Last updated on August 11th, 2018 at 12:36 pm
This Bourbon Chicken is a flavorful chicken dish where the chicken is marinated in a bourbon and soy sauce marinade. Served over rice, this dish is easy and delicious!
Here’s a recipe I shared with you guys exactly 5 years ago to the day, which I think is crazy, but it’s one of my favorite chicken dishes. Bourbon chicken was the dish I’d always have whenever we used to go to the mall for a quick lunch. I loved it because it’s so flavorful and the chicken is so juicy and tender.
Although I originally thought that Bourbon Chicken was an Asian dish, it is actually a Cajun dish in origin named after Bourbon Street in New Orleans. But it doesn’t really matter where it originated, the important thing is that it’s so good and most importantly so easy to prepare.
Seriously though, this dish is so simple, the skills required are whisking all the marinade ingredients together and then cooking the chicken. The great thing about this dish is that you can prepare this the night before and just let it marinate overnight, so when you come home from work the next day all you have to do is cook the chicken.
But let’s talk booze, shall we? My passion for booze only goes as far as Mojitos or Margaritas, but I do love to cook with it. I would never drink Bourbon unless it was in some sort of cocktail, but I do like the flavor of it in food. I have tried it a couple times and the burn was crazy. Not for me! I do however love to cook with it.
I do cook the marinade in this dish and as it cooks it reduces creating this nice and sticky sauce that’s to die for. I like to add half of it to my chicken as it cooks and I cook the remaining sauce separately in a small saucepan until it reduces, so that I have some to drizzle over my chicken and rice afterwards.
The first time I shared this recipe with you guys, I had it done with chicken breast and while it was still delicious, I think chicken thighs work way better here. Chicken thighs are way juicer, but it’s up to you what you decide to use.
I served this over rice, and I think some veggies like green beans, corn or peas, broccoli, even asparagus would go nicely as a side to this.
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
This Bourbon Chicken is a flavorful chicken dish where the chicken is marinated in a bourbon and soy sauce marinade. Served over rice, this dish is easy and delicious!
- 1/2 cup Bourbon
- 1/2 cup soy sauce low sodium
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 2 tbsp red wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 lb chicken thighs boneless and skinless, cut into smaller pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp chives chopped
Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl thoroughly. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl, toss them around, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to overnight.
In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium to high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add half the marinade to the chicken and continue cooking until the marinade turns into a thicker sauce and the chicken is fully cooked. Should take another 5 to 10 minutes.
If you want some extra sauce, cook the remaining marinade in a small saucepan over medium heat, for about 5 to 10 minutes until it reduces about half and thickens a bit.
Serve the chicken over rice and garnish with chives.
Recipe Video
Chicken breast will work for this recipe if you'd like to cut down on the fat content.
Whiskey, brandy, or scotch would work if you don't have bourbon. The alcohol evaporates completely during the cooking process, so it's completely safe for children.
If you don't want to use red wine, try cranberry juice or even some chicken broth instead.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
Tried this, this evening. Amazing recipe and will use again. The others on this site look great too. Many thanks from Scotland!
Well hello George from Scotland, so glad you dropped by and happy you liked the recipe!
Made that s last night and it is a keeper. Followed the recipe exactly and really would not change a thing. It did take longer than your time to reduce, but I use your time as a Suggestion. I do like that you include that, I find it very helpful in planning.
All your recipes I have tried have been very good, and most are excellent, this one especially!
Having lived in Kentucky, we love the bourbon😊
Thanks
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, bourbon chicken really is one of my favorites!
I made this recipe for dinner my husband loved it, I changed nothing.
great!
delicious!!!!
OMG Jo – I am a huge fan of every recipe of yours that I’ve made….but girl….you hit it out of the ballpark with this one! I must admit I was skeptical when I saw the ingredients bourbon, soy sauce and brown sugar? Hmmm…well, I had a bottle of bourbon left over from Christmas that I am never going to drink, so what the hell…I tried it. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs and left them whole due to their not being very thick. What a marvelous glaze! I’ve never been able to develop a glaze like that – thick, syrupy and flavorful! Can’t wait to try this with beef or pork!
LOL That’s what I do with the alcohol I have around the house too…since nobody drinks it I might as well cook with it. 🙂 Glad you liked it!
Any side dishes that could go with this?
Hi so I am planning to make this. Is the Bourbon a whiskey or a sauce or something else? I would like to make it tonight but I don’t know.
