If I had to nail down our favorite family recipe, this would be it. Invented on a college budget more than ten years ago, this sweet and sour chicken is absolutely divine. A million percent better than any takeout, this chicken bakes up tender with a beautiful crust and is coated perfectly with the sweet and tangy flavors of the sauce. I make this meal often for a simple family dinner and yet it is delicious and fancy enough for company.
Make this. You won’t be sorry!
Sweet and Sour Chicken
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Printable Version with Picture
*Note: if you like extra sauce, double the sauce ingredients – pour half over the chicken and follow the baking directions in the recipe and pour the other half in a small saucepan. Cook the sauce on the stovetop at a simmer for 8-10 minutes until it reduces and thickens. Serve it on the side of the chicken.
*Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt
DIRECTIONS:
For the chicken, cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken.
Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes so it is evenly coated with the sauce. Serve over rice.
Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe
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I tried this recipe about a month ago and I LOVED it! What a great recipe! I’m posting it on my blog. I hope you don’t mind. I will definitely link it to your blog though. Did you come up with this recipe? It was the BEST sweet and sour chicken I’ve ever had! Better than any restaurants’.
Jen – glad you liked this but bummed the sauce didn’t turn out. Hopefully it was good enough to try again. Thanks!
I just made this on Wednesday and it was delicious! I even messed up the sauce (with my own error in measuring) but it was still great.
Love your blog and thanks for the great ideas.
RMCarter – glad you liked this! I’m on my way to check out your blog.
Just tried this and LOVED it! Added it to my recipe list, crediting you of course. (I also borrowed your pic for now. It was so yummy, I was too busy eating it to take a picture of it. I will take one next time I make it, in a week or two, if not sooner!!! I hope that’s okay.) Thanks so much for sharing!!
I’d like to thank you (again) for this yummy recipe. I just blogged about it. This is my second time making it. It’s definitely a keeper!
Gina – I hope you find some other recipes to try. I’m really glad you liked this one as it is one of our favorites!
Melanie-I made this last night for the first time and my husband and I both LOVED it!!We have loved everything from you blog so far!! Now to search for more recipes to try!
I just found your blog a few days ago and made this chicken recipe tonight. My family LOVED it!! Now I need to spend some time looking through your recipes to find some more goodies. I am a follower now and am looking forward to reading your new posts. Great blog!!
laurie
Anonymous – thank you! What a nice comment. Thanks for checking in.
You have an amazing food blog, I’m hooked. I love recipes, I love foods, spices and food photos!! Thank you for time and beautiful efforts!
Gina – good luck with your goal. It’s hard to stay away from processed foods but I’m like you, I try my hardest and it pays off because homemade food tastes so much better. Good luck!
OMG, I’m going crazy over your blog!! My husband loves it when I make stir fry but I cant take the credit because I always use bottled sauce which I hate using, it contains too much sodium and full of artificial flavors. I want to cut back on processed foods and make healthy, home made food for my family. You have inspired me to do so!! Thank you!
Sounds tasty…………….just what I am looking for…………..what kind of vinegar are you using…………cider or white or redLindaWarwick, RI
I have been making these since the first time i tried a month ago everyone loved it thank you
I made this chicken last night for a few friends. It turned out great just as everyone said! Thanks for the great reciepe.. my next attempt at cooking will be your sweet meatballs. Those sound yummy!
Omg!! I tried it and it came out so good. thanks for the recipe. ill definitely will di it again for my family. I highly recomend this sweet and sour chicken!!!! I even had my 4 year old help, he enjoy it as much as i did. thanks again!!!!
OK, this was FABULOUS! I’ve followed The Sisters’ Cafe blog for some time, but I just recently saw the reference to this blog. I’ve been in eye-candy heaven! There are so many recipes I’m dying to try. I made this last night and my husband went crazy for it! My kids were all thumbs up as well. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you for another great recipe! We are eating this one in just a few minutes, but I am almost full from “sampling” it already! I cut some onion, green bell pepper and pineapple into chunks and mixed them in with the chicken, and it is SO good!
Hi, I’m not sure how I made it to your blog, but I love it and check it regularly. My hubby and I made this tonight and we loved it!! Thanks for sharing.
Our family loves this. I had all the ingredients on hand and it was so easy to make. I have been giving the recipe to all my friends.
I am posting another comment because THIS IS SOOO GOOD!!! WE LOVE THIS MEAL!! I think I’ve made it about 4 times in the last 2 months. It is the best chicken ever, I think. Oooh, it is perfectly textured, flavored. It tastes just as good for leftovers, too. We add chopped green peppers to it. It is the perfect fresh “green stuff” to be added. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Looks delicious and so simple!
