Break Out Your Air Fryer For Restaurant-Quality Bang Bang Chicken At Home

Bang Bang chicken is a Sichuan original that has traveled west and is now a favorite in Chinese American restaurants. The Chinese recipe poaches chunks of boneless chicken breast in a fragrant chili sauce before forcefully breaking the meat down by whacking it with a stick, or "bang" in Mandarin, hence the name. The Americanized version features breaded and fried chicken pieces and adds a creamy mayonnaise base to the chili sauce. If you're attempting to make bang bang chicken at home, the air fryer is a helpful tool that'll cut down on prep and cooking times without sacrificing flavor or texture.

An air fryer will give you a crispy chicken without breading. If using whole chicken breasts, score them for maximum flavor absorption, covering them with a dry rub of smoky, spicy, and aromatic seasonings. You can also forgo the seasoning blend and coat your chicken in flour and panko breadcrumbs for a crispy crust. The bang bang sauce can serve as both a cooking liquid and serving sauce, and it comes together with a few store-bought ingredients, namely sweet chili sauce, mayonnaise, and sriracha. Spoon the sauce over the scored chicken breast, or toss your sliced chicken in the sauce, before placing them in the airy fryer basket for between 380 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.

An air-fryer version of bang bang chicken along with an easy mayo-based sauce trends toward the Americanized version of the dish. When we're in the mood to make a sauce from scratch with traditional and fresh ingredients, we adapt our recipe for crock pot bang bang chicken to use with the air fryer. If you want an alternative to mayo, a tahini-based sauce can be poured over a portion of scored chicken breasts before reserving the rest. For bite-sized chicken pieces, you can toss the chicken pieces or marinate them in the sauce for around 15 minutes. Note: You'll also want to flip the pieces after 10 minutes in the fryer for even crisping.

Once you've air-fried the chicken, pour the remaining sauce over it (any surplus sauce can be used to stir fry accompanying vegetables). Let whole chicken breasts rest for an additional 15 minutes to maximize flavor, moisture, and texture. This dish is traditionally served over steamed white rice, garnished with green onions. However, it would taste delicious as a salad topper. You could even use the reserved sauce as a salad dressing to toss with shredded Napa cabbage, julienned carrots, snow peas, cucumber, and radishes.