Sweet and Sour Chicken with crispy chicken, pineapple, and bell peppers tastes just like takeout without the food coloring. Try this today!
Sweet and Sour Pork and Sweet and Sour Chicken are classic Chinese takeout options many of us are too afraid to make at home. Cooking with woks can be intimidating, but my recipe will prove it is much easier to make than you would think!
Sabrina’s Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts , (about 4 pieces) cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2 eggs , beaten
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup pineapple chunks , cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 red bell pepper , cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 green bell pepper , cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1/2 yellow onion , cut into 1-inch chunks
- vegetable oil , for frying
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 4 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
Instructions
- To make the sauce, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic into a small bowl.
- Pour enough vegetable oil into a Dutch oven or frying pan so that comes up from the bottom about an inch and a half. Preheat on medium-high heat.
- Add the cornstarch to a large ziplock bag then add chicken pieces and shake until well coated.
- Dip the chicken pieces into the egg, then into the flour before adding to the hot oil. Add in batches so as not to have more than a single layer of it in the oil at a time.
- Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes, until cooked through and crispy.
- Remove to a cookie sheet (no paper towels!) and continue cooking the remaining batches of chicken.
- When done cooking remove all but a tablespoon of the oil, then add peppers, onion, and pineapple. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until crisp-tender.
- Add the chicken pieces and sauce, and stir until the sauce is thickened and bubbling.
- Serve immediately, with optional garnishes of sesame seeds or green onions.
Nutrition
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Table of Contents
About This Recipe
When I first started this blog, of all the Chinese Recipes that people asked for, the absolute top requested was sweet and sour chicken. I totally get it, it isn’t even just the recipe, but THAT SAUCE. When I was a teenager and I made this sauce for the first time I also actually started learning how to use chopsticks. So for a solid month (I kid you not, my mom was not thrilled with this), I used chopsticks for every meal and had a tiny little bowl of sauce to dip everything into it.
Chef’s Note
A word of advice: I don’t put the fried chicken on a paper towel to drain. While it may work to soak up the excess oil, it also causes it to steam and the batter on the chicken gets soft voiding our goal of crispy chicken pieces. You can use a paper towel to wipe off any oil from the cooking sheet after you’ve added them back to the wok.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Pounds Chicken Breasts: Cut into 1-inch chunks. You can use chicken thighs too.
- ½ Cup Cornstarch: This is used to create a base for the egg wash and flour to attach to.
- 2 Eggs and ¼ Cup Flour: These are the coating for the chicken.
- 1 Cup Pineapple Chunks: This is the secret ingredient that makes this recipe! Fresh or a can of drained pineapples both work.
- Vegetable Oil: This is used for frying. You can use a neutral oil like canola or sunflower oil.
- Vegetables: Red and green bell peppers, both cut into 1-inch chunks, add vibrant color and a mix of sweet and slightly bitter flavors. These can be substituted with other peppers or zucchini for a different texture. The onion, also cut into 1-inch chunks, provides aromatic flavor and slight sharpness; red onion or shallots are good alternatives.
- Sweet and Sour Sauce: White and brown sugar bring the sweet base with a hint of molasses; either dark or light brown sugar or coconut sugar can also be used. Apple Cider Vinegar is absolutely critical for bringing the sour flavor. Rice vinegar is a suitable substitute. Ketchup adds the base tomato flavor and natural red color. You can also use equal parts tomato paste. Soy Sauce can be substituted with tamari or coconut aminos which are also gluten-free. Garlic can be substituted with 2 teaspoons of garlic powder if fresh garlic is unavailable.
Kitchen Tools and Equipment
- Wok: Great for high heat, and quick cooking. A wok is a great addition to your kitchen if you love cooking Chinese food or stir fries in general.
- Large Frying Pan: I use a Cuisinart for most of my non-cast iron cooking unless I am going with a stainless steel option, then I choose my All-Clad.
