Easy Bourbon Chicken Recipe (Mall Copycat, 20 Min)
“Loved the end result! …Used the apple sauce and red wine (what I had on hand.) instead of bourbon. Tasted fantastic!” Roxanne
Delicious! Put this on your blog!” said my enthusiastic husband after the first bite. So here it is – an easy bourbon chicken mall recipe just like you get at the food court. A quick simple dinner.
This sticky bourbon chicken recipe is not an exact replica of the food court bourbon chicken we find at a mall, but it’s close. The key to this easy recipe is the bourbon chicken sauce. The chicken can be cooked by almost any method.
Bourbon chicken is commonly found at Cajun-themed and Chinese restaurants. And at mall food courts. Surprisingly, most bourbon chicken recipes do not contain bourbon. The name comes from a restaurant on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.
I used a five star Bourbon Chicken copycat recipe with almost 3000 comments as my starting point. No, I didn’t read all 3000 comments, but I read enough to tweak the recipe to my liking – and hopefully yours.
What to expect
The chicken can be grilled, stir-fried, baked or cooked sous vide (instructions for all methods are in the recipe notes). I find it easiest to grill the chicken. Or skip all that and use a shortcut!
I modified the copycat recipe to simplify the cooking process and make the chicken more tender and juicy by not boiling it in the sauce at the end.
Don’t let the list of ingredients intimidate you. They’re all pretty common and the whole dish can be made in about 20 minutes (timing will depend on how you cook the chicken).
Bottom line: Bourbon chicken is a flavorful chicken dish that is sweet, but not too sweet. It has some heat which you can adjust to your liking. And it makes lots of extra sauce to drizzle on rice.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
- Chicken: Use boneless skinless chicken thighs (my preference – juicier and more flavorful) or skinless boneless chicken breasts.
- Apple sauce: I know this sounds odd, but it works perfectly. There are substitutes.
- Cornstarch: I like a sauce with more body so I add a slurry of cornstarch and water to thicken it. Use less or none if you prefer a thinner sauce.
Variations and Substitutes
| Intead of: | Replace with: |
|---|---|
| chicken | pork, beef, tofu or tempeh |
| brown sugar | honey or maple syrup |
| apple sauce | orange juice, apple juice or orange juice |
| garnish – green onion, sesame seeds | fresh cilantro or basil |
- Also, feel free to vary the spice level and sweetness to your liking.
- Add a splash of sesame oil for some nutty flavor.
Step by step instructions
What to serve with bourbon chicken
As a main dish I serve the bourbon chicken over white rice or, if I’m looking for lower carbs, over lemon herb cauliflower ‘rice’ stir fry.
Other good sides for this dish are roasted bok choy and broccoli, mango salad or easy creamed spinach. Or serve your side vegetables in a soup form with our a vegetable wonton soup.
I also serve the chicken as an appetizer with toothpicks.
Shortcut
Just make the sauce and add chopped store-bought rotisserie chicken (or leftover chicken) to heat through.
Make Ahead
- You can make the sauce and chicken ahead of time. Ten minutes before you’re ready to serve, heat the sauce and add the chicken to heat through.
- You can also make the full dish ahead of time and warm it on the stove or in the microwave.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Other quick and easy chicken recipes
- chicken lettuce wraps (PF Chang style)
- skillet chicken pot pie (30 minutes)
- sweet and spicy chicken wings (23 minutes)
- spicy honey lime chicken
- Mediterranean marinated grilled chicken
- saucy baked chicken meatballs (23 minutes)
- grilled Vietnamese chicken
- spicy chicken pasta (peri-peri style, 20-minute)
Please leave a 5 star rating ***** with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe, Thanks so much!
Easy Bourbon Chicken Mall Recipe (20 Min)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken, Note 1
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch (only needed if stir frying chicken)
Sauce
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce e.g. Kikkoman
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup (2 ounces) apple sauce (or apple juice, pineapple juice or orange juice)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (or honey or maple syrup)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Bourbon (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (for low-medium spice)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or 1 clove or frozen cube or 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon mince or grated fresh ginger (or 1 frozen cube (or 1/4 tsp ground ginger powder)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Garnish (optional)
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- HEAT GRILL OR OVEN if using. See cooking options for chicken below.
- PREPARE SAUCE: Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk to mix well.
- COOK CHICKEN USING ONE OF THESE OPTIONS. In all cases, transfer to a plate after cooking and keep warm. Note that recipe will take longer with some cooking methods. ° Stir fry bite size chicken: Cut up chicken into bite size pieces, place in bag with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon salt, shake until lightly coated. Sauté in oil in a skillet on medium high heat in two batches until lightly browned and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes depending on size of pieces. ° Stir fry full size chicken pieces: Dust chicken with cornstarch and salt. Sauté chicken in a bit of oil in frying pan or skillet on medium high heat, transfer to a board, let sit for 5 minutes, then cut into bite size pieces. Keep warm.° Grill chicken (my preference if you have a grill handy – quick and easy): Toss the larger pieces of chicken with a bit of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on medium high for a 3-4 minutes per side. Let rest for 5 minutes, then cut into bite size pieces.° Bake chicken: drizzle breasts or thighs with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Baked in pan lined with parchment (for easy clean up) at 425F/218C for about 18 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes, then cut into bite size pieces. ° Sous vide chicken: at 144F/62C for 1.5 to a maximum of 4 hours. Here is a recipe to follow for sous vide chicken if you need one.
- COOK SAUCE AND TOSS WITH CHICKEN: Heat skillet to medium high. Add sauce and cook, stirring, until it starts to boil and thicken about 3-4 minutes. Add cooked chicken and stir to coat. Lower heat and cook for another 2 minutes just until chicken is well coated with sauce and heated through. If the sauce is too thick, add a tablespoon or two or water or juice. Serve over rice if desired. Garnish with chopped green onions and/or sesame seeds if you like.
Recipe Notes
- What chicken to use: boneless skinless chicken thighs (my preference – juicier and more flavorful) or skinless boneless chicken breasts. Substitutes: pork, beef, tofu, tempeh.
- Make ahead:
- You can make the sauce and chicken ahead of time. Ten minutes before you’re ready to serve, heat the sauce and add the chicken to heat through.
- You can also make the full dish ahead of time and warm it on the stove or in the microwave.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
Easy bourbon chicken has been updated from 2016 to include new images, additional cooking methods for the chicken and more information.
Loved the end result! Keeping this recipe in my recipe book! Lightly seasoned Chopped boneless skinless chicken thighs and stir fried in Avocado Oil. Used the apple sauce and red wine (what I had on hand.) instead of bourbon. Tasted fantastic!
Woohoo! So glad you liked it Roxanne 🙂
Very good taste used one orange juiced sous vide the chicken at 150 for 2hours thanks so much.
I did the same a while back when I had guests over. Used sous vide for the chicken. Thanks for leaving a comment Jim.