Air-fryer crispy chilli chicken
45 min · 41 g protein · 467 cals / serving
The British Chinese takeaway's most-ordered dish, made at home: crisp strips of chicken tossed through a sticky, sweet-hot chilli sauce with soft onions, red and green peppers, fresh chilli, garlic and ginger, finished with a tangle of spring onions. The chicken crisps in the air fryer under a thin cornflour coat, and the sauce gets its sweetness from a measured spoon of sweet chilli rather than a cup of sugar.
Ingredients
Crispy chicken
- 600 g chicken breast, cut in finger-thick strips
- 60 ml liquid egg white, or 2 egg whites
- 4 tbsp cornstarch, cornflour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- a few sprays cooking spray
Rice
- 130 g jasmine rice, rinsed
Chilli sauce
- 3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato paste, tomato purée
- 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp honey
- 2 tsp cornstarch, cornflour
- 80 ml water
Vegetables
- 2 tsp canola oil, rapeseed or vegetable oil
- 1 onion, cut in thin wedges
- 1 large red bell pepper, in strips
- 1 large green pepper bell pepper, in strips
- 1–2 red chillies red chili pepper, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- thumb-sized piece ginger, in matchsticks
- 3 spring onions green onions, shredded
Steps
- Heat the air fryer to 400°F. Toss the chicken strips with the egg white and salt, then the cornflour, until each strip has a thin, dry coat.
- Spray the basket and the chicken and air-fry in a single layer for 10–12 minutes, shaking halfway, until crisp and golden and 165°F inside. Do it in two batches if your basket is small.
- Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the packet and leave it covered.
- Whisk the sweet chilli sauce, tomato purée, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, cornflour and water in a jug.
- Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat. Stir-fry the onion and both peppers for 3–4 minutes, until softened and catching at the edges, then add the chillies, garlic and ginger for 1 minute.
- Pour in the sauce and bubble for 1–2 minutes until thick and glossy. Take the wok off the heat, tip in the crispy chicken and toss to coat. Scatter with the spring onions and serve straight away with the rice.
Good to know
How hot is it?
Medium with one chilli. Leave the seeds in, use two, or add a pinch of chilli flakes to the sauce for the full takeaway kick.
Will it go soggy?
Only if it sits. Toss the chicken through the sauce at the very last moment and eat it while the coating still crackles.
Can I make it with beef?
Crispy chilli beef is the other half of the takeaway menu: use thin strips of lean frying steak and air-fry them 8–10 minutes. It scores a little lower, about 55 instead of 59.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 114
- Protein
- (36%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (14%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (50%)
- 14 g
- of which sugar
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 232 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1866 kcal goes into the pot and 1668 g of ingredients comes out as about 1640 g of food: 114 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.