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.
Faye says
This is very similar to a recipe I make for sweat and sour meatballs except I use regular vinegar and brown sugar but not as much. To add another dimension of flavour add chunks of pineapple.
Max says
Best S/S Chicken the wife and i have ever had ,,,and the sauce is amazing , i could drink a gallon lol.Thanks !!!
Sharon Campbell says
Made this for dinner tonight and it was very good. Usually make my chicken balls a little different but these were quite tasty. Sauce is quite sweet but these were a bit easier to do than mine and will use this recipe again. My husband even liked them and he is hard to please. (Meat and potato man) thanks for the great recipe.
Shannon says
Hello do you brown or white sugar?
Deborah says
It is regular white sugar.
Roger says
Your directions say put in cornstarch first, then put it in the egg.
Is this correct? Most recipes have you dip something in egg first.
Deborah says
Yep – the recipe is correct. 🙂
Janet Bradley says
Could I double the sauce in this recipe. We like a lot of sauce to put on chicken and rice. This dish sounds amazing!!!!!!!
Deborah says
You can! I have already increased the sauce from the original recipe because we are sauce lovers, too, but I’m sure you can double this as well!
Mary says
this is the best sweet and sour chicken .I also added pineapple tidbits. DELISH!!
Anastasia says
I cooked it tonight. It was easy and turned out very-very tasty. Thank you!
Atya says
I make this replacing the chicken with cauliflower florets. You have to slightly steam the florets before you fry. No need to bake. Comes out very tasty. Almost tastes like chicken.
Can make it as a vegetarian dish or have a combination of chicken and cauliflower nuggets.
And I mix up the corn flour into the eggs as a dip to fry. No water.
Lisa says
I love this recipe, but the long office story I could of done without. Its better to keep it short and sweet.
Serena Waits says
I cooked this tonight for my parents and let’s just say we will not be ordering sweet and sour from the Chinese take out anymore!!
Jersey Girl Cooks says
This looks much better than any take out! Bookmarking as my family would love this.
T and C Bakery says
Looks so good, I'm going to have to try it 🙂
Madison Marie says
Thanks so much for posting this! I tried it last night and I just mentioned it in my very first blog. This is such a great recipe!
Sarah says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit!
My kiddos helped me make this and they thought the sauce was going to be horrible since it had sugar, ketchup and vinegar in it (they prepared that part of the recipe). Anyways, both kids had 2 servings of this and the hubs had 2 1/2 servings. Thanks for a great recipe!!
Memória says
I tried this about a week ago, and it was perfect!! Wow! I had to call my mom and tell her about it lol. In Austin, there aren't many good Chinese restaurants (IMHO). So, it is nice to know that I can make my favorite, Chinese dishes on my own. Thanks!