It’s whiskey. 🙂
I made this last night. It was “OK” but really heavy and after a few bites, I felt like I’d eaten some rich cake or something. One change I made is, after batch-cooking the chicken, I threw the chicken into a Wok along with the rest of the sauce and let it simmer. This is far better than cooking the sauce separately. I also added a little cornstarch toward the end to thicken it, as it was a bit watery.
That’s why you only add half of the marinade to the chicken. It would take too long to reduce all that marinade.
What could I substitute for bourbon? It’s very expensive here-in UK,& maybe only to be used occasionally.I like the fact the marinade is used up in the cooking and serving,so many cheffy recipes throw out all that goodness!(Nigella….Gordon Ramsay…..to name but a few!)
Sylvie you could use any whisky you have on hand for this. Bourbon is just what we used. Its such a fun recipe and will be a new favorite. Let us know how it turned out when you try it.
Any scotch or brandy would work. I actually use brandy and bourbon mix to help sweeten things up.
I did not use the low sodium soy sauce per the recipe and unfortunately is was to salty to eat with regular soy sauce. However, dish was very easy and quick to prepare. Will try again with low sodium soy sauce.
Yeah it would be, for that reason I never buy regular soy sauce, only low sodium. I hope you try it again with low sodium soy sauce, I’m sure you’ll love it.
Low sodium soy is just half the amount of regular soy and replace the other half with water.
Made a variation of this tonight. Didn’t have bourbon so I used VO, didn’t have brown sugar, using white with molasses added. Didn’t have red wine, used a white w/ a little grape juice. Of course, I didn’t have thighs so I used chicken breast. Hm? Now that I think about it, maybe I didn’t make this but something else entirely. Whatever – it was delicious and well received by my wife and her sister who was visiting. Will definitely try this again if I can get all the ingredients. My VO Chicken was tasty, nonetheless. Thanks for the recipe.
Random question, is there anything I can sub for the red wine? I only have white at home currently.
(also, do stores sell bourbon in small quantities? Or am I going to have to splurge for a large bottle? lol.)
Yeah sometimes they have those little bottles you can find by the register, but what the heck, go for a big bottle! LOL Instead of red wine you go try a cranberry juice, red wine vinegar or even just chicken broth.
Thanks! I will try chicken broth. I bought some super cheap bourbon today, lol, but it should work. Looking forward to trying the recipe!
Is the calorie and nutrional value for chicken and rice
Just the chicken!
Hi Jo 🙂
I just found your blog and I’ve been pinning for about two hours lol So glad to have found you!
rue
OMG Thank you so much!!
I use a lot of recipes with wine and I always struggle with which wine to use. I do NOT like to drink wine. I’ve tried reds and whites and roses, expensive and inexpensive and I just don’t like them unless they’re white and sweet. and really really cheap. I do love a great margarita and various cocktails. I digress.
How do you know what wine to use when cooking? Recipes never specify. I use red in cooking a lot and I never know which one to use. I usually just use what my husband has on hand which is usually merlot, lately it’s been Pinot noir.
How do you know specifically what wine to use when cooking? they all taste different so I’m guessing different specific wine s lend different flavor so to the food they’re in. I know the alcohol cooks off and leaves the flavor.
Thanks
Donna
Hey Donna, I hope I’m not butting in, but maybe I can help? Most wine bottles list what types of food to eat them with depending on how they taste. For instance, sauvignon blanc goes well with salads and fish. I would use the type of wine for cooking based on what each wine goes with. So if you were making fish stew with wine, sauvignon blanc would go well. Pinot noir would go with lighter meats like chicken or salmon, or pasta — something like chicken cacciatore. Heavier red wine like cabernet sauvignon would be perfect for heavy meat — like steak in a beef stew. Hope that helps =)
Thank you for that info . It is something I did not know .So a good place to start.
I made this for my boyfriend last night! I’m a beginner cook so this was the first marinade I’ve ever tried. It was a hit. I served it with brown rice and dipped bread in the marinade. SO good.
Woohoo, doesn’t it feel great? 🙂
I hope you didn’t dip the bread in the marinade that had the raw chicken in it! Safety first!
I’m sure she didn’t dip it in the raw marinade. that’s just common sense.
I love bourbon chicken, but need to stay in my budget, so I do not eat out often. I can’t wait to try this! Looks so yummy!
What a great marinade for chicken! I’ve used bourbon in marinades for beef but never for chicken. Sounds wonderful!
Just made this for dinner and it was delicious – it’ll be going in to our regular “rotation” – thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you liked it. 🙂