Hunan Chicken is a quick and flavorful stir-fry bursting with bold, savory heat. Perfect for a fast, satisfying weeknight meal.
Hunan Chicken is a classic Asian Dish you will love recreating at home. Make it with dishes like Cashew Chicken and Chicken Chow Mein for the perfect night in with homemade takeout.
Sabrina’s Hunan Chicken Recipe
When you tell someone you are going to make Hunan Chicken, you may get a confused look. Most people are not familiar with the name of the dish, but if they were to eat it, they’d recognize the flavors immediately. This is your classic Chinese chicken stir-fry dish that takes less than 30 minutes!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
HUNAN CHICKEN
- 1 pound chicken breasts , shaved thinly
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger , minced
- 1 green zucchini , cut into half moon shapes
- 4 ounces mushrooms , sliced thinly, equals just over a cup by volume
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 1 can bamboo shoots , drained
HUNAN SAUCE
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek chili paste
Instructions
- Add the chicken and cornstarch in a large ziplock bag with air in the bag, close tightly.
- Shake the bag until the chicken is well coated.
- Add the vegetable oil to the pan on medium-high heat and cook the chicken until cooked through on both sides, about 2-3 minutes on each side.
- In a small bowl mix the sauce ingredients together.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and add in the garlic, ginger, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli, and bamboo shoots.
- Stir, cooking for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the sauce and chicken and toss to coat, cooking 1-2 more minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Nutrition
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Table of contents
About this Recipe
Many people think of easy stir-fries and even buy “stir-fry” sauces that are pre-made. You can adjust the heat more or less to your tastes by the amount of chili paste you add to the dish, but the mixture of broth, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, rice wine vinegar, and a touch of sugar is the classic ingredients in a Chinese stir-fry.
Chef’s Note
We use chicken breast in this dish because it cooks so quickly that the chicken stays tender. Most people don’t generally use white meat in Chinese food recipes, with the exception of noodles or stir-fries. Anything battered and fried is always dark meat chicken unless you’re making Sweet and Sour Chicken, which has long been seen as the “healthy” version of Chinese fried chicken recipes.
Key Ingredients
You can find all these ingredients in the International section of the large grocery stores. I highly recommend going shopping at the local Asian market if possible, but not required.
- Chicken: The key to getting very thin slices of chicken is to freeze it for about an hour before cutting. Any cut of chicken will do, but we are using chicken breast here.
- Oyster Sauce: This special sauce is literally made from oysters and is critical to obtain the authentic Asian flavors we are going for. There is a vegetarian-based oyster-flavored sauce that you can easily get online or from your local Asian market. Don’t skip this one!
- Cornstarch: This thickening agent helps get a nice breading on the chicken. There are corn-free options available. See the substitutions section below for more info if needed.
- Chili Sauce: Almost all Asian food recipes you’ll find have chili peppers added to the dish, even if it is not spicy. The chili adds a yummy pepper taste that really brings all the flavors together. Sambal Oelek is a chili sauce of Indonesian origin and has become a standard in Asian cuisine worldwide.
- Rice Wine Vinegar: Rice wine vinegar gives a subtle tang to the dish and is in almost all Asian kitchens around the world. It’s a good one to keep on hand for other yummy Dinner Then Dessert recipes.
- Bamboo Shoots: Bamboo shoots add a sweet and earthy crunch that is signature to many Asian dishes. You can prepare them yourself, or simply get them in a can, which is what we do here.
- Mushrooms: Many Chinese recipes call for all types of mushrooms. You can use any mushroom, like portobello mushrooms, the smaller cremini mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, or any regular white mushroom from the grocery store.
- Sugar: A teaspoon of sugar is all you need to take the sauce over the top. Any sugar you have will work great. You can even use a tablespoon of honey if preferred.
What to Pair With
If you love the authentic flavors of Hunan Chicken, you’ll want to pair it with Asian Side Dishes like Chicken Lo Mein or Classic Chinese Chow Mein and Crab Rangoons to make this recipe an easy Chinese takeout meal at home!
How to Store
- Serve: Serve chicken hot. Cover when not serving. Refrigerate within 2 hours.
- Store: You can store your extra chicken in the refrigerator for about 2 days because the mushrooms will get soggy after that. Simply reheat in the oven and serve hot.
- Freeze: Chicken is great to freeze. Keep it stored in an airtight container for up to 6 months. When you’re ready, thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat until nice and hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
The trick to this is to freeze the chicken for about one hour. Once you do, you can very easily slice the chicken very thinly against the grain. Since the slices are so thin, you’ll find that even though it was in the freezer, it will come back to a good cooking temperature very quickly.
Hunan sauce is rice wine vinegar, sugar, chili paste, and an oyster and soy sauce. Chicken broth adds some bulk to the sauce, and cornstarch helps to thicken the mixture quickly.
Hunan Chicken, while popular, is sometimes just categorized as a Chinese Chicken Stir Fry, as the sauce is very similar to most people’s classic stir fries. Because of that, it often gets overlooked for more popular items on a Chinese restaurant’s menu. Let’s examine the two other recipes it most often gets mistaken for:
Hunan Chicken is a stir-fried dish that is just coated in a dusting of cornstarch with a spicy chili paste sauce coating a mixture of vegetables. Szechuan Chicken is generally battered and fried before being added to a pan of stir-fried vegetables and coated in a much sweeter sauce than Hunan chicken.
