Sweet and Spicy Korean Chicken Tacos

Sweet and Spicy Korean Chicken Tacos are a tasty twist on traditional chicken tacos. Chicken is marinated in gochujang sauce, fresh ginger and herbs and then grilled. Juicy spicy chicken combine with fresh lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and sauce for tacos that are bursting with flavor! 

Korean Tacos are sweet and spicy

We love tacos! They are fun to eat and so customizable! Everyone can put whatever toppings they like on their tacos. We had a family party last week and I wanted to change things up a new type of taco! Korean food has a distinctive flavor; the most distinctive is gochujang.

Gochujang Sauce

Gochujang is a fermented bean paste that has red pepper powder, soybean powder and rice flour added to it to create a spicy paste. Luckily instead of having to make our own gochujang sauce, it’s SUPER easy to find at the grocery store. Another staple of Korean food is cucumbers, carrots, and cabbage, which I thought would make a nice addition to tacos!

Marinade the chicken for at least 5 hours

The secret to making these Sweet and Spicy Korean Chicken Tacos memorable is marinating them so that the chicken really absorbs the flavors. I made the marinade the morning before the BBQ, but you can also make up the marinade the night before and let your chicken marinade for up to 24-hours.

Specialty Ingredients

There were a few specialty ingredients in this Sweet and Spicy Korean Chicken Taco recipe that you may not have at home. The gochujang sauce which we mentioned above, but also sesame oil, Korean red chili flakes and fresh ginger. These ingredients really take the recipe from plain chicken tacos to Korean chicken tacos! You can find them all at your local grocery store.

Sweet and Spicy Korean Chicken Tacos can be served low-carb as Korean Chicken Lettuce Wraps too!

We served these tacos as both traditional tacos with a small street-taco flour tortilla and also as a lettuce wrap, wrapped in bibb lettuce with a small amount of rice inside with the chicken. You can make this recipe either way or both ways as we did!

Add Lots of Condiments

our Sweet and Spicy Korean Chicken Tacos condiments were cucumber sticks, tomatoes from our garden, lettuce, rice, cilantro, gochujang sauce and green onions. Yum!

So grab the recipe for Sweet and Spicy Korean Chicken Tacos and delight YOUR family!

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Sweet and Spicy Korean Chicken Tacos

Korean Tacos are a sweet and spicy spin on traditional chicken tacos. Chicken is marinated in gochujang sauce, fresh ginger and herbs and then grilled. Juicy spicy chicken combine with fresh lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and sauce for a sweet and spicy memorable taco!

Course dinner

Keyword barbeque tacos, chicken lettuce wraps, chicken tacos, korean lettuce wraps, korean tacos, lettuce wraps

Prep Time 5 hours

Cook Time 8 minutes

Total Time 5 hours 8 minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

• 4 pounds chicken breasts, cut into thick strips
• 1 cup sesame oil
• 1 cup light or dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup gochujang sauce
• 1 cup green onions, chopped
• 3 T. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 T. fresh garlic, grated
• 1 T. Korean red chili flakes If you can't find Korean red chili flakes, substitute regular red chili flakes
• 1 T. sesame seeds
• 1 T. salt
• 1 T. pepper
• 24 street-taco sized flour tortillas

Toppings

• 1 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 head lettuce, leaves taken off, washed and dried
• 4 cups white rice, cooked
• 1 cup gochujang sauce
• 3 cups cucumbers, chopped into sticks
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 2 cups coleslaw
• 4 large tomatoes, sliced

Instructions

1. Slice chicken breasts into thick slices. Rub the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Put them in large gallon zip lock bags. I used two bags. 

2. Add marinade evenly to both bags - sesame oil, corn syrup, soy sauce, gochujang sauce, green onions, ginger, garlic, chili flakes, sesame seeds. Close bags and refrigerate for at least 5 hours - 24 hours. 

3. After chicken is done marninating, take it out of the fridge. Heat your grill to medium head and spray the grill with non-stick spray. Grill chicken for 4 minutes per side. The marinade will heat up and char the chicken on the outside. Cook until done inside. Cut one piece in half to see if the chicken is cooked inside. 

   

4. Remove from heat and let rest while you prepare the toppings. Cut chicken into small pieces to serve. Sprinkle chicken with chopped green onions.

5. Prepare the toppings, arrange it all on a platter. 

   

6. Serve! 

We had such a fun time at our BBQ. And everyone agreed that the Korean Tacos were a hit!! Give them a try!

Here are a few other things we love to grill this time of year! 

The kids love grilling pizzas 

10 Summer Grilling Recipes 

Have a delicious day! 

xoxo