This Volcano Chicken has crispy, fried chicken tossed in a spicy garlic chili sauce and served over a bed of rice. It’s our version of the classic Thai dish that you can make as spicy as your taste buds can handle!
Are you all ready for an explosion of Volcano Chicken? We are!
I can’t believe it. We are going on 300 published recipes on this website! We’ve had a blast sharing easy, delicious recipes with everyone! We’ve made a TON of casseroles, a ton of side dishes and, yes, a MEGA ton of desserts. But what we haven’t done a A LOT of is spicy dishes. We’ve made some Spicy Green Beans, a Rotel Cheese Dip, and these awesome Cajun Deviled Eggs. But we haven’t actually made a spicy main dish. That changes today with this fun, easy recipe for Volcano Chicken!
What Is A Volcano Chicken?
I’ve done a fair amount of research into this question and it seems that many people have a slightly different answer. I’ve seen several version of Volcano Chicken where the chicken is propped up on a plate and lit on fire (hence, the Volcano part). We will NOT be doing that today. Otherwise, most versions I’ve seen have consisted of chunks of chicken breast breaded and deep fried and then tossed in a spicy sauce. The sauce usually consists of a garlic chili (sriracha anyone!?!?!).
The chicken is either served on a bed of white, jasmine rice, seared vegetables (carrots, cabbage), fresh lettuce or any combination of those. We’ve got another Asian Inspired Dish called Empress Chicken that is a lot like this, but with a sweet and spicy sauce. Check it out!
If anyone has a better read about the history of this dish, we’d love to hear about it in the comments section!
How To Make Volcano Chicken
Today, we are gonna fry up some chicken, toss in that sauce and serve it on some rice. Sound good? Alright, here is what you’ll need to get started:
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN:
- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- ½ cups cornstarch
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Salt and pepper
- Oil for frying
INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE:
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
- 2 tablespoons Red Thai curry paste
- 1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, diced (depending on how spicy you want the sauce)
- 2 cups white rice, prepared
CAN YOU MAKE VOLCANO CHICKEN AHEAD OF TIME?
You can. Like just about all dishes, this is best served fresh off of the stove. But you can make it ahead of time and reheat. I would not put it over the rice until ready to serve. To reheat it, you can cook it over medium heat in a skillet, stirring often and making sure it doesn’t burn.
Or, you can put it in the microwave for about 90 seconds, adding 30 seconds each time until heated through.
HOW TO STORE VOLCANO CHICKEN
You can freeze this dish and it will be good in your freezer for about 3 months. Let the chicken fully cool and put into freezer bags. We like to use these ones. They are super durable and have grips that make them easy to open and close. Make sure to label and date the bag! Take them out and put them in the fridge to thaw the day before you want to eat them. Then reheat them according to instructions above.
You can also keep Volcano Chicken in your fridge for up to 3-5 days. It’s best stored in tupperware. This 14 piece tupperware set has everything you need in your kitchen. Come on, it’s probably about time you updated, right!?!?!
NOTES, TIPS AND VARIATIONS
- USE A NICE, BIG FRYING PAN OR WOK- You are going to want something with plenty of room to work. This Frying Pan is pretty awesome and super affordable!
- SERVE ON SEARED CABBAGE AND CARROTS– You can add this to the rice or sub it for the rice. Just put 2 tbsp on oil in the pan on a medium high heat. Chop up a small head of cabbage and about 4 carrots diagonally. Dump them into the oil for a short amount of time. You really just want to sear them a bit so that get that nice char on them. You can also serve this dish on just a bed of lettuce too!
- CAN YOU USE CHICKEN THIGHS FOR VOLCANO CHICKEN?- Yep, you sure can. I love making Asian (or Southeast Asian in this case) food with Chicken Thighs! Just use 1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of the chicken breast!
- ADD HEAT?- You can make this dish as spicy as you want! You can do this by adding the amount of Sriracha, Jalapenos or both! Go for it!
I hope you enjoy this Volcano Chicken Recipe. We’d love to hear how it turns out in the comments section! Happy Eating!
Volcano Chicken
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN:
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- ½ cups cornstarch
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 eggs beaten
- Salt and pepper
- Oil for frying
INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE:
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
- 2 tablespoons Red Thai curry paste
- 1 to 2 jalapeno peppers diced (depending on how spicy you want the sauce)
- 2 cups white rice prepared
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat.
- Whisk together the cornstarch and water until smooth and well combined. Add the soy sauce, eggs, salt and pepper until mixed well.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the batter and fry until golden brown.
- While the chicken is frying, prepare the sauce by whisking together the water, chicken broth, garlic, sugar, brown sugar, soy sauce, sriracha sauce, and Thai curry paste until combined.
- Pour the sauce in a saucepan and add the diced jalapeno.
- Cook over medium heat until boiling then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until reduced.
- For a milder sauce, strain the peppers from the sauce. Otherwise, pour the entire sauce mixture into a large bowl.
- Add the cooked chicken and toss to coat.
- Allow the chicken to rest in the sauce for five minutes, then serve over white rice.
Notes
SERVE ON SEARED CABBAGE AND CARROTS- You can add this to the rice or sub it for the rice. Just put 2 tbsp on oil in the pan on a medium high heat. Chop up a small head of cabbage and about 4 carrots diagonally. Dump them into the oil for a short amount of time. You really just want to sear them a bit so that get that nice char on them. You can also serve this dish on just a bed of lettuce too!
CAN YOU USE CHICKEN THIGHS FOR VOLCANO CHICKEN?- Yep, you sure can. I love making Asian (or Southeast Asian in this case) food with Chicken Thighs! Just use 1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of the chicken breast!
ADD HEAT?- You can make this dish as spicy as you want! You can do this by adding the amount of Sriracha, Jalapenos or both! Go for it!
Nutrition
Comments & Reviews
Rima Veltkamp says
What type of Thai curry paste did you use? Red, green or yellow? I cant wait to try this
Kathy says
We used Red. Thanks for the question. I clarified it in the recipe!
Shawn C Standiford says
I just tried this and love the sauce. I changed a few things to accommodate my cooking arrangement:
1.) Chicken thighs. They stay moist, unlike chicken breast.
2.) Marinated the meat in soy sauce and ginger prior to breading.
3.) Completely changed up the batter recipe: egg whites on the chicken first, and then enough corn starch (no water) to coat the chicken. The chicken turned out much crispier this way. After the deep-frying, fried again in a bit of sesame oil to crisp it back up.
4.) Added a bit of cornstarch/water to the sauce to get it to coat the chicken better.
Kathy says
Thanks so much for this great info!
Cole says
The liquidy batter doesn’t stick to the chicken. If you try to fry it like the recipe says you will just have deep fried plain chicken. You need to dip it in flour before frying if your want a crispy coating