Try this super delicious and flavorful spicy gochujang chicken at home! Korean chicken thighs are marinated in spicy gochujang sauce and chargrilled on a BBQ.
With nicely charred, spicy and savory flavor, gochujang chicken will become your new favorite BBQ item!
What is Gochujang Chicken
Gochujang chicken is marinated chicken with spicy gochujang sauce, which comprises gochujang (Korean chili paste), gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) and Sprite (a carbonated lemon-lime soda) among other ingredients.
Overnight marinated chicken is grilled over a BBQ with a few companion side dishes – sweet potatoes and Korean rice cakes. While these can be optional, this is how the gochujang chicken is typically cooked and served at a Sutbul Dakgalbi” (숯불 닭갈비) restaurant in Korea. It means chargrilled spicy BBQ chicken and I borrowed the concept from there in this recipe.
Though when you dine at a BBQ restaurant, the chicken is already cut into smaller bite size pieces so that you can eat them as they get cooked from the grill in the center of the table.
As I hinted briefly, this recipe is a spin off of my dakgalbi recipe too. One of the main differences between these two would be that today’s recipe is grilled rather than stir fried. Also, the ingredients are more simplified here, so that it’s more bbq grill friendly.
For a tasty BBQ flavored chicken, cooking the chicken over a BBQ grill is highly recommended. In particular, direct cooking over a charcoal grill will produce an excellent result.
Saying that, if you are after more of every day cooking convenience, you can cook these over the stove top as well.
Obviously, the texture of the chicken and the flavor will be slightly different. All I will say is that BBQ grilled chicken produces far superior results!
How to Serve
I know the serving decision is typically dependent on what you have available in your fridge. But here are some of my suggestion if you want to go the extra mile.
This gochujang chicken works well with Korean green salad. If you’re after some carbohydrates that is not rice, Korean macaroni salad will go well too.
You can also create a classic Korean BBQ experience by serving it with a bit of cooked rice, lettuce leaves, perilla leaves and ssamjang (korean bbq dipping sauce) as well. You will have to cut the chicken thinly prior to serving, so that you can wrap the lettuce or perilla leaves around the chicken and condiments.
A small plate of kimchi, dongchimi (radish water kimchi) and radish pickles will go wonderfully well too.
Just note that, this grilled gochujang chicken isn’t very saucy, particularly when you cook it over the grill. So if you serve it with rice alone, it could feel a bit dry. If this is how you want to serve, I recommend my dakgalbi recipe instead, as it’s saucier and it includes a lot more vegetables.
More Delicious Korean Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Bulgogi – This is a non-spicy version of Korean BBQ chicken and it is also great over chargrill.
- Korean Fried Chicken – Hugely popular Korean fried chicken that is coated with sticky, sweet and spicy sauce.
- Dakgangjeong – Soy garlic fried chicken that is addictive and easy to bite.
Ingredients for Gochujang Chicken (Serves 2)
Main
- 450g / 1 pound boneless chicken thigh fillets
- 100g / 3.5 ounces sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced (0.5 cm – 1 cm /0.2 – 0.4 inch thickness) (optional)
- 100g / 3.5 ounces Korean rice cakes, separated (optional)
- some cooking oil
Gochujang Chicken Marinade
- 3 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 1/2 Tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
- 1 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 1/4 cup Sprite (7 Up or other carbonated lemon-lime soda)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- A few sprinkles ground black pepper
* 1 Tbsp = 15 ml
** If you want to learn more about Korean ingredients, check my essential Korean ingredients list.
How to Make Gochujang Chicken
1. Prepare the chicken according to your grill type and your preference. (For me, as I’m intending to grill as a whole, I just transferred the fillets out from the packaging into a large container.)
2. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix them well. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Mix evenly to coat the chicken with the sauce. Cover and marinate it for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge to deepen the flavor.
3. Grease the grill plate and preheat the bbq following your grill manual. Grill the chicken, covered for 5-7 minutes per side, or until the chicken is cooked through. (An inserted thermometer should read 165 degrees F / 74 C).
If you have opted, grill some rice cakes and sweet potatoes. Be sure to coat them with some cooking oil before placing them on the grill.
4. Serve. (Refer to my serving suggestions above!)
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Gochujang Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
MAIN
- 450 g boneless chicken thigh fillets (1 pound)
- 100 g sweet potato (3.5 ounces), peeled and thinly sliced (0.5 cm – 1 cm / 0.2 - 0.4 inch thickness) (optional)
- 100 g Korean rice cakes (3.5 ounces), separated (optional)
- some cooking oil
GOCHUJANG CHICKEN MARINADE
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken according to your grill type and your preference. (For me, as I’m intending to grill as a whole, I just transferred the fillets out from the packaging into a large container.)
- Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix them well. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Mix evenly to coat the chicken with the sauce. Cover and marinate it for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge to deepen the flavor.
- Grease the grill plate and preheat the bbq following your grill manual. Grill the chicken, covered for 5-7 minutes per side, or until the chicken is cooked through. (An inserted thermometer should read 165 degrees F / 74 C). If you have opted, grill some rice cakes and sweet potatoes. Be sure to coat them with some cooking oil before placing them on the grill.
- Serve. (Refer to my serving suggestions in the main post!)
Notes
- 1 Tbsp = 15 ml
- If you want to learn more about Korean ingredients, check my essential Korean ingredients list.
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
