This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
Korean Chicken
I love Korean food, especially Korean chicken. I am glad that I live in a city where great Korean food are plentiful: Korean BBQ, tofu house, regular Korean restaurants, fast food joints, and more.
When it comes to Korean food, I am sure you love Korean BBQ such as Korean BBQ chicken, or kalbi (BBQ short ribs).
I love chicken and always love the spicy Korean-style chicken.
Other Recipes You Might Like
How Do You Make Korean Chicken?
This Spicy Korean Chicken recipe is an easy adaptation from Korean BBQ Chicken.
It has fewer ingredients in the marinade, and can be grilled outdoor (perfect for summer), baked in the oven, or just pan-fried on a skillet or pan.
It’s so simple and easy and can be prepared all year long.
Spicy Korean Chicken Sauce
This recipe is inspired by my favorite Korean takeout joint. The spicy Korean chicken sauce is made with gochujang, or Korean chili paste, which is the building block of many Korean recipes.
It’s mildly spicy but makes the chicken so much more flavorful and appetizing.
Korean ingredients are very easy to get these days. You can find them at Asian stores, Korean stores, or in the international aisle of your regular supermarket or buy them online from at Amazon.
Buy a bucket of gochujang, marinate a bunch of this Korean Chicken, dig in and enjoy the amazing great taste of Korean food!
Serve the chicken on top of steamed rice, with some boiled vegetables such as broccoli and you have a complete and utterly delicious meal. Enjoy!
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 261 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
This meal is best served with steamed rice. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
For more great recipes like this, sign up for our newsletter. We’ll send daily recipes you’ll love!
Sign up for our newsletter!
Spicy Korean Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb (500g) boneless and skinless chicken thighs
Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1 teaspoon Korean red chili powder (gochugaru or regular chili powder)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 piece ginger (peeled and minced (1 inch / 2 cm))
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Slice the chicken thighs horizontally to make thinner pieces of meat. Slice each piece of chicken thigh (depends on its thickness) into 2 or 3 horizontal pieces. Set aside.
- Combine all the ingredients in the Marinade in a bowl, whisk it to make sure the Korean chili paste (gochujang) is completely dissolved. Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes or best for two hours.
- Grill the chicken until slightly charred and completely cooked through. You may also pan-fried the chicken on a skillet or pan, or bake in the oven at 400°F (207°C) for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I made this last night. I bought a package of skinless boneless thighs at Costco and used half a package. I didn’t change a thing in the recipe. I cooked it in the oven and that was so much easier then stir frying a couple of batches, not to mention less oil. A great recipe to add to my repertoire. It had the same taste of a Korean dish we love at a local restaurant. thanks so much.
Hi Suzy, thanks for trying my spicy Korean chicken recipe. So glad you liked it.
Lotta positive comments on this recipe, I am gonna try it soon but is it high on sugar ? I ask becuz I have diabetis .
No Emre, you can try it out.
I tried it , really really good , thanks. Second time I baked it instead, still it was very good and more yummy sauce.
Thanks for trying this spicy Korean chicken recipe.
This chicken is truly outstanding! I make a lot of Asian dishes and I am just beginning to explore Korean flavors. I am in love with this dish. This is the second time I made it and I doubled the recipe because we didn’t have enough leftovers last time. I found a recipe for green beans with gochujang and served that with the chicken over rice. So satisfying.
Hi Valerie, thanks for trying my spicy korean chicken recipe.
Any halal koren chilli paste/gochujang available? The last time I checked the paste packing, there’s alcohol in the content list.ù
Alcohol wil not make you die, so just use it
Congrats Roni for showing us a rude manner to answer a harmless question. Perhaps first wonder why she’s looking for a substitute gochujang than attacking someone like that. Hey Jamilah! There are recipes online to making an alcohol free gochujang, one by a youtuber, Maangchi! You can check that out too.
Salam! I understand it’s a religious preference, but the amount of alcohol is negligible; it’s added as a preservative. Also, it will burn off when the chicken is cooked. If still not acceptable I’d look up similar recipes on line for the Gochujang.
omg this really is AMAZING & SUPER YUMMY!!! I half baked/half broiled them in my toaster oven
til they got charred to my liking. served them with shredded cabbage and Marie’s sesame ginger coleslaw dressing. thanks as always Bee love ya!
Thanks Eliza, so happy you liked my spicy Korean chicken recipe!
I made this yesterday without the Korean red chili powder and it was delicious! It wasn’t spicy =)
Thank you so much for the recipe.
You can add any chili powder to make it spicy. :)
Can these marinate overnight?
Of course you can.
I made this tonight, with the oven baking method. Fantastic dish, with the perfect taste and level of spice. My only mistake was in buying chicken thighs with the bone in and skin on. So a lot of time spent on attacking the skin and bones, and a fair bit of meat thrown out.
Hi Adrian, thanks for trying this recipe next time buy the skinless and boneless chicken thighs. :)
SAME HERE ADRIAN!
I wish I would have looked a littttle closer!
This is a very tasty dish! Glad to see you’re back on the Asian food at last. That’s what I”m interested in, not your take on Western food. There are many better at that. Your Asian food though is stunning. Give us more!!!!!
Lynn – I am trying to build my western food contents as I want to have a variety of contents. Have you tried some of my western dishes, they are seriously good, too. :)
Gosh LynnB…I know it’s a late comment, but man, that is rude to say. I appreciate ALL of the recipes on this site, I don’t think you should have to limit yourself to one’s rude comments.
Thanks Carole! :)
?
how hot is this Bee?, or to put it another way, if serving this to anyone adverse to hot food, would this turn them off?
To me it’s mildly hot but to others adverse to hot food it might be moderately hot, so you can reduce the spice paste.
Thank you Bee, I’ll do as you recommend!
Its not hot at all to me, but i can eat habanero hot sauce as a dip hahahahaha. So if you think jalapeños are spicy… then this most likely will be hot