Sweet and sour chicken combines crispy, fried chunks of breaded chicken with pineapple, bell peppers, and onions! It's a classic Chinese food takeout meal at home! Plus, it's so easy to make and can be on the table ready to enjoy in just 25 minutes!
Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Tired of Chinese takeout? Make your own! With this quick and delicious recipe, you can turn your kitchen into your favorite restaurant. The best part? There's absolutely no special equipment required!
I never tire of the smell of garlic and onions cooking with bell peppers. Combined with pineapple and topped with sweet and sour sauce, this savory breaded chicken is absolutely delicious!
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Try out more of my delicious Chinese takeout recipes here! You can even try my sweet and sour pork and shrimp to change things up!
If you love Asian-inspired flavors, you’ll love this dinner too! It's easy to see (and taste) why sweet and sour entrees are so popular!
🥘 Sweet and Sour Chicken Ingredients, Notes, & Substitutions
This sweet and sour chicken is an inspired balance of flavors and textures, from the crispy, savory fried chicken to the soft, sweet pineapple. Sweet and sour sauce adds that special something that really takes this dish to the next level!
- Chicken Breasts (or thighs) - 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Cut these into bite-sized pieces for best results. Breasts or thighs are both excellent in this recipe!
- Cornstarch - ½ cup of cornstarch. This will give your chicken a nice crunch and brown color when fried.
- Eggs - 2 large eggs. Whip these up to help the batter stick to the chicken.
- Flour - ¼ cup of all-purpose flour. Flour does really well with the prolonged heat needed to cook fried chicken and creates an even coat.
- Oil for frying - A variety of oils would work here as long as they have a high smoke point. I typically use coconut oil for frying.
- White onion - 1 large white onion, sliced or cut into 1-inch chunks. You can also use yellow onions for a sweeter flavor. Take your pick!
- Minced garlic - 1 tablespoon (or 3 cloves) of minced garlic. There’s nothing better than the smell of sauteed garlic to make everyone in your house hungry! Fresh garlic or pre-minced garlic in a jar are both fine.
- Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers - ½ each of a red, yellow, and orange bell pepper (diced). These add color and a bit of a nutrition boost. Plus, the crunch is amazing! Green bell peppers are also a great option.
- Pineapple chunks - 1 cup of pineapple chunks. You can use fresh, canned, or frozen. Pineapple in savory dishes are unique and delicious.
- Sweet and sour sauce - 1 cup of sweet and sour sauce. Buy your favorite brand or try making your own with my easy sweet and sour sauce recipe.
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 How To Make Sweet and Sour Chicken
Shake things up with this delicious weeknight meal. My homemade sweet and sour chicken recipe yields 4 hearty servings.
All you will need is a cutting board, a knife for chopping, a frying pan, a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, and measuring utensils.
Prepare the Vegetables & Chicken
Step 1: Cut up vegetables and pineapple. Cut one white or yellow onion, 1½ bell peppers of any color (or mixed), and 1 cup of pineapple (canned, fresh, or frozen) into chunks. Onions and bell peppers can also be sliced and cut into strips if you prefer.
Step 2: Mince the garlic. Crush or chop one tablespoon of garlic (about 3 cloves or 8 grams) into tiny pieces and set aside.
Step 3: Prepare the chicken. Cut 1 pound (454 grams) of boneless, skinless chicken breast (or thighs) into one-inch pieces and put them into a plastic ziploc storage bag. Add ½ cup (64 grams) of cornstarch, seal, and shake until the chicken is fully coated. Remove your coated chicken from the bag and set aside until ready to fry.
*You can add seasoning to your cornstarch coating, including ground ginger, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, for more flavor.
Step 4: Set up your dredging station. In a small bowl, thoroughly whisk 2 eggs (100 grams). In another small bowl, add ¼ cup (31 grams) of all-purpose flour.
Cook the Sweet and Sour Chicken
Step 5: Heat the oil. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with ½ inch of oil. Turn the heat to medium-high or high (your oil should reach 360°F (182°C) for frying).
Step 6: Batter and fry the chicken. Take the cornstarch-coated chicken, dip it in the whisked eggs, and dredge it in flour. Gently shake off any excess and carefully place in the hot oil. *It is best to place food into your oil in a way that any accidental splash from the hot oil would be directed away from your face and body!
Step 7: Cook in batches for 3-4 minutes. When all the chicken is cooked, set it aside (see tips) and drain all but a bit of oil to cook the vegetables.
Step 8: Reduce heat and cook vegetables. Turn the heat down to medium or medium-high, and add your minced garlic and chopped onions. Cook until softened, about two minutes. Toss in the chopped bell peppers and pineapple chunks and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Step 9: Add sauce. Pour in around 1 cup (237 milliliters) of sweet and sour sauce - you can add more or less to taste. Put the fried chicken pieces back in the pan and stir to coat. Let the sauce heat up for a minute until it starts to boil.
Step 10: Cool and serve. Shut the heat off and let everything cool slightly - only a minute or two, then serve immediately.
🍽️ What To Serve With Sweet and Sour Chicken
Your tasty sweet and sour chicken can be served for lunch or dinner over a bed of white rice or noodles, then garnished with sliced green onions for added color. Side dishes are completely optional with this fabulous meal-in-one dish!
