Skip the take out – this Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe is so good that you’ll put it on the permanent rotation. Chicken is coated in a sweet and sticky sauce and baked to perfection.
Years ago, I worked in an office where they would bring in lunch every day. I mostly skipped that lunch and opted to head home for my lunch hour instead, but every once in awhile, I’d stick around and have some of the lunch that was provided that day.
I remember one day, (I was pregnant with my first child, so let’s blame this on pregnancy haha), the lunch was from a local Chinese restaurant. And it smelled so good. So I decided to have lunch at work that day. I chose out an egg roll and some sweet and sour chicken, then went to my desk to eat – only to be completely disappointed. It was not good at all, and I don’t think I even ended up eating it.
That is what led me to this recipe so many years ago. It has now been here on Taste and Tell for over 10 years and remains a favorite for a good reason – it’s so stinking good. It’s one of those rare meals that everyone in my family likes. And yes – it’s so much better than that takeout sweet and sour chicken! I think I’ll forget the take-out Chinese from now on and make this Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe!
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken
This recipe is a little different, but trust me here!
- Start by cutting the chicken into bite sized pieces and seasoning them with salt and pepper.
- Place the cornstarch in one shallow bowl, and the eggs in another shallow bowl. Beat the eggs lightly.
- Take each piece of chicken and dredge it in the cornstarch. Then dip it in the egg. Transfer that to a skillet with oil that has been heated over medium-high heat. And yes – you dip in the cornstarch then the egg – this is a little different than a lot of other recipes.
- Cook the chicken in batches, just until it is browned. The chicken will bake in the oven, so this is just to brown and crisp up the chicken, not to cook it through. Transfer the chicken to a baking dish.
- In a bowl, combine your sauce ingredients – sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce and garlic powder. Pour this mixture over the chicken in the baking dish.
- Bake the chicken at 325ºF for an hour, stirring it every 15 minutes.
- Serve the sweet and sour chicken over rice and be prepared to never want to get it for take out again!
More Chinese Recipes
Daddy Wu’s Chinese Chicken
Pressure Cooker Cashew Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken Recipe
Easy Lo Mein Recipe
Easy Egg Roll Recipe
Orange Chicken
General Tso’s Chicken
Tools Used to Make this Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
- My favorite skillet, especially for this recipe, is my cast iron skillet.
- I like to use tongs to dredge the chicken into the cornstarch, eggs and oil.
- I love my rice cooker and rarely cook rice any other way.
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Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 3 eggs ,lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoon ketchup
- 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks. Season with salt and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Put the cornstarch in a shallow bowl. Put the eggs in a separate bowl. Place the oil in a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Working in batches, dredge the chicken in the cornstarch, then dip in the egg. Add to the hot oil and brown on all sides. You do not need to cook the chicken through, just brown the outside to get a crispy exterior. Transfer the chicken to a 9×13-inch baking dish and continue with the remaining chicken.
- In a bowl, combine the sugar, ketchup, cider vinegar, soy sauce and garlic powder. Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken.
- Bake the chicken for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Serve over prepared rice.
Ivana says
I made this today and we couldn’t stop eating! It was delicious and way better than chicken from some restaurants we visited. Thank you! 🙂
Deb says
We loved this recipe
mak says
I was surprised by this recipe, I’ve never made sweet and sour chicken before, and was shocked at the amount of apple cider vinegar(and the smell while in the oven) , but once I took a bite I was amazed at how great it came out! I ended up getting impatient and turned up the oven a bit but it came out great!!
Mary says
Mmmmm! I made this tonight! It’s A-MAZING!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Beth Conti says
I have made sweet and sour chicken before but I like this recipe much better!! I did add Moschino cherries and pineapple chunks to the sauce DELISH!!!
Beth Conti says
oh yeah and I made the sauce on the side and cooked the chicken separately then poured the sauce on top of chicken it was AWESOME!! TY
Mace says
Thank you 😊 omg this recipe is so good! The apple cider vinegar really adds a tang to it! Thanks again!
