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You are here: Home / Main Meals / Spicy & Sweet Chicken Diablo

Spicy & Sweet Chicken Diablo

February 5, 2019 By Kylee 16 Comments Last updated: September 17, 2019

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This spicy, sweet and creamy Chicken Diablo is a super easy dinner, that will satisfy the family. Ramp the heat up, or dial it down to your liking!

chicken diablo vertical shot in a skillet with side dishes and text overlay

Words/phrases around my table whenever I make this: “Spicy”, “sweet”, “creamy”, “delicious”, “is there any more?” 

It’s a family favorite, but I also love to make it for company. The deep, rich color from the marinade looks so good, and this is an easy recipe to double, triple or quadruple. 

I’ve been known to come home from the store, and put some of the fresh chicken I just bought into zip top bags, and add this marinade and freeze it. When I want to cook, I just pull it from the freezer the night before, and as it thaws it marinates. Almost zero effort, and a great way to get a tasty dinner on the table during the week.

How to make Chicken Diablo:

(Full printable recipe below)

  1. Whisk together the marinade, pour half over the chicken and marinate for 30 mins or overnight (reserve half for later).
  2. Heat the oil over a medium heat and the garlic for 30 seconds, the add the chicken and cook until done.
  3. Heat the remaining marinade in a sauce pan until it warms through.
  4. Remove chicken from skillet, and plate. Pour warmed sauce over the chicken and garnish with scallions
  5. Devour.

If you’re into chicken – check out my Maple Sage Glazed Chicken, or my Italian Style Chicken Mozzarella Skillet!

chicken diablo in a skillet with green onions

What I love about Chicken Diablo:

Um. Everything? Just kidding, but it’s easy to adjust to your spice taste, marinating ahead means LOTS of flavor, very little effort AND you can switch out the sauce flavors, for a different flavor profile.

I’ve made this with different flavors of hot sauce – buffalo, chipotle and plain hot sauce are all great options for this.

chicken diablo on a white plate, wine glass with rice and broccoli

Marinate this ahead the night before (or morning before) and really let the flavors mesh, but if you don’t have that kind of time, you’ll still get a great result. The flavors in this are out of this world!

 Love Chicken Diablo? Tweet it!Click to Tweet

chicken diablo on a white plate, with rice and broccoli

Ingredients in Chicken Diablo:

  • HOT SAUCE – Use your favorite! I like to mix it up between a buffalo style, a tabasco and a chipotle
  • SOUR CREAM – full fat or reduced fat, either works great!
  • KETCHUP – Use your favorite kind
  • HONEY – This is going to tone down the heat and balance the flavors
  • SMOKED PAPRIKA – This will add a smoky flavor to the sauce
  • GROUND CUMIN – Rich and earthy, and perfect for deepening the flavor
  • CHICKEN BREAST  – For this recipe, you can buy chicken cut into thin cutlets and pound them out to be thinner. Otherwise just use a sharp knife and slice some chicken breasts lengthways into cutlets
  • VEGETABLE OIL – Gonna need this to get us started! Canola, vegetable or any other oil will work just fine
  • GARLIC – Don’t skimp on garlic.
  • SCALLIONS – Because green stuff is pretty

 

chicken diablo ingredients with text overlay

What to serve with Chicken Diablo:

I’m a huge fan of plain white rice with this, but mashed potatoes, cilantro lime rice, or mashed sweet potatoes would go really well too.

Top Tips for Chicken Diablo

  • Cook the chicken at medium heat. If you cook the chicken at too high of a heat, the honey will cause your chicken to burn – you may alternately brown the chicken, and then place in a baking dish and cook until the chicken reaches 165°F
  • Marinate a day ahead and let the flavors really deepen.
  • Discard the marinade you used on the chicken, we will make a sauce out of the reserved marinade that HASN’T touched raw chicken.
  • Ramp up the hot sauce if you like it spicy, dial it back if you prefer flavor over heat.

 

Chicken in a skillet with diablo sauce, rice and scallions

WANT TO TRY SWEET & SPICY CHICKEN DIABLO?
PIN IT TO YOUR CHICKEN, WEEKNIGHT DINNER OR MEALS FOR COMPANY BOARDS!!
FIND ME ON PINTEREST FOR MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES!

