Make Szechuan Chicken. (Perfect spice and flavor)

This Szechuan Chicken is spicy and flavorful to perfection! Crispy chicken chunks and spicy Szechuan peppercorns are simmered in a tangy sauce with a hint of sweetness.

With sliced bell peppers and whole cashews for a mild crunch, this dish is well-rounded. Everything comes together in less time than having it delivered!

Why Is This Recipe So Delicious?

• The chicken is lightly fried after being dipped in cornstarch, resulting in crispy bits of chicken throughout the meal. This extra step makes a huge impact on the chicken’s ability to stand out on its own. When lightly cooked chicken pieces are added to the sauce, they will keep their crispness.
• It’s loaded with flavorful aromatics like garlic, ginger, and scallions! They offer this meal a lovely, fresh flavor while also filling your kitchen with a wonderful aroma.
• To help balance out all of those fiery Szechuan peppers, this dish incorporates a small amount of sweetness. It’s well-balanced, allowing you to experience all of the tastes of Szechuan chicken.
• You may make it as hot or as mild as you want! The Szechuan chicken recipe below is rather moderate. Add a couple more dried Szechuan chilies if you want it spicy.

Important Ingredients

Peppercorns from Szechuan – These tiny peppercorns are quite peppery, despite their small size. They also have a unique component that acts as a numbing agent.

In this dish, I only use a tablespoon of Szechuan peppercorns so that we may appreciate their heat and slightly citrus flavor without becoming numb.

Szechuan chilies – Tossing entire dried Szechuan chilies in this meal gives you the essence of their exquisite flavor without exposing you to their ultra-spicy interiors.

In my Szechuan chicken, I only use 15 chilies, but you can use more depending on your spice preferences!

Cashews — For added crunch, I like to add cashews to this recipe. If you don’t like cashews, you can substitute peanuts. Make sure the nuts you’re using aren’t salted.

Chef’s Advice

• To avoid overflowing your skillet, fry your chicken in batches. To fry all of my chicken, I needed three batches. It was worth the few extra minutes to get my chicken as crispy as possible!
• Over rice is my favorite way to serve Szechuan chicken. I simply adore letting the Szechuan sauce soak into the rice – YUM! If you’re following a low-carb diet, this recipe can be served over cauliflower rice for a quick dinner.
• Use whichever vegetables you have available. The sautéed bell peppers, chopped carrots, broccoli, or cauliflower would be delicious!

Szechuan Chicken

This Szechuan chicken is spicy and flavorful to perfection! Crispy chicken chunks and spicy Szechuan peppercorns are simmered in a tangy sauce with a hint of sweetness.

With sliced bell peppers and whole cashews for a mild crunch, this dish is well-rounded. Everything comes together in less time than having it delivered!

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken breast cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch see Notes for paleo
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns
• 15 dried Szechuan chilies
• 2 bell peppers chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic minced
• 3 scallions sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar see Notes
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ cup unsalted cashews see Notes

Equipment

• Large bowl
• Small bowl
• Large skillet

Instructions For Szechuan Chicken

1. In a mixing dish, combine the chicken, cornmeal, and salt. Toss the chicken until it is evenly coated.
2. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. In a single layer, carefully add the chicken. You’ll almost certainly have to work in batches. Cook each side for 3-4 minutes. Cook until all of the chicken is done, then transfer to a platter lined with paper towels.
3. In a skillet with oil, add Szechuan peppercorns, dried Szechuan chiles, and bell peppers. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened slightly.
4. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions, and cashews to the pan. Cook for 1 minute before returning the chicken to the skillet with the remaining vegetables.
5. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, and sesame oil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes after transferring the sauce mixture to the pan.
6. Serve immediately with rice or cauliflower rice.

Notes

• Make it Paleo by replacing cornstarch with arrowroot starch and frying the chicken in avocado oil rather than vegetable oil. You can also use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and leave out the brown sugar entirely.
• If you don’t have rice vinegar on hand, you can use white vinegar.
• If you don’t want to use unsalted cashews, you can substitute unsalted peanuts or leave them out entirely.

This recipe serves around 4 people. Nutritional values shown reflect information for 1 serving of chicken and vegetables, not including the rice.

The macros may differ slightly based on the ingredient brands utilized.

Prepare the recipe as directed, then weigh the completed product to calculate the size of one serving. 4 times the total weight (not including the bowl, pot, or plate in which the food is served). The weight of one serving will be the result.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 416kcal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 30g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 1186mg, Potassium: 788mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 2497IU, Vitamin C: 80mg, Calcium: 44mg, Iron: 3mg, Net Carbs: 19g