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.
Shirley says
I made this recipe for the first time a few days ago. It’s so good. Im still eating left overs and omg is it so good. Thank you!
M symons says
Sauce never thickened. Cooked it an extra 15 minutes without success. What did I do wrong? Tasted fine.
kanpur chicken online says
This recipe is very nice and eassy to follow..Thanks for sharing the recipe..Thank you..
Sam I. says
I love sweet and sour chicken, can’t wait to try this out. Thanks for the recipe!
Samantha Esqueda says
So delicious! We have no good Chinese takeout around us, so I will definitely make this again when I’m craving Chinese food. Doubled it and it came out great, although it did take longer than I expected it to take to make.
Samantha says
This chicken was so yummy! My whole family loved it. The sauce was thin at first and i was worried but it thickened up while baking
Bernard G says
Awesome! Never cooked sweet and sour chicken before. My family loved it. Thanks
Deborah says
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Connie says
To the recipe. I cut red and green bell peppers a little
Celery chunks put in oven with chicken and sauce
Wish I had pu pineapple it could have more sauce.
Wonderful.
Sabrina A Francia says
Pregnancy craving kicked in for sweet and sour chicken one day… So I searched for a recipe. Something that looked and tasted as authentic as possible. I thought this recipe looked really good, so I decided to try it and it’s now one of my favorite dishes! So Delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Sharon Noyes says
We have made this several times and it is fantastic.My grandson loves it so much,he’d eat it everynight.He is in Culinary at school and is bringing this recipe in today so the class can make it……
Marty says
I’ve been making sweet and sour pork and chicken for over 40 years….my husbands fave. This recipe is the best by far. I had my doubts how it would turn out and made it for family meal. Grandchildren are my best critics. Well, everyone LOVED IT! It’s a 10+!!! I’m going to try with pork. Also add some pineapple chunks and green pepper the last half hour. YUMMY!
Deborah says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Cindy c says
I am going to try this ……..looks delicious. I have only eaten it served with bell pepper an pineapple chunks.
Faye D says
Not impressed with this recipe, i followed it to the T and it still came out awful :/ Ended up making my own sauce to cover it up. Not good! I don’t recommend it.
Silvia says
Today I coocked your receipe and I love it 😍
Aliyah says
Great looking recipe! I didn’t have like half the things on this list lol. I used flour instead of cornstarch, barbecue sauce instead of ketchup, and regular white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar! I also used pre cooked canned chicken (sounds gross but actually very enjoyable) instead of raw chicken breast! I served over a mix of whole wheat couscous and kinawa. The family loved it and was very impressed that I, the 14 year old of the family, made it! Thanks!!
Aliyah
Deborah says
I am super impressed that at 14 you are able to improvise so well!!
Jenn says
Hey! I just had to ask,
Dip in corn starch and then egg..and then starch again? Or starch, egg, then into the pan?
Deborah says
Just the starch, egg, then the pan. It’s a little different, but it totally works! 🙂
Roger says
Made this for dinner this evening and I can tell you that it came out wonderful ..The sauce was a little too sweet, but it may be because I used brown sugar brom the Caribbean. All in all it’s a wonderful dish