. It’s in the Asian aisle of most stores and it’s what makes the sauce taste like bang bang rather than like spicy mayo.
• Sriracha brings the actual heat. A tablespoon gives you a gentle warmth. Go up if you want it to bite.
• Honey rounds it all out and gives you that sticky sweetness that makes it cling.

Stir it together, refrigerate for 30 minutes if you have time, and it improves as it sits. It’ll keep a week in the fridge, which is dangerous information.

Keeping The Coating On

This is the part that goes wrong, so let’s deal with it.

The batter should be thick, not thin. You want the consistency of pancake batter, thick enough that it clings to a piece of chicken and doesn’t run straight off. If yours is thin and watery, the panko has nothing to grip and it’ll slide off in the pan. Add flour a tablespoon at a time until it coats the back of a spoon and stays there.

Let the excess drip off. Lift each piece out of the batter and pause for a second so the runoff goes back in the bowl. Chicken dripping wet batter into the panko will just make paste.

Press the panko on. Don’t roll it, press it. Put the piece down, press crumbs onto the top, turn it over, press again.

Rest the coated pieces for 5 to 10 minutes before they go anywhere near the oil. This lets the coating set onto the chicken and it’s the single biggest thing you can do to stop it falling off.

Then leave them alone in the pan. Put them in, don’t touch them for 3 minutes, flip once. Every poke and nudge before the crust has set knocks coating off.

Ingredients in Bang Bang Chicken

• Chicken breasts (4, boneless and skinless, about 2 pounds, cut into 1 inch pieces): Cut them roughly the same size so they cook evenly. Thighs work and stay juicier, and they’ll take a minute or so longer.
• Mayonnaise (½ cup): The base of the sauce. Full fat gives you the right texture. Greek yogurt makes it lighter and tangier and it’s a real option, not a consolation prize.
• Sweet chili sauce (¼ cup): The heart of bang bang sauce. Asian aisle, and any brand works.
• Sriracha (1 tablespoon, for the sauce, plus 1 tablespoon for the batter): One tablespoon in the sauce gives you gentle warmth rather than heat. Adjust to your own tolerance.
• Honey (2 tablespoons): Sticky sweetness that makes the sauce cling. Maple syrup works.
• All purpose flour (½ cup, plus more as needed): Structure in the batter. You may need an extra tablespoon or two to get the consistency right, and that’s normal.
• Cornstarch (½ cup): This is what makes the coating light and crisp rather than heavy. Don’t swap it all out for flour.
• Buttermilk (¾ cup): Less than you’d expect on purpose, because a thin batter won’t hold panko. Add more only if the batter is genuinely too stiff to coat. No buttermilk? Stir a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar into a cup of milk and wait 5 minutes.
• Egg (1 large): Binds the batter and helps it grip.
• Garlic powder (1 tablespoon): A tablespoon sounds like a lot for a batter. It isn’t, because most of the seasoning stays behind in the bowl.
• Smoked paprika (1 teaspoon): Smoky depth and a good color on the finished coating.
• Salt (½ teaspoon) and pepper (½ teaspoon): In the batter. The sauce brings plenty of its own salt, so don’t overdo it here.
• Panko breadcrumbs (1 cup, plus more as needed): Panko specifically. Regular breadcrumbs give you a denser, sandier crust. Panko shatters, which is the whole point.
• Vegetable oil (for frying): Neutral with a high smoke point. Canola, vegetable, or peanut.

How To Make Bang Bang Chicken

Make the sauce first so it has time to sit. Mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, sriracha, honey, and a small pinch of salt and pepper, stirred together in a bowl. Into the fridge. It gets better as it sits and it’ll keep a week.

Mix the batter. Flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the hot sauce, egg, and buttermilk, and whisk until smooth. You want it thick, roughly pancake batter, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and stay there. If it’s runny, add flour a tablespoon at a time.

Coat the chicken. Add the pieces to the batter and toss until every one is covered.

Panko. Lift each piece out, let the excess batter drip off for a second, then press it into the panko on both sides. Press, don’t roll. Set them on a wire rack as you go and add more panko when the bowl gets clumpy.

Let them rest 5 to 10 minutes. This is the step that keeps the coating on. It sets onto the chicken and stops sliding off in the pan. Use the time to heat your oil.

Heat about ½ inch of oil in a large skillet over medium high, to 350 to 375°F. Too cool and the coating soaks up oil. Too hot and it browns before the chicken cooks through.

Fry in batches, about 3 minutes per side until deep golden and cooked through, 165°F on an instant read thermometer. Don’t crowd the pan and don’t fiddle with the pieces. One flip. Let the oil come back up to temperature between batches.

Drain on a wire rack set over a baking sheet, not on paper towels. Paper traps steam underneath and softens the bottom of the crust while you watch.

Sauce at the last second. Drizzle it over just before serving, or serve it on the side for dipping. Coated chicken sitting in a creamy sauce goes soft within a few minutes, so if people are eating at different times, put the sauce in a bowl and let them do it themselves.

Things You Should Know

• Thick batter, not thin. Pancake consistency. Thin batter can’t hold panko.
• Rest the coated pieces 5 to 10 minutes. The single biggest thing you can do to keep the crust on.
• Press the panko on, don’t roll the chicken in it.
• Oil at 350 to 375°F. Too cool means greasy, too hot means burnt outside and raw inside.
• One flip, no fiddling. Every poke before the crust sets knocks coating off.
• Wire rack, not paper towels. Paper steams the underside soft.
• 165°F, checked. Don’t guess with chicken.
• Sauce at the last moment. It softens the coating fast.

Fry, Bake, Or Air Fry

Frying gives you the best result, and I’d be lying if I said otherwise. Deepest color, crunchiest coating.

Air fryer: 400°F, single layer with space between the pieces, 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway. Spray them well with oil first or the panko stays pale and chalky. Very good and much less mess.

Oven: 400°F on a wire rack over a baking sheet, 20 to 25 minutes, flipping halfway. Spray with oil. The rack matters, because chicken sitting flat on a pan goes soft underneath.

All three want the same resting step before cooking, and all three want the sauce added at the end.

Variations

• Spicier. More sriracha in the sauce, or a pinch of cayenne in the batter. Both, if you’re committed.
• Bang bang shrimp. Same sauce, same coating, and shrimp take about half the cooking time. My bang bang shrimp has the details.
• Bang bang cauliflower. Florets instead of chicken. Genuinely good and it makes the whole thing vegetarian.
• Lighter sauce. Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise. Tangier and thinner, and still very good.
• As a bowl. Over rice with shredded cabbage, cucumber, and green onion. This is how I usually eat the leftovers.
• In tacos. Warm tortillas, quick slaw, sauce drizzled over. Excellent and slightly ridiculous.

Make Ahead And Storage

The sauce: up to a week in the fridge, and it improves after the first day. This is the easy make ahead.

Coated, uncooked: up to 4 hours in the fridge on a wire rack. Any longer and the coating goes soggy.

Freezing uncooked: coat the pieces, freeze them on a tray until firm, then bag them for up to 3 months. Cook straight from frozen and add 3 to 4 minutes.

Cooked leftovers: 3 days in the fridge, unsauced if you can manage it.

Reheating: air fryer at 350°F for 3 to 4 minutes, or the oven at 375°F for about 10. Both bring the crunch back. The microwave gets it hot and turns the coating soft.

Discover Other Delicious Chicken Recipes

• Asian Glazed Chicken Fingers
• Coconut Chicken
• Sticky Honey Sriracha Chicken Bites
• Teriyaki Chicken
• Honey Garlic Chicken
• Lemon Herb Chicken And Potatoes Skillet