Try my crab rangoons or air fryer spring rolls for some great appetizers while your chicken dinner is cooling! Enjoy!
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- Serve over a bed of your favorite rice to stretch the dish. Though sticky rice may be traditional, any kind would work here. The rice soaks up the sweet and sour sauce and lightens it up a bit.
- There are several ways to know when the oil is hot enough to begin frying your chicken. If you don’t have a thermometer, an easy and safe way is to dip the end of a wooden spoon in the oil and watch the bubbles. There should be many floating up without bubbling too hard. It typically takes about five to ten minutes to reach this temperature.
- You can also use a meat thermometer, measuring from the center of the pan. It should be between 350℉ (177℃) and 400℉ (205℃). It’s important to be in this range because if it’s too hot, the chicken will burn on the outside before the center is cooked. If it’s not hot enough, the food will absorb the oil, leaving you with soggy, greasy chicken (and no one wants that!).
- Using paper towels to soak up some of the oil after cooking? Ensure you don’t leave the chicken sitting directly on them, or you will risk soggy chicken again. For best results, put the cooked chicken on a wire rack with a paper towel-lined baking sheet or large plate underneath to catch the extra grease.
- To cut the sweetness of the sweet and sour entree, I suggest using white onion (rather than the sweeter yellow onion).
- Additionally, green bell peppers are best for cutting down the sweetness of your sweet and sour sauce.
🥄 Make Ahead Options
You can absolutely put leftovers in the freezer, but you’ll want to eat them within three months for the best quality. Any longer than that, and your tasty sweet and sour chicken will start losing flavor.
As with refrigeration, make sure it’s in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn. Also, it still holds true that freezing the sauce and chicken individually will yield the best-reheated version.
See my meal prep sweet and sour chicken option here.
🥡 Storing & Reheating
This dish will last three to four days if properly refrigerated in an airtight container, so you can enjoy it all week! Of course, if you know you'll have leftovers, the sauce and vegetables are best stored separately from the fried chicken pieces.
Reheating Sweet and Sour Chicken
When it comes to reheating, the oven is your best option. If using the oven, add a bit of water before cooking. Cover your dish with foil to keep moisture in and cook at 350°F (175°C/Gas Mark 4) for about 15-20 minutes.
If the microwave is more your speed, cover your dish with a moist paper towel and heat for 30-60 seconds until the desired temperature. Stir between each of the heating increments.
>>>>See all of my recipes here<<<<
❓ Recipe FAQs
The combination of flour and cornstarch gives fried chicken that delicious texture! Flour creates an even layer that builds up a fluffy crust, while cornstarch makes it brown and extra crispy.
Smoke point is the temperature at which oil starts smoking or burning. In other words, the point at which your oil becomes inedible. You never want to deep fry or grill with an oil with a low smoke point. Extra virgin olive oil, for example, has a low smoke point and will infuse your food with a burnt flavor if used to deep fry.
These are two very similar dishes. However, General Tso's is not quite as sour and has an added touch of heat from hot sauce or chili flakes. It is more of a sweet and spicy combination compared to sweet and sour.
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📖 Recipe Card
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (or boneless skinless chicken thighs - cut into small 1 inch cubes or pieces)
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- oil for frying the chicken (vegetable oil, canola oil, coconut oil, or peanut oil are good choices for frying)
- 1 large white onion (sliced or cut into 1" chunks, yellow can work as well)
- 1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
- ½ each, red, yellow and orange bell peppers (or 1 ½ bell peppers any color diced into chunks)
- 1 cup pineapple chunks (canned, fresh, or frozen)
- 1 cup sweet and sour sauce (or store bought - more or less to taste)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
Prep
- Slice or cut onion into chunks, mince garlic, cut bell peppers into strips or chunks, and chunk up pineapple (or use canned chunks of pineapple or frozen). Then Cut up your chicken into 1 inch pieces.
- Place your chicken into a plastic ziploc bag then add the corn starch, seal, and shake to coat. Remove the chicken and set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk up 2 eggs, in another small bowl add in the flour. (This will be your dredging station.)
Cooking the sweet and sour chicken
- Add enough oil to cover the bottom of your fry pan by at least ½ inch. Heat oil to medium-high to high heat until it reaches 360°F (182°C).
- Start by taking the chicken that has been coated in cornstarch, dip in the egg, dredge in the flour (shake off any excess flour), and then carefully put into the hot oil.
- Cook the chicken in batches till completely cooked through for about 3-4 minutes, and set aside. Remove excess oil from pan, leaving a small amount to cook the veggies.
- Over medium to medium high heat add in your garlic and onions and cook for a couple of minutes to soften the onions. Add in your bell peppers and pineapple. Cook until tender 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in the sweet and sour sauce. Add the fried chicken pieces, fold in gently to coat. Allow the sauce to cook for a minute until it starts to boil. Turn heat off.
- Allow the sauce to cool slightly, garnish with sliced green onions if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Gloria M Karam says
Angela GREAT SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN recipe ,cant wait to make it..you are awesome..thank You