Sweet and Sour Chicken

4 servings

Prep Time 15

Minutes

Minutes

Cook Time 15

Minutes

Minutes

Total Time 30

Minutes

Minutes

This sweet and sour chicken with pineapple, bell peppers, and crispy chicken tastes like takeout but without the food coloring. Try it today!

Sweet and Sour Pork and Sweet and Sour Chicken are classic Chinese takeout dishes that many of us fear to prepare at home. My recipe will show you that cooking with woks is not as difficult as you might think.

Table of Contents

Sabrina’s Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe

Sweet and sour fried chicken was the most requested Chinese Recipe when I started this blog. It’s not just about the recipe. It’s also that SAUCE. As a teenager, I learned how to use chopsticks when I made the sauce for the first time. So, for one month straight (I kidnap you not; my mother was not happy about this), I ate with chopsticks and had a small bowl of Sweet and Sour Chicken Sauce for everything.

Ingredients

• A pound and a half of chicken breasts will do. Cut them into 1-inch pieces. You can also use chicken thighs.
• Use 1/2 cup cornstarch to create a base to which the egg wash, flour and other ingredients can be attached.
• The coating for the chicken is 2 eggs and 1/4 cup flour.
• 1 Cup Pineapple Chunks – This is what makes the recipe special! Both fresh pineapples and canned pineapples will work.
• For frying, use vegetable oil. Choose neutral oils like canola or sunflower.
• Vegetables – 1 Red Bell Pepper & 1 Green Bell Pepper cut into 1-inch chunks. They add a vibrant color and a mixture of sweet and bitter flavors. You can substitute these with zucchini or other peppers for a different texture. Half a yellow onion, cut into 1-inch chunks, adds a mildly sharp flavor. It is possible to substitute red onions or shallots.
• A sweet and sour sauce with a hint of molasses is made by mixing 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar together. Light brown sugar or Coconut Sugar can be substituted. You must use 1/2 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar to give it a tangy flavor. Rice vinegar can be substituted. 1/3 cup Ketchup provides the tomato base flavor and red natural color. You can use equal amounts of tomato paste. You can substitute 4 teaspoons of Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce with tamari or coconut aminos. Both are gluten-free. If fresh garlic is not available, you can substitute 2 cloves of garlic with 2 teaspoons of garlic powder.

How to Make

Time required: 30 minutes

How to make the sauce ingredients

Mix the sugar with the brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce and Ketchup. It will blend better after a few minutes.

Preheat Oil

Heat vegetable oil in deep pans or woks.

Prepare the chicken

Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle cornstarch on them by shaking the bag of cornstarch.

Dredge Chicken

Set up 2 separate bowls with the beaten egg and flour. Each piece of chicken should be dredged in the egg first and then dipped into flour.

Fry the Chicken

After the oil has simmered, add the chicken pieces in two or three batches. Fry them until golden brown and crisp. After the chicken is cooked, place it on a cookie sheet. Please do not put them on paper towels, or they will get soggy.

Vegetables to Cook

Remove the majority of oil from the pan if you have a lot. Only about a teaspoon is needed. Stir-fry pineapple, bell peppers and onions in a pan until they are tender-crisp.

Mix the sauce with the vegetables.

Add the garlic to the sauce and heat it for 2 minutes.

Add Chicken

Stir the sauce into the pot to evenly coat the chicken pieces. Serve the dish over Garlic Noodles or steamed Rice. Enjoy!