These crispy Thai sweet chili chicken bites pack a ton of flavour into each tiny bite! The combination of flavours from the sauce checks all the boxes: sweet, spicy, sour and of course delicious. Pairing it with some cooling cucumber slices helps to balance it even more. You're going to love these Thai chili chicken bites for serving to family and friends or serving as an appetizer or as part of dinner. Don't forget to make extra sauce to dip into!

Ingredients

• chicken thighs, boneless & skinless, chopped
• 1 egg
• buttermilk
• all purpose flour (gluten-free all purpose flour will also work)
• arrowroot flour
• garlic powder
• ground ginger
• gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), optional
• Avocado oil spray
• rice vinegar
• coconut sugar (or light brown sugar)
• garlic cloves
• light tamari (or light soy sauce)
• sambal oelek
• cucumber
• Thai basil
• sesame seeds (for garnish, optional)

How to Make Crispy Thai Sweet Chili Chicken in the Air Fryer

I really never thought that I'd love my air fryer as much as I do, but it's true - I'm pretty obsessed with it. Since getting one about a year and half ago, I can't stop finding ways to use it. It really can get food quite crispy in a short amount of time, and these Thai chili chicken bites are no exception.

The key to making crispy Thai sweet chili chicken in the air fryer is with a dry/wet batter. Similar to a batter you would use for deep frying, it also works in the air fryer.

Add the cubed chicken to a bowl and season with salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together both flours and spices.

Dredge each piece of chicken into the flour and tap off any excess.

Transfer each piece of chicken and place in the buttermilk. Let it sit for about 30 minutes. 

Remove chicken pieces from the buttermilk one at a time and transfer back to the flour and coat on all sides. Place the chicken bites on a large plate or lined baking sheet and let them sit for 10 minutes. This helps the coating stay on better.

Preheat the air fryer to 390℉ and spray with a bit of avocado oil. Place chicken bites into the air fryer, leaving space between each bite. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, until cooked through and crispy. There is no need to flip pieces, just open halfway through and spray with more oil as needed to make sure the flour is coated and can get crispy.

How to Make Homemade Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

If you'd prefer to save time, buy a Thai sweet chili sauce that you love. Most of the time, I find the store bought versions too sweet so I like to make my own. It's actually really easy to make at home.

You can easily whip up this sweet chili sauce for chicken while it's hanging out in the buttermilk mixture.

• In a small saucepan, combine the rice vinegar, water, sugar, garlic, tamari and sambal oelek. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and then reduce the heat and simmer for eight to nine minutes.
• In a small bowl whisk together the arrowroot and 1 tsp arrowroot. Pour this into the simmering sauce and whisk to combine.
• Turn the heat off once thickened, about 30 seconds to one minute. Set aside.

How to Assemble

The fun part of course is assembling because this means you are closer to eating ;)

• Remove the crispy chicken bites and place in a large bowl. Toss with the Thai sweet chili sauce and transfer to a serving dish.
• Garnish with sliced cucumber, Thai basil and sesame seeds. Serve and enjoy!

Tips for making crispy Thai Sweet Chili Chicken

• Don't be shy with the oil: whenever you are air frying, using a good spritz of avocado oil spray helps to ensure that your food can get crispy.
• Open the air fryer to check: just like the oven, keep an eye on the chicken around the halfway mark. I like to give it a bit of a spray of oil if there are any floury bits remaining on the chicken bites.
• Let the batter adhere: after removing the chicken bites from the buttermilk and coating in the flour, let them sit for about 10 minutes. This helps the coating stay on better before air frying.
• Sauce right before serving: the crispy Thai chili chicken will lose some of that crispiness when you toss it with the sauce (as is expected), so only toss it once you're ready to eat.
• Don't over do it with the sauce: the sauce is delicious so I understand the tendency to use a lot. Keep some extra on the side for dipping if you'd like, but don't overdo it.

Substitutions

• Gluten-Free: use a gluten-free all purpose flour, I recommend Bob's Red Mill as I've used it for my air fryer Buffalo chicken strips here.
• Dairy-free: use a dairy free milk and mix with fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (about 1 tsp per cup).
• Less spicy: use less sambal oelek in the Thai sweet chili sauce. This recipe as written is about a mild-medium level heat, which can easily be toned down or up depending on preference.
• Coconut sugar: swap that out for brown sugar (light) or use honey.
• Arrowroot flour: swap this for cornstarch.

How to Make in the Oven

I have only tested this recipe in the air fryer. I'm not sure if the breading would crisp up the same in a regular oven.

Which Air Fryer Do I Use and Recommend

I've tried three different air fryers over the years, and my most recent is also my favourite.

It's the Wonder Oven from Our Place. I absolutely love it and highly recommend it, for several reasons.

• Aesthetically pleasing: as with all Our Place products, the design is unmatched. This means you can leave it out on your countertop and don't need to hide it away in a cluttered drawer.
• Non-toxic: the trays that come with the Wonder Oven are all non-toxic and made from stainless steel and aluminum with a toxin-free nonstick ceramic coating. This is SO hard to find with other types of air fryers and is the main reason I use it so much.
• Different cooking modes: this is not just an air fryer, it can air fry, bake, toast, roast, reheat and broil. I also love the steam function for bringing breads back to life.
• Compact size: I love how small and mighty it is. It won't take up much room on your countertops, something that was so important to me living in a condo with limited countertop space.

The only drawbacks I've noticed while using this is the timer function. It's not digital and can be hard to be precise when using it. So I prefer to just use the timer on my oven or microwave when using it to be sure it's exact. The knob also has to be turned off manually by turning it rather than having an on/off switch.

But honestly, other than those missing features, it's such a great appliance and I do recommend it.

You can check out Our Place Wonder Oven here!

Other Air Fryer Recipes:

• Buffalo chicken tenders with homemade Greek yogurt ranch dip (Air Fryer)
• Air fryer coconut shrimp
• Bang Bang Shrimp - Air Fryer
• Air fryer crispy calamari
• Mexican style chicken wings (air fryer)
• Air fryer chicken taquitos with salsa verde
• Air fryer jalapeño poppers

If you make these air fryer crispy Thai sweet chili chicken bites please share with me, by tagging me on Instagram or leave a comment and/or review below. I truly love seeing and hearing form you!

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