Michelle – I’m so bummed this didn’t work out for you! I don’t think it matters if your vinegar has been around for a while (if stored in a cool, dark place, vinegar can last a LONG time). And you are right it does call for 1/2 cup. I use apple cider vinegar, too. I’m baffled as to why the vinegar would have been so overpowering. The dish definitely has a vinegar “feel” to it but it shouldn’t be too overpowering. Did your sauce thicken up when you baked it? If you dare try it again, perhaps try cutting the vinegar in half. I wish I could be of more help. I’m sorry!
This is an awesome meal! My hubby LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it and suggested that I make it when his parents/family come for family night sometime soon. It is a bit labor-intensive, but SO worth it, IMO! I did end up using more of the egg-mixture than it called for, though…maybe my eggs were a little small (or I used slightly more chicken). Thanks!
I made this tonight and I’m so glad I used 4 chicken breasts because I’m SO looking forward to the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Yummy! Thanks so much for the recipe! 5 stars..absolutely!
This looks delicious. My whole family loves sweet & sour chicken but so far I haven’t been able to get the sauce right at home. I’ll have to try this one!
Memoria – I laughed at your P.S. I’ll pass that along to my husband – great advice! I’m glad you liked this sweet and sour chicken. You may not have many great Chinese restaurants but I’m jealous about Austin’s other great cuisine. (I used to live in Houston and loved to visit Austin just for the food!)
Bethany – I’m glad I’m not the only snitcher around that tastes a meal before it hits the table! I’m glad that you enjoyed this and hope your family did, too. And I hope the cookie dough truffles tasted as good once they were dipped. Thanks for checking in!
This was AWESOME!!! Thank you so much we’ll be eating it often at our house.
Can’t wait to try it – will add it to my meal plan for the week. I am sure it will not disappoint! Thanks.
Becky – I am so very glad you liked this! It is definitely a favorite in our house too. Thanks for letting me know.
I made this and it was a big hit!! Thank you! I really expected the prep to take longer than it did, but I did the cornstarch/egg dipping in batches (handful of chicken, rolled all that around in the cornstarch, then rolled all of it around in the egg and then pan-fried as directed) so it really was fairly fast prep. We doubled the recipe but I substituted Splenda for the sugar in the 2nd half of the sauce so as to cut down on SOME of the sugar. I wouldn’t do it that for all the sugar because I think there would be a texture difference, but it worked great for half the sauce.Thanks again! Lisa
Lauren – glad you liked this. Thanks for checking back in to let me know!
Thanks, Brandy! I’m thrilled you liked this recipe and I’m glad to have linked to your recipe blog. I added it to my Google Reader and I’m sure I’ll get some great recipes. Thanks!
theharmans – Yum! I bet it is delicious with wings…great idea!
This was amazing!! A hands down, certified hit in our house. The sauce is divine. There are not enough adjectives for this dish. My entire family thanks you for sharing this with the Internets
Melanie… I made this tonight and it was a total flop! I’m sure I must’ve done something wrong because everyone raved about it… I used apple cider vinegar and it was completely overpowering… I’m actually laying in bed and my house still smells like vinegar. The vinegar was a tad old but not significantly old. I used 1/2 c and reread the recipe to make sure I did everything right… any thoughts?
Cristie – thanks for checking in and letting me know that you liked this!
I do this same recipe with chicken wings! It’s super good both ways.
Thank you for ALL your recipes!! This one is quite delicious – I have made it a few times now! Just reading last comment, apple cider vinegar – I just used regular – I will have to try it like that!I seriously study your recipes and plan my grocery list from your blog!! I cannot thank you enough!!! Tomorrow night I will try your Mac & cheese (meatless friday for us) so I am happy to have that recipe – I have tried Martha Stewart’s mac & cheese recipe – but did not care for it – yours sounds much better!
This is the second recipe from your blog that I’ve tried. This is another winner! It is now one of our favorites. I look forward to making it for other people too. Thanks for posting it.
Bentley Family – what a fun comment to get. Thank you! I hope the next two weeks are filled with great meals and not terrible disappointments! You’ll have to let me know either way. Anyway, thanks again for your comment.
Anonymous – you are a good mom to encourage the help of your 4 year old in the kitchen. Glad that you all liked the recipe!
It took a lot longer than I was expecting, but the end product was fabulous!!! thanks for the recipe.
So, I love your blog and have found many delicious recipes on it! Thank you! I was wondering if you would mind if I share some of our favorites on my food blog, all credit would be given to you of course. Thanks, Lindsay
Michelle – I don’t mind at all if you posted the recipe! I’m very glad you liked it. Thanks for letting me know it turned out well!