Hunan Chicken is a stir-fried dish with vegetables and a much lighter sauce that is spicy and made with oyster sauce. General Tso’s Chicken is a delicious but battered and fried dish similar to Orange Chicken, which is tossed in a very sweet but slightly spicy sauce, normally with no vegetables.
Variations
- Meat: You can use any kind of meat you’d like: chicken, beef, pork, fish, etc., thinly cut.
- Chili Sauce: If you can find Sambal Oelek, feel free to use a similar chili sauce. You can also substitute Sriracha sauce.
- Rice Wine Vinegar: It’s worth going to the Asian market to get this, but if it’s just not available, you can substitute equal parts of either apple cider vinegar or regular white wine vinegar.
- Bamboo Shoots: These add a wonderful crunchy addition to the recipe, but we understand that they are not always available. You can substitute water chestnuts, hearts of palm, or even asparagus in a pinch.
- Mushrooms: You can substitute tofu, tempeh, or artichoke hearts for mushrooms in this recipe.
- Oyster Sauce: Unless you’re specifically allergic to oysters, there really isn’t a good substitute for oyster sauce because of the subtle flavor it gives to the dish, even if you’re not particularly fond of the little sea mollusks. All Asian stores will have a vegetable-based oyster-flavored sauce that is the best substitute, but keep in mind that they are usually mushroom-based.
- Vegetables: You can bring in other fresh vegetables, like chopped bell pepper and green onions, into your dish. If you have a bag of frozen Asian stir-fry vegetables, that works as a fantastic substitute. Just give the colorful veggies a quick blanch in hot water and stir-fry according to the recipe.
Related Recipes
More Easy Chinese Dinners
Photos used in a previous version of this post:
Easy, Delicious, and it is a keeper!
So glad you enjoyed the Hunan Chicken Nora and thanks for the five star review!
Chinese food is my favorite!! This dish is packed with flavor & was easy to make!! My kind of meal!
One of our favorite Asian dishes! This hunan chicken is irresistibly delicious! Even the picky like it!
Really simple to make and the flavors are SO GOOD! We really enjoyed this recipe.
This is a delicious recipe! I will always make this dish.
This Hunan Chicken is so delicious! I used Kikkoman Manjo Aji Mirin for a more flavorful twist of taste. Yummy! Best paired with Vitasoy Lychee Flavor Vita Juice Drink.
Yum!!!!I have wondering how to make hunan sauce…and this is it! I will probably adjust to my presences but thank you so much!This will get me to eat more vegatables
This was delicious. My whole family loved it. Will definitely make again.
The Ingredients for the Hunan Sauce that you list in the main instructions section do not seem to agree with what you list in the section called …What is in Chinese Hunan Sauce…
So sorry, your comment got stuck in my spam filter. Thank you for catching that. I made a few variations and it looks like it never was adjusted.
This was excellent! It’s going into the rotation for sure.
This was amazing! I followed the recipe as written, but, doubled the sauce. My kids & husband said to “put it on the list”….. Definite keeper
Love it!! Thanks for coming back to let me know Lisa.
Great recipe and flavor was spot on
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is a good recipe. Easy to make, the only substitution I made is using frozen oriental mix vegies for the fresh. I blanched the vegies first then cooked in pan as directed.
I don’t have much time to wait for the chili paste to come through the mail so I wondered if I could substitute sriracha without changing the flavor too much.
Yes, you can substitute with sriracha. Enjoy!
I have spent years looking for a recipe to taste just like this. I NEVER comment on any recipe but I have to today. This is just perfect. It tastes just like our favorite go to Chinese dish that we’ve eaten for about 8 years. Thanks so much! We’ve made it with pork tenderloin, steak and chicken. It’s awesome.
Yay!! You just made my day, Katie!!
I want to make the Hunan Chicken what can I substitute the oyster sauce with. My husband and children has a sea food allergy.
They do make a vegetarin oyster sauce that you might be able to find in an Asian market. If not, just omit it knowing it’ll change the flavor.
I too have a shellfish allergy. We use the vegetarian version of Oyster sauce, which is made from mushrooms. All Asian grocers carry it; worth your time to find it. If no grocer, there’s always Amazon.
Hi Sabrina! I live in a small town with a small grocery store. What should/could I use in place of the sambal oloek chili paste? Thanks?
You can order it off of Amazon if your grocery store doesn’t offer it.
very good, I doubled the sauce,
This is a deliciously easy recipe! My family loves it! I do have one question… Can it be made in a crockpot?
I think the chicken would dry out so if you’re going to try it in a slow cooker, my recommendation is to use chicken thighs knowing that it’s changing the recipe but still getting the same flavors. Good luck!
I made this last night, along with your Panda Express Mandarin Teriyaki copycat. Both were easy recipes, and tasted great!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
This is calling my name for dinner! Looks so good!
Thank you Krista!
No need for take-out when you have this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome!
Get in my belly! This looks so good.
I know, right?!?
Such a flavorful meal!! It looks SO delicious!!
Thank you Katerina!
Looks delicious! I love Chinese chicken and broccoli!
Thanks!
This looks like the perfect hearty meal for the family and me!
Enjoy!