Crispy Firecracker Chicken Breast Bites

Frozen lightly breaded chicken breast bites are baked alongside broccoli florets then tossed in a sweet and spicy firecracker sauce and garnished with toasted sesame seeds and green onion. Served over a blend of jasmine rice and riced cauliflower, these firecracker chicken bowls have 33g of protein with only 12g of fat and 475 calories each.

Let’s Make Firecracker Chicken Bites and Broccoli (Walkthrough)

Step 1: Bake Frozen Chicken Breast Bites and Broccoli Florets

This recipe is number 12 in a series using frozen lightly breaded chicken breast to make high protein meals like protein pesto pasta or sweet and sour chicken. So I apologize if my spiel is getting repetitive, but my go-to brands are either Kirkland Signature or Just Bare (both at Costco), Perdue, or Tyson. Though you can find many store brands of lightly breaded chicken breast in the freezer section these days.

Unlike my frozen chicken breakfast wraps, which bake the frozen chicken and hash browns together on a half sheet pan, this recipe calls for baking the chicken and broccoli florets on separate quarter sheet pans. This is because the broccoli may need to come out of the oven slightly sooner than the chicken. Especially if you are going for extra crispy chicken.

And feel free to swap the oven roasted broccoli for sautéed, steamed, or air fried if you prefer.

Step 2: Make the Firecracker Sauce

Firecracker sauce is an Asian-inspired sauce that’s sweet, spicy, and slightly umami. I first made firecracker chicken in February 2021, and I’ve made many variations with different ingredients over the years.

The original recipe used a sugar-free dark brown sugar substitute, which I don’t use very often these days. That’s why you will see maple syrup (honey also works). A few more carbs, but a lot more flavor and fewer sugar alcohols are worth the trade off.

You can customize the sauce to your flavor and spice preferences by adding more chili flakes, black pepper, and other aromatics. This version uses dried garlic and ginger, but I sometimes use the white part of sliced green onions and freshly crushed garlic and ginger in the sauce.

A common ingredient question about firecracker sauce pertains to the buffalo sauce. While it does lose its buffalo-ness with all the other ingredients, I get it if you’re not a fan.

For a non-buffalo flavor profile, I would go with another one of my sauces like Japanese barbecue or the gochujang and honey situation from my Korean chicken and broccoli. OR the newly added lucky number 13 in the frozen chicken series, bang bang chicken and brussels sprouts.

Step 3: Toss the Baked Chicken Bites in the Sauce

Either way you go for the sauce ingredients, you will want to put the sauce in a pan over medium heat before tossing it with the crispy baked chicken bites. This will thicken the sauce and bring it up to temperature so your chicken isn’t cold and soggy by the time it hits the plate.

If the sauce isn’t sticking to the chicken, keep the pan over the heat and continue to stir the chicken around until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken.

Making Rice Bowls, Garnishes, and Serving Tips

Sorry for another repetitive recipe component, but I recommend serving your firecracker chicken breast bites with a blend of jasmine rice and cauliflower rice.

This is my go-to for rice bowls, as it greatly increases the volume of food you get to eat for fewer calories while masking nearly all the cauliflower-ness of riced cauliflower.

If you have carbs to spare, be my guest and go with 100% jasmine rice. Or if you have another low carb rice solution you prefer, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Toasted sesame seeds or sesame garlic crunch, sliced green onions, and utensils are all that’s left. Dig in and enjoy. You’ve earned it.

There’s a full recipe card to print or save below. Leave any questions you have in the comments at the very bottom of the post. And don’t forget to leave a recipe review if you love the chicken breast bites to help more minimalist cooks like us find this recipe.