 

Spicy & Sweet Chicken Diablo

 This spicy, sweet and creamy Chicken Diablo is a super easy dinner, that will satisfy the family. Ramp the heat up, or dial it down to your liking!
4.75 from 4 votes
Print Pin
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Southwestern
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 351kcal
Author: Kylee Cooks
Want to scale this recipe?Simply click on the serving amount and move the slider up or down - the recipe will automatically adjust!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup hot sauce
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1.5 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 4 chicken breast cutlets thinly pounded
  • 2 Tbs vegetable oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced

Optional (for garnish)

  • 2 scallions chopped finely

Instructions

  • In a bowl, combine the hot sauce, sour cream, ketchup, honey, paprika and cumin and whisk  together.
  • Pour half the mixture over the chicken breasts in a shallow dish.  Set the rest aside for later.
  • Cover the chicken dish and allow to marinate in the fridge for as long as you have - overnight is good, but 30 mins will work just fine too. 
  • Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds. 
  • Add the chicken and cook until browned on both sides and cooked through, 10-15 minutes. 
  • Heat the remaining marinade in a small saucepan until warmed through.
  • Serve chicken and drizzle sauce over top
  • Sprinkle with green onions, if using.
  • Devour!

Notes

Top Tips for Chicken Diablo

  • Cook the chicken at medium heat. If you cook the chicken at too high of a heat, the honey will cause your chicken to burn - you may alternately brown the chicken, and then place in a baking dish and cook until the chicken reaches 165°F
  • Marinate a day ahead and let the flavors really deepen.
  • Discard the marinade you used on the chicken, we will make a sauce out of the reserved marinade that HASN'T touched raw chicken.
  • Ramp up the hot sauce if you like it spicy, dial it back if you prefer flavor over heat.

Nutrition

Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 1245mg | Potassium: 694mg | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 975IU | Vitamin C: 26.5mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 1.7mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @kyleecooks or tag #kyleecooks!

UPDATE:  This post was originally published on August 29, 2017 and has been updated to improve reader experience. There have been no changes to the recipe.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Chicken&Turkey, Main Meals, Popular Recipes, Weeknight/Quick & Easy Tagged With: chicken, spicy

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kate

    August 30, 2017 at 10:40 am

    I would definitely have to dial this waaaaay down for my boys.

    Reply
  2. Jaida Langston

    August 30, 2017 at 11:34 am

    I love Diablo Chicken! Spicy at it’s best!

    Reply
  3. Jeffrey

    August 31, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    The Hot Sweet Mango Sauce sounds the best to me, it would make some nice chicken kabobs!

    Reply
  4. Melissa

    September 1, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    I’d love to try the Hot n Sweet Mango sauce!

    Reply
  5. lori clark

    September 1, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    hot and sweet mango sauce sounds really good

    Reply
  6. Joan Kubes

    September 3, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    I think I’d like the Chipotle Pepper Sauce best.

    Reply
  7. Geoff

    September 4, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    I’d like to try the Chipotle Pepper Sauce

    Reply
  8. Terra Heck

    September 5, 2017 at 3:50 am

    I’d most like to try the Sweet Chili Sauce. Thanks.
    partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com

    Reply
  9. Austin H.

    September 5, 2017 at 10:56 pm

    The hot and sweet guava sounds great for some chicken wings. They all sound tasty.

    Reply
  10. Austin H.

    September 5, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    The hot and sweet guava would be great for some chicken wings. They all sound tasty.

    Reply
  11. Tracey

    June 5, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    Didn’t have the sauce you mentioned, so i groud up a small can of chipotle in adobo sauce in it’s place . Totally delicious. Can’t keep the fam out of the sauce. Thanks for the killer recipe.

    Reply
  12. Judy Bradley

    October 6, 2018 at 6:41 am

    I love most things mango, so Sweet Mango sauce sounds yummy!

    Reply
  13. Ashlee

    January 1, 2019 at 8:23 pm

    Could you sub plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream?

    Reply
    • Kylee

      January 4, 2019 at 11:05 am

      Absolutely!

  14. Allison

    March 6, 2019 at 3:47 pm

    I am making this on Friday night. Sounds scrumptious! Thank you for the recipe

    Reply
  15. Kristen A.

    April 11, 2019 at 4:14 am

    Loved this recipe!! I seasoned the chicken in the pan with salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste.

    Reply

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