Oven-Baked Firecracker Chicken Fillets

Sweet, spicy and delicious! These succulent Oven-Baked Firecracker Chicken Fillets will add a burst of flavor to your plate. Baste this chicken in a mouth-watering homemade firecracker sauce, bake in just 30 minutes and serve with veggies, rice or noodles.

Firecracker chicken combines sweet and spicy East Asian flavors. It is usually made by first browning the chicken on high heat before baking it in a firecracker marinade, but there is no need to brown for this recipe! Let the oven do all of the work, and bake for 30 minutes.

Firecracker chicken fillets are made with a special firecracker marinade sauce. The chicken is coated in this sauce before it is baked in the oven. The common ingredients for firecracker sauce include hot sauce or Sriracha sauce, soy sauce, and sugar, such as brown sugar.

You can serve your firecracker chicken with rice, vegetables, or any type of Singapore Rice Noodles Recipe, Chinese Vegetable Stir Fry Recipe or Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry. For a special meal, serve it with Coconut Fried Rice with Shrimp. 

Why This Recipe Works

• These delicious Oven-Baked Firecracker Chicken Fillets are vibrant and filled with flavor.
• This tasty dish can be served with white rice, noodles, Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad or Easy Carrot Salad with Asian Dressing.
• It is a very simple sauce to customize. You can make it spicier, reduce the spice, and increase the sugar to make it sweeter.
• It is ready in 30 minutes!

Oven-Baked Firecracker Chicken Fillets Ingredients

• Chicken fillet: This recipe calls for either fresh or frozen chicken fillets. If you use frozen chicken, allow it to thaw before marinating the fillets.
• Hot sauce: To make an authentic firecracker sauce, use Sriracha sauce. You can also use any other brand of hot sauce.
• Brown sugar: You can use either dark brown or light brown sugar. The sugar helps to balance out the hot spice of the marinade. 
• Soy: Add light or dark soy sauce to the marinade.
• Oil: Use a flavorless canola, vegetable, or sunflower oil.
• Chili flakes: Adjust to your taste. If you don’t want very spicy chicken, use less.
• Apple cider vinegar: If you don't have apple cider vinegar, you can use white wine vinegar or white vinegar.
• Fish sauce: This adds a delicious, salty, savory flavor to the marinade. However, if you don't have fish sauce, add more soy sauce.

Tips and Substitutions

• Firecracker marinade: Separate the marinade sauce you’d like to serve later from the sauce used for basting the chicken to prevent food contamination. 
• Chicken: If using frozen chicken, make sure it is defrosted thoroughly before use. Otherwise, the chicken will take a longer amount of time to cook, and the marinade will become diluted due to excess water.
• Firecracker sauce: If you need to make your chicken quickly or to save time, you can use store-bought firecracker sauce instead.
• Tenderize chicken: Bash chicken with a rolling pin to tenderize and help it cook faster.
• Baste chicken: Basting is the secret to making these delicious fillets. Basting every 5 minutes intensifies the flavor of the fillet and also gives it a beautiful, vibrant red color.
• Alternatives: This sauce is super adaptable and can marinate Skinny Firecracker Shrimp with Broccoli, beef, Firecracker Salmon Salad Bowl and more!

How to Make Oven-Baked Firecracker Chicken Fillet

1. First, preheat your oven to 400F/200C. This usually takes 10-15 minutes. While your oven is preheating, make the firecracker marinade sauce by combining the hot sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, oil, chili flakes, apple cider vinegar and fish sauce in a bowl. Place your chicken in another bowl and add 4-5 tablespoons of the marinade and mix to coat the chicken.

Optional: If you have extra time, cover the fillets with cling film in a bowl and leave them to marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge. This will intensify the flavors of the fillets.

2. Don’t use all the sauce, as you will still need it to serve with the chicken. Bake your coated chicken in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

3. Baste chicken every five minutes. As you can see below, the fillets soak up the flavors from the marinade and become a deeper red every time they are basted.

4. Keep basting every five minutes until thoroughly cooked. Feel free to serve these tasty fillets with extra marinade, chili flakes, and scallions or spring onions. Firecracker chicken fillets can be served with salad, veggies, rice, or noodles.

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