Bang Bang Chicken With Spicy Almond Sauce

Drizzled with the tastiest spicy almond sauce, this bang bang chicken is juicy and crispy. Served with a zesty Asian salad with cucumber and mango. This recipe is gluten-free and paleo-friendly.

My Bang Bang Chicken

I have wanted to make a healthier, gluten-free bang bang chicken for a long time.

You might have come across the name bang bang chicken or bang bang shrimp in a hipster fusion restaurant but the name is actually Chinese (Szechuan) in origin. Also known as bon bon chicken, the traditional dish consists of cold, shredded chicken drenched in spicy sesame sauce.

The chicken is tenderised by pounding with a heavy wooden stick, and as such, it is claimed that the name refers to the sound of the chicken being pounded.

I actually thought that ‘bang bang’ referred to how good the flavours are – spicy, sweet, sour and salty – exploding in your mouth with a bang. After doing some research, it turns out that bang is also slang for “fantastic” in Mandarin, which is probably closer to what it actually means.

Anyways, this recipe is NOT for the authentic bang bang chicken you find in Chinese restaurants but rather my version of the more modern dish, in which chicken or prawns are deep-fried or crispy fried and served with a spicy-sweet (usually) peanut-based sauce. Obviously, there are lots of recipes for the sauce and for how the chicken is cooked, so this is my personal, healthy version.

My partner and my trusted recipe tester declared this one of the best chicken dishes I ever made and has requested it for our next dinner party. The word he used to describe the sauce is too rude to share here, so I’ll just say he called it ‘awesome sauce’.

How To Make Bang Bang Chicken

There are two key components to this dish that you have to get right: juicy, crispy fried chicken and the spicy sauce. My secret is to use chicken thighs, as the meat is tastier and more tender than the chicken breast, and to coat the pieces in a simple flour slurry before shallow frying them until crispy. Plus, some delicious seasoning!

Spicy Almond Sauce

The sauce is made with almond butter, aromatics such as onion, garlic and chilli, and my little secret ingredient – coconut yoghurt! Don’t worry, it will be equally delicious with coconut cream/milk but I think the yoghurt adds a little extra tang that works really well here. I also use it in my coconut yoghurt chicken.

You will benefit from having a small blender for processing the sauce into a smooth consistency, however, chopping everything finely with a knife will work just as fine and will give you a more textured sauce.

The recipe makes a little more sauce than you will use in this dish, so save it in an airtight container and enjoy it as a dipping condiment with some cut-up veggies or as a drizzle over salads or veggies. It would be a great alternative sauce for my Asian chicken salad.

Mango Salad

The final component is a simple salad, which you can make with whatever vegetables you have on hand. I love using as many colours as possible and using a little tropical fruit such as mango or pineapple.

You can also add fresh herbs like coriander (cilantro) or mint, shredded cabbage, radishes, shaved zucchini and so on. It’s dressed simply with lime juice, salt, and olive oil because the bang bang sauce and the chicken juices will serve as a dressing as well.

You can also serve the chicken over cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles or as finger food at a party. Alternatively, make my super easy everyday side salad.

Some harder to get ingredients you can get on Amazon: tapioca flour, coconut flour, coconut aminos, almond butter, white pepper.

More Asian Chicken Recipes

Full Recipe 

Find the full list of ingredients, instructions, and a nutritional breakdown below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments, and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.