Big fan of Chinese restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s? Their spicy chicken is considered something of an icon when it comes to takeout chains across America, and now you can replicate that dish in your own home!
Making spicy chicken that’s just as tasty as P.F. Chang’s is surprisingly easy, and shouldn’t take more than half an hour.
If P.F. Chang’s tends to be a little too spicy for your personal tastes, you can adjust the spiciness by simply adding less hot sauce.
But if you’re the opposite and you find P.F. Chang’s chicken to be lacking in spice, then you can either add as much hot sauce as you wish or add more red pepper flakes.
The key step to making P.F. Chang’s spicy chicken is preparing the sauce in a saucepan. All you’ll need for the chicken is two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (roughly one pound of chicken), a quarter cup of cornstarch, and vegetable oil.
For The Spicy Sauce:
you’ll require five minced cloves of garlic,
a quarter cup of thinly sliced green onions (both the white and green parts should be included),
a cup of pineapple juice, a quarter cup of sweet chili sauce (we recommend Chinese variety sweet chili sauce, like Panda Express),
two tablespoons of white vinegar, and a half tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes.
First, cut your chicken breasts into matchstick pieces, and toss them with your cornstarch. Then heat an inch of oil on high heat in a large skillet, and fry your chicken in batches until the meat is crisp.
This should take between three to four minutes. Put the chicken on a plate and drain the oil, leaving about a tablespoon in the pan in order to make your sauce.
Add your garlic and half of your sliced green onions to the skillet, and cook until fragrant, which should take about 30 seconds. Then whisk in your pineapple juice, your white vinegar, and your crushed red pepper flakes.
Bring these to boil and cook them for between two to three minutes, until they’re slightly thickened. Stir in the chicken and cook for two minutes until the sauce has thickened.
If the sauce is taking longer than a couple of minutes to properly thicken, add a teaspoon of cornstarch to a tablespoon of water and stir this into your mixture. Then stir in the rest of your green onions and serve.
Now you know how to make the perfect copycat P.F. Chang’s spicy chicken. So, aside from enjoying it on its own, what other recipes can it be used in? Read on to find out!
A staple of the P.F. Chang’s menu, making your own copycat chicken lettuce wraps is a fast, simple process.
Main Ingredients Include:
four tablespoons of vegetable oil,
one pound of ground chicken,
an eight-ounce can of drained and minced water chestnuts,
a six-ounce can of drained and minced straw mushrooms,
one minced clove of garlic, two chopped scallion stalks,
three tablespoons of soy sauce,
two tablespoons of mirin,
two tablespoons of oyster sauce,
and one tablespoon of rice vinegar
For the dipping sauce, you’ll need two tablespoons of granulated sugar, a half cup of water, three tablespoons of reduced-sodium soy sauce, one tablespoon of rice vinegar, an eighth of a teaspoon of chili oil, one tablespoon of chopped chives, a quarter teaspoon of Chinese hot mustard, and one teaspoon of Sriracha.
You’ll be serving with four to five cups of iceberg lettuce.
First, you’ll be making the dipping sauce. Add all the ingredients (the ingredients specifically for the dipping sauce) into a small bowl and whisk them fully. Next, add two tablespoons of oil to a large skillet and brown your chicken on medium-high heat.
Remove the chicken once browned, and add the rest of your oil. Sauté the straw mushrooms, water chestnuts, garlic, and scallions for between three to five minutes.
Then return the chicken to the skillet as well as the soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, and rice vinegar, and stir. Serve in lettuce cups, and serve the dipping sauce either on top or for dipping.
Another icon of the P.F. Chang’s menu, this copycat recipe for their orange peel chicken is not only just as delicious as it is at the restaurant, but it’s healthier too.
Main Ingredients Include:
two pounds of chicken breast cut into one-inch pieces,
a quarter cup of cornstarch,
one tablespoon of vegetable oil,
four tablespoons of minced garlic,
four sliced green onions,
one cup of tomato sauce,
a half cup of water,
a quarter cup of granulated sugar,
two tablespoons of brown sugar,
one tablespoon of Sriracha sauce,
one tablespoon of soy sauce,
two tablespoons of canola oil,
one half julienned and half zested orange peel
and brown rice
First, put your one-inch chunks of chicken into a bowl and coat them with cornstarch.
Heat two tablespoons of oil on your wok at medium heat, before adding your chicken. Cook the chicken until it’s browned on both sides.
Remove the browned chicken, and if you have roughly a tablespoon of oil left in the pan then you can use this for the remaining steps. If you don’t have enough oil left, add a tablespoon, and then add your green onions and minced garlic.
Cook for roughly one minute, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Then add tomato sauce, sugar, water, Sriracha sauce, and soy sauce.
Bring these to a boil and simmer for roughly five minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
Then remove them from heat and set them aside. Return the chicken to the pan, along with your sauce.
Mix in the orange strips and orange zest until all the chicken is coated, before cooking for 20 to 30 more seconds in order for the chicken to regain heat.
Serve with brown rice. This dish also goes well with roasted garlic and ginger carrots.
Alternative Recipes For Copycat P.F. Chang’s Spicy Chicken
Our recipe at the top of the article is a great way to replicate P.F. Chang’s spicy chicken in the comfort of your own home, but it’s not the only way. Here are two more recipes for making delicious copycat P.F. Chang’s chicken.
The only main differences with this recipe are the inclusions of potato starch, white sauce, and canola oil. Your first step will be dicing 10 ounces of chicken breasts and lightly coating them with potato starch.
Fill your hot wok with canola oil and fry the diced chicken for between two to three minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Drain the chicken and rinse out your wok.
Next, add your oil back into the wok, along with a tablespoon of garlic, a quarter cup of green onions, one teaspoon of chili paste, one ounce of white sauce (chicken stock with some oyster sauce), your favorite hot sauce (we recommend P.F. Changs’ own), two teaspoons of sesame oil, and one tablespoon of cornstarch.
Mix in your chicken until the sauce binds to the meat, and serve the dish with noodles or rice.
This variation of P.F. Chang’s spicy chicken includes coconut amino, fish sauce, ketchup, and avocado oil.
First, place two pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breast on a cutting board. Cover the chicken with saran wrap and use a meat mallet to pound the chicken until it’s a quarter-inch thick.
Remove the wrap and cut your chicken into one-inch cubes. Add the chicken to a large bowl and add two tablespoons of avocado oil, as well as a half tablespoon of salt, a quarter tablespoon of white or black pepper, and one tablespoon of arrowroot flour. Toss together before setting the bowl aside.
In a small bowl combine fish sauce, coconut amino, fish sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, cayenne, ketchup, chili flakes, pineapple sauce, toasted sesame oil, and arrowroot. Whisk until the arrowroot has dissolved. Add two tablespoons of avocado oil to a large skillet and bring to medium-high heat.
Add your chicken and cook until brown on both sides and cooked all the way through. Whisk your sauce again and pour it in with the chicken, before adding most of your sliced green onions and cooking until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is coated.
There’s a reason P.F. Chang’s is one of the most beloved Chinese restaurant chains across America.
With the recipes just listed, you should be well on your way to recreating their iconic dishes in your own home. When you realize just how easy it is to make P.F. Chang’s chicken just like the real thing, you’ll wonder why you didn’t Google it sooner!