This looks really yummy. I have another recipe for sweet and sour pork so next time I make it I’ll have to try this one and see how it is compared to the other one.
Yum!
AmISparky – you are right, cornstarch then egg is less messy – you’ll end up with a different type of crust on the chicken but if you are going for less mess it is probably the way to do it! I’m glad you liked this and hopefully next time you’ll be able to make the extra sauce (that’s my favorite part).
10. As is, it’s a 10 for us. Even my ever so kind, wonderful, picky husband said “This is good,” and kept eating and eating…the true sign of very good. So THANK YOU!
Heather – I don’t mind you posting the recipes at all. I’m flattered you like them enough to share them! Thanks for letting me know.
Hey Kristin – so glad you liked it! (And I have I mentioned I am SO glad you have a cooking blog of your own???)
Nina – several people have commented that they have added things like peppers and pineapple and I am for sure going to do that next time – especially after your rave review. Thanks for letting me know!
Jen – I’m honored you would make one of my recipes and I’m so glad you liked it. Thanks for letting me know! By the way, glad you had a fun trip out this direction…your kids are so cute!
Lindsay – I don’t mind at all if you share some of the recipes you like on here. Thanks for letting me know!
Melanie- I just made this for the first time last night. I was introduced to your blog through a friends (PheMOMenon)and have been loving it ever since. I must say that when I planned my next two week menu, I got almost all of my recipes from your blog. I am so excited to try them all. They all look heavenly. I am especially excited to try the french loaf and another no kneed bread you had on your blog. Thank you for your fun ideas, you may have just saved me. I find it so hard to come up with dinner ideas being a full time working mom. You took the guess work out this time! I am so grateful!
Anonymous – glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know.
I reciently found your blog and it has become one of my favorites. I love your pictures and your recipes are the type that my family love to try. We had this sweet and sour chicken for dinner last week and everyone agreed that it was a keeper!
Margaret – thanks for the comment! I’m so glad you liked it and always glad to get another perspective on how many mouths the meal can feed. Thanks for letting me know!
You really make this look SO EASY! I love to serve chicken for dinner and am always looking for new ways to do it. I will definitely be adding this the menu this week. THANKS!
This looks so good – since you’ve never steered me wrong before, I’m sure this is a winner!
I tried this about a week ago, and it was perfect!! Wow! I had to call my mom and tell her about it. 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!
P.S. If your husband wants the dish every day, then HE should make it!
Katie – thanks for your comment. It was much appreciated and definitely made my day! I’m glad you liked this recipe and I hope the mac and cheese turned out ok for you!
Hi Linda – I use apple cider vinegar when I make this dish.
I’ve made this a bunch before I ever saw a picture. Now I made it right because it looks the same. We love this recipe! It goes perfect with my homemade sushi rolls.
I’m so happy I found your blog! I love making recipes that someone else has tested and has said is delicious. This was fantastic! I upped the heat to 350 for faster cooking, and added sauteed bell peppers and onions. It was really yummy. We served it over brown rice for extra fiber. I’ll be making this again. Thanks!!
I am making this for dinner tonight! I cannot wait to try your recipe. It looks absolutely delicious!
Okay, I finally tried the infamous sweet and sour chicken and I was not disappointed. It was fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!
Melanie – I finally made this for my family last week and it was a hit all the way around! I hope you don’t mind, but I shared your recipe on my blog today!
Thanks again for sharing such a great recipe! It is definitely going into our regular rotation.
I linked to your blog from a friends, and YUM this chicken is DELICIOUS. I can’t even believe I made it – I love how simple it was! Thanks and I can’t wait to try the new pasta dish you just posted too
Teri – thanks for letting me know you liked this! I agree that it is a bit labor-intensive and I usually save it for a special occasion but it is yummy. Glad you enjoyed it!
Jan – thanks for letting me know this turned out for you. That is always great news for me to hear!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Melanie – I just made this and posted it on my blog! What a GREAT recipe – definitely a new staple for me!
this was great! DH was impressed. So am I. We fed 2 adults and 2 small kids (3+1) this and I have 2 lunches worth left over. Can’t wait for lunch tomorrow
I’m corn intolerant so I used flour and it was fine. Definitely a keeper
I had bookmarked this to make a long time ago and forgot about it. I just made it tonight, and it is ridiculously good!
Alicia – so glad you found me through the Sisters’ Cafe. One of the sisters that posts there (Erin) is married to my brother. She has a sister named Melanie, too, so it gets confusing. Lots of people think that I am the Melanie that posts to the Sisters Cafe, but I’m not.
Anyway, glad you liked this sweet and sour! Thanks for leting me know.
i’m guilty of sometimes skipping a post if there’s no accompanying picture or if the picture is unappetizing. this is not a problem for you, as your pictures always seem to stop me in my tracks. this one’s no exception–your chicken looks great.
Lisa – thanks for checking back in to let me know you liked this. Interesting substitution on the sugar – I’m glad it worked for you. I’m always glad when commenters let me know their adaptations and changes because it’s great to get new ideas. Thanks for commenting!
I am making this for dinner tonight! I cannot wait to try your recipe. It looks absolutely delicious!
I feel bad it didn’t work out too. Everything else I’ve tried on your blog has been delicious so I’m wondering if I accidentally grabbed the wrong measuring cup or something!
The sauce definitely thickened when I baked it as well as the extra sauce I made on the stovetop.
Its a mystery! I might try it again with a different sauce or like you suggested, with less vinegar. I absolutely loved the breaded chicken.
Thanks for your quick response!
Abby – thanks for your comment! I’m so glad you liked this recipe. Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Imade this tonight and it was a hit….not to mention EASY!
Park Family – I’m so glad you liked this! We make it often at our house, too.
Made this friday night and it was so good!! No leftovers here. I just started a food blog and the last 2 recipes have been ones I have gotten from your blog. Thanks for sharing, and I hope you don’t mind me sharing them on my blog. I have linked them to you.
Thanks!
Jennifer – it is always fun to make a recipe your own and you definitely did that with your modifications. They sound great! Thanks for letting me know you and your husband liked this. My husband would whole-heartedly agree with yours – this is his favorite dinner ever.
Cathryn – oh, I’m so glad you liked it! I saw your comment earlier in the day and worried all evening you would hate it.
I’m glad it turned out. Thanks for commenting and letting me know!
Ok, just finished up dinner. That was THE BEST Sweet n Sour chicken I have ever had…seriously.
Sweet and Sour chicken is my hubbys absolute favourite meal. He usually only gets it when we get takeaway though – perhaps I will suprise him with this
Valerie and Kristi – thank you both for letting me know you tried this! It makes my day to read that the recipe was a success, so thank you.
Jenna – wow, if Ugo approves then I feel very glad about that.
Glad it pleased the whole family.
Poulsen Family – thanks for checking in! My kids love this meal, too, so I’m glad your kindergartner wasn’t opposed to taking it for lunch. I’m really glad your family enjoyed it!
This is baking away in my oven right now. Only 15 more minutes. I snuck a small piece already (one that I knew would be done). Delicious! Thanks for sharing! AND …. We will be dipping the cookie dough truffles for family night tonight. Can’t wait! (My kids and hubby already gave a thumbs up to the cookie dough part. I made the balls while they each licked a spoon.)
Once again-Love Love Love this recipe! I’ve made it for a few new mom’s after delivery and they go nuts over it. One thing I do that cuts down on prep a little is cutting the chicken into strips-that way there are less pieces to dip and brown. So yummy! I will love you forever for introducing me to this one
This was so ridiculously good. Even to my husband, who doesn’t like the sweet/sour thing. We totally added it to our tried-and-true recipe box. Love!
I found your blog not too long ago and have enjoyed it ever since. We just had this the other night and it was delicious! My kids loved it and when I sent it for my little kindergartner for lunch the following day when I went into volunteer in his class I had teachers asking me if I would send the recipe because it smelled so good. So thank you for this great recipe!
Stacie Aho – thanks for including your additions and changes to the recipe. It’s always fun to read how people change up a recipe! Thanks for your comment!
Anonymous – I always seem to have the ingredients for this, too, which means we eat it a lot.
I’m glad you like it!
Delicious and pretty easy. (Cornstarch then egg is so much less messy than egg then cornstarch.) I am sad I couldn’t make extra sauce, I enjoy extra sauce. Oh well. . .next time.
“Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner” says a very satisfied husband of mine. That recipe is so….well there aren’t any words that can explain. It’s that good! I made it last night for dinner and he said it was the best dinner he has ever had from my kitchen. And I’m not a bad cook, so that’s really saying something. I actually didn’t follow the recipe 100% cuz I really wanted to eat sooner than the recipe said. My variations: I cut the chicken into bite size pieces (no cutting w/ a fork required), I cooked it at 375 (so it would cook faster, for the sauce I added about 2/3 cup of pineapple juice mixed w/ 1-2 tbls of cornstarch (my mom has been making her own sweet & sour sauce for years, that’s were I got it). I can’t wait to actually try it the way you have it laid out. We were just way too hungry! Thanks again for all the wonderful recipes.Jennifer
Thanks for recipe – it is wonderful. Restaurant quality without all the oil. Have you fried the chicken earlier, refrigerator them until time to bake? I would like to use this as an appetizer but do some of the prep work before hand.
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