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Home » Dinner » Bourbon Chicken

Bourbon Chicken

Created: February 27, 2020 Updated: June 4, 2020 by lyuba 9 Comments

1.1K shares
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Bourbon Chicken is a rich and flavorful dish made with juicy chicken thigh meat and an amazing bourbon sauce. This sauce is sweet and spicy, it’s bursting with flavor from bourbon, brown sugar, apple juice, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and a few more tasty ingredients. Serve it over rice or vegetables and it will be an instant dinner hit. 

If you want to try out some more food court favorites, don’t miss my Pepper Chicken and Chicken Teriyaki. So much better homemade and all very easy to make. 

bourbon chicken in a bowl

WHAT IS BOURBON CHICKEN?

Delicious! It is a delicious chicken dish, is what it is. But really, Bourbon Chicken is a very popular dish found on the menu in many mall food courts across United States. This popular chicken dish was named after the main ingredients in the sauce, which is bourbon.

It doesn’t have any Chinese cuisine origin and I’m not sure how much Cajun origin it actually has. Although some say that it’s named for Bourbon Street, in Louisiana. Perhaps because it’s often served in a mall restaurants called Cajun Café. Alter asking a few of my friends from Louisiana, they’ve never actually heard of this dish being in Cajun cuisine.

Ultimately, my conclusion about the origin of this dish came down to the main ingredient of the sauce. Bourbon does give it a unique and distinct taste.  

The sauce is made of more than just bourbon though. There are a lot of complimentary flavors like soy sauce, apple juice, vinegar, garlic, fresh ginger, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar for sweetness.

ingredients for the chicken dish

searing chicken

DOES THIS DISH HAVE ALCOHOL?

Now, of course this dish has alcohol, it’s made with bourbon. If you don’t have bourbon, the closest thing you can use to substitute it is another type of whiskey.

If you want to substitute alcohol completely, you can increase the amount of apple juice or use grape juice. Also, add a little extra sherry vinegar (instead of apple cider vinegar). The flavor of the sauce will not be the same and it won’t be as strong, but it will still be tasty.

IS BOURBON CHICKEN GLUTEN FREE?

Yes! This chicken recipe gluten free as long as you use gluten free soy sauce and make sure that the bourbon you are using is one of the gluten free ones.

Many bourbon brands claim that they are gluten free due to the distillation process but so may still cause a reaction. So make sure you are using the brand that you are good with.

bourbon sauce

adding chicken to sauce

HOW TO MAKE BOURBON CHICKEN

Chicken:

To make the chicken tender and also have a little crispiness to it, you will want to dredge the chicken pieces in cornstarch and sear it before mixing it with sauce.

Cut chicken thighs into small pieces (cut off as much excess fat as possible in the process) and put them into a large zip-lock bag. Add cornstarch, close the bag and give it some good shaking to make sure that all the chicken is coated evenly.

Preheat a large cooking pan first and add peanut oil. Add chicken and sear it on all the sides until almost done. Take chicken out and set is aside.

Bourbon Sauce:

Whisk all ingredients for the sauce together in a bowl while chicken is cooking. After you take out the chicken, stir the sauce and add it to the same pan where the chicken cooked.

Slowly stir and let the sauce simmer and thicken. Once it’s thickened, add chicken back in and let it finish cooking together with sauce.

Finish the dish off with some diced scallions.

chicken in sauce

HOW TO SERVE IT 

The best way to serve this chicken dish is over rice or vegetables. You can roast the vegetables in the oven or sauté in another pan. Rice and vegetables are just wonderful when coated with this bourbon sauce.

If you want to go a little lighter than rice, use quinoa or cauliflower rice.

SOME MORE DELICIOUS CHICKEN RECIPES

Sesame Roasted Chicken Thighs

Creamy Chipotle Pepper Chicken 

Sesame Chicken and Noodles

Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl

adding chicken to rice bowl

If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!

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Bourbon Chicken

Bourbon Chicken is a rich and flavorful dish made with juicy chicken thigh meat and an amazing bourbon sauce. It's perfect over rice or vegetables. 
4 from 1 vote
Print SaveSaved! Rate
Course: dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: 30 minute dinner, bourbon chicken, chicken, chicken thighs
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 557kcal
Author: lyuba

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs chicken thigh meat
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 tbsp peanut oil or vegetable oil

Bourbon Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup bourbon
  • 1/2 cup apple juice
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp shaved fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes more or less to adjust the heat
  • 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a mixing bowl, whisk well, and set aside.
  • Cut chicken thighs into small pieces and cut off as much excess fat as possible in the process.
  • Put cut chicken into a large zip-lock bag. Add cornstarch, close the bag and give it some good shaking to make sure that all the chicken is coated evenly.
  • Preheat a large cooking pan first and add oil. Add dredged chicken and sear it on all the sides until almost done. Take chicken out and set is aside.
  • Stir the sauce again and add it to the same pan where the chicken was cooked.
  • Slowly stir and let the sauce simmer and thicken. Once it’s thickened, add chicken back in, lower the heat, and let it finish cooking together with sauce.
  • Finish the dish off with some diced scallions.
  • Serve over rice or simple roasted/sauteed vegetables.

Notes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.

Nutrition

Calories: 557kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 215mg | Sodium: 2728mg | Potassium: 803mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 280IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles

bourbon chicken long collage

Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on September 5th, 2011. Updated February 27th, 2020. 

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

1.1K shares

Filed Under: 30 Minute Meals, Chicken, Dinner

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.

Comments

  1. Lady Behind The Curtain says

    September 7, 2011 at 2:16 pm

    Your recipe looks yummy! I would love it if you came over to Cast Party Wednesday and shared your recipe with us.
    Thanks,
    I hope to see you there!
    http://ladybehindthecurtain.com

    Reply
  2. Chrissy.Barile says

    September 7, 2011 at 3:23 pm

    YUMM!!! I have to try this!!
    I am hosting a link party going on right now. I’d love it if you came by & linked up!
    http://formamas.blogspot.com/2011/09/show-tell-friday-3.html

    Chrissy @ ForMamas

    Reply
  3. Erin of HomeSavvyAtoZ.com says

    September 7, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    Thank you for taking the time to comment on my site, Lyuba! I am glad you did so I could find yours! This chicken looks delicious! I am happy to be a new follower and would love for you to link your recipe up at my Savvy HomeMade blog party at

    http://www.homesavvyatoz.com/blog-party-6/

    I’m looking forward to blogging with you!

    Reply
  4. Lara Jonathan says

    March 3, 2020 at 5:38 am

    Hey Lyuba, Delicious! My whole family loved it! I did not find it too salty, though I may try a little less soy sauce the next time I make it and see if it alters the taste too much as I’m always looking to cut sodium intake.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      March 3, 2020 at 4:51 pm

      Thanks, Lara!

      Reply
  5. Sue says

    June 15, 2020 at 10:49 am

    Will you please share what brand of bourbon you used? I’m looking forward to making this.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      June 15, 2020 at 2:10 pm

      Hi Sue,

      I used Knob Creek but you can use whatever bourbon you like best.

      Reply
  6. luna says

    September 6, 2022 at 8:10 am

    It looks worth a try.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      September 6, 2022 at 1:06 pm

      I hope you like it, Luna!

      Reply

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Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

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