Gochujang Chicken

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Spice up weeknight dinner with this quick and easy gochujang chicken! Made with spicy-sweet gochujang paste, it’s ready in just 20 minutes.

Even though I live in a (relatively) small town, we’re lucky enough to have multiple Korean restaurants. If I had my way, we’d always be eating there on our nights out, but I settle for taking trips over to Champaign to visit the closest HMart.

While our local grocery stores have started carrying a much wider variety of Asian groceries, shopping at specialty stores like HMart is wonderful for exploring a dizzying array of new-to-you ingredients and flavors.

One I’ve been using for years is gochujang, a spicy fermented bean chili paste with a bit of sweetness. I love to use it for my favorite spicy glazed Brussels sprouts.

If you’ve heard of gochujang but have never tried it, this recipe is a great way to dive in. All you need to do is cook some diced chicken thighs, then mix up the quick sauce to coat the chicken. Add your favorite rice, quick-cooking snow peas or snap peas, and you’ve got a flavorful meal on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients for gochujang chicken

Full list of ingredients with quantities is located in the recipe card.

You’ll need:

• Boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced
• Cornstarch
• Cooking oil
• Gochujang paste
• Soy sauce
• Rice vinegar
• Toasted sesame oil
• Granulated sugar
• Garlic
• For serving: cooked rice, snow peas or snap peas, green onion (scallion), toasted sesame seeds

When choosing a gochujang, you want to get a paste rather than a bottled sauce. The pastes are sold in little tubs that are usually red in color (to help distinguish it from ssamjang, which has a green tub).

Gochujang is available in different spice levels, mild to very hot. The package will usually have a spice level indicated on the front, or on the back with a thermometer chart. I recommend starting at a lower level until you know what you like!

How to make this recipe

If you are making rice to go with this dish, make sure that is cooking before you begin, as well as ay vegetable sides.

Toss the chicken pieces in cornstarch, salt, and pepper, coating all of the pieces. Don’t skip the cornstarch; this creates a crispy coating on the chicken that the sauce sticks nicely to.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes per side, until cooked through and it reaches 165°F.

Remove the chicken to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Whisk together gochujang, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and garlic. Transfer to a saucepan and set over medium heat.

In a small bowl, whisk together remaining cornstarch and water, breaking up any clumps and mixing until smooth.

Once the sauce is simmering, whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Continue to whisk the sauce until it thickens slightly. This will take just a couple of minutes. It will thicken more as it cools, so if it is too thick for your liking, just whisk in a bit of extra water (about 1 teaspoon at a time) until it’s the right consistency.

Toss the chicken with the sauce, then plate with cooked rice and veggies. Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds and serve.

Recipe tips

If you prefer, use only half the sauce to toss the chicken, and save the rest for drizzling over the top. This is a great option if you’re making the dish for a wider range of tastes.

You can swap in boneless skinless chicken breast if you like. Take care that you do not overcook it, otherwise the chicken will lose its juiciness.

Air fryer chicken bites can also be swapped in, or baked breaded chicken nuggets. Note that this will make the recipe take slightly longer, but it’s still a quick meal!

You’ll have plenty of leftover gochujang, so use it for making gochujang mayonnaise that’s great with shrimp tacos, or in Korean-style beef.

Make gochujang chicken for a quick, easy, and flavorful dinner tonight!

Gochujang Chicken

Chicken is tossed in a spicy-sweet gochujang sauce for a quick and easy dinner.

Author : Megan Myers

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings 4

Calories 445 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons neutral-flavored cooking oil, plus more if needed

For the sauce

• 3 tablespoons gochujang paste
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2-3 cloves garlic, grated or minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

For serving

• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 2 cups steamed snow peas or sugar snap peas
• Chopped green onion
• Toasted sesame seeds

Directions

• Coat chicken in 1/4 cup cornstarch, salt and pepper, tossing to combine.
  1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
• Heat the oil in a skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes per side or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
  3 tablespoons neutral-flavored cooking oil
• Transfer to paper towel lined plates and set aside to drain of excess oil.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the gochujang, soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, sugar, and garlic.
  3 tablespoons gochujang paste, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 2-3 cloves garlic
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water until smooth.
  1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• Heat the gochujang mixture in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Once simmering, whisk in cornstarch mixture. Whisk the sauce constantly until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. It will continue to thicken a bit as it cools down. If it winds up being thicker than you prefer, whisk in some additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
• Toss the chicken and the sauce together in a bowl. Optionally, you can toss the chicken with only 1/2 to 3/4 of the sauce, then drizzle the remaining sauce over the chicken when serving.
• Plate the chicken with rice and peas, then garnish with chopped green onion and toasted sesame seeds.
  2 cups cooked white rice, 2 cups steamed snow peas or sugar snap peas, Toasted sesame seeds, Chopped green onion

Nutrition

Calories: 445 kcalCarbohydrates: 41 gProtein: 26 gFat: 19 gSaturated Fat: 3 gCholesterol: 108 mgSodium: 649 mgPotassium: 466 mgFiber: 2 gSugar: 6 gIron: 2 mg

Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate based on online calculators. Any nutritional information found on Stetted should be used as a general guideline only.

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