Sweet and Sour Chicken
159 comments » 
I am about to tell you something that you just may not believe. You will accuse me of lying. But I swear it’s the truth. Are you ready?
I ate Chinese food for the first time last month.
Crazy, isn’t it? I had gone through 29+ years without ever having tried it. I went to college, lived in a dorm, lived in an apartment, and yet never did a morsel of Chinese food touch my lips. I’m not exactly sure how this happened – we did our fair share of take out, but it seemed to always be pizza or hoagies (yes, in Pittsburgh they are hoagies, not subs or heroes). So about a month ago after my Chief Culinary Consultant and I hiked a trail around a lake in the D.C. heat and humidity and decided we needed dinner to come to us, he suggested getting Chinese delivered. I said sure and I’d get whatever he was having since I’d never tried it. He couldn’t believe it. We had General Tso’s and egg rolls and I’ve been craving Chinese ever since.
This recipe, although it takes awhile to get from the stove to your plate, is well worth the effort. The flavor of the sauce is perfect, the texture of the chicken is wonderful and all together, you’d think you ordered this from the neighborhood Chinese restaurant. I served this with basic brown rice and a mix of frozen vegetables that included broccoli, sugar snap peas, carrots, and water chestnuts. It all went together wonderfully and it’s a dinner I plan on making more often than not.
What’s your favorite Chinese take out dish? I’m sure I’ll be doing a lot of experimenting in the future, both ordering in and creating things in the kitchen. I would love to try homemade egg rolls!
One Year Ago: Chicken & Pasta with Spinach-Basil Pesto
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Chicken:
3-4 boneless,skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, slightly beaten
¼ cup canola or vegetable oilFor the Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar (preferably rice or white)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powderDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
3. Working in two batches, toss the chicken pieces in cornstarch and then coat with the egg. Heat the oil over medium-high heat and again in two batches, brown the chicken, turning it so that all sides are browned.
4. Place the chicken in a single layer in a 9x13 baking dish.
5. Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and pour evenly over the chicken. Turn the chicken to ensure each piece is coated.
6. Bake for 1 hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.
(Recipe adapted from Amber's Delectable Delights)
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Oooh! That looks so mouthwatering. Chinese is one of our favourite cuisines.
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You’re right – I can’t believe you had never had Chinese! I LOVE Chinese food. My favorites are General Tso’s, orange chicken, hot braised chicken, chicken potstickers, and lo mein. Your pictures are gorgeous – I really like these. I love that this recipe only uses 1/4 cup of oil, because so many recipes call for cups and cups of oil for deep frying. Cant’ wait to try this!!
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Nope. can’t believe you’ve never had Chinese before. Next up – I think you should branch out to Thai!
There’s a whole world out there!!!
Great pix by the way!
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Michelle on June 10th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Chris – I actually tried Thai for the first time back in February (I’m so lame, I know), and I loved it!!
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How on earth did you get through college without Chinese food?
I would have STARVED.
This looks great!! I made a variation of it this year and I was amazed at how yummy it was. And no take-out-induced finger swelling! Thumbs up!
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Wow! That’s a long time without Chinese. Great pictures and recipe. Well done.
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I love this recipe, thanks for posting I need to make it again soon!
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Congrats! Chinese is great. I love wonton soup, chicken low mein, and crab ragoons. The kids love S&S chicken. Looks like an easy recipe. I ought to give it a try.
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You don’t know what you’ve been missing!!! I loove chow fun, sesame chicken, egg drop/wonton mix soup, spring rolls, chicken or beef with brocoli, beef with oyster sauce, moo shu chicken…i can keep going. Your chicken looks perfect!!!
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My husband’s favorite take-out is sweet and sour chicken. I can’t wait to try this recipe!! Now, could you post a recipe for moo shu vegetable?
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You definitely have to try pan fried dumplings (or steamed). You could easily make a meal out of those (even though it’s an appetizer).
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Thanks everyone, for all of the great suggestions! Keep ‘em coming!
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YUM! This looks delicious; I cannot wait to try it!!
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I hope your newfound love of Chinese takeout leads you to discover some more clone recipes, and that you will share them. We have been trying to duplicate Steamed Pork Dumplings for years with limited to no success.
