Caramel Chicken

4.46 from 79 votes
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Vietnamese-style caramel chicken on skillet with sticky, sweet, savory, and mildly spicy caramel sauce. This chicken is so good with steamed rice.

Caramel chicken in a skillet.
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Vietnamese Caramel Chicken

Vietnamese food is one of the most popular Asian cuisines in the United States.

In the past 10 years or so, Vietnamese cuisine has captured the heart (and tummy) of many diners.

I love Vietnamese spring rolls, summer rolls, banh mi, garlic noodles, and so much more.

This caramel chicken recipe is Vietnamese-inspired. It’s sticky, savory with mild heat from the jalapeno.

Vietnamese caramel chicken, ready to serve.

Caramel Chicken Recipe Ingredients

Caramelised chicken on a skillet.

This recipe is sure to whet your appetite. It’s very delicious and made with simple ingredients below:

  • Chicken thighs
  • Garlic
  • Fish sauce
  • Sugar
  • Ground black pepper
  • Jalapeno

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.

This recipe is adapted from The Ravenous Couple.


Fish Sauce

Caramel chicken recipe with chicken thighs and fish sauce.

Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in Vietnamese cooking.

While many people are skeptical about fish sauce because of its pungent smell (from a low-grade brand), a good fish sauce doesn’t smell funky.

Made with anchovies and salt, fish sauce is a natural umami bomb that makes everything so much better.

I recommend Red Boat Fish Sauce or Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce.


Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories per serving?

This recipe is only 447 calories per serving.

Caramel Chicken.

What To Serve With Caramel Chicken

Serve this dish with other Vietnamese dishes. For a healthy Vietnamese meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

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4.46 from 79 votes

Caramel Chicken

Vietnamese-style caramel chicken on skillet with sticky, sweet, savory, and mildly spicy caramel sauce. This chicken is so good with steamed rice.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 3 people
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Ingredients  

  • 1 lb. chicken thighs with skin, deboned
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 jalapeno, sliced

Marinade:

  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • black pepper

Caramel Sauce:

Instructions 

  • Marinate the chicken with the Marinade ingredients for 10 minutes. Mix all the ingredients in the Caramel Sauce in a bowl, set aside.
  • Heat up a skillet (cast-iron preferred) on medium to high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Pan-fry the chicken (skin side up) until the bottom turns slightly crispy and brown. Repeat the same for the skin, until the skin becomes slightly charred. Transfer the chicken out.
  • Add the remaining oil into the skillet and add the garlic. Add the chicken into the pan and follow by the Caramel Sauce mixture.
  • Lower the heat to simmer and continue to cook until the caramel sauce reduces and becomes amber in color. Make sure you turn the chicken a couple of times during cooking.
  • Add jalapeno and continue to cook for about 1 minute. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Notes

To debone chiken thighs, please check out "How to Debone Chicken Thighs."
You may use skinless and boneless chicken thighs.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g, Calories: 447kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 34g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g, Monounsaturated Fat: 16g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 148mg, Sodium: 1060mg, Potassium: 363mg, Fiber: 0.1g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 145IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 24mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Please rate and comment below!

About Bee Yinn Low

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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Recipe Rating





66 Comments

  1. jen says:

    would it be too salty if i marinated it overnight?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Should be fine.

  2. Kate says:

    This was absolutely delicious, thank you! Even my father said it was good, and that’s high praise from a Chinese parent, haha. I subbed honey for the sugar, and I forgot about the vinegar (oops) and used 1 teaspoon or so of oyster sauce. Perfect! Thanks again :)

  3. John Stone says:

    I just made it. I goofed a little, and put 1 tablespoon of sugar in the caramel sauce. It’s just a hair sweet, and I’ll follow the recipe next time. It sure is delicious, though.
    I stumbled on your site, and have been downloading recipes. I’ve made several others, and they’re all delicious. Thank you.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi John, thanks for trying my recipes. :)

  4. Lauren says:

    5 stars
    Best chicken ever!

  5. Thy says:

    5 stars
    Love caramel chicken with rice.

  6. pat in AK says:

    5 stars
    Every time I make this recipe, we all say we should have it more often! I’ve made it with both skin and skinless thighs and chicken breasts. But I cut the breast meat smaller. Next time I will try it with halibut. Here in Alaska, you have to come up with new ideas for a freezer full of fish.
    The first time I made it, I used 3 Tbs of vinegar. Everything is in Tb measure until you get to the vinegar and it says 3 tsp (which is 1 Tb). BUT it still tasted good. So was it a typo and should be 3 Tb or just 1TB? I think I try 2 TBS next time

  7. Rene' says:

    This sounds so good! Can’t wait to try… tomorrow for sure. Thank You for this super easy recipe! I can see this as a “Go To” on many evenings, and lunches too!

  8. Mahy Elamin says:

    5 stars
    I just finished making the carmelized chicken and it is delicious. It will be in my meal rotation from now on. Love it and thank you.

    1. Ken Latulippe says:

      hello!
      would i be able to substitute the fish sauce with a soy sauce/rice vinegar mix, or would that not have the same effect?
      thank you!

      1. Rasa Malaysia says:

        Fish sauce is not the same taste as soy sauce and rice vinegar but you can try. It’s different flavors and should be pretty good.

  9. Art Z says:

    I found that letting it cool for about 5-10 minutes helped the sauce thicken and congeal. Delicious and thanks for sharing! I’ve seen some variations of this online that recommend palm sugar. I’ll let you know if that works better next time I try making this.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Sure, you can use palm sugar. I didn’t use it because it’s hard to find for many people.

  10. Beth says:

    The sauce was not thick at all like the picture

    1. Alicia R Levy says:

      Could this be cooked in the crock pot?