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This Gochujang Chicken breast recipe gives a straightforward chicken and veggie sheet pan dinner a Korean upgrade. A wonderfully spicy and slightly sweet gochujang sauce gets brushed over chicken breasts which then get roasted alongside broccolini. While the chicken is at work in the oven, bring together a rustic crispy rice cake to add both crunch and chew to the dish.
I originally published this recipe in 2020 and have since added more helpful tips for success.
Ingredient Notes
The fill list of ingredients, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
For the sauce you’ll need onion, garlic, ginger, gochujang, mirin, honey and soy sauce. The ingredient list is simple, but when combined the flavors really create something delicious.
Chicken: Here I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I then cut down and pound out into an even thickness. This ensures that the chicken stays moist and tender. I also offer guidelines on how to cook different cuts of chicken.
Broccolini: broccoli’s sister, broccolini is an elegant alternative. Use either here.
Short-grain rice: use any short grain rice—arborio is my choice because it stays nice and chewy once cooked. The sticky chewiness means the rice will stick together and the starchiness means it will readily crisp and brown.
Scallions: a bit of freshness to finish off the dish right before serving.
How to Make Gochujang Chicken
- For the sauce, start by cooking the onion, garlic and ginger in some oil in a saucepan. Add the soy sauce, mirin, honey, and pepper, bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes. Done!
What’s great about this sauce is it can be made up to 5 days ahead of time. So with just a bit of planning ahead, this dinner can come together in no time.
- Once your rice is cooked, spread it on a sheet pan and pop it in the fridge to chill (you can also do the freezer, just don’t forget about it in there).
It’s important to get the rice cooking because you’ll need to allow enough time for it to chill.
- Slice the chicken breasts in half into two thinner breast pieces. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and pound to ¼-inch thickness with a meat tenderizer (or rolling pin).
While the rice cooks, preheat the oven to 450ºF (232ºC). Place a baking sheet on the bottom rack while the oven preheats (a preheated sheet pan will jumpstart the cooking process of the chicken and broccolini).
- Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven and coat with oil. Arrange the chicken on one half of the sheet (it will sizzle!) and the broccolini on the other. Try to arrange the broccolini in an even layer as best you can to promote roasting, not steaming.
- Spread a bit of gochujang sauce over each piece of chicken. Roast for 6 minutes then flip the chicken spread more gochujang sauce over second side. Roast for 4 more minutes, then transfer to the top rack and broil until the broccolini starts to char and the chicken is cooked through.
- Pat the cooked rice into an even layer in a nonstick skillet heated with a bit of oil. Cook for about 6 minutes before flipping and cooking the second side until golden.
It’s normal for the rice cake to fall apart a bit during cooking. No worries. You’re going to break it up to serve anyhow.
- Serve the chicken and broccolini over a few pieces of crispy rice, being sure to scoop up any of the juices or sauce left on the sheet pan—that’s flavor!
- Give the whole thing a good drizzle of toasted sesame oil and finish with scallions and sesame seeds.
Use a Different Cut of Chicken
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs: 25–30 minutes
- Wings: 30–35 minutes (or broil for 15–20 minutes, flipping a few times)
- Drumsticks: 35–40 minutes
In addition to time, use temperature to be your guide for knowing when chicken is done cooking. I always rely on my instant-read thermometer to check the internal temp of meat. Cook light meat chicken to 165ºF (73ºC) and dark meat chicken to 170ºF (76ºC).
If you’re making wings or drumsticks, I recommend tossing them in a third or half of the gochujang sauce to coat prior to roasting. And lastly, if you don’t want to roast the chicken, you can certainly grill it!
Tip For Perfectly Roasted Chicken Breast
The key to juicy, perfectly cooked chicken breasts is to cut and pound the breasts into an even thickness.
This simple step creates chicken pieces that are the same thickness throughout. Which means every bit of chicken cooks at the same rate.
Basically you won’t be waiting for the large end of the breast to cook through while the thinner end continues to overcook.
Storage
This meal is best served right out of the oven. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in a 300ºF oven or in a skillet over medium-low.
What to Serve with Gochujang Chicken
Sometimes I’ll skip the broccolini and crispy rice and serve this over my saucy Gochujang Noodles or aromatic Ginger and Scallion Noodles. Both versions are comforting and delicious!
Sheet Pan Gochujang Chicken
Description
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Ingredients
- 1 cup dry arborio rice or short grain rice
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds + more for serving
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (8-ounces each)
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 pound broccolini trimmed
- 4 teaspoons grapeseed oil or olive oil, divided
- nonstick spray
- 1 recipe Gochujang sauce
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 3 scallions green parts only, cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in rice, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer over low heat; cook until rice is tender, 16–20 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and stir in sesame seeds; transfer rice to a sheet pan and chill in refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 450ºF (232ºC) with racks in top and bottom thirds. Place a baking sheet on bottom rack while oven preheats.
- Halve each chicken breast horizontally into two thin breast halves, cover chicken halves with plastic wrap and pound to an even ¼-inch thickness with a meat tenderizer; pat chicken dry then season lightly with salt.
- Toss broccolini with 2 teaspoons oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Carefully remove baking sheet from oven and coat with nonstick spray. Arrange chicken on half of the baking sheet and broccolini on the other half in a single layer. Spoon 1 tablespoon gochujang sauce on top of each chicken piece and brush to coat.
- Roast chicken and broccolini on bottom rack for 6 minutes.
- Remove sheet from oven, flip chicken pieces and spoon 1 tablespoon of gochujang sauce on top of each chicken piece; brush to coat. Return sheet to oven on bottom rack and roast 4 minutes. Transfer sheet to top rack, turn oven to broil and cook for 2 minutes until chicken is cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the centers registers 165ºF (73ºC) and broccoli starts to char.
- Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick skillet (10-inch) over medium-high for 3 minutes. Add remaining 2 teaspoons grapeseed oil and heat until shimmering. Add rice in an even layer, pat down into a cake, and cook until lightly golden brown, 5–7 minutes. Gently flip cake with a spatula (it’s OK if it breaks into a few pieces) and cook 5 minutes more until crispy and golden brown.
- Serve chicken and broccolini over crispy rice, spooning any pan juices over chicken. Drizzle each serving with toasted sesame oil and sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds. Serve with additional gochujang sauce on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
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This came together faster than I expected! Everyone in the family (including the kids) loved this meal. The crispy rice adds a nice crunch and the chicken came out deliciously moist with hardly any work! Love the sauce too, planning to use that on wings next!
So glad the kids loved this too! Isn’t that crispy rice next level?!
Delicious and simple! My family loved it!