Darla says
Have you ever made browned the chicken and made the sauce separate to meal prep and combine 1-3 days after? Just curious if it will work. I’ve made this several times and EVERYONE always loves it. It is just time consuming to do after work for dinner. Thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe.
Deborah says
I haven’t tried that, but I think it might work. I’ll have to test it sometime – but if you try, please let me know how it turns out!
Kenny Dodd says
Great dish easy fixed one of my fav’s !!!
David Lohrman says
I love this recipe easy to make taste so good
mrs.dowler says
i’ve had such an intense craving for sweet and sour chicken lately but have been trying to not order out so much. asian food has never been my specialty, i don’t know what it is, but nothing i make ever tastes ‘right’… like i can make soups, stews, pastas, breads, ect just fine… but asian food specifically i just fail at miserably.
this is when i came across your recipe! all ingredients that i’m familiar with and cooking methods that are straightforward, i decided to cross my fingers and try once more. my husband was even like “maybe you could pick up some frozen stuff just in case it doesn’t turn out… no offense” which really says a lot because my husband enjoys my cooking but KNOWS how much i suck at asian foods lol.
but anyways, this recipe was really good! it’s something that will become a somewhat regular rotation for dinners in our home! i would like to try experimenting a bit next time. less sugar in the sauce, a sprinkle of cayenne, and cut up pineapple to compensate for the reduced sugar without reducing the flavor. thank you very much for making me a winner tonight lol!
Deborah says
I love this! Thanks so much for sharing and for the rating!
Haley says
My 90 year-old grandmother, who is still an amazing cook who loves to try new things, made this for us for dinner, and we absolutely LOVED it. It was unbelievably delicious. Better than any Chinese restaurant I’ve ever had.
Danielle says
Why don’t you just fry it in the oil until the chicken is cooked through? You might have to turn down the temp of the oil just a touch but this way keeps the chicken batter nice and crisp on the outside and the chicken super tender on the inside. I found that baking it in the oven, even stirring it made the batter soggy and the chicken was way over done and dry. I still rated the recipe 4 stars because of all the sweet and sour chicken recipes I’ve found this was the easiest and the tastiest.
Ericka says
I thought the same…my chicken was dry so next time I am going to pan fry the chicken, reduce the sauce a little and just mix them after
Sue R says
thank you so much for explaining how the chicken got after being baked in the sauce! when I read the recipe my first thot was, if I put something crispy in a wet sauce & bake it, won’t be crispy when it’s done, will it? Logic told me it would be soggy & that was a big turn off for me. I’m so surprised that yours was the only comment which addressed this. So I’ll be cooking the chicken entirely, making the sauce & then serving the sauce over the chicken….like they do in the restaurants.
To the author: I will rate the recipe a 3 b’c I’ve not made it yet but I’ve cooked enough to know it will be good (minus the oven baking) which is why I’m rating it at the halfway point.
Michelle says
This was so deelish. Thank you for a great recipe. My sure go to.
Heidi C. Condon says
This was terrific! My husband said this recipe is a keeper. It was sticky and the chicken was not dried out. I admit I was skeptical. I did not have Apple Cider Vinegar but Red Wine Vinegar worked just fine. Great meal or appetizer.
Barb says
Could I use boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe?
Deborah says
Yes, that should work just fine!
Angel colon says
I loved it, and thanks that was the first time I tried it, and my family loved it.
Kris says
Excellent! Nice and easy too. Will definitely do again.
I have 3 other comments:
1. Turned out I was low on corn starch, so I cut in a bit of flour with what corn starch I had. Worked out fine in case anyone else has this dilemma.
2. Used a large cast-iron stove-to-oven pan to sauté the chicken. Then I reused it to bake the chicken. Meant one less cooking dish to wash.😀
3. I cut the sugar down to 2/3 cup, and it was plenty sweet for us.
Thanks very much for sharing this keeper!