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Well check you out! Just what we all need. Sweet & sour chicken better than take out? fun post, thanks, s
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wow, i can’t imagine living 29 years without chinese food! you definitely have to try dim sum and for greasy takeout, orange chicken and eggplant tofu are my favorites. your sweet and sour looks great, thanks for the recipe!
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mm! that just looks divine.
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Love this!
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I can’t believe someone managed to live her life without Chinese food! I’m bookmarking this. It looks scrumptious, as does your delicious photography. Love your colorful picture.
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I love wonton soup. . . the broth is so clear, the wontons so rich, and the container so reusable.
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Oooh yes, I believed you. There’s always new things we haven’t tried since its existent but better late than never! I never tasted Blue cheeses, goat cheese or Camembert (au lait cru) even though it’s available in my local supermarkets until 11 years ago. Now, everyone has to fight with me
You can count me in your group!
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Oh no, you’ve been missing out – Chinese is soo good! I’ve never had Taco Bell, which seems to shock people for some reason.
Lovely sweet and sour chicken, it’s making my tummy grumble!
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Michelle on June 11th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Kerstin – It is surprising that someone hasn’t had Taco Bell! I guess I’m not completely alone in missing out on some things. But really, you’re not missing out, Taco Bell is pretty bleh
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Your dish looks great. Going to prepare it next weekend.
wow
Elinoar – Israeli food blog
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I’m glad you like Chinese Food! Your dish looks so delicious! I can’t wait to have some with rice!
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Looks delicious Chelle. I am glad you finally ate some Chinese food.
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For someone who is a virgin to Chinese food, this recipe rocks! I have lots of firsts to conquer myself… one bite at a time. I am SO making this. Thanks! I’ve been looking for a simple recipe and this one sounds wonderful.
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Just found your site while touring food blogs. Totally trying this recipe first of all. Second of all. Egg rolls are totally not as tricky as they seem. I haven’t made traditional chinese style yet, but make southwestern ones all the time. They’re a snap!
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Michelle on June 29th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Hi Mary Teresa, thanks for the encouragement on egg rolls. I can’t wait to give them a try!
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We made this for a family gathering over the weekend and it was a HUGE hit! It is delicious! Thanks so much for all these amazing recipes, our family is eating very well these days
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Michelle on July 2nd, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Hi Eileen,
So happy to hear that your family enjoyed this dish. Thanks for coming back and letting me know! So glad that you’re enjoying the blog
-Michelle
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You’re just now trying chinese food! It’s one of my favorites…your version looking tasty! The sauce looks rich and the texture of the chicken (though in sauce) looks crisp. What a plus! I’m very impressed that you chose to use brown rice instead of white rice in your recipe. My daughter and I make chinese food at home and let me tell ya…it’s a winner! We use Kikkoman soy sauce and LaChoy sweet and sour sauce from our local grocery for an authentic chinese food flavor. Would you happen to have a recipe for Hot Braised Chicken sauce? Thanks!
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I just made this for dinner and it was absolutly delish! Just like chinese takeout! I wanted a short cut, so I cooked the chicken at 400 degrees for 30 min and they turned out great. Thanks for the great recipe!!
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You’re right, I don’t believe it. Chinese food is my favourite and anyone who knows my blog also knows I cook it regularly and could eat it every day. As chinese food is new to you, why not take a look. If you like sweet & sour, you’ll love my crispy shredded beef recipe. Love your blog BTW, I’m just starting to get to grips with bread baking and hoping to take inspiration from you, Debs.
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This is so good. makes me wonder why I never made sweet and sour myself before. A co-worker shared your blog with me and this recipe but I didn’t know it was yours until I was scrambling trying to remember the sauce and your blog came up in a google search. I know she got the recipe here!!! My husband thanks you
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What an amazing discovery, eating Chinese for the 1st time! Recipe looks great, and although it’s not Chinese, but Japanese, if you’re looking for a quick and easy fix for the weeknight, check out my blog for a simple Chicken Teriyaki recipe!
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Thank you SO much for this recipe. I’ve made it 2 times now, and it is a rare “5/5″ (5 people in the 5 people of my family enjoy the same meal). Now the problem is doubling, quadroupling, etc.-ing my batch next time…
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Michelle on August 18th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Hi Luke – I’m so thrilled that this is a winning recipe with your family! I think that doubling or quadrupling should be relatively easy and can’t see that it would cause any issues with the ingredients. Let me know how it turns out!
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I just posted about this recipe! Absolutely loved it!!! Thanks for sharing!!
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OOo that looks great. You should try crab meat rangoons and chicken and broccoli. I have been trying to find good recipes for these for years!
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Fantastic recipe!!! Thanks for sharing!! This was an absolute hit with the family.
) No more take-out Chinese when I can make just as good if not better here at home for super cheap!
Next time, I’m going to lessen the sugar by a bit and add a 1/2 cup or so of fresh squeezed orange juice and zest so that we can have orange chicken!
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Tried this last night and loved it! Always a good thing when the hubby approves!
Can’t wait to try it with orange juice!
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I ended up with scrambled-eggs chicken. : (
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We made this for New Year’s Eve, and it was wonderful – so good that we couldn’t eat more until the next year came
We ended up doubling the sauce after seeing the first batch of sauce, though, and the next time we’ll probably triple it. We added a bit less vinegar and a bit more sugar, to the second batch, as the first turned out a bit too sour for our taste.
It was yummy, though, and a shame there were so few leftovers.
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Wow! I made this tonight for my dear husband, a man who did grow up on fast food because his dear Mother didn’t cook, and guess what he said? He said it was better than LeeAnn Chin, our local Chinese, and also that he could eat it EVERY DAY because its that good. What praise!
I would agree with others that I would at least 1 1/2 or DOUBLE the sauce. I was scraping the bottom to get a few last drips of sauce.
The cornstarch coating scares me and a lot of it fell off in the oven, but I think it was due to my technique and I’ll be more careful next time!
Thanks so much for a great recipe! I can’t wait to try the others from your Top 20 of 2009!
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this is incredible! i couldn’t believe how easy it was to make. i can’t wait to change it up and make it orange or lemon chicken. thank you for the recipe!!!
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Thanks so much for this recipe. It came out perfectly. The other thing I wish I could have done was make extra sauce. It’s perfect the it is and was a hit with my family they couldn’t believe I made something like this and I will make it again it was simple and easy
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I had this recipe bookmarked and just got around to making it. My whole family absolutely loved it! The sauce was perfect. Thank you so much!
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Tried this tonight to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We loved it. thanks for the easy, great tasting recipe!
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This was so awesome. even my 15 yr old cousin asked if I could cook this atleast once a week. A big hit in our house thanks to you.,
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I made this last night and it was unbelievable!!! Definitely restaurant quality. My husband and daughter loved it. I would definitely make this for a party. I doubled the sauce and it was the perfect amount to serve over the rice. Thanks for the amazing recipe.
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Wonderful recipe and one I will make again. The only thing I would do different is to double the sauce recipe.
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This was really good! I think I will make a second batch of the sauce next time and cook it down on the stove cuz it needed more sauce for the rice. It took me probably closer to 45 minutes to cook the chicken prior to the hour bake. The best part of it was when my 6 yr old son said “wow, that looks good!” He normally has everything looks gross and doesn’t want to try it. Both kids (3 and 6) ate it all up and said to keep the recipe!
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Michelle on June 18th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Hi Amanda,
So glad you and your clan enjoyed this! And I agree – you can never have too much sauce!
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I made this last night, and while it’s not an easy, weeknight meal it was really good! I added diced onions and peppers and that was a nice addition. What type of rice does everyone use with Chinese food? I only had long-grain and that wasn’t a good fit. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe, Michelle!
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Loved this chicken, it was so easy and the sauce is amazing..my husband was skeptical but we both loved it and definitely would make again!
@Shelly Knight – I made this last night and used the frozen Steamfresh Brown Rice. A-mazing! If you’ve ever been to PF Changs the rice comes out very similar..very nutty and goes great with this recipe, and quick and easy.
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I saw this recipe yesterday and decided to make it for dinner – huge problem, I now want to make it for dinner every night! My husband loved it, my in-laws dropped in when we were having dinner and even though they already had their dinner my FIL had a plate of this too. My FIL invited us to dinner at their house next week and said he’d get the ingredients then I can make this again
It’s totally worth the time it takes to make.
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I really like reading your blog and haven’t seen a recipe I didn’t like. Upon coming across this sweet and sour chicken recipe I knew I had to try it. Delicious! Thanks.
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Thanks so much for this delicious recipe! I made it recently and just posted it on my blog here- everyone loved it and its SO easy!
http://www.noraisinsonmyparade.com/2010/11/sweet-and-sour-chicken-takeout-style.html
Thanks!!
Marissa
noraisinsonmyparade.com
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Michelle on November 10th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Marissa – Your chicken looks awesome! Isn’t this delish? So glad you loved it!
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Making this right now … smells wonderful and had a great time making this with my 2 1/2 yr old son … he help cover the chicken in cornstarch … was messy but great!
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I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for months, finally gonna try it out tonight with some brown rice/veggie stir fry! Looking forward to eating it.
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too funny…just finished the dinner dishes from chinese takeout…thinly sliced white meat chicken with snow pods & water chestnuts in a brown sauce…it is always great takeout.
i will defintely plan on making your recipe!
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I made it last night and it turned out great. I browned the chicken in 4 batches instead of 2 to get a nice crust on the pieces. I doubled the sauce, and cooked half of it on the chicken and half on the stove top. Served with rice and veggies. Even though BF had to work late, and his dinner had to sit for a while until he he got home – he said it was better than take out.
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My kids love sweet and sour chicken so I am hoping to make this tonight. One problem – I used all my white sugar baking sweets! Would brown sugar work? Thanks so much!
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Michelle on February 14th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Hi Jessica – I think you could sub brown sugar, just know that it will be a little sweeter than if you used regular white sugar.
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The sweet and sour chicken was a huge hit!!! i was really surprised at how tasty it is!! This recipe is a keeper.
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I tried this the other night and it was fabulous! Do you happen to have a delicious fried rice recipe as well? This recipe went straight into my recipe box and I can’t wait to make it again!
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Michelle on February 22nd, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Hi Courtney, so glad you enjoyed this recipe! I haven’t mastered fried rice yet, but it is definitely on my list. Stay tuned!
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Hey Michelle! Just tried this last night- it was so good
Thanks for sharing!!!
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Michelle on March 8th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Hi Debbi, Yay! So glad you liked it!
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I bookmarked this recipe to try someday. Today was the day! I LOVE it! Yummy! I made it for tonights dinner, but I think I’ll be having it for today’s lunch first LOL. Thanks for posting this recipe, I will be making it again and again!
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Thank you so much for such a great recipe. I just made it tonight and my husband said it was the best meal I have ever made! I cooked snowpeas and water chestnuts to go with it, and served it with short grain brown rice. It tasted better than any Chinese takeout I have had. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Thanks again.
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Ok, THIS is amazing!! My husband said it was the BEST Chinese he has ever had. Definitely a keeper.
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This was delicious! Taste was spot on and it disappeared VERY quickly.
My sauce didn’t seem to completely thicken up though, any suggestions?
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Michelle on April 20th, 2011 at 10:50 am
Hi Rachel, Hmm the only thing I could think is that the oven wasn’t hot enough, but any oven should be hot enough to cook down that sauce. Perhaps accidentally too much vinegar or soy sauce thinned it?
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Rachel on April 21st, 2011 at 11:20 am
Hmm… I made multiple batches at once, so there was plenty of room for a math error there. Thickened sauce or no, I’ll be making this again. I’ll make sure to pay a little extra attention to how much liquid I put in next time. Thanks!
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Heather S. on January 30th, 2012 at 11:34 am
I had the same problem. I added about a cup of cornstarch with water to the sauce and heated it before adding to the dish and it ended up thickening up nicely. I also only cooked it for half an hour
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I served it with homemade crab rangoons and broccoli. This one is going into the weekly rotation! Absolutely amazing!
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I just made this! Delicious!
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Okay so I was a little skeptical about this recipe. I thought,’Can it really taste like take-out?’. Was I ever WRONG – this tastes exactly like take out but better because it’s homemade! It is a definite make again – plus it’s super easy to make! Since I am on a gluten free diet, I converted it to gluten free ingredients and it was delicious! Thank you, thank you!
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I just discovered this recipe and I made it last night. I am definitely making it again. It’s so simple and delicious!! Thanks so much!!
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I just made this last night after you posted it in your top 10 dinners- and it was PHENOM! Thank you!
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This was fantastic! We had it tonight and it’s already made it’s way onto my blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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I came across this recipe as few days ago and made it for dinner last night. Can I just say…OH. MY. GOODNESS. Thank you so much…it was awesome!
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I loove Chinese food!! We’re definitely trying this recipe for dinner tonite, I like that it’s simple and not a ton of oil to fry it in..thanks so much for sharing!
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Found this recipe and love it! Making it again right now
I have been using egg white’s only because I felt with whole eggs it was coming out like scrambled egg coated chicken, at least for me. Next time I am going to add orange juice, orange zest and chili pepper flakes to make a spicy orange chickenversion. Thank you for the recipe.
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Hi!
We love this recipe! It is exactly what we were looking for. Thanks so much for posting it. The only slight changes we made were: adding a tbspn of toasted sesame oil into the oil for frying them off to add a little more asian flavor and we use egg beaters rather than whole eggs for the dip (which doesn’t change the chicken in anyway, we just prefer egg beaters). Thanks again!
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Just made this tonight along with my homemade fried rice…very good! Thanks for this recipe. I used 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar as I was low on granulated sugar…yum!
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Oh, wow! This was AMAZING! I’ve made zillions of recipes from blogs, but this is the first time I’ve ever jumped online right after dinner to post a comment about how good the food was! To make it easier for frying and flipping, I cut the chicken into large strips instead of small pieces, which I will definitely do again. I also doubled the sauce and am very glad I did. We had ours with brown rice and broccoli. We’ll be having this again! Thanks!
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We are making this dish tonight! Excited to see how it turns out! Will let you know!
Brittney
Peoria, AZ
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Absolutely deliscious!!!! Will definately make again though I think I will double the sauce next time!!!
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Made this last night, it turned out great! I used two smallish chicken breasts (about 3/4 of a pound), a red bell pepper, two carrots, and some fresh pineapple chunks I had in the fridge (maybe 1 – 1.5 cups?) Also doubled the sauce, but I only used 1 cup of sugar total, which was plenty. We liked how the “sour” in “sweet and sour” really came out, unlike a lot of take-out Chinese sweet and sour which is just overbearingly sweet. Will definitely make this again. Only thing I’d do different is to add the veggies half way through instead of at the beginning so they don’t cook down quite so much.
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The reward at the end of this recipe was dead silence as my dad and brother ate. This was really delicious and easy to make. I used a frozen vegetable mix similar to yours but used brown basmati rice which is my new fav. My brother hates brown rice but he liked this. It only took 30 mins. in the oven and next time I’ll double the sauce for sure. Definitely will make again! Thanks a bunch!
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i just made this and its AWESOME. i never want to order chinese with the crappy red glaze on the side ever again!
just one thing… i made a half batch of this, and it came out very well except there are some hard blackened bits of the sauce on the chicken that are burned/caramelized and kinda chewy? i put it in the oven for an hour but i have a gas stove which might be hotter, do you think i should take it out sooner next time?
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Michelle on October 31st, 2011 at 12:46 pm
The oven could definitely be running hot. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend an oven thermometer!
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Would love to try this………wonder if it can be cooked totally on a stove in a skillet? My oven is broke…
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this turned out great and i didnt have to go to the store to get anything i had all the ingredients already!
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Made this for dinner tonight with fried rice… It was a huge hit!!! Absolutely delicious!!!
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I am so happy that I tried this recipe last night! My boyfriend absoulty loved it and so did I! Tonight Im going to try the beer and brown sugar kielbasa and sauerkraut. I think you should try making those eggrolls next!
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Looks wonderful! My Star wanted a sweet and sour chicken meal for tomorrow’s dinner and I do not have one, as I have never attempted to make this dish. This is what’s for dinner tomorrow night
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i dont know whats wrong with me, but every time i fry with oil it splatters everywhere and i am so scared. the chicken browned decently but when i took it out of the oven, it was dry and overcooked. the sauce was nice though.
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