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This Whole30 Chang’s Spicy Chicken will become one of your favorite weeknight meals in no time.
Growing up, my family were very loyal PF Chang’s customers. We loved going for the family-style dinners and getting an assortment of our favorite things on the menu: Mongolian beef, lettuce cups, string beans, and my personal favorite… the Chang’s Spicy Chicken. So it was a must to recreate my go-to dish into this Whole30 Chang’s Spicy Chicken.
The Chang’s Spicy Chicken is spicy, tangy, and a little sweet– but absolutely delicious! Since I can remember, I’ve always loved spicy food and this was one of my favorite spicy dishes to feast on! You guys know how much I love to recreate my childhood favorites, so it was a no-brainer for me to recreate the Chang’s Spicy Chicken in my own kitchen. I’ve adapted it to be Whole30, and it turned out quite lovely! I will say that it was hard to get it as sweet as I’d like to, but that is just life on the Whole30. However, for a whole30 rendition, it’s as close as it gets and regardless– freaking delicious!
If you’re a spicy food lover like me, try this simple and delicious chicken stir fry! It goes well with cauliflower rice and some sauteed green beans, snap peas, or steamed broccoli! No need to call in take-out, you can make Whole30 Chang’s Spicy Chicken right at home!
Like this recipe? Here are more P.F. Chang’s-inspired recipes you might love: Whole30 Mongolian Beef Stir Fry, Thai Red Curry Shrimp Lettuce Wraps, Whole30 Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
Whole30 Chang's Spicy Chicken
Ingredients
For the Chicken Stir Fry:
- 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 4 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper (Black pepper is fine too)
- 1 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced (Save about 2 tbsp for garnish)
For the sauce:
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp ketchup (I use Primal Kitchen)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (Add more, to taste, depending on your heat preference)
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes (Add more, to taste, depending on your heat preference)
- 2 tbsp pineapple juice (From a can of pineapple chunks)
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp arrowroot
Instructions
- Place chicken on a cutting board and cover with saran wrap. Using a meat mallet or the bottom of a skillet, pound until chicken it is an even 1/4-in thick. Discard the plastic wrap, then cut chicken into 1-inch cubes.
- Place the cubed chicken in a large bowl and add 2 tbsp of the avocado oil, the salt, pepper and arrowroot. Toss until well combined. Set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the coconut aminos, fish sauce, garlic, rice vinegar, ketchup, cayenne, chili flakes, toasted sesame oil, pineapple juice and arrowroot. Whisk until well combined and the arrowroot has dissolved in the mixture. Set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat add your remaining 2 tbsp of avocado oil. Once heated, add your chicken in a single layer (You'll likely need to do this in 2 batches) and cook until a brown crust forms on both sides and the chicken is cooked through; about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the cooked chicken to a clean plate and set aside until all of your chicken is cooked through.
- Once all chicken is browned, add it back into the hot skillet. Whisk the sauce once more to ensure it's well combined, and pour into the skillet with the chicken. Add about 3/4 of the green onions (reserve the rest for garnish) and cook, stirring, until sauce thickens and chicken is well-coated in the sauce, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Serve as desired and top with remaining green onions. enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by Eat Love Eats.
Looks like I forgot to grab rice vinegar while at the store – any substitutes for this, or am I running back out to the store? 🙂 Excited to give this recipe a try, looks so delicious!
This recipe looks delish and I’d like to make it for my husband’s birthday. He loves Chang’s Spicy Chicken. Can this be made without sesame oil? We have a kiddo with a sesame allergy.
yes you can omit!
One of my top favorite DD asian dishes! Soo flavorful.
I’ve made this twice and both times my sauce turns out slimy and gooey. What could I be doing wrong??
Hi Tiffany, in this blog post I write a little more about what arrowroot is and why it my turn out “slimy/gooey” for you in a recipe and why.. I hope you find it helpful:
https://thedefineddish.com/whole30-chicken-marsala/
This is a winner! We love the heat and are always glad to have a clean version of our favorite foods.
This is on regular rotation in my house!
Such an amazing recipe! Much healthier and flavorful alternative to Chinese takeout. Alex never disappoints!!
Yum!!! I’ve made this a few times now and it’s always so delicious. This time I chopped up and added pineapple into the dish. I think this recipe may even beat Chinese takeout. Thanks 😊
Do you have the nutrition info for your recipes?
I do not but someone else may have calculated for this recipe!
I feel like I have only survived three rounds of W30 thanks to your recipes. This was no exception! We halved the amount of meat so we had double sauce and added pineapple chunks and bell peppers as well and served on top of cauliflower rice. Not too spicy for those worried about heat.
First of all.. I have to thank you for all you do! I’m a newlywed who has never cooked a day in her life and you have taught me everything!!! My husband thinks I’m a pro because all of your recipes are SO delicious. Our three favorites are of course this Changs Spicy Chicken, the Tikka Masala, and the Texas-Style Brisket tacos (they taste JUST like mias!!). This might be a very dumb question but being brand new to cooking, I thought I’d try and ask.. Do you think there is a way I can use the instant pot for the Changs Spicy Chicken? I wasnt sure if I could do it similar to how you do the Tikka Masala? Thank you so much again!
I would have to test that method– usually for stir frys I like to keep it on the skillet and doing this in the IP I would have to change the cook method for sure.
I make this all the time and we love it! Tonight I made it with salmon instead (I didn’t have any chicken) and it might be even more delicious!!!