Yes, this truly is as good as it sounds. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and savoury and I’m beyond excited to share the recipe with you! Follow me…
Crispy Caramel Chicken
We’re going to be using chicken thigh in this recipe for a couple of different reasons:
Tender – chicken thigh is much more forgiving in the sense that it’s more difficult to overcook than breast is. This means you can get a crispy coating without the chicken drying out. Flavour – thigh is fattier and more flavoursome than breast.
Once you’ve diced the chicken, you’ll want to coat it in oil and seasoning. The seasoning is important as it adds some depth of savoury flavour to the dish, whilst also obviously seasoning the meat itself. The oil is great to help the seasoning stick. I love using groundnut oil to add a very gentle nutty background flavour.
Cornflour/Cornstarch
Coating the chicken in cornflour is what creates the light, crispy coating. The coating also absorbs the sauce and helps it cling to the chicken. Process shots: add chicken, seasoning and oil to bowl (photo 1), toss to combine (photo 2), add cornflour (photo 3), toss until fully coated (photo 4).
Cooking Caramel Chicken
When it comes to cooking the chicken, I like to use one of these two methods:
1. Air fryer
This uses less oil and is less hands-on, but it takes a little longer and the chicken doesn’t come out quite as crispy.
2. Pan fry
This is the quicker option and the chicken comes out a little crispier and a little juicier, but you’ll need to use more oil and it can get a little messy with the oil splattering over the stove. Both options are great so just use whichever suits you best!
Caramel Sauce for Chicken
You won’t believe how simple this is to make. You only need 4 ingredients:
Sugar – I prefer using light brown sugar. Cream – Double/heavy cream and make sure it’s close to room temp. Butter – I use unsalted to gain more control over the saltiness of the sauce. I recommend dicing it into small cubes so it melts into the sauce with ease. Soy Sauce – This is my secret weapon. It adds a lovely depth of savoury flavour, whilst also adding the salt aspect of the salted caramel.
Depending on how salty you want the sauce, you can add a pinch more salt if you feel it needs it.
Simmering the sauce
The sauce comes together in a matter of minutes. I find many recipes for salted caramel overcomplicate things – I simply bung it all in the pan, melt it down and gently simmer until it thickens. It’s a more rough and ready method, but I honestly see no difference in the result. Just make sure it doesn’t boil too rapidly and keep in mind it thickens more as it cools. Process shots: add caramel ingredients to pan (photo 1), stir to melt sugar/butter (photo 2), bring to gentle simmer (photo 3), stir until it thickens (photo 4), add chicken (photo 5), stir to combine (photo 6).
How salty is the caramel?
The soy sauce adds a good amount of saltiness to balance out the sweetness, but you can add more salt if you think it needs it. Just go easy – it’s much easier to add more than take it out. Plus you’ll be serving with a bit more salt.
What happens if the caramel over-thickens?
You can very easily thin it back out with a dash of hot water.
Can I make it ahead of time?
You can definitely make the caramel ahead of time (I’ve added more on this in the recipe card below).
Serving Caramel Chicken
I typically serve this with rice, although noodles work great too. I also love adding some sesame seeds and flaky sea salt to garnish. If you’d like, you can also add some very thinly sliced spring onion and red chilli to add another layer of savoury flavour. For two similar recipes check out my Honey Butter Chicken and Honey Sriracha Chicken! Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this salted caramel chicken shall we?!
How to make Salted Caramel Chicken (Full Recipe & Video)