- Frying Spider Strainer: A frying spider strainer is the quickest and easiest way to scoop out items that are fried without wasting too much time or getting too much oil out of the pan. You won’t have pieces burning like you would with a smaller strainer, plus it is SO inexpensive. I use it for almost all of my small fried items.
Can This Be Made Ahead?
This dish is best served fresh. If it isn’t served immediately the coating will soften and become soggy. You can easily store a batch in the fridge for up to 3 days before reheating and serving. Just keep in mind the breading won’t be crispy. The sauce can be kept in the fridge separately from any cooked chicken for up to a week.
How to Store
- Storing: Place the leftovers in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. The chicken will stay fresh for up to 3 days, while the sauce and vegetables can last up to 4 days.
- Reheating: For the best results, reheat the chicken in an air fryer or oven to restore its crispiness. Warm the sauce and vegetables in the microwave or on the stovetop, then combine just before serving.
- Freezing: Freeze the chicken and sauce separately in freezer-safe containers for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating and serving.
Alternative Cooking Techniques
Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees. Coat chicken pieces as usual with cornstarch, egg, and flour. Arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket, spray lightly with oil, and cook for 10-12 minutes, shaking halfway through. Air fry the vegetables and pineapple after the chicken. Make the sauce on the stovetop, toss the chicken and veggies into the heated sweet and sour sauce, and serve immediately.
Frequent Questions
For this recipe you want to keep the breading super crispy and light, which cornstarch will help you achieve. I have experimented with coating the chicken in both in a tempura batter and a straight cornstarch coating. I prefer cornstarch for ease of use, but either way, you don’t want something doughy that will absorb your sauce like a sponge.
You can reduce the sugar in half for less sweetness. For less tanginess, cut the vinegar from ½ to ¼ cup of vinegar.
Variations
- Vegan Sweet and Sour Tofu: Replace chicken with firm tofu, patting with with a paper towel it to remove excess moisture before frying. Use soy sauce or tamari for the sauce.
- Garlicky: If you’d really like to add some extra flavor to the flour, season with salt and black pepper and add 2 tablespoons of minced garlic or 1 tablespoon of powdered garlic to the chicken while frying. Add an extra tablespoon to the sauce when mixing.
Related Posts
More Sweet and Sour Recipes
Photos used in previous versions of this post.
This is a yummy recipe, and quick too. Only thing I’m changing next time is doubling the sauce.
This was so delicious! I added pineapple, cause I love it.
A bit labor intensive for me, I’ll have to come up with an easier method to get the pieces of chicken from the corn starch to the egg to the flour without making a big, gloppy mess!!
The sauce was great and I will definitely make this sweet and sour chicken recipe again!
I’m glad it was all worth it!
Thank you so much. A delicious recipe. My kids (11+14 years) love it and already asking me for the 3rd time to cook it. We always cook together and have lots of fun! Appreciate the professional setup of your site and the recipes.
I love that you get the kids involved too.
I just made it this is awesome thank you for this recipe.
You’re welcome, Malissa.
Very tasty. My husband and I both loved it. He especially liked the pineapple. Was well pleased with this recipe. Thanks, will definitely be making this again. We are it with a fried rice.
Thanks for coming back to let me know how much you both enjoyed it, Connie.
What temp is the oven? 350 is to hot if your chicken is already fried to crispness, 275 will keep it warm, just not sure about oven temp.
If you’re just looking to keep it warm after it’s been made, I suggest a 200 degree oven.
Great recipe but Im confused about the sauce. It says to mix the ingredients for the sauce but doesn’t say anything about cooking the sauce but later it says to add the sauce back in the pot, or stir back in, something like that. I cannot see at which step the sauce was added to the pot at first.
Sorry, didn’t meat to confuse you. You’ll mix the sauce in step 1 and then put it in the pan for step 11 with the bell peppers, onion and pineapple to coat. Add the chicken and cook everything together in the sauce until it has thickened. Hope this helps clear things up.
Looks great-can’t wait to try my first attempt at homemade Chinese. One question: directions say to remove cooked chicken to a cookie sheet. Then go on to say continue cooking chicken. Can I assume this means to cook the chicken in batches? Thank you!
Yes, you don’t want to overcrowd the pan while your cooking the chicken otherwise the temperature of the oil will drop too much. Enjoy!
Added grated ginger, salted cashews and water chestnuts and served with jasmine rice.
Delicious!
Great recipe!! My wife and I both loved it. I added pineapple because it usually contains it at Chinese restaurants. If you do you will need a bigger baking dish.
I am excited to yry this. I absolutely love sweet and sour chicken. I would like to add sliced carrots. Would you mind telling at what point I could add the carrots?
I’d add carrot strips in with the onion, bell peppers and pineapple. Enjoy!
I’m going to try and make your sweet and sour chicken. The directions are cook the chicken on high 2-3 minutes. Then it says put cornstarch in a ziplock bag and add the chicken and transfer to a cookie sheet. Then cook the chicken until done. So do you cook the chicken twice
No, the cookie sheet just allows a place for the chicken to rest once cooked before adding them back in with the sauce. Just a holding place. I hope you enjoy it!
I just recently started liking Chinese food. I ran across this recipe to make one of my favorite dishes at home. I made this and it was delicious!!!! Ive never made a Chinese dish in my life and it was perfect on the first try. The only thing I had to do was substitute white vinegar for the Apple cider vinegar because I didn’t have it and it was great Thank you for sharing this!
I’m glad you decided to give it a try, Sarah.
I had a “plethora” of whole RIPE pineapples that needed used… so we juiced some of them. Had a TON of Leftover “PINEAPPLE PULP”… in search of a sweet and sour recipe that maybe i could change up a little…. Found this one and tried it. Substituted the 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup Pineapple Pulp in the sauce. The chicken was messy to make (always when dredging with kids) … but i was amazed at how crispy it was!! I also left the chicken and sauce separate at the end and let everyone put their own sauce on their “rice & chicken” bowl. I actually used 5 lbs of chicken, doubled the sauce recipe and the ratio was fine.
Yay! Thanks for letting me know how it all worked out.
This is the best recipe of sweet and sour chicken I have made, and it taste good.
This dish was delicious!! I highly recommend and very simple steps. Yummmy!
Loved this, although it will probably taste better with breaded chicken, I cooked the chicken without coating, added salt & pepper, then the veggies, pineapple, and sauce. You can do a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce, too. Added over cooked rice and topped with green onions. My husband and I really loved this! Thank you so much for a great recipe! I’m gluten free and I could have used a different flour, I thought this was a lot easier and cut down on time and it tasted great!
I’m glad you both loved it! Thanks for the 5 stars, Lana.
Added some fresh crushed ginger, orange juice and red pepper flake to the sauce. Amazing. Thanks! I have a health condition where I can’t consume oil. I cooked chicken breast cubes on a skillet seasoned with fresh ground pepper (key ingredient go a tad heavy), garlic and onion powder and salt and Ancho chili pepper with some baking powder. Grilled with onions and added in the pineapple. I forgot to add the scallions I bought at the end. ? I can’t ever order Chinese because of my condition, but so happy to have this great recipe to modify at home. Loved building on this. Thanks!
Absolutely delicious! Tasted better than PF Chang’s – thank you!
It is so tasty, I made it again but replaced the apple cider vinegar with rice vinegar and juice of half an orange… and it is even better!
Thanks for the feedback, Jeanne. I appreciate the 5 star rating.
Very easy recipe, but very bland. Chicken especially was very good, but definitely needed salt. Sauce needed some spice. How about some peppers
True! I added the salt in the flour coating the chicken and that was perfect. Second time I cooked it I used a spicy ketchup (available in Turkey) that made it so good, not too spicy but a hint 🙂
I can’t wait to try this.Thanks for sharing.
I added a touch of ginger, yumm!
Very Tasty ? easy to follow reciepe.
Will certainly use it again ??
This recipe is absolutely incredible! It was easy to follow and so delicious. It definitely impressed my family who were over for dinner. Thank you for making me look like an amazing cook ? will most certainly be making this again!
Hello Many thanks for this recipe! Can one add cornstarch to the sauce to make it thicker?
Many thanks!
Sure 🙂
Hello Sabrina,
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I have a question: I am inviting some friends over and will not be able to serve immediately. I’ll at least have to prepare two hours prior. I am thinking of adding the chicken at the very end after heating the sauce. What do you think? What is the best way to keep the chicken crispy for this long? Or is that impossible?
Many thanks!
Unfortunately, this recipe just won’t work made ahead of time. I’d suggest making the PF Chang’s Orange Chicken recipe instead. It’s delicious and will stay longer. Good luck!
This is the best sweet and sour chicken recipe on the market! I always make more sauce, because it is so authentic tasting.
Making it tonight with half chicken and half tofu.
Thanks so much!
I just made this delicious easy meal for dinner. Absolutely better than Chinese sweet and sour chicken. I added a dash of scotch bonnet pepper, enhancing its savory taste.
Do you have an orange chicken recipe?
Thanks!
Yes, I actually a few different versions. You can use the search bar at the top right of the corner of the website and it’ll show you all the options. Enjoy!
This was delicious! Even my daughter who is not a fan of peppers and isn’t sure about pineapple liked it. This one’s definitely a keeper.
Thanks for the 5 stars, Kathy. I love it when a picky eater is won over.
We LOVE this recipe! I discovered it this summer, and have made 3 times since then. I am about to make it again tonight for dinner 🙂 . It’s a seriously tasty and easy recipe to follow. Thank you Sabrina!
Glad to know it’s such a favorite, Sarah. Thanks for the 5 stars.
AWESOME recipe!! I usually screw up recipes but this one came out so good. I was concerned that there was no salt or pepper because I never make a dish without those, but I followed the recipe anyway and it had so much flavor my two picky eaters finished their entire bowl! And my husband who complains that my cooking is too bland liked this better than the Chinese food restaurant! Thank you!
Glad to know it was such a hit, Lydia. Thanks for the 5 stars.
It looks delicious, and I wanna try!
WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! When I make Chinese chicken I try a different recipe every time…..not anymore!! This will be my go-to Chinese dish—bravo!!! You nailed this dish!! Tastes just like take-out!
Yay!! Thanks for the 5 stars, Sydney.
Hi Sabrina, when I saw your recipe for Sweet & Sour Chicken, I was desperate to try it, however, my wife and I are not big eaters. I decided to halve the amount of chicken and reduce the other ingredients proportionally. The result was brilliant, we were not disappointed. Thank you. ?
So glad you all enjoyed it!
Was delicious follwing the recipe to a T, except that I used Thomas Kellar Cup 4 Cup GF flour. That said, it took me about an hour start to finish, incorporating the fresh pineapple. Will make again, but not a quick weekday dinner.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’m sure it’ll take you less time the next time you make it, at least that’s how it is for me. Whenever I get more comfortable with a recipe, it takes less time.
Prepared this tonight. It was so easy and delicious. I used flour to which I added salt and pepper no corn starch or egg. I preheated oven to 350 and placed the browned chicken on cookie sheet and let it bake while I combined everything else in a cast iron skillet in which I fried the chicken. I served it over brown rice. Yum!
Wow, never ever order ever. Just how I like it!
confused about the oil when done cooking chicken. Do put the ingredients in the oil or do I drain the oil?
Thank you.
It looks delicious!!
The oil is used to fry the chicken pieces in. One the chicken is fried, you remove it from the oil. Hope this helps clear things up. Enjoy!
For taste this recipe is excellent. I’ve made it a couple of times and it is delicious. Having said that I need to add that putting it all together is labor intensive, at least for me. Trimming the chicken, cutting it up, putting it in the corn starch, egg and flour, and then frying it took me at least a half hour. And it was messy. With practice hopefully I will get better at it. Chopping the vegetables and cooking them went quire fast.
Side note; while coating the chicken with corn starch in a bag works well enough, I found that dredging them flour was better than trying to repeat tossing in a bag. The recipe only says to dip chicken into egg and then flour. (This is the messy part)
I did make one change to the directions. I didn’t put the chicken back in with the vegetables and sauce. Since the idea is to keep the chicken crispy and I am only cooking for 1, it seemed better to put the sauce and vegetables on rice and then add the chicken on top. I tend mix everything together on my plate so it works for me.
Hi Sabrina,
I have recently discovered your recipes on the website and the Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe looks amazing; I have also read the reviews which are very encouraging. My question is this: I would like to try the recipe, however, 11/2 lbs of chicken is far too much for my wife and I, half the quantity would be more than sufficient. Would you recommend halving all the other ingredients or reduce them by just a certain amount, say 25 or 30%. Would appreciate your advice very much. Ray.
Each recipe has a slider tool (hover over the servings) that allows you to adjust the ingredient amounts to the servings you like to make. Hope you find this helpful.
The whole family loved, thank you! I used pomegranate juice in place of the apple cider vinegar and ketchup due to dietary restrictions, and it all tasted phenomenal. Thanks again 🙂
Hello! Can I skip the pineapple or better yet, use some other fruit? I don’t like pineapple:(
You can just leave it out. I’ve never tried it with another fruit but possible orange or apricots might work. I’m not sure how they would adjust the flavor though. Good luck!
Delicious, my husband said it was better than Chinese take out!
I cut down the sugar by 1/2 cup total.
Yay!!
What type of flour is used?
If I cannot get plain flour is cornflour ok?
I used all purpose flour for this recipe. I’ve not tested it using cornflour though.
I followed the recipe to a T so I’m not sure what happened here…but I would say it was just ok. maybe I did something not quite right with this batch? I thought it was lacking in the flavor dept. and S&S is my fave dish…I def didn’t get the feel it was overpowering like some reviews below mention. It wasn’t bad per say but it def wasn’t takeout good.The chicken fried up nicely but IDK that I’d make it again. Always looking to try stuff tho so many thanks!
I made this tonight and it was easy and awesome! Better than a Chinese restaurant. The only thing I did different was I added a teaspoon of baking powder to the flour. I served it on brown rice.
Recipe sequence is a little disjointed so read it twice and plan out your activities in advance. End result fantastic, especially the sauce. Since I’m not traditional when it comes to this dish I seasoned my pan with chopped garlic and onions, and then added mushrooms and peppers. When dusting the chicken I added granulated garlic and onion to the cornstarch. I also added broccoli after adding the sauce, about 5 minutes before serving so the broccoli doesn’t suck up too much sauce. No leftovers at a table of picky eaters.
Made this with x2 quantity sauce as my family likes their chicken completely soaked in sauce. It came out perfectly and we even had a little extra sauce left over. I’m going to freeze it to use later to use with premade nuggies, Thank you!
Good teceipe although I plan to season the chicken next time. No flavor to the meat:-)
I’m confused about an instruction in the sweet and sour chicken recipe. #8 says “remove to cookie sheet and continue cooking the chicken.” The previous instruction says “cook until done and crispy.” So if the cooked chicken is now on the cookie sheet, and the pan is empty except for the oil, how do I “continue cooking the chicken?” The only way I would have uncooked chicken would be if the chicken was divided into portions before cooking, but there is no instruction to do so.
I’m not the author of the recipe, but I divided my chicken up into batches that way the chicken doesn’t stick to each other as they cook. I used paper towels just to drain and then put the cooked pieces on the cookie sheet. I think next time I will put the cookie sheet of chicken in the oven on warm so everything is good and warm when it gets put together.
Howard, the chicken should be cooked in batches. If you add all the chicken to the pan at once, it will cause “sweating” which will make the breading somewhat soggy and soft. That’s why it says continue cooking chicken. Hope this helps.
Made this last night for my husband who LOVES sweet and sour chicken. It was a BIG hit! I have to admit I did take a shortcut and used frozen chicken nuggets that I heated in the oven before adding them to the other ingredients as I was short on time.