A tangy, sweet and spicy dipping sauce is the secret to this nutty and peppery Easy Grilled Chicken with Hot and Sweet Sauce Recipe. Ready in less than 20 minutes from start to finish!
I love spicy food. Anywhere on the fiery-food-spectrum from lightly-spicy to full on volcanic really does it for me! And if that spicy food just happens to have a sweet flavor component somewhere in there as well, I’m in heaven. So when coming up with the recipe for this easy grilled chicken with hot and sweet sauce, I played around with quite a few flavor combinations until I found the ingredients I felt really worked together in harmony.
To my surprise, it turned out that the most simple ingredient combination worked the best. In the past I’ve incorporated sriracha and honey with baked salmon to get that sweet heat – delicious! For this easy grilled chicken recipe I wanted to use things that are commonly in my kitchen arsenal, so I could whip this up anytime the cupboards are starting to look a little bare, but still want to eat well.
It’s pretty rare that doing dinner prep in the kitchen results in an upper body workout. But getting this easy grilled chicken recipe ready for the grill pan will have you moving. Step away from the computer and go get your gym-pants on! This easy grilled chicken preparation calls for you to line a cutting board with parchment paper, sprinkle some chili flakes on top of the uncooked chicken breasts and bash them with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer.
The reason for this is twofold:
- 1. Pounding with a mallet breaks down the fiber of tough cuts, making the meat softer.
- 2. It makes sure those chili flakes are truly embedded in the chicken breast, so they don’t just fall off when you put them on the grill pan to cook.
Nothing wrong with swinging a mallet and working up a sweat, right? OK – making this easy grilled chicken recipe is not quite the equivalent of taking a boxing class at the gym, but it may have you saying goodbye to some workday aggression, and hello to delicious food. That’s a win/win in my book!
I’ve been using the grill pan a lot these days. I’m kind of a sucker for grill marks! Since the protein is pounded thin, this easy grilled chicken recipe doesn’t take much time to cook through at all!
The dipping sauce brings the tart and sweet heat from using rice vinegar, a little sugar and a Thai chili (you can use a bit of diced jalapeño pepper if you prefer). It provides just the right counterpoint to the fiery grilled chicken breast, peppery arugula and toasted cashews. We devoured it in no time – and Ben was so intrigued by the hammering noises coming from the kitchen during prep that he vowed to cook this super easy grilled chicken for dinner soon. It’s nice being cooked for. He better not stick me with the dishes though!
Other simple, delicious recipes:
- Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp
- Grilled Cauliflower with Sriracha Buffalo Sauce
- Blackened Hasselback Carrots
- Bacon Wrapped Asparagus with Honey Miso Glaze
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Easy Grilled Chicken With Hot And Sweet Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 2 people 1x
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
A tangy, sweet and spicy dipping sauce is the secret to this nutty and peppery Easy Grilled Chicken with Hot and Sweet Sauce Recipe. Ready in less than 20 minutes from start to finish!
Ingredients
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 1 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons cashew nuts
- 2 handfuls arugula
Dipping sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon chili oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 clove garlic (grated)
- 1 Thai chili (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Lay chicken on a cutting board or parchment paper and sprinkle chili flakes on top. Drizzle olive oil and bash the chicken using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer. When the chicken is thin – about 5 mm – transfer to a plate, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a small serving bowl and mix well, until sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
- Lay arugula on a plate and spread out evenly.
- In a grill pan over medium high heat, brush a little olive oil. When the pan is hot, add chicken and cook on each side for about 3 minutes, until grill marks show and chicken is cooked through.
- In a small sauté pan over medium heat, add cashew nuts and toss for 2-3 min, until toasted. Keep an eye on the cashews to make sure they don’t burn.
- Turn the heat off and serve chicken and cashews on top of arugula, with dipping sauce on the side.
Notes
This Easy Grilled Chicken With Hot & Sweet Sauce Recipe will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 447
- Sugar: 7.8 g
- Sodium: 398.3 mg
- Fat: 19.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.5 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4.3 g
- Cholesterol: 149 mg
Can I do this in oven? If so, bake or broil? How long?
Many thanks
Hi Iris!
You can certainly do the chicken in the oven by broiling the pieces on each side for 3-4 minutes (if the pieces are pounded thin – I wouldn’t recommend the broiling method if you are using thick pieces as broiling them may not be enough to cook the inside), or until golden brown. Alternatively, you can lay the pieces of chicken on parchment paper and bake them at 400ºF for 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF.