Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
Easily the most popular recipe on my blog, this baked sweet and sour chicken is a miracle of a dish. Baked, not fried, it has been a family favorite for over a decade!
Invented on a college budget almost 20 years ago, this baked sweet and sour chicken is the most popular recipe on my blog. And even better, it still remains one of our family favorites.
You may have seen this recipe floating around the internet; it’s everywhere! And for good reason. It’s crazy delicious.
But I’m happy (and yes, a little proud) to acknowledge that the delectable sweet and sour chicken recipe originated here (posted way back in 2008, it was one of the first recipes I ever shared on my blog!).
With over 800 comments, 50+ 5-star reviews, and almost half a million pins/shares, that quick glance will tell you there is something special about this recipe.
If you’re new to the world of baked sweet and sour chicken, let me give you a quick rundown.
First, this recipe, while delicious and absolutely and totally worth it, is going to be a bit more work than your average Tuesday night spaghetti.
It’s not complicated. It’s not hard. But it’s also not a 30-minute meal. So with that caveat in place, here’s the 5-second overview.
Chicken pieces are coated in cornstarch followed by a quick dunk in a bath of lightly beaten eggs. They are then dropped into a piping hot skillet with a smidgeon of oil and browned quickly before being crammed in a single layer in a baking pan.
The super easy sauce is whisked together, poured on top, and the whole sweet and sour chicken concoction bakes for about an hour.
There is just the right amount of sauce for the breaded chicken pieces to bake in without becoming saturated and soggy (and allowing the sauce to thicken and caramelize while baking).
But if you are a saucy kind of person (like my husband), as I mention in the notes of the recipe, you can very easily whip up another batch of sauce, simmer it on the stove, and serve it alongside the tender, amazing, baked sweet and sour chicken.
Because this recipe has been around for a long time and because there have been a lot of questions in the comments, I’ve put together a quick FAQ for your reading pleasure.
That way you can take a look at some of the most asked questions and the answers without having to filter through hundreds of comments. 🙂
Sweet and Sour FAQ:
Question: Can I cut down the sugar?
Answer: Many people have commented that they have reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and I’ve done the same (if not more) over the years, too.
Question: The vinegar smell is really overpowering when I bake this. Is that normal?
Answer: Yes. Vinegar, while baking, gives off a strong aroma, but the strong aroma/taste bakes off during the recommended time in the recipe leaving a delicious sweet and sour taste.
Question: Can I cut down on the amount of vinegar because of the aforementioned question?
Answer: That’s up to you. Many people in the comments have adapted the recipe ingredients; however, other than sometimes reducing the sugar to 1/2 cup and using a different type of vinegar (see the question below), I make the recipe as written and can’t vouch for results for other adaptations. I have made this sweet and sour chicken recipe at least 50 times (probably more) and even though the vinegar seems overpowering, the recipe works. Promise. If you are determined to adapt the vinegar, several others have used half vinegar and half pineapple juice for a milder taste (but you’ll lose a bit of the sweet and sour punch).
Question: I don’t have apple cider vinegar OR I hate apple cider vinegar OR {insert a reason you don’t want to use apple cider vinegar}, can I substitute another type of vinegar?
Answer: Why yes! I often substitute rice vinegar which has a slightly milder/sweeter taste and many others in the comments have substituted the same or even used white vinegar. Feel free to experiment.
Question: Can I sub something for the cornstarch? Flour?
Answer: All-purpose flour will not give the same light coating as the cornstarch. The only decent substitute I’ve found is tapioca flour/starch. Works great!
Question: Surely there is a misprint in baking time. An hour for small chicken pieces? What’s the deal?
Answer: I encourage you to make the recipe as written. Like I said above, I’ve made this recipe many times and the hour baking time is not a typo. Keep in mind that you don’t want to cook the chicken through while browning it. That step should be a quick flash in the pan in hot oil in order to give the chicken a crispy outer layer, but the pieces should still be raw in the center. Many have commented that they have cut the baking time down to 30 minutes. You can try that; the sauce won’t thicken as much as if baking for the full hour.
Question: Are you sure I’m supposed to put the chicken in the cornstarch mixture before the egg? That just seems wrong.
Answer: I’m not often right, but in the case of cornstarch and egg, I am. The chicken is coated with cornstarch and then dipped in egg.
Question: Can I add pineapple or other veggies to this while baking?
Answer: I don’t see why not! Many commenters have tried that with good results.
Question: Can I prep this ahead of time? Can it be made into a freezer meal?
Answer: I have not tried either but feel free to experiment! Someone commented in the 500’s about freezing the sweet and sour chicken if you want to look up specifics.
Question: What kind of ketchup do you use?
Answer: I always try and use the Heinz Natural brand (without HCFS) but when I can’t find it, I go with regular Heinz.
Baked Brown Rice
Steamed Broccoli
Creamy 5-Cup Fruit Salad or fresh, seasonal fruit
FAQ's: see the recipe post for a ton of FAQ's about this recipe (substitutions, etc). Sauce: if you like extra sauce, double the sauce ingredients – pour half over the chicken and follow the recipe instructions; pour the other half in a small saucepan and 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. Vinegar: often I'll sub in rice vinegar for the apple cider vinegar for a milder/slightly sweeter flavor. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
Sauce:
Instructions
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe originally published July 2008; updated Sept 2018 with new pictures, recipe notes, etc.
Can I do this recipe without frying the chicken first? Frying isn’t good for me. How would I do it without frying?
You may want to try a different recipe – this one relies on the breading and pan frying (although if you scroll quickly through the comments, I believe others have skipped the breading and just used the sauce). I haven’t tried that but you could experiment. Good luck!
My family loves this recipe. Is it possible to get nutritional information
Than you!
I am excited to try this!
Hi! I have 3 teenage boys and a daughter that can almost rival them in eating. Could I double this recipe? Should I put it in a sheet pan instead? What do you think? Thank you in advance! I LOVE your blog!
Yes, you can definitely double! When I do, I use two 9X13-inch pans but a sheet pan might work as long as the sauce doesn’t spill over into the oven.
This recipe has become a staple in our home. I double the sauce and add a sliced onion and green pepper. It’s always a hit!
Can I substitute coconut flour instead of the corn starch?
I haven’t tried that but you could experiment!
Love this recipe and even make it in advance and freeze it after frying an then after fully defrosting crisp it in a hot oven and prepare the sauce. The sauce is so nice I usually double the ingredients for it. My chicken refusing 4 year old even eats this so it’s a massive hit in our house!
So I have been craving sweet and sour chicken ALL DAY and decided to check the internet for a recipe as I have no clue how to cook these fancy things lol….I came across your recipe and decided why. I was a bit skeptic at first when I saw the amount of vinegar to use but I put my doubts aside and went ahead with it. I always have chicken seasoned in the refrigerator so I went ahead and got a parcel of de-boned chicken thighs with no skin. I followed all the steps up until the sauce where I added my own little flair to it. I added some scotch bonnet infused honey to my mix and let me tell you it came out AMAZING!!!!!!!! Just like some of the other skeptics of this recipe I was scared for the warf of vinegar smell when you open the open but let me tell you this….I Love this recipe, it is easy to make and the instructions were perfect. Thanks a million. I will definitely be looking at your other recipes to see what I can make.
The first time I made this I fried the chicken pieces too long and after baking, they were like rocks, but it was my mistake. Very lightly browning them at first and following the rest of the recipe it comes out amazing! I have since made this many times. We like to add chunks of red pepper and onion that have been sautéed in a little olive oil but still keeping them a bit crunchy, into the sauce after the baking, just delicious!!
This recipe is delicious, I always get raves when I make it. I usually double up on the sauce and sometimes add fresh broccoli to the chicken. I have loved every recipe that I have used on Mel’s page. Thanks for another great one.
I didnt have vinegar, used half cup water, was still very good. kids and I loved it. definitely making again with the vinegar. this dish was much beed since we been stuck home for six weeks now.
My son loves sweet and sour chicken but is allergic to eggs. Any recommendations on how to substitute the egg for this recipe?
Do you think this will work with boneless skinless chicken thighs?
Yes
How many? Or is it the same measurements for thighs?
Everytime we tend our grandkids they always ask to make this. We always double the sauce, it’s delicious as is, Love it!
Forgot to mention, we have to double the eggs too>>>>
Ive left a comment for a recipe… but this was DELECTABLE. My pickiest eaters loved it.
*** never left.
My family’s favorite and often-requested dinner! We double the sauce as mentioned above, and serve with rice, steamed broccoli and fresh pineapple (in season). So good!
Love this recipe! It’s definitely a favorite in our house. Even the kids like it! I do 1.5 lbs of chicken and always double the sauce. Also, I usually need 3 eggs. Last, my chicken comes out perfect when I only cook in the oven for about 20 minutes. Might be because my chicken cooks a little too long on the pan. Either way, it works for us! Thank you for the recipe, Mel!
Another one for the books. You really never disappoint Mel!
My son loved this recipe. He did need more sauce so the second time I made it I simply made an extra batch of the sauce and it was great.
Have you ever made this in the instapot? 🙂
I haven’t – sorry!
I have made this before but never commented. I used one boneless chicken breast for the two of us, but made the full amount of sauce (1/3 cup sugar). It was perfect over rice with spring rolls on the side. Sadly, the broccoli that I had planned, was yucky!
This is a great recipe! A couple things: I definitely will double the sauce next time. But still was great. I also had to do 3 eggs, 2 wasn’t enough to cover all the chicken. It also seemed like there wasn’t enough oil but it was fine. A little vinegary for me but my fiancé loved it. Either way, great recipe!
How do you think this recipe would turn out if I used a thin coating of potato starch instead of corn starch?
Could definitely try! (Haven’t tried it myself and don’t know how potato starch acts as a sub for cornstarch).
FIRST TIMERS READ THIS FIRST… I was so skeptical about this dish and I have been searching for a good recipe. I tried a few and was not satisfied. I made this tonight and thought…. the sauce is gross ( I tried it after I mixed it), the cornstarch first and then egg is not going to end well AND when I was cooking the ckn in the pan (on the stove) I thought extra egg was going in the pan and I was going to have some scrambled egg pieces in the mix. And a 1 hour cooking time, it’s hoing to be dry. But I read the other comments and did the recipe as followed and WOW! I’m so glad I did. It is awesome. I am so pleased with this recipe and it will now been a staple in my meal planning. THANK YOU!
Wow, Mel, this is another total winner! I was skeptical about baking it for an hour, thinking the little chicken pieces would be WAY over cooked, but you haven’t let me down so I went with the recipe. It was amazing, and the chicken was so tender! Thanks for providing us with such awesome recipes!
This is easily my favorite recipe of yours! For some reason, I feel like the cornstarch makes the oil splatter more than usual… Is this normal?? My kitchen is destroyed after I make this! It’s still amazing and my kids always request it as their birthday meal!
Have you tried this with pork? Maybe with tenderloin? I have made this with chicken MANY times and it turns out great. My husband loves sweet and sour pork though, so I was thinking of trying that. Just was not sure how it would turn out with the long baking time, etc.
Yes, it works great with pork (I use pork tenderloin)
Has anyone used boneless-skinless chicken thighs?
Absolutely amazing! Our family loves this recipe!!
Hey Mel!! I am a huge fan and absolutely LOVE all of the recipes that I have tried so far!! I made this last night and it was a huge hit! I wanted to make sure I did it correctly though. After frying and baking are the chicken pieces supposed to be crunchy or more like a softer breading? Mine were soft (still super delicious!!) but wondered if maybe I should have fried them longer?
Yes, after baking they are definitely more soft than they are crispy (but the sauce should caramelize a bit which leaves a delicious texture on the breading).
This is better than you can get at the local Chinese restaurant. I would recommend doubling the sauce.
Ive made this for years and we love it. I eat mostly paleo so I thought I would add my substitutes for other needing paleo or gluten free:
I use 1/3 cup honey* or 3/4 cup coconut sugar.
I use rice vinegar (not true paleo) or coconut vinegar for a more mild flavor.
I use tapioca starch instead or cornstarch.
I use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
I use garlic powder instead of garlic salt. The same measurement.
I serve mine on top of fresh spinach or caulirice and my family eats it on top of rice.
*If using honey, cook chicken longer in pan and less in the oven. If you bake for more than 30 minutes, the honey sauce burns.
This looks amazing. My husband is allergic to cornstarch. Is there another thickener I could use instead?
I always use tapioca starch instead of cornstarch. I just use the same amount and find it works the same, but it’s gluten free
Like others have said, I think tapioca starch would work well!
This was sooooooo good! Yeah you have to fry a little but it hardly takes that much time. Everything turned out so good and so yummy! I’ve made this recipe multiple times
I have a gluten allergy so I cook with coconut aminos instead of soy sauce? Do you know if this would work in the recipe?
Yes, it should work just fine here.
The baked sweet and sour chicken recipe in my opinion is very misleading when a person needs to fry the chicken for a small amount of time.
this was not a good meal, you could taste straight up apple cider vinegar! it was too strong and i couldn’t eat it.
Another fantastic recipe…like all the others on this site. I’ve yet to try something I didn’t like. Thanks for sharing.
This recipe looks delicious and I would like to try this recipe but usually I do the prep work before I go to work in the morning and my husband will place in the oven when he gets home since I usually get home late.
Do you think it would still come out good if the chicken is lightly fried in the morning then refrigerated, then sauce added and placed in the oven 8 hours later?
Hi Jade – I’m honestly not sure since I haven’t tried that. Good luck if you experiment prepping it ahead of time!
One poster below said she prepared it in the morning up to the point of baking, then baked when she got home, and it worked great
Yes, I do that often. As long as you don’t add the sauce until right before baking!
Hubby requested this be put on regular rotation and tbh I would’ve cooked it often even if he didn’t. It’s a really nice recipe.
– Used tapioca starch
– Added half a sliced onion, two thinly sliced carrots, a cup of frozen & thawed cauli/broccoli mix, and 1/4c pineapple (all I had in the freezer) halfway through the baking time
– I didn’t double the sauce because I ran out of tomato ketchup (how does that even happen?) But I would definitely double it next time as there wasn’t enough sauce to coat our rice as well.
I would probably try it with regular white vinegar as I quite like a bit more zing than the apple cider vinegar gives.
Reheats fine, seems pretty close to reheated take-away (which I enjoy). If there are any leftovers next time (unlikely), I will try freezing a portion to see how it goes.
OMG!! I have been craving this for weeks and have multiple recipes, promising that it taste the same. Only to make it and be disappointed. But this, this was top notch. You hit the nail on the head… NAILED IT!! I will be making this again and again. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! Messy to make, but well worth it. Kids loved it too!
This is my family’s favorite sweet and sour recipe! The only thing I do different is I mixed it around every 15 minutes to make sure the chicken is all coated in the sauce!
This is my favorite chicken recipe! It reminds me of chicken I would get in a little Chinese restaurant when I was younger. I always make it when I want to treat myself, and it’s so quick and easy to make! Your best recipe for sure!
This has been my go-to sweet sour chicken recipe for YEARS, except I usually leave the sauce on the side. I think the first time I made it, I didn’t like it all coated, but I am trying it again tonight with the coated chicken!
ALSO, I followed the advice of another of coating and cooking all the chicken at once in a big blob and it worked SO WELL. It broke apart perfectly coated as it fried. Such a nice hack for this already simple recipe!
Wow! Made this for dinner and it turned out delicious! Followed the recipe and doubled the sauce. Even my picky grandson devoured his plate and went back for seconds! Thanks!
I’ve made this twice and both times, it has been devoured!! I add a can of pineapple juice to the sauce and I drizzle it with honey before I bake it. Also, I decided to use Kikkoman Sweet and Sour Sauce and it worked great!
Very yummy! Made some extra sauce to cook some onions and bell peppers in and added some pineapple chunks towards the end of cooking. Definitely a more tedious recipe but was worth it!
Fantastic recipe!
My family went crazy for this recipe!! You were exactly right, it is simple but does take a little longer than a quick weeknight meal. However, I cooked my rice during nap time so it made the “long” process seem a little less so. It was so good, I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!
This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! Have you ever made this recipe using boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts? I have thighs and my husband doesn’t care for chicken breasts!
Yes, works great!
Made this recipe for dinner tonight, it was fabulous! Thank you!
So simple to make. Huge hit! It tastes like it came right out of a Chinese restaurant. I did add red and orange peppers, onions and pineapple. Thanks!!!
Amazing! Followed recipe with the 3/4 sugar and it turned out great! Family loved it and said it is definitely one of their favourite dishes now ( it even scored a “my mom is the best cook ever!” from my 10 year old).
My family loves this recipe (made it countless times before) but my husband is no longer able to have egg whites. Could I make this just using the yolks? Or is there a substitution you would recommend?
I think egg yolks would work just fine.
How many calories is in this dish and what is the portion size.
Thanks
This was soooo good. My family loved it. The suggestion to make double the sauce was excellent as we used it all up. The only problem was I wish we had more left-overs. When my son heated up the last serving the next day it smelled so yummy I wanted some too! I will definitely be making this again and soon!
One of the best recipes I have found. Tastes BETTER than take out. I double the sauce recipe and used white vinegar instead of apple cider (it’s what I had on hand) and it was perfect! Will definitely make this again! Thank you!
I never post comments, but OMG this was too good. I used the 1/2 cup sugar, as I was a bit leery after reading other comments, but it was perfect. Thank you!
I made this recipe twice so far, and each time following the recipe exactly, and it has been delicious both times!! Add a few sesame seeds for “sesame chicken”..
Can I make this with cubes of Rotisserie chicken?
I haven’t tried that – I think the chicken would dry out pretty significantly.
Do you cook covered with tinfoil?
No, it bakes uncovered.
An absolutely fantastic recipe. Make it just the way it reads as it is PERFECT! My grandkids salivate when I serve it to them.
This was a huge hit- It was worth the time it took to prep.
I will be making this new. Looks delicious.
I would highly recommend cutting down on the vinegar. It’s way too overpowering. Personally, I wouldn’t make this recipe again (not worth the effort) but other people seem to have liked it!
Can I substitute the sugar with honey?
You could definitely experiment – I haven’t tried that myself.
This is absolutely yummy! It is so worth the effort. I did use white vinegar in the sauce and will again.
It was amazingly good and very easy.
Ahhhhmazing! I added green and red pepper and pineapple chunks to it. Also, I doubled the sauce and it turned out soooo delicious. I prepared it this morning, covered it in foil and stuck in the fridge until dinner time. It baked up perfectly. Served over white rice with steamed broccoli. Will definitely be making again!
I make a similar recipe but use brown sugar instead of white and a touch of hot sesame oil. This gives a sweet/sour with a hint of heat. It is on my family’s list of must haves at Christmas.
Best sauce ever! I did the half cup of sugar and it was perfect! I did make my chicken differently. I used chicken thighs cut into chunks and coated it in half cornstarch/flour (wanted crunchy) and fried it all the way through while I boiled the sauce. Right before serving I coated the chicken and it was wonderful! Next time I make it which will be soon because I had many complaints of not enough left overs I am going to use more flour to cornstarch ratio because it was crunchy but not as crunchy as I’d like it to be.
Hello Mel, I’ve made this recipe countless times and want to let you know what a special dish this has become in our family. My son is coming to visit tomorrow, and I asked him if he wanted me to make “his” sweet/sour chicken. He said well what a silly question Mom! Not long ago he was coming with my 9-year old grandson – he asked his Dad do you think Grandma will make her special chicken? My son says it’s even better the next day and will even eat it cold out of the fridge! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe. Best to you and your family.
Thanks so much for sharing this!!
Really good and easy
I made this recipe last night just as it is written and it was the best sweet and sour chicken we have ever had. So much so that my husband said to make sure I thank whoever gave me the recipe. So thank you very much for sharing. By the way the viniguare smell isn’t bad at all. I make a balsamic vinegar chicken which is really strong while cooking so this is nothing.
Can not waite to make this. Had a few thoughts on the ingredients. Could you use the frozen bags of already coated popcorn chicken, could uou sub brown sugar for the regular kind? Being a diabetic, I have used the substitute brown sugar in Holiday baking and cookies with good success. Could you use Apple Cider instead of the ACV? I make a delicious pork chop recipe that bakes on a bed of diced GS apples, walnuts and raisens that calls for alot of brown sugar and apple cider and it bakes up so tasty. It doesn’t have the candied look of the S&SC. Could this be the trick of vinegar?
I just wanted to warn you since you said you are a diabetic.
Brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added. Its actually worse for a diabetic! Take a look at the ingredients and nutrition facts before you cook with it.
Ive successfully have used coconut sugar in this recipe.
You definitely need a vinegar to add the zing (sour part) of this dish, Otherwise it would be way too sweet.
Can you replace the sugar with something like Maple Syrup to make Paleo/Whole 30??
Could definitely experiment! I haven’t tried that myself…
VERY good! And I put it together pretty quickly too! So that’s an extra bonus in my book! I did as others suggested and after cutting my chicken (I used tenderloins btw) I put them in a large bowl and literally dumped the cornstarch on top and stirred the pieces around to coat them. Added some s&p (no measuring there). Then I lightly beat the 2 eggs in a separate bowl and poured it on top and very delicately used my hands to coat the pieces in egg — and yes, it looks like some of the cornstarch will peel off but be gentle and it will be ok, and if some comes off, it’s still ok. I was a bit worried bc it turned into a firm blob! After heating my oil in a DEEP pot (my suggestion if you do it this way), I gently placed the entire batch in the pot, using tongs since the pieces were stuck together. I didn’t spend a lot of time separating the pieces until I pulled them out. I could see that the chicken was still raw which is good. The sauce I made exactly as instructed, using 1/2 c sugar. The baking time was spot on if you did just a quick fry as instructed (hence not spending a lot of time separating each piece). I did make sure to take it out after 30 minutes and do a quick toss and the sauce had already thickened some so that was easy. When finished I LOVED how the sauce thickened just perfectly on the chicken and especially the crispy pieces along the edge of my glass dish;) My husband absolutely loved it! I make many recipes from online and many turn out to be a flop but I was very impressed with this one! Just if you prep like I did, don’t expect perfect evenly coated pieces like her photo. It cut back on a lot of time and tasted so good that I’m ok with that. 🙂
This recipe was beautiful a friend recommended it so i made it tonight for dinner and my whole family loves it! I was scared that because the vinegar smell was so strong upon taking the dish out of the oven that it would taste bad but boy was i wrong! I seasoned the chicken with a little cumin, garlic powder and lowrys seasoned salt before tossing in cornstarch and dipped in eggs which i seasoned with lemon pepper. I served this with white rice (reheated from the night before) and fresh green beans (seasoned) definitely adding this dish to my repertoire! I’m curious as to calories though if anyone knows a rough ballpark?
This is a firm favorite with me and mine so easy and delicious stopped going to Chinese restaurants make this instead amazing. I add a bit of pineapple juice and pineapple pieces and red pepper so good. Thank you
Has anyone tried making the chicken in an air fryer before baking? We love this but I rarely have time to stand over the stove for an hour cooking the chicken with 3 little kids. My husband would love an excuse to buy a new kitchen toy.
I made this last night, oh my! It was great, this will definitely be in our go to recipe’s.
My husband and I LOVE this ,, however we are “gravy” people I have doubled the coating and we love it.. even more. Thanks so very much…!!!
Really good! Just the right amount of sweetness (I used apple cider vinegar and 1/2 cup or sugar). Definitely saving this recipe!
Made this for my sister and I tonight, and it was SO GOOD. Not gonna lie, it was a lot of work- frying the chicken took FOEVER, and now I have lots of pretty little burn dots on my hands from the oil Nevertheless, I love this chicken, and I will make it (and more than likely get burned) again because sometimes good food requires sacrifice, ya know? I might also cheat a little and simply bake nonbreaded chicken in the sauce… a little less authentic, but still a whole lotta tasty. Thanks for a great recipe!
Delicious just as it is written! I guess that I would suggest if people don’t care for sweet and sour dishes, they should decline making this recipe.
I will definitely make it again and again! Thanks, Mel!
I Can’t Stop Cooking Pinner
Delicious….family really enjoyed..thank you
This recipe is absolutely worth the wait! I’ve been trying to be more creative in meals for my husband; not the same old thing. He loved it! (Me too) Thanks so much.
I’ve made this probably 3-4 times now and it’s a big hit with my household. Serve it up with some jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. Yum! The only thing I ever change is to add about a tablespoon of Sriracha when I’m feeling spicy. It does take a little extra prep time. I’d like to try a short-cut one user suggested by adding the chicken and cornstarch to the bag, coat, then directly add in the egg. I wonder if anyone has tried making a big batch and freezing some for later? I could eat this once a week if it didn’t take so long to make.
I really wanted to try this in the instant pot and was so thrilled with the results I thought I would share. I didn’t do any sort of breading, just cubed chicken and the sauce into the instant pot. Cooked for 5 minutes on high and then let it sit for a few minutes before releasing the pressure. The sauce was so thin and watery so I removed the chicken, set the pot to sauté and added a cornstarch slurry. It thickened right up! Along with the chicken I threw in some pineapple chunks and bell peppers. Big hit in this household. I know it’s not how this recipe is meant to be, but in case anybody wanted to try a quicker way this one worked very well!
Thanks for suggestion!! I was specifically looking through comments to see if anyone’s had tried using the IP.
I have made this on numerous occasions and thought I would mention a “short-cut” I use if the long prep time keeps you from trying it again. I cut up my chicken, place it into a bowl, dump in the cornstarch and mix (I don’t use a full cup, just enough to coat… start with a half cup and go from there). Then, I dump the eggs directly in and mix until evenly coated. Heat your oil (check temp by adding a little flour before the chicken to make sure you get that sizzle) and dump the entire thing into the pan. You want to make sure that you let it cook a bit before flipping. I break it up with a spatula a bit in the process. Voila! This is much quicker than dipping each piece individually. 😉
Genius!! Thanks for sharing this tip!
This was awesome advice. I’ve done it twice now and I’m way faster at this meal now. Super yummy!
Really awesome recipe! May become a regular part of our family’s menu. Thanks so much!
Not sure if I’ve ever reviewed this recipe or not. It is easily my husband’s FAVORITE thing I make! Today is his birthday…guess what he has requested? Not going to some fancy restaurant….not some other recipe….but this. If you haven’t made it yet, do yourself a favor. We’ve been making it for years…pretty much since I found it on Pinterest when I first signed up!
That was yummy! We all enjoyed it including my 4year old.
I made this for my kids and it literally ended in a fight over the last piece, no joke!! Talk about insane tastiness and delishishness! Amazing!
I made this several years ago and I’m not sure how I forgot about it(I think I was on a serious health kick right after making it) but it was so delicious!! I’m so excited that I came across this recipe today. I made it as is and it was perfect. Even my husband who does not like sweet/savory flavor loved it. Thank you for creating this.
This recipe will live on forever in our household. Absolutely delicious!! Thank you!! 🙂
This recipe was easy to follow and the dish was yummy. I added pineapple to the chicken at the oven stage…..great addition. Next time I’ll try a veggie with it.
Thank you Mel! This will be another ‘go to’ dish for me….. plus my husband loves it.
Great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Made this dish tonight and didn’t even have a chance to get my phone out for a pic. Was absolutely delicious. An the best part was my teenage kids made it while I looked on and tasted till I was kicked out the kitchen lol. Stunning recipe.
My kids absolutely love this dish! I wouldn’t change a thing on it. Thanks for sharing
I made this today along with a new ramen noodle lomein recipe.
I really liked the chicken. Great flavor and came out so tender – but wished the batter kept a little more crisp to it. It softened more and more as it cooled. I tossed/turned the chicken 3 times during cooking, but I may not toss next time and see if it helps chicken stay a bit crisp.
Unfortunately, the lomein I made to go with it was not great and ruined the dish for my son. He wanted it to be like the Umi chinese from the mall. Although the chicken was close the lomein was not. Next time I will do white rice as others have.
The flavor of the sauce and tenderness of chicken is terrific — It’s true that you will want to keep going back to try another piece!
We love this! Don’t make it often due to the effort involved and the high sugar content, but it’s super yummy. We add onion and sweet pepper and pineapple under the chicken in the oven to get some veggies / fruit in. Sweet and sour chicken is one of my favorite things and I’m so glad we found this recipe!
As someone else commented, it was a lot of work to properly prepare this meal!!!! HOWEVER, IT WAS WORTH THE EFFORT!!!! My family loves this recipe. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Bit fiddly. Wear a glove of some sort to avoid spitting oil! But delicious.
We loved every bite and licked the pan!
I made this and everyone loved it
Just curious if I can also make with pork?? Thanks so much!!
Yep!
Thank you
Will try with pork loin next time as it’s my 17 y/0 that’s requesting the pork
Does it taste the same if you leave out the soy sauce? Due to an intolerance for msg for some reason I tend to react the same way with soy sauce. Is there something else I can use as a substitute?
You could try tamari or coconut aminos…those are popular substitutes for soy sauce.
Coconut aminos is ehat we use for soy sauce (soy intolerance/allergy). It seriously tastes almost exactly the same. I love it. The one important thing to know is that it has way less salt than even low-sodium soy sauce. So you will need to taste your recipe and add salt to it to compensate.
This is affectionately known as “special chicken” in our house. All my kids request it on their birthdays 🙂
After all the amazing reviews I was really looking forward to this dish but I must have done something wrong. Can someone point out my mistake? I thought I followed the instructions closely but mine turned into an egg-y, soggy mess. I put it in the oven for just over an hour as everyone said that was really important. Please help!
P.S. Mel, your website is amazing! All your recipes are such a success. I must’ve gone wrong somewhere with this recipe, I just can’t figure out where.
Hey Nat – if the oil/skillet isn’t hot enough when the breaded chicken is dropped in, the coating won’t crisp up quite as much. Either way, it might be just a preference thing – the chicken coating is a little soft-ish after baking and not crispy like a fried version.
Thanks, you’re awesome! Will try again!
I can’t have egg, is there another ingredient I could use in place?
My son is allergic to egg too! I would also love to hear an alternative.
I’ve never tried an alternative to the egg, sorry! You could maybe try milk and see how it goes?
I accidentally left out the egg step today (i’ll never forget again!) while it still tastes good the texture isn’t the same its soft and gloopy-ish
My mouth is watering right now. I’m also admiring how good your broccoli. I try to steam mine for the shortest time possible but my challenge is always with the taste
The chicken was a pain and I smoked the whole house up with the frying process. I think next time will be a lot easier now that I know what I’m doing. Holy cow was it good.
A little of a pain in the ass to make, but soooo worth it!
Absolutely delicious. It was a hit with my family!
I’ve been serving Sweet and Sour Chicken to my family for years and have always bought pre made Sauce as I’ve never been able to find a recipe I could make myself that was flavorsome. My search has ended, This was fabulous. Next time I will double the sauce. I used 1/2 cup of sugar and the ratio of sweet to sour was perfect.
I have made this a few Times now my wife’s favorite
I love this recipe— I’ve made it for parties, graduations and just because. We use 1/2 cup sugar and make just as directed.
I must say this recipe was very simple and good… thank you for sharing…
Have been cooking this since 2013 and have never changed a thing! Everybody asks for it when they come for dinner! Love love love ❤️ We serve it with white rice and a little extra sauce to drizzle. However, it’s just my husband and I and we typically have leftovers that I don’t dare microwave. Does anybody have suggestions on how best to reheat?
Amazing!!!!!!
This is our absolute FAVORITE dish! It’s time consuming but sooo worth it! Fantastic recipe!!
I’m making this for dinner, with some homemade fried rice and (pre-made) egg rolls that I’ll crisp in a hot skillet. So of course I made double sauce for dipping! I am so ready to eat, I love this recipe, thank you for sharing it with us, Mel!
My husband said, “Wow I’ve eaten a ton of sweet and sour chicken in my day, and that is hands down the best I’ve ever had!” Definitely saving this recipe!!!
I made this today. Very delicious. I doubled my sauce because I had a lot of chicken. Will definitely make it again!!!
This is THE BEST SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN recipe! We have a large family (11 children) so when i make it I have quadrupled the recipe. It has turned out beautifully! We like ours really golden and have tried Browning in a fryer and a pan. They both were equally tedious but if not making as much as us, it would be a simple process. Thanks for the recipe!!
My husband’s response after he took his first bite … “Wow! Wow! Wow!”
THREE WOWS! What more need I say?
An amazing recipe! I followed it to the letter and it did not disappoint!
Soooooooo goood.
I couldn’t find my cornstarch so I just used flour. I added about a tbs. of sesame oil and a tbs. of red chili flakes for a kick. I was cautious about the apple cider vinegar because some comments said it would be too much, but I used the amount suggested in the recipe and it was perfect!
I paired the chicken with steamed broccoli and white rice.
This recipe is so delicous and I’m so happy I found it– it’s a keeper!
My husband loved it! Will definitely be making this again. Many thanks!
Made this and it was really delicious, my son is vegetarian so I made exactly the same dish for him with quorn pieces. I wasn’t quick enough to portion some of his up to freeze for another day and he scoffed the lot! I froze portions of my chicken sweet and sour so can look forward to having again. Will definitely make again, just right balance of sweet and sour for me. Many thanks.
Can I use flour instead of cornstarch?
The results won’t be the same, but you can experiment and try it.
Could you explain a little bit about why the corn starch comes before the egg? I trust your experience, but I’m curious about the reason!. I tried looking through the previous comments to see if this was mentioned, but didn’t find anything (of course I didn’t read them all and with how many comments there seem to be, I probably didn’t get very far into them!).
The cornstarch sticks to the chicken way better this way (versus falling off the egg mixture)…and also, it’s just the way I’ve always made it! 🙂
It’s the true way to make an Asian tempura batter vs. American fried chicken with flour as the second step. It is a completely different texture.
I had no idea what to do with chicken breasts tonight and came across this recipe. So easy and so yummy. Definitely a keeper!
I made this tonight and it was amazing. Thank you for sharing.
Made this tonight, exactly as written. Delicious! Thank you.
This was delicious!!!!
Would it work to fry the chicken in sesame oil? I try not to use veg/canola oil and don’t have coconut on hand. Would sesame alter the taste too much?
If you like the flavor of sesame oil, you can definitely try that – it has a much stronger flavor than a neutral oil (like vegetable, canola, etc)
I have been wanting to make this for months, finally did it this afternoon! Everybody loved it! I doubled the sauce, only used 1/2 cup sugar (x 2), but I might use even less next time. In the 2nd half of the sauce I added sauteed red and yellow peppers and onions. After sauce reduced, I also added pineapple chunks. I did this to imitate a recipe from my favorite restaurant as a teenager – The Hukilau (spelling?). It really tasted very similar. My twenty something daughter was over and said it reminded her of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Asia area. She got the leftovers! Thank you for your recipe!
Wow! So happy to find this recipe! Thanks for sharing. I loved that it was a favorite of your husband–as it is now a favorite of mine!
Wow! Followed the recipe to the letter and it was absolutely awesome. Had it with brown rice and roasted broccoli with garlic. Very happy faces all round!
This dish was excellent. I made it exactly like the recipe but next time I will cut back just a little on the sugar. I did double the sauce which I would recommend. I have one grandson that is such a picky eater and he loved it. Not the rice or broccoli just the chicken and sauce. Everyone agreed it is definitely a keeper.
just made it. Love it. can not stop tasting it! Thank you so much! This will be my favorite recipe now.
This recipe is so popular for a reason. WOW. Definitely liked the suggestion of doubling the sauce because it is sooo delicious. Sometimes I can be a little finicky about how my cooked chicken comes out, and in this dish it is so tender. This recipe is a game changer!
This looks so good but found it while searching “weight watchers recipes”. Anyone know the points for ww freestyle plan?
This
I have been making this for a couple of years now and it’s so good, every time! Sometimes I’ve just skipped the frying part and just cut my chicken up and put it in the oven with the sauce and some cornstarch added to it, still for an hour, usually 10-15 min longer(I find it better) mmmmm. Still better fried of course, but when I feel lazy, then that’s the way I dooo it. It’s a hit with everyone too! My boyfriend loves it. It’s definitley better then takeout Chinese, obviously, it’s homemade! pretty sure I got this recipe from you a couple years ago, so Thankyou!!! I noticed you said that people comment saying that it seems too long in the oven, but like you said, Nope, it’s definitely needed . I always like it in longer.
Very tasty.
My husband said I was 3 for 3 . I’ve made 3 of your recipes since 2018 began and they have all been a hit at our house. Thank you, thank you! My son said after the first bite “Mom can I have more chicken when I’m done with this”? You betcha!
I like to print out the recipes verses referencing my phone. After dinner, I was digging through my two recipe binders and decided to make another binder that was just for Mel’s recipes. I have three sections/dividers so far…instant pot recipes made, other recipes already made before and those I’d like to make. I didn’t realize how many of your recipes I’ve already printed off from previous years that 1. I have already made and LOVE or 2. others I still need to try. Your blog is my go to for recipes and yumminess! You do such a great job with all the details that inspires me to cook more. Thank you for all that you do to pass your cooking wisdom on to others!
Totally made my day, Neena! Thank you!
I’m curious, which were the other two recipes that you tried??
This is sooooo yummy! It is much better than anything I’ve had at a restaurant!! We all just loved it!!
So, so yummy. I have made this recipe twice already in 1 month and it turned out picture-perfect & delicious both times. I use 1/4 cup baking-blend Stevia and 1/4 cup granulated sugar for the sauce (I also like to add a squirt of Sriracha). I also found that I only need 3/4 cup of cornstarch for the breading. The first time I made this I baked it at 375 degrees for 30 minutes and it turned out just fine (we were too hungry to wait for the 1 hour baking time).
Made a double batch OMG yum we ate it for 2 days. I made the recipe exactly as writen and it was perfect. I made fried rice to go with it. This will be a staple recipe in my house! I posted a pic of my plate on my Facebook and had to share this pin because so many friends wanted the recipe. Thanks!!
Made this for dinner – doubled the sauce and glad I did as it thickened nicely. There are four grown appetites in our house and there were easily lots for leftovers as it was served with rice and broccoli. As suggested key is making sure the oil is hot. Will definitely make again.
I can hardly wait to make this! But, you might want to note that if it is going to actually be Gluten-free, you need to make sure that the Soy Sauce is GF (not regular Kikkoman for example that contains wheat) and that you also do not use Malt Vinegar for the same reason.
We made this for dinner, and it is now a family favorite in our house. Better then take out. We have even made it for some friends, and they loved it also. Its something we make at least once a month. Even my kids love it!
It annoys me when people make comments on a recipe and have not tried it yet. Loses its credibility. So in order to not be one of those….I tried it. My family devoured it! I have 4 kids and it’s difficult to make something that everyone likes, but this was a homerun. Husband loved it too. I baked it the entire hour – it only got better that last 20 minutes, and stirred every 20 min. Excellent, thank you!
I feel that there is an important caveat missing from this recipe. You absolutely need to make double the amount you think you are physically capable of eating.
Haha. This made me laugh.
This is now my go to recipe for chicken. I cut back on sugar using 1/2 cup and use regular white vinegar and it tastes wonderfully. The cornstarch to egg step is a bit messy but goes better each time I make it. I have recommended this recipe to many friends.
This is one of my favorite recipes from this site, and also in general. But, as with so many of Mel’s recipes, the prep time is WAY OFF. There is no way this chicken can be prepped in 10 minutes. Once again, I challenge Mel to provide video evidence of her preparing this meal that quickly! Fantastic recipe, but there is no possible world in which it takes just 10 minutes to prepare.
Hey Sarah – the prep time includes cutting the chicken, whisking the eggs, and prepping the cornstarch (I think it’s feasible to do those three tasks in 10 minutes if you are working fast). The cooking time includes the hour for the chicken to bake in the oven PLUS the 10 minutes for pan frying the chicken before putting it in the baking dish. The pan frying step isn’t part of the prep time – it’s part of the cook time. Does that make sense? Having said that, I can see that this recipe might take longer for some. I’ve mentioned it before, but I definitely view the prep and cook times as a general guideline. Not all of us will work at the same speed in the kitchen, and that’s ok! I can’t even come close to predicting or knowing how slow or fast people prep/cook. There is such a huge range – so I’ve based the prep and cook times on my own experience. It isn’t hard data – just a starting place. Sorry if it is a point of frustration! Hope that helps! 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight and the family absolutely loved it. It was easy to make and tasted great. I will make this again. Two thumbs up.
I have made this several times and we absolutely love it!
I also cut carrots (angle sliced) and add to the baking pan of chicken. They come out still a little crunchy just like the Chinese restaurant!
Super easy and very few ingredients, most if not all are kitchen staples.
So delicious , my family loved it especially the grandkids , they want mommom to make it at least once a week for dinner and save some for lunch for the following day.
SO DELICIOUS!! One of our new favorites! AND this blog is amazing…I am obsessed!
I have made this for my family on multiple occasions. We absolutely love it!! Clean plates all around. And that’s saying something for my incredibly picky little eaters.
I make this often!! So delicious!! The last time I made it, I added a little bit of water to the beaten eggs before dipping and it was perfect!
Delicious!!!! I would definitely make extra sauce.
Made this recipe ! My 7 year old son loved it ! Easy to make and pretty much had all the ingredients on hand! Made fried rice and chicken balls to pair up with it! Delicious will make again this week!
This is by far my husband’s favorite recipe that I have made in the past year or so–and I’ve gotta say, it’s a huge hit with me as well! It takes a bit of prep with dipping and frying the chicken before baking (and planning ahead since the chicken has to bake an hour), but IT IS SO WORTH IT!
Great recipe, Mel! You’re a regular at our house 🙂
Delicious recipe! My boyfriend’s oven is a little off so I ended up only needing to bake for 45 min. They came out amazing! Reheated chicken was a little dry even with the extra sauce, will try storing differently next time.
Made this recipe a few times and the most recent was yesterday Always a massive hit with the family I didnt tweak it at all, Oh wait, I didnt have cider vinegar so replaced with the same amount of wine vinegar. Delicious ! I havent cooked it in a while but it will be a regular again I think Thank you for the recipe, the whole family are very grateful!
Was not my favorite recipe..The Apple cider vinegar was really strong and despite baking this dish for an hour you can still taste the vinegar.On a positive note the chicken was really tender.
Made this recipe many times and always perfect. I do one thing wrong though. I think I cook the chicken through. That being said, it still is tender and yummy!! The Bonus is I make a second pan and freeze (without sauce). I cook from frozen for 1/2 hour- 35 min at 350 and then add sauce and cook an hour. It’s amazing!!
Wow!! This was amazing! I a man always in search of new staples for my family of five but they are so picky, they only like steak and potatoes…I get sooo bored of cooking for these peeps so I went on a new dish every week or more. The complaints are rampant, LOL. Well I am proud to share that they loved this! I made it almost as written except I only had distilled vinegar on hand and I cooked at 350° instead. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for another fantastic recipe!! Now I just need to figure out a way to hide it from the kids so I don’t have to share.
Do you think this could work with vegetarian Quorn chicken? Would like to try this for my family when they come round for Chinese 🙂 but 4 of us are veggies!
I have no idea, Vickie – never used that product. Good luck if you try it!
I know this is a little late but maybe for future reference. We are predominantly non meat in our household. I have used this with tofu (cook it as instructed for the chicken ) and have had success. I also use vegetarian Quorn or Morningstar products as well, it’s a matter of preference.
I have to do my dinner prep in the mornings or it doesn’t happen (pregnant with my sixth, and I am beat by late afternoon), so I changed up the method a little and it still worked great. This morning, I chopped stir-fry veggies (bell peppers, carrots, onions) and put them in the fridge, then cut up my pork (bone-in pork chops, still worked great when cut off the bone and cubed), breaded and browned it per the recipe, then stuck it on a sheet pan (so there would be room for the veggies too) and refrigerated it on the pan. This afternoon, started my brown rice cooking, dumped the veggies on the sheet pan with the prepared pork, mixed up a double batch of sauce, poured all of it over the pork and veggies (since it was a bigger pan I figured it would need more sauce–it did), and cooked it. I lowered the heat because some of my pork pieces were smaller than one inch, then ended up raising the temperature later and cooking it a little longer than called for (I probably won’t lower the initial temp next time). It still turned out beautifully. So, to make a long story short (too late for that?) you CAN simplify the meal-time prep by doing part of the work ahead of time, and it still turns out. The end. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your recipe, it was really good. Even my pickiest eater ate up all her pork and asked for more.
I have read a lot of the wonderful comments about this recipe. There is just one thing that does slightly worry me and puts me off trying it is the fact that the chicken is cooked for an hour in the oven after already having been partly cooked in the frying bit…… surley cooking inch square pieces of chicken for that long will result in very, very over cooked and dry chicken after all a whole chicken breast only takes about 25 mind to cook. I would be interested in what people have to say about this. Many thanks.
I’ve made tihs recipe more times I can count, with small pieces of pork or chicken, and it turns out perfectly when cooked for 1 hour. It needs that entire hour to coat and glaze the meat. It’s so good my three kids always beg for this meal and there are never leftovers. Try the whole hour. (with the quick 30 seconds in the pan for browning) You’ll be pleased you did.
I thought the same thing the first time I made it. Today is easily the 12th or 13th time. An hour is perfect and the chicken will be wonderfully tender. When you get them, they are really only in the oil long enough to brown the coating. Any less than an hour and the sauce won’t be thick and sticky.
MY, my, my ! This is a new family favorite and so darn easy ! I’ve done many sweet and sour recipes but honestly this one is just too beautiful . I switch between chicken and pork sometimes and it works great for either .Can’t thank you enough ~ it is such a joy to find such an amazing recipe online. (And I use my computer mostly for recipe gathering ! )
Dear me!!! Had to scroll for five minutes to leave a comment!! It’s that good!! Picky child said I should make this every single day. That is the ltimate test!! Hubby said it made into dinner rotation, just like the honey chicken made in a similar way. Thank you
Thank you so much for an awesome recipe. I served it tonight, and both husband and children loved it. There were no leftovers at all, and I felt like a domestic goddess. Next time I’ll make extra sauce.
Hi Mel!
This recipe is fabulous and I have made this dish several times. Last night I made an extra large amount as I wanted to have leftovers and was feeding a big group. It took a long time to prepare and brown the chicken – over an hour because I did about 8 lbs of chicken. Is it possible to do this step by baking in the oven? I’m not an experienced cook, but I have seen oven fried chicken recipes and wondered if you could do something similar here. I am sure it would be better with your method, but you experiment with so many things I wondered if you had tried it or what you thought about this.
Thanks so much for all you do! I love your blog and recipes!
Blessings – Pam
Hi Pam – you probably could but it wouldn’t be as crispy or have the same flavor. If you try it, I’d recommend putting the coated chicken on an oven-safe baking rack set inside a baking sheet so the heat can conduct on the bottom of the chicken pieces, too.
So I am totally lazy (or just crazy amounts of busy) and I use (gasp…) frozen popcorn chicken. I know, some people would seriously cringe… but it totally works and is so much faster. I just thicken the sauce on the stove and add chopped bell pepper and canned pineapple chunks and then toss it with the oven baked popcorn chicken. It is so so so fast and so so so yummy. This sauce recipe is wowzah!
I loved the sauce! But the overall meal itself I didn’t like. All I tasted was a pasty chicken coated with cornstarch. I used a thin cut of chicken but it was 2 pounds if not more. When I added a cup of cornstarch to the Ziploc bags it looked like too much. Chicken itself was cooked great and it was noisy coming out of the oven but it was the coating underneath that sauce I could taste that cornstarch. So I’m not sure what I did wrong.
When you made this did you turn the chicken twice? It makes a,difference. I turned at 20 minutes then after another 20. It was perfect.
This recipe is sooo good that other bloggers have shamelessly copied it without giving you any credit Mel. Makes my blood boil. Here it is, almost word for word, 5 years after you posted it:
http://www.iheartnaptime.net/sweet-and-sour-chicken-recipe/
I wonder how many other recipes she’s copied off your site?
I made this sweet and sour chicken recipe tonight for the first time. I followed the directions exactly as written. The eggy-ness of the frying chicken freaked me out a bit and deciding how much sugar I should use felt so dangerous! In the end, I closed my eyes and estimated how much sugar I “felt” like using in the sauce (it was near the higher end). My entire family DEVOURED every morsel of chicken and that basically never happens. THANK YOU for a wonderful dinner for some of the pickiest eaters I know!!! We’ll definitely be making this again and again (and again!!) It’s absolute perfection.
Wow! This chicken was amazing! My husband rated it a “Perfect 10” and my daughter said it was the best chicken I’ve ever made. Thanks for a delicious recipe! I’ll definitely making it again…and again. 🙂
I’ve made this recipe and it is AMAZING!
I make two batches at a time and freeze the second batch in the 9×13 pan once it cools after coming out of the oven. Makes for a quick meal on busy nights..all I have to do is make fresh rice.
I make the recipe exactly as written but double the sauce for each batch I make because my family likes this recipe served extra saucy. I also added a can of drained pineapple chunks per batch. I think the pineapple adds a nice sweetness and makes it really seem like restaurant style Sweet and Sour Chicken.
This recipe is fantastic…my entire family of 6 absolutely loved it. Make it and you will not be disappointed!
Reading the comments I noticed so many people saying their husbands said its better than take out — I laughed so hard when my husband said “This is better than take out!” Hahahaa thanks for a great recipe!!
I LOVE this recipe and make it at least once a month. Most of my dinners come from your blog but this is one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing!
I made this today and we all loved it! But I did have a couple of questions…I used 2 lbs of chicken breasts, but I ended up needing to use 4 whole medium eggs instead of the 2 called for in the recipe. It’s not a big deal, but I’m wondering if I did something wrong? Also, the recipe says to lay the pieces in a single layer in a 9×13-inch bake dish, but my pan was fairly full. Did I read the recipe wrong? Thanks!
I think you are just fine, Rosetta – a lot will depend on how thickly you cover the chicken pieces with coating so having to use extra eggs isn’t a big deal. The amount listed in the recipe is just a guideline. My 9X13-inch dish gets pretty full, too – if you can’t fit the pieces in a single layer, you can use a second smaller pan.
Thanks for your reply! And like I said, it was really good! 🙂
I love this dish! I use my deep fryer so it cuts down a good bit on frying time though it is still a labor intensive recipe.
Any thoughts on freezing the meat, after frying/cooling but before adding the sauce?
Hey Shawna – I haven’t tried freezing this so I’m not sure but I think it’s definitely worth a try – especially if you freeze it before adding the sauce.
I’ve made this twice and my husband and I absolutely love it, but I don’t know if I can handle making it again because of the hot oil that is constantly splattering on my arms as I flip all the small pieces. An oil guard is great when its just cooking, but when I am flipping the chicken my arms get so burned. Mel, is this a problem for you? How do you avoid the burns? Thanks!
I don’t find that my oil splatters that much, Emily – but I really use a small amount – just enough to barely cover the bottom of the frying pan. Often times I use my electric frying pan (so I can cook more pieces at at time) and the higher sides help with the splattering I think. Also, you might try turning the heat down just a bit.
I have this same problem! Recipe turned out great, but the frying is such a pain. I definitely wouldn’t consider this an easy recipe like some do. So much splatter that’s messy and burns me! Everyone else seems to love it though, not sure what I’m doing wrong…
Can this be cooked in a crockpot instead of the oven? If so, for how long?
Feel free to experiment!
I’ve tried this a few times, the sauce is great but can never get the chicken to go crispy, and that’s before I add the sauce. Any tips on how to make it crispy ?
Cheers
Hi Liza – this isn’t going to be as crispy as a restaurant deep-fried version – if you want it really crispy, you’ll probably want to deep fry the chicken pieces and just thicken the sauce on the stove
Holy crap that was amazing! So easy and came out delicious on the first attempt, which is not normal for me when i try new recipes hahah. Followed your steps exactly except a bit less time in the oven as I made less chicken.
Thank you, will be trying your other recipes for sure!
Greetings from Ireland.
Hi Mel, I came across your site three days ago, purely by chance and I’m addicted ever since. I’ve been on it many times a day including up to 2.00am! I just had to make your sweet and sour chicken, did so today and it was so delicious. I followed recipe exactly, making one extra portion of sauce to pour over. Next time I am going to quadruple sauce, I honestly have such a sweet tooth!!! I am so thrilled you have so many chicken recipes as I don’t eat beef. Next on the list for a dinner party is orange chicken and your nobake chocolate cheesecake. Your deserts, omg, I can’t wait to try lots and lots of them!!! Wonderful site with super instructions and comments for which I thank you. I know you are going to be so (deliciously!) bad for my health, especially as I have just lost a stone in weight, by doing lots of exercise and healthy (I reckon that’s now gone out the window!) eating. Again thank you for such a wonderful site, I truly feel lucky to have found it. Mary.
Yurie’s idea is good – if you going to fry the chicken anyway, just enjoy it like that – simple, crispy, saves an hour. I cooked the recipe to the letter except for subbing xylitol for sugar, but was really disappointed. I don’t know why i thought something magical would happen, I mean if you tip liquid over fried food, it’s going to be soggy. Maybe that’s the point – to replicate a take out that’s been sat in a plastic bag for an hour? Have better expectations of food, people! Worst thing was the vinegar though. I add apple cider vinegar to my bath so I’m used to the smell, but even after resting this dish for 10 minutes before serving, this fumes literally brought tears to my eyes at the table. My finished dish looked pretty, but this isn’t for me, sorry.
JasUK, the reason your food was soggy and tasted of vinegar is because you skipped baking it for an hour. You can’t expect to skip such a large step and come out with a dish that tastes the same.
I have made this recipe several times and my kids and I absolutely love this! The forst time i made this i followed it to the “T”. Since then I have decreased the ACV but just a tad (just my personal preference). I will continue to make this, it’s excellent! Thanks for this recipe!
I have made this exactly as the recipe says and it is awesome! My grandkids love it! I use the chicken breast tenders. Great recipe! Thanks
This is amazingly delicious! Thank you for the recipe and helping me make a recipe I never would have thought I could make
is there anyway for me to not put the chicken in a pan filled with oil? my dad almost burnt down the house about a month ago because of oil in a pan, and to tell you the truth. i’m a little afraid to do that now.
This has been on my list and I finally made it today – wonderful!!! I had 1 large and thick breast … didn’t weigh it, but made the full recipe of sauce and used all of the sauce which worked fine and was pretty much absorbed. So very good!
I had it over leftover brown rice which I warmed up with some pineapple chunks and a bit of the pineapple juice. Roast asparagus for a side. A great meal.
Made this tonight however I came across it on another site. While they linked back to your site I followed the recipe on their site. That recipe decreased the chicken to 1 lb and left the sauce as is (thus double for the amt of chicken). I had 2lbs and assumed I needed to double the sauce recipe which would actually be quadruple! Sheesh. It was soupy but delish. Glad I clicked the link so I know next time. Adding this to a regular rotation. Trying to ditch the Chinese delivery addiction!
I just bought some of the Panda Express Orange Sauce. Has anyone tried using this in place of the sweet and sour sauce? I want to try it tonight and I can’t decide if I should just back the chicken and put the sauce on after, or if the sauce should back with the chicken. We love the original recipe and thought we would switch it up a bit.
First time finding your site and this is the first recipe I made. Wonderful! I used 5 breasts for our family and doubled the sauce–poured 1/2 over the cooking chicken, and cooked the rest on the stove until bubbly. My family raved about it! I too wondered about the 1-hour long cooking; however, it is THE.MOST.TENDER chicken ever! Hubby couldn’t get enough. Thank you for this recipe–I’ll be trying more now!
I just wanted to share the substitutions I used due to my son’s food sensitivities. Instead of cornstarch I used tapioca starch, instead of egg I used VeganEgg and instead of soy sauce I used coconut aminos. It was so delicious! Was gobbled up by my hungry boys when they got home from basketball practice. Thank you for making me look like a rockstar!
This was a hit tonight. i did have to substitute the cornstarch for flour cause i started making it and realized i didn’t have any and it still turned out great. It did take time to prepare and cook but it was worth it because all 4 kids loved it!
Do you cover this dish while baking?
No.
I made this awhile ago. I made a huge mess. I shouldn’t be allowed near corn starch. Fast forward a couple of years and a 3,000 mile move to Seattle aka the land of no cheap chinese take out, and I needed it again. I also needed it to not destroy my kitchen, so I volunteered my engineer husband to do the frying part. It was the best thing ever. I absolutely loved it and ate all of the leftovers before he got to them. That was last week. I couldn’t stop thinking about it…so it’s in the oven for take two. I was wondering if you thought it could be made in the instant pot. I’m not sure how….but you’re an instant pot recipe loving lady!
This was darn delicious! I am wondering what would happen if I stirred in a tablespoon or so of jalapeño jelly (which I made last summer from a recipe on your site). I think that it would only be good things!
This was a bit time-intensive…for someone slow like me it took over two hours to make. However, it was hands-down the best recipe for chicken I have ever made. The kids absolutely LOVED it. I was like the hero mom for the day!!
What to you recommend as a sub for the eggs? I have a kiddo with an egg allergy.
I don’t have a recommendation, Julie – sorry! I’ve never made it without the eggs. You might try googling to see if there’s a good sub out there.
I have a kiddo with an egg allergy as well. I dipped it in rice milk (my kiddo also has a dairy allergy) and it worked great!
I made this without frying in the eggs and it was still very good! I just put the raw chicken pieces in the sauce and baked it. Saves time and calories too. 🙂
Interesting! We have an egg allergy here too so I’ve used sour cream in place of eggs when dunking in liquid before the starch. I’ll have to try the milk idea!
Enjoyed the dish totally, used brown sugar instead and wonder if that is why I didn’t end up with crispy in the end.
This was delicious! I didn’t really want to wait for them to bake, so I just pan fried the chicken. I then separately cooked the sauce in a pan so that the vinegar would evaporate. I added a few pinches of starch to help the sauce thicken, and after the sauce tasted just right I took it off the heat and ate it with the chicken. Best sweet and sour chicken I’ve made!
This is delicious! And yes, bake it for the hour in the oven! Though not as gooey sweet as the stuff you get in restaurants, it was a little too sweet for my husband (it was fine for me). I am making it again tonight and will cut back on the sugar to a 1/2 cup. Very yummy and tender. Was not chewy or tough as you sometimes get in take out. Does anyone know how well it might freeze? I am thinking yes?
Hi Mel,
Do you double the sauce? Is that over a cup of sugar for one meal?
Thanks!
Over the years, I’ve cut down the sugar a bit (like I detail a bit in the post FAQ’s) – I just added a note to the recipe ingredients to help, too.
Thank you so much for responding:-) So when you double the sauce, you are using the full cup of sugar?
Yep.
Have you tried using orange/pineapple juice concentrate in place of granulated sugar?
I haven’t.
Hi Mel,
Do you double the sauce? Does that mean you use over a cup of sugar for this meal? Thanks!!!
I used 1 pd of chicken but kept the sauce amount the same. I didn’t see the note about doubling the sauce until after I dumped it in. I was just wondering if my mistake effected the crispness of the chicken. Although delicious, mine was a bit soggy.
Wow, my three kids are picky eaters and finding a meal that they all enjoy is pretty impossible. This one was a huge hit and they all cleaned their plates with rave reviews!!
This is a favorite in our house. Just curious – has anyone ever made it with pork? I happen to have a pack of boneless pork chops in the fridge and am wondering if this would work with them…
Pork worked great! And we use a deep fryer sometimes.
It works well with pork as well.
Wow!! This recipe is amazing!!!! My picky kids loved it. My husband loved it, and ate 3 plates! They all want it for dinner tomorrow too, lol. Simple to make, and tastes amazing. I doubled the sauce, and it came out perfect. Thank you for a great recipe!!!! Yum!!!
I made this dish tonight for my husband and I, oh my it was super easy and absolutely delicious The only change I made was to reduce sugar to 1/2 cup
Thank you so much for sharing
its in the oven!! 🙂 let me just say, a little tricky to prepare with two small children. the egg and oil part. my hands were a mess and not a lot i could do to tend to my kids while making this. might have to put it in the cue for another season of life. sure smells good!
I made this last night for my son, but with a few changes, since I was trying to make orange chicken for him. He proclaimed it the best ever. I used thighs. I did half of the vinegar and added 1/4c OJ concentrate. And since that is sweet, I took out 1/4c of the sugar. I don’t know what it was supposed to taste like, but what I made was fantastic. I’d make more sauce next time. The frying was a pain but doable. Now I see how they get it fluffy like that, it was tempura like. It really soaks up the sauce well. I am going to try the sauce with different things like meatballs (crockpot) and even on plain sauteed chicken (adding some cornstarch to the sauce of course). I need to be able to make something “like” this faster – a weeknight version.
I made this in university once a few years back, and obviously did something wrong because it was a hot saucy mess that smelled terrible, and got thrown into the garbage (so much money wasted to a poor student) while I cried and ordered a pizza.
HOWEVER.
I took the plunge and made it again last night, being very careful to follow all instructions. It turned out fantastically, and I’ll definitely make it again. I encourage people who are skeptical to follow the instructions. Also, I’ll mention you need the big baking pan, because otherwise, the chicken just gets covered in liquid. I think that might have been part of what I did wrong the first time.
Just wanted to thank you for a great recipe! I’m not a greatly skilled cook by any means, but this was doable! My teenage daughter helped and it turned out great! I was a tad skeptical about the ketchup, but I trusted you, and it was absolutely delicious! This is going on regular meal rotation. In fact, I can’t wait to make it again, and this I’m doubling the recipe so there are more leftovers! Really loved it!
I am a little lost on the egg part. I think I should have of shaken off some of the excess cornstarch (I will remember for next time), but I need help with the dipping in egg process. I literally put two whipped eggs in a pie baking round pan and the cornstarch was sticking to my fingers and clumping up in the eggs. when I transferred to pan, my son asked me if we were having “chicken eggs”. LOL, I guess because the egg was all around the chicken almost scrambling. Please help!!
Hi Amanda – that is the messiest part of the recipe and I think you may have already identified the problem – it helps to shake off excess cornstarch. Your fingers may still get a little messy but it won’t be so clumpy. I use the method of putting the cornstarch in a bag and dumping the chicken pieces in and shaking it all up. When I take out the chicken pieces, I lightly shake the excess (if any) cornstarch off back into the bag.
family reports that this was best. dinner. ever. 11 year old even insisted on taking left overs for lunch the next day- thanks!!!
I used 3 chicken breasts and ended up needing 3 eggs (instead of 2). I used 2 9×13 pans, and I think an hour was too long–maybe my chicken pieces were smaller, because some of hte pieces were a bit dry. I used rice vinegar, and the flavor was good. Next time I’ll probably try white vinegar because it seemed like it could use a little more tanginess. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Mel! Can I use a deep fryer for the frying part of this recipe? Can’t wait to try this!!!
Sure!
Made these the other night and they were amazing!! Will become a regular in our household! Thank you!
OMG – This recipe had my boyfriend coming back for seconds. No thirds because I ate the rest lol! He was upset, oh well. Thanks for sharing this delicious dish! It was WONDERFUL! And I will make it again! 🙂
so good! SOOO SOOOO VERY GOOD!
This recipe does NOT disappoint! I made it for Father’s Day Saturday (yes, ‘Dad’ likes to claim the entire weekend!). Although Sweet and Sour Chicken is his favorite and not mine, I did find myself devouring the remaining sauce and sticky bits left in the pan before washing…that good! (FYI: while the smell of vinegar had me worried during most of the baking time, it seemed to disappear the last 15-20 min)
Well, my oven is broken so I am trying it in my slow cooker/crockpot. It looks promising and when hubby got home he said it smelled good. I will report back!
Totally forgot to report back! It turned out really good in my crockpot but now that I’m making it again today, I don’t remember how long it took! My crockpot gets reallllly hot and with the small pieces I am thinking no more than an hour or two on low. I plan to check it after an hour. Also, it was a tad too vinegary for my preference so I will reduce that a bit.
I LOVE this meal but I reverted back to being a vegetarian last fall. I was bummed that I couldn’t make it anymore but then I tried it with firm tofu and it was AMAZING. Followed all the instructions exactly, just cut it in half for 1lb of tofu and put in 8X8 pan instead. Worked like a dream in case anyone else is trying to eat this meatless!
Mm mm mm! I knew it would be good cuz this many people can’t be wrong! I’ve been making to make this for a very long time and wasn’t disappointed! you for a winner. I didn’t double the sauce but will take your advice and do that next time. Our maybe just one and a half it.
Just wanted to thank you Mel for the delicious recipes….I have tried several over the past year including this Sweet and Sour Chicken and your Bourbon Chicken. I actually made them exactly to recipe (which I recommend doing, and I don’t often do as I am not young :); and they were both wonderful! I wouldn’t change a thing, and both are so much better tasting and better for you than take-out Chinese food. And my family loves them.
Love your blog the best of any I’ve seen! You do a great job and I appreciate everything on your site; thanks again!
Thank you so much, Terry!
This was delicious. My husband gave rave reviews after first bite. I will definitely double the sauce recipe when I make it again and try with the pineapple.
To make it easier for cooking, I put the chicken in the bag with the corn starch then took all the chicken out and placed on a dish before adding to oil. This way you can grab your pieces easier to place in oil.
So Yummy. I put some in the freezer, so I will see how well they are for a later meal.
I’ve made this alot of times ,
one of my favorite recipes , I use brown sugar instead of white sugar, my family loves this dish.
The sauce should have reduced a little in the oven, but the cornstarch is what really helps it thicken up in the oven. My suggestion is to just follow as-is and go from there to change for your taste.
I tried this last night and it did not work out at all! Here’s what I did: following recommendations of others I cut the sugar down to a half cup, I only had white vinegar on hand so that’s what I used and I skipped the breading and just put the chicken with the sauce in the oven. The sauce never caramelized. It was like chicken in liquid so I had doubled the sauce recipe and had some simmering on the stove. I added the chicken to that pot and turned it up a little and it still never caramelized. Was it because I cut the sugar? Or all of the things combined?
Hi Laura – I can’t guarantee the results of the recipe if there are a lot of variations (not that changing a recipe is bad – it’s just that I haven’t made it all those different ways so I can’t say for sure what will work and what won’t). I agree with Lien, though, the cornstarch from the chicken coating helps to thicken the sauce a little.
Thank you! I’ll give it another try when I have time and the right ingredients on hand! It was still good, just not what I wanted!
I’m attempting your baked sweet & sour chicken recipe tonight, using egg replacer as our 3yo daughter has severe allergies to eggs, amongst others, shall let u know how it goes!
I just cut down some of the sugar and added chilli powder…. delicious!!!! 😀
Thank you so much for this recipe! This is a keeper!! I love cooking Chinese food but have never tried sweet and sour which is one of my favorites! I used Rice Vinegar instead of Cider. This was so easy. Messy but easy!!
Thank you!!! 🙂
I just made this for dinner and it’s wonderful! Even my chicken-hating husband liked it! I sure didn’t expect that! I found I was out of cidar vinegar (I was sure I had some!) so used the rice vinegar substitution and it turned out great-I’ll be using this one often! Thanks for much for your great site!
Just wanted to let you know that this recipe has become part of my regular rotation. I make it at least monthly, my family loves it!
Made this for the first time last night – TERRIFIC! I loved it; my wife liked it but said she would like less vinegar next time. (When my wife says ‘next time’, I know I’ve found something good even if I am requested to modify it a little.) In the future I’ll try 1/4 cup cider and 1/4 cup pineapple juice. That will reduce the vinegar and add a little more tart/sweet flavor.
Hi Mel! I’m a college student and both my mom and I use your website as a go to for dinner, I freeze my leftovers and at home the food is gone before it makes it on the table! I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a while, but couldn’t find anything in the comment section about freezing it. Do you or anyone else have any advice? Thanks again for your fantastic recipes!
Hi Alex – I’ve never frozen this so I’m not sure how it would fare but I do remember someone else commenting that they had frozen it and they said it worked out ok.
I usually have a lot of people to feed at Christmas and start cooking in November. I fried up the chicken, let it cool and put it in a ziplock freezer bag. Then when I was ready to make it I just whipped up the sauce, put it all in a baking pan and baked it. Saves a lot of time and mess when you don’t have time for it. I would imagine you could make the sauce and freeze it also and then just thaw it out and bake as normal later.
I LOVE your recipes, and I use them almost every night.
I LOVE your recipes, and I use them almost every night.
I LOVE your recipes, and I use them almost every night.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious!!! My picky 5 year old even had seconds. This recipe is definitely a keeper!! Thanks!!!
Thank you for this recipe Mel, it is delicious. I added a tin of drained pineapple tidbits to the sauce/chicken 20 minutes before the end as someone else suggested and served it over long grain white rice and stir-fry vegetables on the side.
This recipe is really good and easy.I add pineapples and diced red and green peppers to the sauce.this was the first time I made it and I’m sure we will have it often
I was skeptical of this recipe–seemed like too much sugar, too much vinegar– but it was perfect. I was out of cider vinegar so I used rice vinegar, chicken thighs, dumped a bag of frozen pineapple chunks on the pan to bake with the chicken. Sooooo good. Addictively good. I think it really does need the hour for the vinegar and ketchup to bake off and it to become “sweet and soury.”
Having noticed this recipe a while ago, I kind of tiptoed around it because my toddler hates chicken. It is the only thing (and I am talking very mature cheese and things like that here!) that she won’t eat. But it just looked too good, so I made an “emergency rice pudding” for her and this for lunch today – and guess what, she loooved it! And so did my husband and I. I added pineapple chunks to the baking dish for the final 20 min. It was sooo good – thank you very much for sharing this great recipe!
Can is meal be frozen?
I’ve never frozen it but I believe others have in the comment thread.
Made this last week, and it was excellent.
Oops…forgot to say I also used Stevia instead of granulated white sugar. Again, absolutely delicious!
Wow! This is now our favorite chicken recipe. It was absolutely delicious and so easy to make. I used arrowroot powder instead of corn starch because I didn’t have corn starch. I used Braggs Aminos instead of soy sauce (didn’t have soy). Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! Can’t wait to try more of them.
I know there are already tons of comments on this recipe, but I just had to add mine. I finally got around to making this dish and I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when it came out of the oven. But, was I ever wrong! It was so good! My boyfriend and I both loved it and we both had seconds. I can’t wait to make it again.
Do you know you have here? A MIRACLE! So MANY recipes, especially with something that has a “breading” type coating on it have some sort of gluten or wheat, this doesn’t. As long as the individual uses a gluten-free soy sauce (which are on the market) then this is a gluten free main dish AND without a boat load of odd products which are outrageously expensive and/or hard to find. Well done!
I made a half recipe and baked it about 45 minutes. The sauce looked right but was really drying up and the chicken was browned. When I bit into it, it seemed chewy and pretty flavorless. Not sweet at all. I was really careful to measure everything out (halved). Not sure what I did wrong. I never really make Asian food but I’m trying lol. Could you provide tips on what I might’ve done wrong? Too much egg? Too little time in the oven? Double the sauce? I’m not sure :-/
If the chicken and sauce was halved, sounds like it might have baked too long. Try a smaller baking dish or cut the baking time down a bit. Hope that works!
How would you rewarm these? In the microwave or the oven (at what temp. And time). I’m having a birthday party and I want the chicken to still be fresh and ready but done a couple or one hour before the guests come.
I would just reheat in the oven at 325 until warmed through.
Absolutely amazing! I found your recipe after Janetha at mealsandmovesblog.com shared it, and my family LOVED it! My husband and I like things a bit spicier but it was perfect for our two little ones and we added the heat after. Will definitely be added to our rotation!
Could you possibly make both this recipe and/or the orange chicken and freeze just the prepared meat/chicken a week in advance, and make the sauce when about to bake?
I’ve never tried freezing any part of this recipe so I’m not sure but others in the comments section have, I believe. Definitely worth a try!
A Google Search for Oatmeal Cookie Recipes led me to your website and your Thin & Crispy Oatmeal Cookies … Then to the polar opposite, Thick and Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies. After reading several comments stating it and your Sweet & Sour Chicken were THE best, I ended up here. I just had to make this dish … So, this evening it.was.on. And it.was.DELICIOUS!!! :] A little more time consuming than I’d like … Which I think may have been due to cutting the four chicken breasts into pieces too small, as I ended up using four eggs and had to replenish the oil twice. But, the ending result was still insanely scrumptious. … I did look at your other Asian Inspired Recipes and next time I will prepare this like your Fabulous Orange Chicken. I think it’ll help with time and fat, but without sacrificing flavor/texture. And out of preference I’ll reduce the sugar. I might try adding in some sliced fresh jalapeños and maybe a couple dried red chili’s too (similar to General Tao’s Chicken). We like it sweet, sour, and spicy! 😉 But, it’s definitely going in the rotation. I am SO happy to have discovered your blog/site. I cannot wait to make more … Especially those Thick and Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies!
Just made this today. Did not have an hour for it to cook. I browned the bite-size pieces of chicken for 5 min. per side, then poured on the sauce and cooked about 5 more minutes. Sauce was still “runny” enough to pour over some rice.
Made this sgain but reduced sugar by 2 T. Also, to make garlic salt, mix 3 parts salt and 1 part garlic powder.
So many reviews, but I thought my take may be helpful to those wondering how much sugar to put in. I don’t eat anything sweet and sour in restaurants because it’s too sweet. I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup at first, but it was still too sweet. 1/3 cup is about right, with the full amount of vinegar. Next time I’ll try 1/4 cup sugar with pineapple chunks and maybe some of the juice. So if you’re like me and my family and prefer sweets confined to dessert definitely cut way back on the sugar! Otherwise the flavor is good and it’s so easy to make, definitely load it up with veggies too, yum!
This is the same recipe I have been using since 1976 when I found it in a Minneapolis Newspaper. When I saw this I got my recipe out and it is the same exact recipe. I even posted it in a group recipe book at our reservation office at Northwest Airlines in 1980. Have always loved this recipe and even use the sweet and sour recipe for other dishes.
Just wanted to let you know that we love your recipe so much we have added it to our Family Favorites. I’ve made it bout 6 times now, including this current time (it’s in the oven!). I’m making some homemade Chinese Fried Rice to go with it (I found that recipe on Pinterest so HOPING it is good!).
Thanks again!
This was delicious! I made as directed except only used 1/2 cup cornstarch. Will make again…family loved it.
This is absolutely one of our favourite family meals. I make this on average once ever 7-10 days. I have been trying to fiddle around with the ingredients to try and reduce the sugar content without compromising on the taste of it. Last night I think that I hit it: my husband said “this is by far the best sweet and sour chicken I’ve ever had” which coming from my hubby is huge. I cut the sugar by half – but then I put 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in my 1/2 cup measure and filled up with rice vinegar. It was still sweet enough…and perfectly tangy!
Christine …
Thank you for commenting with your experimentation and changes to reduce the sugar without compromising the balance/flavor. I made this for the first time tonight … I doubled the “sauce” portion of the recipe, but reduced it to 1 1/4 Cups Granulated Sugar (vs. 1 1/2 Cups), using half on the chicken and reducing the other half on the stove top as a “side” sauce. It was delicious, but still too sweet. Next time I will give your alternative a try. I might also experiment with using a “no sugar added” ketchup or even a tomato paste, as regular ketchup has quite a bit of sugar in it. Thanx again for the suggestion.
When I was in college (78-82) my roommate was dating (and is now married to) a guy who is half Chinese and half Italian. His mom gave her Chinese cooking lessons. One of the dishes was Sweet and Sour Pork. The recipe is similar. The difference for the sauce is 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 c. pineapple juice (I put pineapple in mine and use the juice from the can of pineapple), 1/4 c ketchup, 1/2 c. vinegar. It is great, and substitutes some of the sugar for fruit juice, so I assume at least you get some more nutrients!
Made it
Loved it
Will be making again
Looked awesome
My husband said it was like a proper chinese
Thankyou so much
Ok, so I must confess that this is actually my third time commenting on this recipe. Sorry for the overkill… I just can’t get over how delicious your sweet and sour chicken is and had to say thanks again! I’m making it for dinner tonight and my husband is PUMPED!!!
Made this last night. Loved it! This was my first recipe from this site. I have 10 more recipes printed and ready to go for the next two weeks. Can’t wait to trythem!
I made this tonight. I followed the recipe exactly except I used rice vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar. It was a hit. My teenager says it’s better than Chinese takeout. I think it is more like Sesame Chicken than Sweet and Sour Chicken, but this recipe is a winner!!
This turned out perfect. Deee-lish!!!!!
It’s a keeper!! Thank you for the recipe.
When I made this, it was so dry we could barely eat it. The flavor was good though. I think I should try again.
Huge fan of this dish! I make this often, and I’m wondering if anyone has tried it in a slow cooker? I would love to know if it has worked for anyone!
AMAZING! I’m Chinese and generally don’t bother ordering this at a Chinese restaurant. This will be my go to dish for family potlucks (and I know my family will turn up their noses when I present it) but I predict we won’t have any leftovers at the end of the evening.
This recipe is just brilliant! Who would have thought that ketchup could be the base for such a fabulous sauce. Before this, I did not even like ketchup. I cubed chicken pieces and put them directly in the sauce without breading (I saw Trina’s comment after) and the chicken was wonderfully caramelized and succulent. I have made the recipe exactly as stated several times and it is just great, but didn’t really have the cooking bug tonight. The only changes I make are to use white vinegar and put in some sliced green onions. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Can I substitute any kind of flour for the cornstarch? I am not sure I can buy cornstarch where I am currently living!
Rebecca – I am not really sure since I haven’t tried it. Someone may have tried it in the comments if you feel like reading through them. It is worth a try I just don’t have a good recommendation. Good luck. Sorry I am not more help!
In most countries cornstarch is called corn flour. I’ve lived in several countries, even third world, and always found corn flour! Maybe you’ve already discovered this!
I really liked this recipe the only thing I would change is fully cooking it in the oil. The chicken cooked in the oven made it kind of soft and not crunchy. I’m used to crunchy Chinese chicken. Also I would like to try it with an egg substitute as well since I’m allergic to eggs as well but when it’s cooked as a batter it doesn’t seem to bother me as much but I would still like to try an egg substitute.
Wow this was amazing!!! My 7yr old is THE pickiest eater & I was shocked to look over & see her plate empty!! I saw a lot of comments of people changing or cutting back. I made it exactly as your recipe called for… PERFECT! Wouldn’t change a thing!!! Thanks!
This recipe was sooo delicious!! Im pretty sure that my boyfriend was still drooling the next day..We both loved them!! Thanks Mel!
Made this recipe tonight, as is with no changes & I must say it was great!! So delicious & I’ll definitely be making this again. Thanks Melanie
I found this recipe when my friend posted this on her FB page…I made the chicken recipe tonight following the directions exactly. It was delicious!! Served it with rice, sauteed onions and carrots, and steamed broccoli. Will definitely make again.
This was DELICIOUS!!! Thank you!
My daughter and I made this for the first time last night. It turned out amazing! I baked some of them without the sauce in a separate pan for my “picky” son. He loved it, too! Even without the sauce, the chicken stayed moist, but with a lovely crisp on the outside. This would be a great dish for a gathering as well. So good, I could not stop eating it! This is a keeper. I followed the recipe exactly. Thank you.
I thought I would report back for anyone else who was searching the comments for a no-fry method without luck. If you want to skip coating the chicken in cornstarch, egg, and frying it, it works! I made this tonight and did half of the chicken exactly as the recipe describes (which I’ve made many times), and half where I just put the cubed chicken into a baking dish raw and unseasoned, then poured the sauce (made as directed) over it and baked the same way as stated in the recipe. The chicken tasted the same cooked both ways, though there is of course a slight texture difference. As the sauce thickened and browned it browned the raw chicken and gave it a slight crust. I couldn’t decide which version I liked better, they were both delicious! But if time is a concern I would definitely do the simply baked version again. Just wanted to post in case it was helpful to anyone!
Trina – thanks so much for reporting back on this! I’m going to use your suggestion with pork tonight to save a little time.
I want to make this for dinner but my oil has turned rancid, and a grocery run isn’t a option.
I almost changed dinner until I read this 🙂
Not frying means less mess and slightly healthier. It’s win win!
Has anyone tried this recipe with sugar substitue with any luck? Sort of “diabetic friendly”?
Victor – Someone commented on Facebook that they tried Splenda and it was awful (in fact her words were “don’t do it, just don’t do it”). I wish there were a good substitute to suggest. Sorry!
i use coconut sugar.
This recipe deserved yet another comment, fantastic! Used 1/2 cup sugar and it was fabulous!
After having tried numerous recipes by Mel and loving all of them, I couldn’t decide what I liked best… until I made this. This is absolutely amazing!! Thank you!!!!! It is absolutely delicious just the way you prepare it- I followed your instructions exactly and it couldn’t have been any better. Wow!! My husband was beyond impressed.
I did search and couldn’t find anything (might be using the wrong keywords). 🙁
If I try it myself I will try and remember to post here with the results.
Mel, I am curious if I could skip the frying, and just pour the sauce over raw chicken pieces and then bake as normal to cut down a bit on time. Have you tried it this way, or know of anyone who has?
Trina – I haven’t tried this myself, but I am pretty sure others have in the comment thread. It might be worth reading through some of the comments to see the details. Good luck!
I think I’ve royally screwed this up because I was cooking while the kids were going nuts. Used more chicken than called for, probably two cups of cornstarch, but ended up throwing out at least a 1/2 cup…so it evens out?? Twice the eggs, doubled the sauce ingredients… annnnnd nothing is in a single layer! Sure smells good, so I’m hoping for a great outcome 😉
Hi Mel!
Love this recipe! Clearly a Pinterest favorite, that’s how I found you. Look forward to following your blog and finding new favorite to add to my menu.
I do a weekly meal plan also on my blog and made this last week. I link to your blog for your recipe.
Here’s the link if you’d like to look: http://thegraffitiedgardenia.blogspot.com/2014/04/meal-plan-number-two.html
Thank you!
Jolleen
I tried this recipe using pork ( since i dont have any chicken last night) and yes it’s still DELICIOUS! The meat was so tender. I stir fry some available veggies from the fridge (carrots cucumber bellpeppers onion) to add color and crunch and toss them 10 minutes before the baking is done and still turns out great. Thank you for this wonderful recipe Mel 🙂
Thank you so much for one of my families new favorite meals! I loved it and your recipe and tips were amazing! My tip, lol…. wait for it to cool- it looked so yummy I burnt my lip.
Is it possibe that i replace the chicken with pork because i dont have chicken at home? I tried several of your recipes and all of them are a hit to my family. Later i’ll be trying your rocky mountain cookies too. 🙂
I want to try this for my family, but my kids are allergic to eggs. Is there anything else I could dip the chicken in that would have a similar effect you think? It looks delicious, and I think my kids would love it.
Jacque – You will have to Google substitutions since I haven’t tried it. Sorry I am not more help.
I made this recipe this weekend. I decided to follow the exact directions. It turned out SO dry and both my husband and I thought it was too sweet. If I make this again I will definitely half the cooking time and reduce the sugar like the notes say.
I make this fairly often and love it, tonight I decided to switch things up and use lean pork and it was as equally delicious!!! 150 more calories per serving but a nice change
Really fabulous dish! I followed your directions and it came out great. I did substitute the apple cider vinegar for rice vinegar but, the flavor was not affected. My picky boys enjoyed it too. A win-win!
This is a great recipe. I’ve made it with pork, sautéed shrimp and made the saucepan the stove top, made extra sauce in the microwave and heck I’ve had the sauce with rice. Thanks Mel
DeLish!
Absolutely LOVE this. I don’t usually alter recipes on my first go, but I did add pineapple bits and sliced green bell pepper to the extra sauce I prepared, and it was lovely. I am definitely reci-peating this one!
Made this tonight for the first time, and it is quite possibly my favorite chicken dish EVER. I am not a fan of pan-frying, but it was well worth it for this dish! So, so, so, SO good!!! Thanks, Mel!!
Sorry if this is a repeat question but I couldn’t scroll through any more comments to see if the question was previously addressed. Following the cornstarch coating phase, is everybody dipping individual pieces of chicken in the egg and adding them one by one immediately directly to hot pan? It was kinda taking a while so the first pieces had a lot longer than 30 seconds in the pan ;). I love the finished result but I was just curious if there was a better way so you could add them all at same time!
Mollie – I throw several handfuls of the chicken into the egg mixture at once, toss them around with my fingers, grab them all and kind of shake off the excess egg and then toss it into the pan so lots of chicken pieces are cooking at the same time. It’s not a scientific method but it works. I haven’t noticed in the comments if anyone has suggested anything else.
I made this the first time a few nights ago for myself and my mum. It was meant to be enough for two days but it was so amazing the whole lot went. I can’t even describe how much we enjoyed it, so much we couldn’t stop talking about it for hours afterwards. Yesterday I made it again, double quantities. Both times, even for the double quantities, I only used one small egg. I didn’t dip though, I tossed the chunks of chicken in a bowl with enough cornflour to cover them, then poured the one beaten egg on top and mixed that in with my fingers, works beautifully. I had no cider vinegar so both times used a mixture of about 1/2 white wine vinegar and 1/2 balsamic vinegar. It comes out dark using balsamic, but it is so, so beautiful. Thank you so much! I am handing this recipe out to my entire family; we are never cooking sweet and sour chicken any other way ever again.
I’ve never liked sweet and sour chicken. But, my husband loves it, so I thought I would give this recipe a try. It was absolutely delicious!!!! Thank you!
This is AMAZING! My husband took one bite and said “WOW” for about 5 minutes. AND, that is saying a lot because I only had less than 1/4 a cup of cornstarch! I substituted whole wheat flour for the rest. This is my first ‘Asian’ meal success! Will make these again and again!
This dish sounds great and I’d like to make it. After reading the recipe, I have one question…does the chicken get covered while cooking in the oven? Thanks for your time!
Christi – No, the dish is baked uncovered.
I’ve made this recipe several times and LOVE it!!! I am currently in weight watchers and am wondering if you know the points plus and serving size?
Tia – I don’t know that information, sorry! It might be worth reading through the comments in the recipe thread to see if another reader has calculated that out.
Tia
If the recipe makes 6 servings, it is 14 points per serving without rice. Yikes 🙁 I reduced the sugar to ½ cup and used egg whites and low sodium soy sauce and it came out to 10 without rice.
This recipe turned out fabulous! I used slightly less sugar (1/2 cup) and also seasoned the cornstarch with some salt and white pepper. Otherwise followed the recipe as is, the flavors were perfectly balanced. Melanie sure knows what she’s talking about when it comes to Sweet and Sour Chicken 🙂 Thanks for sharing a great and simple recipe!
made this and my husband loved it! this is a keeper. made the recipe exactly as shown but one thing I should have done was double the sauce since my husband loved it so much. thanks for sharing this recipe…I’m looking forward to trying some more of your recipes… 🙂
Braggs Liquid Aminos would probably work, and here’s a recipe for soy sauce substitute.
1 cup homemade or low sodium or no-salt-added store-bought beef stock
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cooking molasses
pinches white pepper, garlic powder and ground ginger
salt to taste (optional)
Place all ingredients, except salt, in a small pot. Bring mixture to a gentle simmer (small bubbles should just break on the surface), and simmer until reduced to about 2 cup. Sea-/3 son with salt, if desired, or leave as a low-salt condiment. Pour into a tight-sealing jar and keep refrigerated.
Thanks for this reduced sodium option!
I’ve sometimes used coconut aminos, but I’m not really all that familiar with them, so I am not sure how to sub them in a recipe.
Hi Anna . I use Coconut Aminos in all my recipes that call for soy sauce . My husband actually makes a yummy Pineapple Teriyaki Sauce using them . The same people that make the coconut aminos make a bottled teriyaki sauce . I found it at my local co op . I am making Mel’s Sweet and Sour Chicken tonight using Pork and the coconut aminos …. Is it dinner time yet ??? :0)
Hi Mel,
I would love to try this recipe, however I am allergic to any type of soy product. Do you have any suggestions for a substitute?
I have made a few of your dishes and love them. Thank you for your wonderful site!
Dana
Thanks for checking in, Lien – sounds like some great suggestions for Dana!
Last night I made this for the third time. When he finished eating, my old Hubs did something he’s never done in his entire life. I got a fist-bump, and a “Great meal, Chef!” I have never gotten a fist bump nor been called “Chef” in my life. He has been watching the Food Network a lot, and he is always complementary about my meals and thanks me frequently, but I thought you should know that this delicious dish earned me BIG kudos; probably the biggest I’ve gotten for any dish I have made in 48 years! And I served it over quinoa cooked in chicken broth, just like you do! The two together are a dynamic duo, and I love it as much as he does! I have some sauce left over, since for the two of us I only use one chicken breast, and there’s more sauce than is needed. I think I’ll boil it until thickened and pour it over some pork chops. Yum.
Barbara – that’s adorable! You totally deserve the fist pump!
Hi Mel –
Once again – OUTSTANDING recipe from your blog! So far everything I’ve made has been a success (and I have not found another blog or site to match your quality and variety). I have shared your blog with many friends because everyone raves about my cooking and I always have to give credit to you. 🙂 I paired this with your fried rice recipe (minus with ham) and it was gone in less than 10 minutes.
Thanks again!
Holly W.
Portland, Oregon
I am a chef at a 5 star resort and I made this chicken for a number of guests and got top reviews. Mel you are truely a culinary goddess with some of your recipes on this site
keep up the great work!
I am so happy I found this website. Recipes are great! This dish will be a favorite for sure. Recipe was easy to follow and final result looked exactly as pictured… yummy!
Melanie, you are not only an awesome cook, but an awesome person. How do I come to the latter conclusion? Simply by reading your kind and generous remarks/answers to blog wanderers such as I. So I have a question regarding this recipe. I am going to make it for the first time this weekend, for a big family dinner, along with your awesome pork ribs that I have made several times. I only have one oven, so I will be baking the chicken first and then the ribs. Do you think the chicken will be ok if kept warm but not consumed for 2-1/2 to 3 hours? Wondering if it will get soggy or whatnot. Thanks a bunch in advance for any help you can provide.
Thanks, Sophi – you are awfully sweet! So about your question, I think keeping the chicken warm for that long might result in soggy chicken pieces that aren’t very tender. Another option might be to instead make the sweet and sour chicken start to finish the day before, let it cool, cover it and then refrigerate it. You could warm it up after the ribs come out of the oven (place the already baked sweet and sour chicken in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or so, tossing once or twice). You might need to add a bit more sauce in case it dried out a bit in the fridge. Hope that helps. Good luck with your family dinner!
I’ve been following your blog for about a year. Why haven’t I tried this one yet? I’ve been missing out. I made it the other night with some fried rice, and it was fabulous. Can’t wait to make it again.
I made the sweet and sour chicken last weekend and my husband loved it. Your website is wonderful with fantastic recipes. So many to choose from!
I have made this quite a few times and it’s amazing!!! I always add pineapple chunks, sweet onion and bell peppers. I like to add a dollop of chili garlic sauce too. I want to try this with pork! What cut of pork would you recommend?
Jennifer Ammerman – I would definitely go with pork tenderloin. Good luck if you try it!
Thank you so much. This was fabulous. I’m always highly skeptical of any recipe for sweet and sour with ketchup in it, but this was wonderful. I’ll definitely be making again. I added a bell pepper and onion that I had quick sauteed then threw it in before baking. I’ll do that again and some chunked up pineapple too. Also, I needed to make it ahead so I cooked it and baked it ahead, then left it on low and it turned out fine. Might have been a smidge better if I hadn’t done that, but it really was still terrific.
Can the chicken be deep fried instead of baked? and make the sauce separate?
Scott – Definitely worth a try – the sauce can be simmered and reduced on the stovetop. Good luck!
I must be the only person who didn’t love this. The vinegar was overpowering. The smell while it was cooking grossed me out. Luckily it tasted better than it smelled but it still wasn’t a home run for us. No one really liked it very much. 🙁
I looked at a repost of the same recipe and it isn’t clear if the egg or cornstarch comes first before frying. Please. Get back to me ASAP, thanks!
Hi Vanna – the instructions on the recipe posted on my site are very clear: the chicken is tossed with the cornstarch before being dipped in the egg mixture. Hope that helps!
My husband and I, and everyone else i’ve made this for, just drools over this dish. So simple yet so amazing. Question though, sometimes i’m way too lazy to do the crispy chicken part and just want to saute the chicken with veggies and rice. Can I mix all of that together and then pour the sauce over top in a skillet and just let it simmer? Will it turn out the same as putting it in the oven? Thanks!
Hi Jenny – I’ve never tried that but someone just posted on my FB page that they tried something similar and it worked great. Definitely worth a try!
Crowd pleaser! Everyone raved about this dish. I used coconut oil to fry in for a healthier alternative, it gives the chicken a subtle hint of coconut flavor. I cannot say enough good things about this juicy flavorful chicken!
Mel, love your site. Having an horsduervs only dinner. Want to know how I can make this ahead, With so many different appetizers needing some finishing at the last minute, I.m going to be spinning my wheels. Could I bake the wing ahead & make the sauce ahead & finish later or what. What happens if I make the whole thing & regrig for a couple days . How to reheat? Broil?? need some advice
Hi Dottie – this recipe actually isn’t for wings; were you planning to adapt it for chicken wings? I’ve never made this ahead of time but many people in the comments have given their variations. Good luck!
Hi,
This chicken turned our really well, but I have to say for my taste it is too much vinegar. I already used less, but it still had a strong taste of that vinegar flavour.
Other that that I liked it a lot and it was so easy to make! Thank you!
I made it again only a couple of days after the first time because after the first time, I was craving it. I used the biggest chicken breast I could find, which was about 1 1/4 lbs., and the full amount of sauce the second time around, and we each had our fill, with just a few bites left over. Not only is this easy, but addicting! I can’t wait to make it for visiting kids/grandkids! They will be blown away, just like I am. I try lots of new recipes, but this one has now become a permanent part of my repertoire. That also means it gets Photoshopped on a pretty “scrapbook” style card with cute graphics, then laminated. When I have more of my recipes laminated, they will be bound into a recipe book.
This is so yummy! And for anyone interested in freezing, I tried it and didn’t notice any difference. I made it up to frying the chicken, let it cool, and froze the little chicken pieces in a ziploc. A day before I used it I left it in the fridge and it was thawed the next day. Whipped out the sauce and threw it in the oven. YUM!
We had this for dinner tonight, but since there are only two of us, I only used one chicken breast and cut the sauce recipe in half. Big mistake. This is so good I wish I had doubled it. Especially that fantastic, wonderful sauce. We were practically licking the pan. With only one breast cut into pretty small pieces, and because I cooked it in the skillet a little longer, it only took 20 minutes in the oven at 325, but the sauce was thick and gooey good. It’s on next week’s menu! Thanks, Mel! I can’t wait to try that new pork roast with maple syrup you just posted!
I made this tonight. Eating it now! Great taste and flavor. I was quite surprised. My sauce dried up on the chicken. It still had the great flavor but was dry. I will make this again and make extra sauce to add to it after it bakes just to give it a saucy look and taste we like. I served white rice and made homemade egg rolls to go with it.
Great recipe!
Prepared this again a couple of nights ago, and it was as great as it always is, but I did it in an electric skillet. Ready in half an hour–LOVED it!
Thank you for the amazing recipe!!! While eating it tonight my daughter said, “You know mom, this really is so delicious.” A stamp of approval from the whole family!
I’ve never commented on a recipe post before… Ever. But this is just SO good! I had to post! My kiddos, who hate any kind of Asian food, totally cleaned their plates. The directions are well written, the ingredients are simple yet delicious, it came out perfect! And I am NOT a gourmet cook. I’m barely an average cook. You should absolutely try this recipe, 5 stars!
Okay… I made this tonight AGAINST my boyfriend’s wishes. He said: you know I don’t like sweet-sour dishes! BUT… he doesn’t always get HIS way, and if it were up to him we would live on hamburgers and pizza! Yuck! Not that I don’t like those things; I just like a wide variety of foods. Sooooo, I made this and listened to him complain all the while that he is NOT going to like this and the house stinks like vinegar, yada, yada, yada. I served it EXACTLY as pictured, broccoli and all. I thought it tasted fantastic! He, on the other hand, conceded that “well, I guess it’s pretty good”. For me, that’s a victory! I am a very good cook if I do say so myself, so I am trying to get him to broaden his horizons. You have many recipes I want to try! Best Cheesecake is next! Love having pictures too! Keep ’em coming Mel! Love this site!!
Thanks Mel!
Duh,,, didn’t think of that. Went out and bought some apple cider vinegar! NOW I,m ready! Can’t wait to try it! 🙂
I don’t have cider vinegar… Can I substitute apple cider in the Sweet Sour Chicken recipe?
Connie – no, you definitely need some type of vinegar (that’s what give is the classic sour taste) so subbing apple cider wouldn’t work but other commenters have subbed rice vinegar or white vinegar.
OMG!!!!! This was AMAZING!!!!! Thanks for the recipe! I used flour instead of cornstarch because I didn’t have any, it still turned out awesome!!!! 5 stars for sure!!!!
Hi Mel, I just want to say that I was looking for a simple sweet & sour chicken recipe because I had limited ingredients and in particular no pineapples. So when I saw yours I was like yes! But that was until I got to the ketchup! I said I am not putting ketchup in sweet & sour chicken! I finally decided I would just try it and I don’t have to use it again. Let me tell you that not only was it delish! but my picky granddaughter loved it. I just put it in my favorites and am making noodles to go with it for dinner. Thanks for such a limited ingredient dish that packs a lot of flavor! Moral of this story, lol is to never be afraid to try ingredients that are out of the box.
Trying this tonight! It looks so good and I have read through all the comments to see variations and such. I have everything I need to make this, except the cornstarch so I’m going to try it with flour. I will comment back later after the results. So excited to try this!!!
Fantastic! Kudos to you. We loved it, keeper for sure. Thank you
Made this recipe and we loved it…. Thx! We are making a friends and family cookbook and I am considering putting this recipe in. It’s not for profit… Just a cookbook for us to share recipes in. Would that be OK? I saw in the FAQ section that it’s ok to reblog with a link but this would be an actual printed book so wasn’t sure…
Hi Kelly – thanks for asking! Yes, I’m totally fine if you reprint this recipe, all I ask is that you include a full link back to my site. Thank you!
Just wondering with the sweet and sour chicken whether cooking it for an hour is too long? any comments from those who have cooked it?
We LOVED this recipe it was absolutely delicious! I put it in my cookbook as a new family favorite. Thanks!
T
Mel, thanks for an interesting recipe. I must admit that the Sweet & Sour Chicken didn’t go over well, probably due to using Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. The vinegar flavor was really overpowering in the finished product and my twin 12 year old daughters would hardly touch it. Please consider being more specific on the type of ACV recommended in the recipe. I have gone thru all the comments for variations and will gladly make the dish again with some changes. Thanks again for offering a simple to make Asian chicken dish.
Am making this for the first time tonight. How much chicken? 3-4 breast halves or 3-4 whole breasts? Thanks!
Going to make this for the first time tonight. But, how much chicken…3-4 breast halves or 3-4 whole breasts?
I just wanted to add, in case anyone else was curious, that I bake this at 375º with good results. I reduce the time somewhat (maybe 40-45 minutes?). The reason why I do this is because I serve it with baked brown rice, which cooks at that temp. We all enjoyed this dish at my daughter’s birthday dinner last night!
can i use regular white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar as it is not available where i live? would i have to use half the amount?
Mary – I know it is cumbersome to read through so many comments but if I remember correctly, many others have adapted the type of vinegar. I can’t remember if white vinegar is one specifically that’s been varied but it’s probably worth a try (I know for sure others have used rice vinegar with good results).
I found your blog while searching for a slow cooker beef stroganoff that didn’t include canned soup. I plan to make your Ultimate Beef Stroganoff, but this is the first recipe I made and it CRUSHED it!
My boyfriend walked in the door exhausted and soaked with rain from his 12-hour shift and said happily, “The whole house smells like sweet and sour chicken!”
I didn’t make extra sauce this time because, frankly, I had no idea how amazing it would be. I will not make that mistake again 🙂
This recipe rocks. Made twice got to love the acidic flavor in the sweet and sour sauce. Cut back on sugar and added more apple cider vinegar. Thank you.
.
I’ve always done my sweet & sour chicken in a crockpot. Ran out of time today and it was my daughter’s birthday dinner request. This was the first recipe I found and it turned out perfect ! A huge hit. Definitely going to make it again, and next time will do the extra sauce. Yum!
I made this tonight and it’s the first time I’ve stumbled on your blog. Absolutely AMAZING! I was a bit overwhelmed by the strong smell of vinegar (I used Bragg’s Apple Cider) so when making extra sauce I added a 1/2 can of crushed pineapple and 2 extra Tbs of sugar. I saw where you suggested perhaps using 1/2 the vinegar so next time (and there WILL be a next time!) I make this I’ll try 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup pineapple juice. We really loved the pineapple in the extra sauce! This is a hit! Shared all over FB and Pinterest. 😀
What kind of ketchup do you use?
Heather – I usually use the Heinz natural brand (without HCFS).
I read the reviews for this recipe so I had very high expectations and I can happily say that this dish blew me away and what’s even better is how much my husband liked it! This is an instant staple now! Thank you for sharing!
I just made this and it is fabulous. I have been looking for the right batter to use for my sweet and sour pork and I couldn’t believe how lovely the coating was with the cornflour and then egg and how quickly it turned golden without cooking it all the way through. i was concerned that the chicken would be dry by the time i fried then baked it. It was just like in the restaurant. The sauce, i doubled the recipe and I’m glad I did. When it was cooking it still had the vinegar smell a bit too strong and also in the extra sauce I had simmered was smelling just a bit too much like vinegar so I added a little pineapple juice and some pineapple pieces. Not pineapple in syrup, in natural juice. I had been reading about this recipe but hadn’t made it before because i thought it couldn’t possibly turn out cooking the breast pieces for an hour but it did. My husband loved it and he only eats sweet and sour at this one particular restaurant because it’s his favourite dish and they do an amazing version but he ate it all up and said he would eat it any time i cooked it. I was so happy. I served it with fried rice. I will absolutely make this again and again. I’ll try it with pork next time.
Thanks so much Mel. I have made heaps of your recipes and they all turn out great. The apple crumble pie is now the only pie my husband wants me to make he loved it so much. I look forward to cooking more of your amazing recipes.
Hi Mel, when I was making my shopping list recently, I decided that I couldn’t call myself a true MKC fan if I hadn’t at least tried this recipe! 😉 So I made it tonight… the first word uttered after we had taken our first bites was “Wow!” I am astonished at how good this is! I served it with brown rice & steamed broccoli, and cut the sugar in half. It was so incredibly delicious!!!
And the kicker? My (very, very) picky 7 year old son declared this better than chicken nuggets! His all-time favorite food! He said “This is 22% better than nuggets. They’re 78% good, this is 100% good.” Those words almost made me cry. I found a healthy dinner that we ALL like! Thank you!!
I recently made the S/S chicken for a dinner party of 8. It’s the best!! I made egg roles and fried rice to accompany the dish. I’ve made this 4 times and it keeps getting better. Thanks for sharing.
I just made this recipe, but I was extremely skeptical so I decided to read probably 300 reviews and not all on this site but all over the web. I am still mad at myself for not following my own instinct! It is a real good basic recipe but I just don’t get the oven part! I ended up with soggy chicken and quite frankly, why wouldn’t I? Seriously, you go to all the extreme to dredge the chicken in the cornstarch then in the egg….not so fun, and then fry the chicken to a crispy crust so why the heck would you soak it in the non cooked sweet and sour sauce at a very low temp in the oven for no less than 1 hour!! Why wouldn’t you end up with a soggy mess? OMG! Please people save yourself an hour!! After frying the chicken then toss it in a big bowl of the cooked down version of the sauce. If you want veggies like onion, peppers and pineapple then just stir fry that on the stove top and add to chicken and sauce then toss, toss, toss!
Oh My Goodness!!! This is sooooo good! Even though I tripled this, because of our large family, there’s just enough left-over for My Love’s lunch tomorrow! Yum!!!
Wow, this was so delicious! My entire family absolutely loved it.
As a side note, after spending the last couple of days drooling over and pinning your archives, I noticed that you live near my hometown. Small world 🙂
I had some rice and chicken to use up and wanted to make something my kids would actually eat before going out trick-or-treating. My whole family liked this! Particularly since it was Halloween, I decided to cut down the sugar to a scant 1/2 cup, and I still thought it was plenty sweet. Thanks for another winner!
I’ve been making a version of this for years, but deep-fried my chicken. This is much, much better! I do like to add sliced red peppers and pineapple chunks to mine, though. 🙂 Thanks for another fantastic recipe, Mel!
Love this! Great recipe!
Oh wow, sooooo so good. Did not expect a lot…don’t know why…but this was great!
I had a chinese food craving last week and decided to try this and it was great! I love your recipes and have a whole bunch book marked as “must try”. A question though…if I cook the chicken in the skillet and place in a baking dish as directed, but didn’t sauce it until the chicken was done (all while reducing the sauce on the stove) then tossed it together at the end, would that result in crispier chicken? would that even work?! I love a good crunch 🙂
Hi Katie – you’ll have to experiment with that since I haven’t tried it and have no idea how it would affect the crunchiness. Good luck!
Not sure if you are still wondering 🙂 But I made a small alteration to increase crunchiness, as I generally avoid the texture that is created when fried foods are covered in a sauce. I made everything exactly as instructed, but poured the sauce in the dish first, then put the chicken on top (so only the bottom of the chicken was touching the sauce, instead of being covered in sauce) I cooked 1 hour as directed, and then tossed immediately before serving. It was AWESOME and pretty crunchy. Everyone in our family loved it!
yup– just made this & there were no leftovers!
One more comment! For some reason, I thought your photo of this included the finished product sprinkled with sliced scallions. Now I see those are not in the photo! I did serve it with the scallions and they were a tasty addition — a nice contrast to the sweetness of the sauce.
Immediately after posting my question about adding peppers, I read some other comments about adding veggies. Those comments are helpful, but if you have any specific recommendations, Mel, I would appreciate those!
I made this chicken tonight — YUMMY!! I did decrease the sugar to 2/3 cup, which was good for our taste. I will DEFINITELY make it again. I did wonder about adding sweet pepper chunks to it the next time. Have you ever done that? If so, for how long do you think they should roast? You should know, I have made several of your recipes and they are ALL terrific! SO nice to be able to have reliability with internet-obtained recipes!
This recipe is great! I like to add some carrots, peppers, and onions after its been cooking for about 45 minutes. It cooks them just enough not to be mushy and I get my veggies!
Found this recipe via Pinterest. I made it tonight with a couple variations and it was delicious. I used Arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch to coat the meat and coconut oil to lightly brown the chicken before baking. I also served it over Miracle Noodles which I flavored with about 1/4 C of the sauce which I saved out from the chicken. Tossed in some carrots, bell pepper and broccoli and it was a great sweet/sour stir fry.
Can this recipe be made ahead and stored in the freezer? Thanks
Amy – I haven’t tried freezing this so you’ll have to experiment. Good luck!
OMGeeeeeez – this was YUM!!! My family thanks you. This is DEFINITELY a keeper!!!!
Awesome awesome recipe…kids can’t get enough! I actually made 2 sauces – 1 the way in the recipe and my sauce separate since I added chili paste and some chipolte peppers (put in blender to puree all together). So freaking good! Also added some bell peppers into the sauce. It tastes 10x better than going to a restaurant. Thank you for the wonderful recipe! 🙂
Made this last week and it was very good. Was a little nervous when it was baking since the vinegar smell seemed a bit overpowering but the meal came together great with a perfect combination of sweet and sour. My husband loved it! If forced to choose I liked the firecracker chicken better but only because I love spicy. I’ve printed up so many of your recipes and can’t wait to keep trying them. Great website!
I made this for my family (3 children who are picky eaters!!) tonight and it was a hit!! Not too hard to make either, though a bit messy! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Hey Mel! My mom was just telling me about a bad experience with her last Chinese food experiment and to give her a pick-me-up I told her about your DELICIOUS Sweet and Sour chicken that she should try and that it wouldn’t disappoint. When I got to the website I noticed that for this dish you had a wildly, amazing 599 comments and I knew it must be fate that led me to see that I could be your 600th comment. I feel elated and like a superstar! Thanks for all of your awesome recipes that make me feel like I am the Queen of the Kitchen!
I made this dish last night to rave reviews. It was more time-consuming than I thought it would be: I think it took me about 8 batches of frying, and I had to replenish the egg wash with 2 more eggs halfway through the process. (It didn’t help that my 1-year-old was hollering in his highchair and throwing things on the floor the whole time.) But my husband said the chicken was better than any Chinese food dish he’s had at a restaurant…ever. I’ll definitely be making it again, hopefully with baby in a better mood.
Well, made this tonight and as predicted absolutely bloody lovely. I don’t think one of your recipes has ever steered me wrong 🙂
Hi Mel, love your recipes. your spaghetti sauce recipie is quite rightly the best spaghetti sauce i have ever tasted. What kind of Ketchup are you using in this recipe ?
Best,
Lewis
Hi Lewis – I use the Heinz Natural ketchup (the one without HFCS).
Have you tried this in the slow cooker?
Vanessa – I haven’t tried this in the slow cooker.
Hi Melanie! I found your blog by accident and so happy I did! I made this recipe last night for my family and mother in law. It was so easy . I had all the ingredients except for the chicken. It was absolutely crazy good. Everyone loved it and my mother in law wanted the recipe. It’s also very inexpensive to make. Thank you so much! I love your site and look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Kimberly
I’ve never posted on someone’s site before but this is one of the best recipes I’ve ever found online and I wanted you to know. It has that comfort food taste that Chinese take-out gives you but without the chewy chicken, heavy breading, or overly-sweet sauce. I put some sliced carrots and sweet onions with the chicken and will probably be making this at least once a month from now on. I can’t wait to test out some of your other recipes!
I just have to add a comment. I made this last night and it was so good. It was certainly a meal I will make again. I wish I had made enough to freeze some. Well I did, but we ate it. Thanks!!
Have made this twice now and it is a hit! Definitely going in the repertoire of family dinners. I may even cook this when company comes (and believe me with a husband with a culinary degree whom I can easily pass off culinary entertainment, that is saying a lot!) I’m gaining more confidence in my cooking skills thanks to my results from your blog Mel!!! I hope this blog and all the (obvious) work you do for it is helping you and your family…you are amazing and you need to write a book and get your own cooking show!!! 🙂
I was hesitant to try this recipe because the ingredients just seemed so simple- boy, was I wrong to wait! My teenage son LOVED it! I asked if there was anything I needed to add or change and he said it was PERFECT- better than his favorite Chinese restaurant. He took the few leftovers this morning to school for lunch. I know this is years later than when you posted the recipe but , what can I say, I just now tried it.
YUM! This was soooo good. (Of course you already know that). Seriously. It was delicious.
Im going to try this out today! Ive been craving all sorts of unhealthy foods in my pregnancy and was searching for a healthier homemade option (now that i can get away from throwing up and actually cook!!) This looks perfect i hope its as tasty as it looks!! (as all ur recipes are) 🙂
This was so heavenly Delicious that I just HAD to leave a reply! This recipe came out perfect on the very first try and was a huge success in my family. This wasn’t just a perfect dish, but a masterpiece! Absolutely Delicious! Therefore my search is over and that is thanks to you Mel!:))
Are you supposed to cover the dish with foil?/when should you and should you not cover with foil?
Jay – the recipe instructions don’t indicate covering with foil – I leave it uncovered the entire baking time.
This is so super delicious!!! I made this for my second time tonight, and because we are currently trying to cut out processed sugar, I substituted honey for the white sugar. It worked great!!! So yummy! Thanks so much for your awesome recipes! I am making your decadent chocolate that you just posted today for my husband’s birthday tomorrow.
I had let it simmer for a long time because I wondered if that was the problem, but it didn’t help too much. I understand that the way I’m making it (sans oven) is going to alter how it tastes, but I try not to use the oven in the summer time, so until autumn….
I made it again, doubled the recipe like last time (big family!) and used half the vinegar, plus the juice from the canned pineapples, and it was amaaazing.
I guess I was the only one with an issue of all these commenters. :/ I made the sauce by itself because I didn’t want to bake it, but it was waaay vinegary. I was about to toss it until my sister suggested adding a can of pineapples w/ the juice. Saved the poor sauce. Next time I’m adding half the apple cider vinegar!
Alicia – I’d recommend making the recipe according to the instructions if you want the stellar results everyone else reports. It makes a big difference when the sauce bakes – the vinegar isn’t overpowering. If you are going to make the sauce alone (I often make an extra batch on the stove), it needs to simmer for a while to meld all the ingredients.
This is one of our favorites! I made it for the missionaries recently and I actually quadrupled the batch… It’s a good thing too because there were NO leftovers. I always add diced carrots and a diced green pepper to it. Anything to sneak in a few extra veggies.
Awesome recipe. My whole family loved it.
I made this the other day and it was to die for.
Mary – you’ll have to read through the comments for other reviews of altering baking time but I always bake it per the recipe.
im in the process of making this. it looks good in the oven and im making extra sauce in case the hubby wants more. cooking the chicken pieces is a little time consuming but overall the recipe is easy cant wait to eat it. thanks
I will try this recipe next week but I have a quick question please. Bake for an HOUR?? The chicken isn’t dry? Thanks!
FAB-U-LOUS!! All that was left was an empty 9×13 dish!!! All of my 3 kids plus my husband LOVED it!! Even my ultra picky 5 year old ate it!! I did substitute boneless, skinless thighs but that was it. Thank you again for sharing the recipe!!
are you kiddin’ me! This is DEFINITELY a keeper. I double the sauce now when i make it as suggested, and everyone lovesss it! Thank you!
Planning to try this and just realized the ingredients list 3-4 boneless chicken. I am bit confused did you forgot to write lbs? What is the approximate weight of the chicken for this recipe?
Thanks
Sue – Novice cook
Hi Sue – the recipe says 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. That’s probably right around 2 pounds.
I lovve all your recipes that I have tried so far and I am so excited to make this one tonight! Thank you so much for sharing your talent! You are amazing!!!
I found your recipe after making a variation that gave credit (Essentially it was doubled with Worcestershire instead of soy). Even the man who claims not to like sweet and sour chicken LOVED this, everyone did. Thankyou
Whole family loves this. That does not happen to often. I double the sauce. Very good – thank you!
Just curios as to why this would take an hour to bake? Seems like a long time for small pieces of chicken that are previously fried.
Great recipe – I have made it several times! I featured my review on my blog today – but I did NOT post your recipe in it’s entirety on my blog, I linked back here for the full recipe (it is incredible to me how many other blogs have posted this recipe and either not given you credit or only linked back to you at the bottom, giving no one any need to visit your page!). This is definitely a crowd pleaser and a family favorite that is now in my regular menu rotation – thanks so much for sharing it!
Hi there! I just tried this recipe, it was good but I’m wondering how do I make it taste less “egg like”. I don’t know if it was dipped too much in the egg or are there any other alternatives to making batter without egg and it turns out the same? Please help!
Poonam – Try cooking the chicken for less time in hotter oil so that it browns very quickly so it doesn’t cook slowly (that will make it have a scrambled egg texture).
I found your recipe through Pinterest & made it tonight….it was a hit! Very yummy, thanks for sharing!!!
Hey Mel, I just came across your website about a month ago, I absolutely love all of your recipes! I made this the other night and it was sooo good! I haven’t looked for recipes on any other website since! Thanks so much!
I must add to my previous post…sauce is very forgiving. I doubled ketchup and soy sauce and used half of the sugar (+used 4 packets of nectresse) the vinegar taste also comes from ketchup. (Maybe use a different type of ketchup.) I always find the “eggy breading” if sizzled in oil until golden brown, it really holds the sauce and carmelizes into that chewy outer goodness and keeps all that heavenly moisture inside the morsels. I think I would definitely try to get this to freeze for easier prep, also wanna try pineapple and pepper and onion chunks. Fabulous!!! This recipe is genius!!!!!!!!!!
Everytime I make this, my family eats until miserably stuffed!! Everyone begs for this to be on our weekly must have menu….I stash this recipe & whip it up as a surprise. My house is a frenzy over this recipe!!! It is AMAZING. I have made it a bazillion times served with basmati rice, chopped green onions, and broiled zucchini. Thank you so much for sharing. You have made a permanent place in my go to secret recipe dish!!!!! Xo
I really liked this but my kids didn’t like the smell and strong taste of the vinegar. Did anyone else have this problem? I’m wondering if I should use a different kind of ACV than the Heinz I had in my pantry? Or is there something I could add or modify to make it not such a vinegar-y taste?
Can canola oil be substituted with olive or sunflower oil?
Hi Svitlana – you’ll have to experiment with that – olive oil isn’t generally a good choice for frying, though.
This doesn’t really need another fabulous review, but I felt compelled to write one. I made it tonight & really liked it. I made it with about 1lb of chicken – I bought chicken tenders & it was very easy to cut them into cubes. I would definitely double the sauce like so many people have suggested. Also, I think the addition of bell pepper & onion would make it fabulous! I turned the oven up to 400 for the last 10 minutes to thicken the sauce & that worked really well!
Hi – I really want to make your recipe for dinner for my family. My son is allergic to eggs and I am wondering your thoughts on substituting either water, milk or buttermilk? If I dip the chicken in water, then the cornstarch then in milk? I’m not sure it would come out the same or maybe ruin it, which I don’t want to do! Any advice?
Hi Jacki – I’ve never tried it by dipping the chicken in anything other than eggs, but I think it’s definitely worth a try. Go for the buttermilk, I’d say. If it were me, I’d coat in cornstarch then dip in buttermilk. Good luck!
I want to start by saying this is a family favorite! i made this last night using coconut oil to fry the chicken pieces. OH ! what a lovely surprise:) frying the chicken in coconut oil took this amazing recipe to new levels. We couldn’t stop eating it! my sixteen year old son said” oh wow! this is amazing!”
This was amazing. The only thing I did differently was add some crushed pineapple to the sauce and it was wonderful! Thank you!
Thank you so much for all the great recipes,can’t stop eating the sweet and sour chicken.
This was awesome! My husband devoured it, and he is a very picky eater. He even asked me to make it again soon, which is HUGE! Thanks so much, this will be a dinner staple in our house.
I’ve never left a review for anything before, but boy oh boy! May I just say that this recipe made a family from London, England very, very happy last night. Absolutely fantastic! My goodness!
This is my go-to dinner to make for others, but I must confess my shortcut: I dredge the chicken in flour/cornstarch, drizzle with oil and parbake in the oven before adding the sauce and finishing the cooking. Not fried, of course, but still yummy!
Hey.! granulated sugar this sugar which is used for cake ???
I understand a little English 😛
Thank. 🙂
Hi Paola – yes, granulated sugar is the white sugar used in other baked goods.
So glad I found this. One of my favorite recipes ever. 🙂
Just put it in the oven, but I’m nervous. My chicken looked like it had a scrambled egg breading. Is it supposed to look like that?
Megan – hmmm, I’ve never noticed a scrambled egg breading but because the egg is the last part of the coating it might be “eggier” than other breadings.
I’ve made this recipe just recently and I loved it so did my husband he raved about it! I am making it again right now but with chicken legs since I didn’t have breasts on hand and didn’t want to massacre the legs, I’ll let you know how it turned out! So far it looks pretty good!
Made this last night and it was not only easy, but fantastic!! thanks for such a great recipe.
As a beginner, I was hesitant to try this recipe because it (as a rule) is one of my husband’s all-time favorite foods; I knew he would be critical. When I told him it was on the menu for the week, he was not excited (he thought I would screw it up, presumably). When he got home from work hungry, he was still not excited… when I pulled it out of the oven, his eyes lit up! It looked amazing. I kept my cool and hoped for the best as he tried his first bite: mega success!!! He absolutely loved it. The next day, I jokingly told him that I ate the leftovers (there wasn’t much) while he was at work, and he became genuinely sad! Needless to say; this recipe is a keeper. Mel, you are helping my marriage one recipe at a time!
WOW!! Had this for dinner tonight and it was a hit with the whole family! Will need to make a double batch the next time!! Better than 99% of the meals I have gotten from Chinese restaurants by far!
Most amazing chicken dish ever! Thank you so much for posting this. Extremely easy to make and my husband loved it. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I just recently found out that this recipe originated here on your blog. I love this recipe and have made it several times and have posted it on my blog twice :). I of course linked back to your blog and I’m happy I found the person who created it to give them credit. Love. love, love it!!
Ellen
Fantastic recipe!! Thank you thank you! It is also a very forgiving recipe:-) I realized half way through I had forgotten to dip into the egg! I then made the mistake of heating the oven to 375°, IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS albeit slightly over done. But who cared? A keeper, with more care next time!
I made this tonight, and I have to admit, I’m disappointed. First, my sauce turned out brown instead of red. Secondly, I found the vinegar somewhat overwhelming. I must have done something wrong, since everyone else seems to have had such great results! I’ve read the recipe over and over trying to figure it out, and I measured everything correctly. Any insight? I’d love to try again.
Made this tonight and HOLY COW. It was fabulous! SOOO GOOD.
Hi Mel! Much love from one Minnesota gal, to another. Thanks for continuing to respond to comments about this recipe. It is FABULOUS. I have the pickiest of picky eaters and they request it regularly. Plus, I feel sooo much better making it myself than picking it up in some greasy brown bag from the local take out. Thank you! Question at hand: I love the sweet and sour version, but am wondering if you have ever tried to make it spicier? Sort of General Tso like? I have searched the internet and keep coming up with these stove top sauces. I’m sure they are good, but the great part about your recipe is how the sauce thickens and comes together in the oven.
Hi Joan! Have you tried this firecracker chicken? It’s spicy and delicious:
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/10/firecracker-chicken.html
I have used the egg/cornstarch for years, since about 1975. But I use standard size cut up fryer. Brown in pan, dip into sauce, cook halfway and then pour on the sauce and finish. It’s been a family favorite since.
Holy MUFFINS, that was amazing! I just made this recipe, much simpler than I could have imagined, and it turned out so freaking awesome! You are a genius!
WOW! I just mad this recipe and must say I am obsessed! The sweet and sour aspect of this Chinese classic has always had me completely enthralled, but this recipe is over the top fabulous. The texture, taste, and sauce all come together to make this a great entree that I know I’ll be making over and over again! This is so easy I’ll probably even make it next year at college! Thank you for an overall fantastic recipe! Best wishes and God bless.
Hi Mel – long time fan of your blog and think I am going to finally take the plunge and see what all the hype is about this recipe. I know you won’t steer me wrong! I was looking over the instructions though and it says to cook for an hour in the oven? is that right? it seems like a lot of time for cut up chicken pieces.
Hi Laura – yes, the time is right. You can read through comments to see how others have adapted it but I make it just as written. Hope you like it!
Do you not dip the chicken back in the cornstarch after dipping in egg? Does grease pop everywhere if you go from cornstarch, egg, then fry? Or does the cornstarch absorb the egg? Just confused!
Hi Suzanne – follow the instructions in the recipe and I promise it will all work out. 🙂 Hundreds of people have tried the recipe as is (dipping in cornstarch then egg) and it makes a delicious crust on the chicken. You can always modify the way you dip/how you dip…this is just the way I make it. Good luck if you try it!
Found this on Pinterest and made it for my review the other night. AMAZING. So good and such easy ingredients! A bit tedious to fry each batch in the skillet but worth the work! I loved it and it’s going into the regular rotation! I raved about it on my blog and linked back to you! THanks!
This is a great dish. Everyone be warned…. it is not a quick dish. The cornstarch, egg dipping is very time consuming. Definetly double the sauce recipe and add 1 can of pineapple chunks with all of the juice along with some white onion and green pepper.
Yes, winner, winner, chicken dinner!
Just made this for dinner..and eating it as I type. It’s fantastic! I don’t like Sweet & Sour Chicken from the Chinese restaurant..but I absolutely LOVE this! I will definitely be making this again! So glad I found this recipe on Pinterest 🙂
I was originally led to your blog because I was Googling wheat bread tips, (thanks again for that wonderful bread tutorial!) and I’ve since made a few other recipes!
This was great! The husband approved as did my 18 month old! Next time I’m going to follow a previous poster’s idea of adding onions, bell pepper and pineapple.
Thanks for the great recipe! It was a bit messy, but clean up was a snap and worth it!
I just made this tonight…but used a pork tenderloin instead…It was AWESOME!! Followed everything else to a T, and it was so good–it literally did taste like it was take out! I have tried many versions of homemade Asian food, but this one WILL be in the regular rotation.
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious!
I have a strange question…would this work with any other meat?? My husband is allergic to chicken (dahhhh!) so I don’t know it it would work with pork tenderloin maybe??Ideas???
Jody – I believe in the comment thread, several others used pork with good results.
I posted about my experience making this delicious recipe on my blog, linking back to your recipe! Thanks for this delicious recipe 🙂
http://callieliveblogsfood.tumblr.com/post/44529593272/sweet-sour-chicken-this-recipe-was-absolutely
This recipe was fantastic. It was better then Chinese takeout. I thought it was similar to Trader Joe’s orange chicken but much better flavor!!
I just tried your recipe for the sweet n sour chicken. It’s gonna be on my list of things to make from now on!! It was very good!! I am gonna have to check out other ones of yours now. Thanks!!
I just found your website and I am obsessed! I just made these today and omg it was awesome 🙂 I served over brown rice and mushrooms!
I LOVE this recipe soooo much and I have made it so much that my husband is starting to hate me lol tonight however I was a little scatter brained and I did it backwards. Meaning I coated it in egg then the cornstarch lol after I realized what I had done (after the first batch of chicken) I just dipped it in egg again! Problem solved and was still delish!
Excellent! Will definitely be making again! I only used 1/2 c sugar in the sauce, so it was a little runny after baking (I also added fresh pineapple chunks, a red pepper and a green pepper…so some of the liquid may have been from the veggies)…but no problem – dumped the cooked rice into the pan and mixed everything up! My 3yo & 5yo liked the “chicken nuggets”. 🙂
This has become an absolute favourite for my entire family. It is DELICIOUS! Your tip for fluffy brown rice works every time (thanks for that!). I usually serve this with steamed broccoli and sugar snap peas. I also double the sauce, because we love it on our rice. My only change is that I use rice vinegar (it is a staple in my pantry)and the sauce is still divine. Thanks for sharing.
Hi! Along with the hundreds of other rave reviewers, I loved this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing it. I blogged about it today, including how great it is, and the changes I made to it. Here’s the link http://www.travelhikeeatrepeat.com/2013/02/better-than-delivery-sweet-and-sour.html I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes! Thank you!
I made this tonight and it was AMAZING! My fiance loved it and my mom who usually is not into sweet foods loved it too. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!!
Made this again last night–absolutely terrific, as always. Threw in pineapple and carrots (may try broccoli or peppers next time). I have an electric skillet, so I did the initial frying, then simply dumped the sauce over the top and added the carrots and pineapple, turning the heat down to about 275 ’til the chicken was done (only about 20 minutes). This dish just keeps getting better! Thanks so much, Mel!
In this recipe, when you say 3-4 chicken breasts, do you mean the full breast or 3-4 breast halves?
Julie – chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds of chicken).
I made this the other night and OMG is it good! And easy! And from the pantry and freezer! I threw in a snack cup of pineapple tidbits juice and all just because I like pineapple in sweet and sour. And maybe next time I would double the sauce just so there is more to pour over rice. Yum! I made it with boneless, skinless thighs because it was what I had. Very tender and moist. I did have some of the coating come off when served. Is there a way to avoid the slippage? Perhaps, coat with cornstarch, set on waxed paper, then repeat, before dipping in egg. No matter, it was very good anyway. I have eaten the leftovers for two more days. This is going on my go to list for those “What in the heck do I make for dinner?” days. Thanks, N.
This is hands down the best sweet n sour chicken recipe I have ever made. So good that I refuse to order Chinese food anymore because it is just so disappointing in comparison. When I make mine, I add a sliced up green pepper, 1/2 bag crinkle cut frozen carrots, and a jar of chunk pineapple right into the chicken/sauce mixture. Then all I need is the rice in the rice cooker and I’m good to go. Love this recipe!
Hi, I made this dish and loved it! I was wondering, in an effort to have less white sugar, have you ever tried this using less white or substituting in brown sugar? I don’t want to use fake sugars/sweetners, but was hoping for an alternative.
Anon – brown sugar is usually just white sugar sprayed with molasses so I’m not sure that would help you at all. I’ve never used anything other than white sugar. Good luck if you experiment!
This was wonderful! And really truly simple and quick! Thank you for breaking my fear of Chinese restaurant cooking…
http://www.mynewlywedcookingadventures.com/2013/02/mels-kitchen-cafes-sweet-sour-chicken.html
Best sweet and sour chicken EVER! My family can eat it all in one sitting and I’ve introduced other family members and friends to eat! Everyone loves it!
um, AMAZING. I was a little worried at first as it started baking bc the vinegar was pretty strong, but it mellowed out and my whole family loved it. Extra delicious sprinkled with some sesame seeds for a little crunch! It was the first “chinese” food meal that I’ve made that my kids didn’t complain. It was better than the restaurant! Now we need a good recipe for wonton soup to go with it! Thanks!
Tried this tonite and it turned out great, I doubled the sauce tho and poured over the chicken before baking. Will definately make again!
Hello!
I am having the same issue as Michelle. I used half cup apple cider vinegar (organic unfiltered if it matters). The smell is so strong and smell/taste way overpowering 🙁
Maybe it’s because I’m not the biggest fan of apple cider vinegar by woowee is it ever strong. Must have done Something wrong 🙁
Made this for dinner tonight and my family devoured it!! It was awesome to eat a sweet and sour chicken that didn’t taste all fatty and greasy, but healthy and wholesome instead!! I will definitely be making this again and will not be ordering takeout Chinese again!!
I found this recipe kn Pinterest and decided to try it because my fiance loves sweet and sour chicken. I made this tonight and he just about died!! He complimented me literally all night on how amazing he thought it was!! So thank you soo soo much for sharing this!! It’s definitely being added to our list of favorites!
This dish is so good!!!! Do you know the nutritional information for it?
In the oven now, and it smells delicious !!
Absolutely brilliant! We were fighting over the left overs it was that tasty, better than the take away! Thanks
I have made this several times for my family and we devour it!!! It is delicious and simple! Better than any Chinese take-out I have ever had! Thanks for the recipe!
Hello! I have not cooked this yet,… but it is on the menu for tomorrow. I was wondering if you cover it while baking? I am assuming you do not but wanted to check. Thank you! And everyone is so excited to try your yummy recipe tomorrow.
Nicole – no, I don’t cover while baking.
Mel,
Once again, thank you for a terrific recipe! I just made this sweet and sour chicken tonight and it was simply wonderful! I will definitely be making it again and again!
You rock! I am so grateful I found your site! Looking forward to more great recipes from you! By the way, your kids are adorable! I have three of my own and I can totally relate to working in a kitchen full of youngsters, but I have to say my 8-year-old daughter was great help today with preparing this recipe. 🙂
We had Spaghetti Pie last night & this tonight. This was BIGGER hit than the pie with my picky 6-year-old. I even substituted balsamic & salt for the soy sauce since I’m allergic, and served over Jasmine rice and steamed broccoli, and it was exactly the same as our local take out. I may try coating 2x next time for a little more breading, but as is it is still great (and healthier). I cannot rave enough! So glad I found you through Pinterest!
I made this for a big family dinner (6 adults and 7 kids), by tripling the chicken (about 9 b/s chicken breasts), and doubling the coating and sauce mixtures. It was a little time consuming and I don’t like the fried smell in the house for days after, but this chicken was definitely worth the effort!
I followed the recipe pretty closely, here were my changes:
– I used slightly less sugar in the sauce and added a splash of sriracha sauce
– I dipped each fried piece of chicken in the sauce before placing in the baking dish (instead of pouring it all over the chicken)
– I baked at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes (instead of at 325 for 60)
This came out exactly as described – and not one single bite was left!!!! So literally, from age 1.5 to 70, this dish was a big hit! Thanks so much for the great recipe!
I forgot, but I also added just a few splashes of some pineapple juice to the sauce mixture, too! 🙂
I just made the sweet and sour chicken…. LOVED IT! My hubby and I are sort of picky eaters so I wasn’t getting my hopes to high, but I made it for dinner tonight and it is all gone! SOOOOO delicious!! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve made this twice so far. It was delicious the first time, and my whole family loved it. Tonight I used half cider vinegar and half rice vinegar (unseasoned) as someone had suggested. I thought it was even more perfect. It is such a winner, and the sauce gets even better as it sits. I think I am going to make it on Super Bowl Sunday as one of my appetizers and serve with toothpicks. Mel, you are amazing!!!
Hi, I just made this for lunch and it was a huge success. My husband, who refuses to eat Chinese takeout from anywhere, thought it was the best and even took leftovers to work for tonight. Thanks so much for the recipe! Will be making it again, and again, and again.
I tried this recipe tonight and it was the best sweet and sour chicken I’ve ever had!! My husband and sons are very picky eaters and everyone enjoyed this very much!! Thank you so much for the recipe….we will be making it often!!!!!!!
Consider me another fan! Aside from some mess/smoke alarm issues while frying the chicken (should have turned on fan from the start), this turned out amazing. Leftovers are in the work fridge and I’m anxious to go get!
FYI – I tried this over Rice-a-Roni fried rice and think plain old white rice would be the better way to go.
I just made this, and it is fabulous! My only change will probably be to ease up on the sugar a bit next time. It was a little sweet for my liking, but I think that’s just a personal preference.
I always wondered how to cook meat for Chinese food, so I’m glad I tried this recipe – I never knew about the whole cornstarch/egg/searing process before now! It makes such an incredible difference in the texture of the meat and how the sauce sticks.
Thanks for the recipe – I posted the link on my blog! 🙂
Made this tonight for the first time and we LOVE it! It is seriously so tasty its ridiculous! I will certainly be making this many more times to come!
Oops! Sorry, just saw the post from 12/31 answering my evoo question. This cold weather is slowing me down! 😉
Mel, I’m making this for the first time and was wondering if I can use olive oil. I usually always cook w olive oil and only have it and veg oil on hand. Is there a specific reason I should use canola? If it makes a difference I can go out in the 25 degree weather and get some, but had rather not! Lol! I’m in Louisiana and we like to stay in when it dips below 40! Ha!
Donna – I don’t like browning the chicken in olive oil for this recipe because it gives it a distinctly different taste. I prefer the neutral flavor of canola or vegetable oil.
Christi – I use the Heinz brand of apple cider vinegar. I like the potency but other commenters have cut down on the vinegar.
Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!!! One question..what brand apple cider vinegar do you use? I used Braggs and it was very potent. Wondering if other brands aren’t as potent? Either way, we loved it! My husband was sooo impressed!
I made this dish tonight and it was delicious! I will be keeping it as a favorite chicken dish. Thank you!
Cooked this tonite, just fantastic!! Thank you for sharing!
Just had this for dinner….it was awesome! I added veggies in with my extra sauce on the stove and it was perfect. Ive never tried breading chicken this way before but am so glad I did! My hubby said its better than our fav chinese place!! Looking forward to checking out some of your other recipes….
Made this recipe for dinner tonight and…………………It was DELISH 🙂 Everyone loved it, I will most certainly be making this again. Loved the sauce…the best I have ever tried for a sweet and sour sauce. Thank you!
I made this for dinner last night and it was a tremendous success. I doubled the recipe (exactly) and it worked beautifully. Thanks. Will look for more winners from you
I’ve made this quite a few times and some tips I have adapted into my version. Instead of granulated sugar use Powdered sugar, about 1 1/2 cups or 1 3/4 cups–the cornstarch makes a thicker sauce without having to cook it down. You don’t have to bake the chicken, just thoroughly cook it when you fry it and by batches and let it keep warm in the oven until you finished all the chicken. You can do this part an hour in advance, I think it dries out the chicken a little, making it somehow better. I add a few slices of hot chilies to spice up the sweet sour sauce. I also decrease the vinegar from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup — the half cup is just too much. Instead of ketchup I’ve used a good barbecue sauce- it makes it like general tso chicken.
This recipe was fabulous and mouthwatering! Thanks so much for sharing!
This recipe is GREAT with green and red bell pepper baked with the chicken and sauce!
Here it is. https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/thecozykitchen/doc/128924993935179/
A lady named Star Kubiak https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/thecozykitchen/ copied your recipe as her own.
Can I use EVOO instead of canola oil?
Brandy – as long as you like the flavor of olive oil, it should be fine. I don’t like frying (even pan frying) coated chicken in olive oil but it’s just a matter of taste preference. I think canola or vegetable oil works best here.
I am making this tomorrow (12/31/2012) for New Years Eve dinner.
So many people have raved about this recipe…I can hardly wait to try it. I was linked to this blog from another blog that was put on pinterest where everyone was commenting how good this recipe was. I can’t imagine that this many people could be wrong.
I hope I do not mess it up!!!
Thanks!
Hi Mel! I stumbled across your blog from Pinterest a couple of days ago, and fell in food lust immediately with your recipes! I had a couple of friends visit for a casual dinner last night, and decided to make your Best Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe – can I just say, what a hit! According to my friend after one bite; “This is the ‘sugar-honeyed-iced-tea!'” My housemate also said he would be happy to pay my rent if I just made this recipe every night. Unfortunately I could not find apple cider vinegar at any of my local grocery stores (typical Montreal) so I substituted half a juiced lemon and added a tiny bit of extra sugar for the citrus flavour. Thankfully it was still delicious! Thank you for such great recipes – I’m trying the banoffee pie next! – Hayley
I have never commented on anything before. But I tried this recipe yesterday and fell absolutely in love with it. At first I was a bit apprehensive to make this because I had never made a dish with an Asian twist.
I have to say, ABSOLUTELY LOVE!!! It was sooo easy to make. I didn’t have cornmeal therefore I substituted for flour. Next time, I think I will add a squeeze for orange juice to it and throw in some green onions last minute.
I recommend this for anyone! So simple to make and the flavor explodes in your mouth! I made it with steamed white rice, veggie stir fry and this chicken. Keeper for sure.
Loved this!!!!!!!!! Ive made it twice now and its a huge hit at home – I do a separate batch of sauce and add a bunch of veggies (snap peas, peppers, carrots, broccoli) in another pan (usually 8×8) and the sauce stays thinner (no cornstarch) but it makes a great pour over for the rice. The 2nd time I did this I think I did overcook the chicken while “frying” so Ive made a mental note on that but this is truly some of the best chicken ever. I find it a bit time consuming though so I only cook this on the weekends.
I used chicken tenders because they were on sale – and that made everything just quicker and easier.
I made this last night and it was a hit. I didn’t make any extra sauce, but I should have, because everybody wanted extra. I didn’t change a thing in the recipe. This is destined to become a family favorite.
First of all, I love love your website!! Whenever we are looking for new ideas for dinner I always tell my husband “let me check and see what’s on Mel’s website.”
Secondly, just wondering if you’ve ever tried to make your sweet and sour chicken with shrimp?
Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes you’ve shared with me and my family!
I have literally made this like 3 times in the span of 2 weeks. I try to make it for anybody & everybody who will eat it lol…and who wouldn’t want to eat this deliciousness?!
Just an idea that makes the coating of the chicken easier. I just put the egg in with the cornstarch and chicken and it makes it go by way faster!! Plus, it coats the whole thing!
I just had to write a comment! I’ve made a handful of your recipe’s (just discovered your page about a month ago), and I’m amazed! This recipe is so delicious, there are almost no words. As I was making it, I couldn’t help but think..’this is going to be one of those pinterest fails’. But when I took my first bite… Woah! Needless to say, this is going into my routine recipe box! I’m thinking… six days a week? 🙂 keep up the delicious posts!
Excellent recipe – my family loved it. Thanks!
Sabrina – uncovered.
Do you put this in the oven covered or uncovered?
Made tonight, I had to see what the fuss is about. So good! Double batch of chicken and triple the sauce.
I don’t know how I managed to come to your site but I am SO glad that I did. We did the sweet and sour chicken last night for dinner. It was the MOST delicious I’ve ever had. I really loved that all the ingredients were staples I had in the house. The hubby enjoyed it as well, he had 3 servings! Thanks so much! P.S.- I am trying out your mini meat loafs tonight!
In the oven as we speak excited to try this! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Excited to try this! You should advertise that this can easily be prepared gluten free since it uses cornstarch. The only substitution would need to be GF soy sauce!
OH MY GOODNESS. I’m dubious at best with recipes involving anything that’s supposed to be magically crispy while deliciously saucy and moist, especially when it involves food that are my favorites. So I procrastinated making this until I finally bit the bullet and cooked it all up for dinner. And good grief! It was AMAZING. It tasted like our favorite sweet and sour chicken (but BETTER) and, it was already gluten free so everyone in our family could enjoy it! (my youngest brother, Samuel, has CD) We could not believe how good it was. Seriously. I made a double batch for eight of us and we ate it all up…because it was JUST THAT DELICIOUS. This is going into our favorite recipes — in fact, the littles have all requested it as a weekly Monday night dinner! I told them maybe every other week, otherwise I run the risk of eating it all myself. Hee hee. Fabulous fabulous recipe! Thank you oh-so much!
From a never-doubting-the-tastiness-of-homemade-sweet-and-sour-chicken-again-new-reader —
Hannah
This was really good!!!! The sauce was VERY vinegar tasting, so I added pineapple juice! SOSOSO much better!!
Tried this. Deeeeeeeelishes! Tonight, am trying it again, but I doubled the recipe for the sauce. Really, really good! Thanks.
Just made this…..can you say DE-VINE? I nearly ate until I was sick and the kids have asked that I add this to our rotation. Thank You!!!!
I just made this for lunch using chicken thighs and your Baked Brown Rice! I loved it and I will making it again for sure. I have been ill for six years with undiagnosed B12 Deficiency and fatigue kept me from cooking homemade meals so I lived off take-out, frozen and prepared foods. For the last six weeks I have felt like a human again and look forward to finding recipes and preparing healthy, tasty food so I am really glad to have found your blog. I made your Homemade Spaghetti Sauce last week and my friends and I loved it! I am looking forward to trying lots more of your recipes 🙂
Hi I wanna try making this dish but I don’t have garlic salt. Do you have any suggestions for a replacement or perhaps a DIY for garlic salt?
Stephanie – try googling and see what you come up with. I’m guessing it’s a simple combination of garlic powder and salt.
I just found your blog through Pinterest and tried this recipe. Incredible! Even better than I was hoping for. Thanks for sharing!
Yikes! Mine didn’t turn out and I followed the recipe exactly. It ended up exactly how reviewer: Michelle said with the whole house smelling like vinegar, the chicken tasting like vinegar. The sauce had the consistency of a pool of water even after an hour in the oven. I used the apple cider vinegar kind too. I wish I had more luck with it!
WOW!!! I have to say I was a little worried if my family would like this, BUT OMG!!! We loved it!! I have tried to make food taste like take out for years and this is BY far the BEST ever!!! Thank you so much for sharing this!!! The Leftovers are amazing too!! Yummy!!!
I made this for dinner tonight and my seven yr old told me it was so good it made his heart stop beating! This was so yummy and so easy … didn’t even require a trip to the store. Thank you for all of your great recipes – my family thinks I am a great cook thanks to you!
I stumbled upon this on Pinterest and tried it tonight. Wow! My very picky family loved it and said it was better than our beloved take out place! Thanks for posting!
I finally caved and made this recipe this weekend and oh my goodness, it was amazing!!!! Better than any take out I have ever had. It is definitely a meal that I only have time to cook on the weekend because it is pretty time consuming, but it is worth every single grease splatter!! We loved it and I will keep this recipe near and dear to my heart forever! Can’t wait to pass this down to my daughter some day when she is old enough to cook. Thank you for another great recipe Mel. I LOVE your blog and make at least 2 recipes a week from it!
Made this tonight (kids are eating while I type this). It is very quiet so that is a great sign! I served it with left over baked brown rice and it is very good! I am thinking of a couple of variations for future use. Thank you!
Made this last night and cannot say enough good things about it!! It was SO delicious and my whole family loved it too! Thanks for a new family favorite recipe! 🙂
I made this for the first time last night, with mixed reviews. While I love how the chicken cooks up with the cornstarch/egg combo, the house just reeked of vinegar as it cooked, which was very unappealing to all. Fortunately most of us still liked the meal, but I think next time I’ll have to tweak the sauce a bit…perhaps less vinegar and a bit more soy sauce? But, I can say that my chicken looked just like your picture, which for some reason is very exciting when trying a new recipe! 🙂
Thanks!
This was incredibly good! My 4 year old couldn’t stop eating it and she is picky. It completely satisfied my chinese food craving for a whole lot less calories!!
I made sweet and sour chicken last night for my husband he lovedddd it.
Thanks. Great recipe, pretty easy to make.
Made this with chunks of pork tenderloin and sprinkled with sliced green onion at the end of cooking; it was sooooooooooooooo good! This is going to a be a staple in my house!
Il now Mel’s super busy and may not get to this right away so I thought I’d put my 2 cents. Regarding how long it takes for the chicken to be done, if you’re cooking the chicken pieces (about inch sized pieces) until they’re crispy, they’re probably pretty much done right then. Cooking the chicken in the oven is allowing the that little bit to get cooked through plus help the sauce thicken and adhere to the pieces. Also, Make sure your skillet when browning the pieces is high enough so that the outside just browns and doesn’t cook the chicken too much in just a few seconds (about 10-15 seconds). And don’t worry about not getting the chicken cooked through, it takes just a few minutes to cook bite size pieces of chicken breast. Just watch your sauce and how its reducing. Another thing to try would be using boneless, skinless chicken thighs as they are more forgiving In terms of tenderness. Hope your next batch turns out! Keep trying, it’s so worth it.
I’ve tried this recipe 3x’s now, and I really love it…but I keep overcooking it. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong? I cook the chicken in the skillet for just a few minutes…long enough for it to get crispy. Then I cook it at 325* for an hour (flipping halfway)….my oven does sometimes cook a little fast, but I usually only have to take it out about 5 minutes earlier than directed. How long do you think the chicken should stay in the overn at 325* before its cooked inside? I’m wondering if I can try it again and take it out at 30-40 minutes instead…but want to be sure the chicken is fully cooked (also- would that make the sauce less thick)? Any help would be so appreciated! I love this recipe but want to perfect it 🙂
Hi Kristin – Jnl2211 is exactly right (thanks!). The chicken should just be barely cooked in the skillet. What you are going for is a golden brown coating but not fully cooked chicken or you will have dry chicken at the end of baking. Many people are afraid to crank up the heat but you need really hot oil to brown those chicken pieces quickly. I like the whole hour of cooking because it thickens the sauce perfectly but if you are still having issues, you could cut the baking time down, it will just result in a thinner sauce that doesn’t coat the chicken quite as well. Good luck!
Tried this today & it was absolutely delicious! Literally the best home-made sweet & sour sauce I’ve ever had! I added about half a tablespoon of pure honey & used a little less than required on the vinegar, & it made it just a little on the sweeter side. It’s just so delicious, I’m beside myself about it!
Made this tonight– It was delicious! The chicken was cooked perfectly. I think I’m going to add some chili sauce or another Asian condiment to jazz up the sauce a bit. Thanks for the recipe!!
This is my families favorite dinner. My kids, and husband, devour it every time! I made it for company once and I received the best compliment EVER while he was stuffing his face, “man, this is good! Where did you buy it from?” Thanks for sharing and teaching me how to make the best homemade sweet and sour chicken! Love ALL your recipes!
This recipe looks amazing and I have been wanting to try it – even purchased the apple cider vinegar. After coating the chicken in cornstarch and dipping into the egg mixture, do you then dip it into bread crumbs or panko before frying?!
Can you put the chicken in a fry daddy with canola oil instead? I always get burned with spitting oil in a skillet! Lol
Valerie – I’ve never used an electric fryer so use your judgment. Good luck!
I made this recipe with pork instead of chicken and it was fabulous!!! This is definitely going in my permanent recipe book, and it’s so easy!’ Thank you for sharing!
Super duper D-lish !!!! My whole family loved it. Which doesn’t happen all that often 🙂
I have made this recipe a couple of times now and it is soooooo amazing! Super easy and tastes great! Thanks for the great recipe!
Kathi – I like the texture of the cornstarch but if it was off to you then you could try flour. The coating wouldn’t be quite as light as the cornstarch.
Hi the sauce was delicious however dipped in cornstarch the chicken took on a very an not edible flavor. Did I do something wrong? Would dipped in flour be better? Thank yoy
I made the sweet and sour chicken tonight. It was so dilious and quick to make. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Just made (and ate) this! SO good!!! Thank you! 🙂
http://megzmessymealz.blogspot.com/2012/09/sweet-and-sour-chicken-first-attempt-d.html Hey Mel, this is how my chicken turned out. I played with the recipe a bit but it was so delicious!! I loved the sweet and sour sauce. Big hit in my house 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing it!
THANK YOU so much for this recipe. I have never ever been able to make “ORANGE CHICKEN” that tasted like the restaurants….until NOW. I made it tonight and my family LOVED LOVED LOVED it.
Thinking about making this tomorrow (it has the perfect combo of ingredients – I have EVERYTHING in my pantry already – yay! hate it when a recipe calls for some very specific thing that only goes with a handful of dishes). But I have 1 question – isn’t 1 hour a little long, given that pieces are rather small and have already been cooked some? I know 3-4 breasts is a lot of chicken, and if they were a whole piece, I’d definitely cook them an hour, but with this method, I’d expect it to me closer to 30 min. It’s not going to dry out?
Nathalie – the one hour helps reduce and thicken the sauce, otherwise the sauce is too thin and vinegary. My chicken has never been dry because of the 1 hour baking time – I think all the other ingredients help keep it moist.
FABULOUS!!! Sooo good! My son hates chicken and he had two helpings and told me I could make this everyday!
Must try
I had never made sweet and sour chicken and was not sure if this would taste good with ketchup and vinegar BUT I can honestly say I was very surprised and it was great, thanks for posting it I will defiantly make this recipe again.
Oh my gosh! This is gluten-free!! (well, if you get the gluten-free soy sauce, which I happen to have!) I absolutely love sweet and sour chicken but my husband and I are gluten-free so we can’t have the coated chicken. I am so excited to have found your site and this recipe! I have most ingredients on hand right now so will definitely be making this for him tonight! Thank you so much 🙂
I made this dish last night and it was a HUGE hit! We LOVED it! I would highly recommend making this dish as a weekly meal! It was so delicious! Thanks for sharing this on Pinterest! I’m soooooo glad I found it!
Tried it again, this time with the full amount of vinegar…much better! It still got REALLY sticky at the end….and I put my timer on 50 minutes instead of an hour…glad I did, because I definitely took it out at 50 minutes! Any longer it would have probably burned my sauce….so I’m thinking my oven may be getting hotter than its supposed to 🙂 Next time I’ll just do 45 minutes and I’m sure it will be PERFECT~ Thanks for the recipe 🙂
can you substitute sugar with honey or other sweetner?
please email me back please, [email protected].
Ryan – I’ve never subbed honey for the sugar but if you read through the comments on this recipe, there might be someone that has. Good luck!
This looks super yummy and I hope to make it this week. I plan on adding some fresh pineapple chunks to mine in the last 20 minutes or so of baking. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!! Can’t wait!
Make this regularly and get high praise from everyone! Even handed the recipe out to my dad – who LOVES it. Thanks for your website, i use it frequently to make all my dinners/sweets etc as i am new to cooking! 🙂
My whole family loves this meal. After one bite my husband was giving this two thumbs up and please make again soon comments! Thank you for all of the great recipes!! You make finding what to make for dinner easy. I know I can’t go wrong on this website.
OK, so I am not the only person who just made this. Since our “Empty nest” became full again (at least for supper), I have been cooking much more. I found a similar recipe on Pinterest and googled it and then found yours – yours seemed more complete in the instructions. I used 4 good sized breasts and your portions on the sauce.
Our 4 year old grand daughter ate some nuggets without sauce, and the rest of the crew including my daughter and niece ate almost every piece I had. I confess I finished the three pieces left. Best chicken in a while – guess I need to check your blog for more recipes. Tonight is Ed’s Chili in the crockpot from “Fixit and Forget It”. Thanks for a great and easy recipe, we will make it many times over.
Kristin – well, to be perfectly honest, I think you needed the extra 1/2 cup vinegar. To cut out 1/2 cup of liquid from the sauce will definitely make a huge impact on how quickly the liquid cooks down in the sauce so it doesn’t surprise me that after 40 minutes your sauce was too sticky. If you follow the recipe as written, you’ll be able to bake it the full amount of time without burning. Even though 1/2 cup vinegar seems like a lot, it works in this recipe. There is a definite tangy, vinegar smell as it’s baking and that may scare people, but hundreds of others have loved it that way. I’d encourage you to try it with 1/2 cup vinegar, otherwise you’ll have to play around with baking times since I’ve never made it with 1/4 cup.
A couple things I found about this recipe…. I completely agree with a lot of the other posts, 1/2 c of vinegar seemed way too much so I only used 1/4 cup instead. But when I left mine in the oven and set the timer for an hour, i came back to check around the 40 minute mark and the sauce was SO sticky and gooey I had to take it out of the oven. What do you think happened? It still tasted really good but the sauce was almost burned…if I had left it in another 10 minutes I think it would have been ruined. Do you think I should cut down on the oven time next time??
Allie – yes the amount of sauce is for the 9X13 pan and it does thicken up while baking. I can see how in a smaller pan it wouldn’t thicken up as well.
This dish was amazing!! The sauce really did taste like take out sweet and sour chicken and thankfully I couldnt tell there was ketchup in the sauce!
One quick question, is the amount of sauce given in the recipe supposed to be for a 9×13 pan? I made less chicken but not exactly halved so I made the full amount of sauce and put it in an 8×8 pan and after just 40min the chicken was done but there was still a lot of liquid in the pan. I drained the chicken before putting on top of rice and it tasted wonderfully but I wondered if the sauce was supposed to be thickened throughout the pan instead of soupy.
I stumbled upon your website via Pinterest. The photos of your food drew me to your actual site. So far, we’ve made 3 of your recipes.. The Sweet & Sour Chicken, Honey Glazed Chicken and The Best Fajitas. I have a fairly finicky group but they all gobbled these up and definitely will be made again.
Also, as a fellow Wisconsinite, in De Pere, GO PACK GO!
We love this recipe..we added red bell peppers and some chopped pineapple..it was so good. We left the second sauce thin and kids put it over rice//huge hit..thank you
I can see how this would be your most popular recipe! It was delicious. My husband and I devoured it. I also added some frozen broccoli halfway through the cooking time. You have a new fan in me!
I am in love! I make this about once/week, and I can’t wait to make it tonight! This is one of our favorite meals. I made a few additions to the sauce (although it’s also great as is!) — I like to add 3 cloves of chopped garlic, 3 thin sliced green onions, and 1 Tbs of grated ginger. It is so amazing. I also mix pineapple, pea pods and carrots in with my cooked rice! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I made this the other night for my family . My brother and sister usually are very & hate ketchup they didnt even want to try it at first because of the vinegar and ketchup in the sauce . I didnt follow the recipe completely i coated the chicken in egg first then cornstarch and cooked it then we dipped the chicken in the sauce and ate it just like that with garlic broccoli and rice . It was so good my sister and brother loved it my mom and grandma too it was a big hit definitely going to be making it again when were not completely starving so I can bake it in the oven .
Delicious!!!! A tried and tested recipe that is absolutely awesome!!! Thank you so much for sharing! It’s nice to have something different to make that is sooooo easy to make.
Thx again 🙂
I made this tonight for my family & it was a BIG hit!! WE LOVED IT!!! I used the asian sides chicken fried rice instead of white rice and it was awesome!!! Thanks so much for this recipe!!!!!
I am making this right now and I’m a little worried since there is katsup in the recipe and I don’t like katsup but the rest of my family does…so we will see how it turns out.
I know you get hundreds of comments but I wanted to add one. This was so excellent! My husband and I will be repeating this recipe many times I’m sure. Yum!
I just tried this, and it turned out surprisingly delicious! I tweaked the sauce just a bit by adding a dash of honey and an extra pinch of sugar to tone down the vinegar and soy sauce. I also bumped the temp up to 350 for the last 15 minutes just to make sure it cooked all the way. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Sweet and sour chicken. Yummmmmmmmmy!
My husband doesn’t like fried or breaded foods, so I made only the sauce and it was amazing! Will store but in my recipe book 🙂 thanks!
A hit with every member of the family!! YUM! this one’s going in the keeper file!!
This was SOOOOO good!!! If it wasn’t for all the carbs from the cornstarch and sugar, I’d add it to our regular rotation. 😉 As is though, it will be on our “occasional splurge” rotation! Yumm! (P.S. The 3 year old asked for THIRDS!)
Just made this for dinner and it was GREAT!! While we were eating, I was planning a time that I could have people over to try it. So good and not difficult at all to make!
Love this recipe I added some Pineapple and put some broccoli on top the last 15 minutes of cooking time, it was great. Thanks
What happened??
I am feeling so bad. What did I do wrong ?…?
I tripled the sauce and it only tasted like vinegar.. .. Guest over and 6 breast.
Any ideas ??? Check and rechecked. Perhaps it was the triple?!
Tried this this weekend and it is every bit as good as all your loyal followers said. Only because of health issues, I cut the sugar down in the sauce, using a total of 1/4 cup regular sugar and 1/4 cup Splenda. It turned out great. After the first bite my husband said, “This is a keeper!” Thank you for sharing this easy and wonderful recipe.
The sauce for me had a little more of a vinegar bite than I would have liked and it lost its Asian roots. To compensate I added a touch more (1 to 2 tsp.) soy sauce and ketchup, about 1/4 tsp sesame oil, and about 1 tsp honey and it really toned down the acidity and woke this sauce up!!
I absolutely love you for posting this.
This is now a weekly dish we make in my house! Everyone is obsessed with it, & it is 10x better than Chinese Take-out! Since it’s baked, it doesn’t leave that icky feeling in your tummy when you’re done stuffing your face.
Thank you, thank you!
Just had to add that we LOVE this chicken! I have a VERY picky eater and he hardly eats anything. Because of this, I’ve started adding 1/4 c of pureed sweet potatoes or carrots or even butternut squash to the sauce (sometimes 1/4 c of 2 of them!) just to up the veggies. Could you do this without the coating on the chicken or is it the cornstarch that helps it thicken up as it cooks? We’re just watching calories and I never can get the crispy outside so I just figured maybe it could be done without it! Maybe I’ll try that tonight since that’s what we’re having for dinner tonight! Thanks again for a fabulous recipe!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!!This was the very best sweet and sour chicken I have ever had.My husband told me how great it was a bunch of times.I love your blog!!Thank you! 🙂
REALLY went in with lowered expectations, thinking that all the rave reviews COULDN’T be accurate. This is WONDERFUL! Used chicken thighs and added half a small can of pineapple after cooking (because that’s what I had in the pantry) and this was just AMAZING! Thank you so much!
Made this tonight and it was so delicious!!! It was too hot to turn the oven on so I put it in the crock pot on low and it turned out awesome. Thanks for the great recipe.
Made this tonight with some modifications to lighten it and it still came out delicious. I used less than 1/2 a cup of cornstarch (I had 3 oz in the bag but only 2 landed on the chicken). I used egg beaters instead of eggs. And no oil – just sprayed the pan with canola oil cooking spray. I halved the specified amount of sugar. Altogether, it looks like 1230 calories for the complete recipe – so about 300 each if it’s four servings. Not bad!
Thank you so much for this recipe, it’s absolutely amazing!! I made it yesterday for dinner and that will definitely NOT be the last time… Wow, I wish I had some left overs right now!
If anyone’s interested, I blogged about my experience with this amazing recipe:
http://dontforgetrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/06/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken.html
If you think the vinegar is too strong, substitute it with 1/4 c vinegar and 1/4 c chicken broth and it should do the trick.
Made this, loved it, blogged it! Found it over at Six Sisters Stuff, but traced it back to you! Thanks for an awesome recipe. http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/2012/06/chinese-sweet-sour-chicken-twc-86-linky.html
This is really good. I don’t usually care for S&S chicken, but this had a wonderful flavor. Definitely will make again!
Oh my goodness this was good! I made this for my family tonight and we just loved it. My husband doesn’t even like sweet and sour chicken and he went back for seconds and then thirds! Thank you so much for this recipe. We will definitely be making this again.
This was a big hit at my house — everyone deemed it a “keeper”! I should have made the extra sauce to pour over the rice, and will do so next time.
Fantastic! I have 5 boys 4 of them 7-17 years old and then the hubby lol. I had zero leftovers. Everyone had seconds. I followed recipe exactly as written and it came out perfect. Well done!!!
My kids love this! They said it was like chicken nuggets but WAY better because its made by mom (therefore healthier). They are even asking when they can have this again. I’ve made this twice in the last two weeks =) I love that the sauce sticks to the chicken. I just cut back a bit on the vinegar because hubby is not a fan of it, but just a little bit though. Thanks for this yummy recipe! =)
I was introduced to your blog by a friend, since then I have tried 6 recipes from your blog for the past week and they all turned out superbly that I’m adding them to my rotations. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! =) You’ve made it a lot easier for me to cook healthy and delicious meals for my family that are easy to prepare. Now I don’t have to scramble my brains thinking of what to cook for dinner. I just make your blog my go-to and voila! I have a delicious dinner for my family. Thank you Melanie! =)
I just finished licking the plate after eating this delicious chicken! 😉 Thanks for the recipe!
I made this during spring break because I really wanted some Chinese but was unable to go to a restaurant. Family loved it; thank you!
They make those fine mesh splatter covers. It’s a round mesh disc with a handle. You put your food in and cover, it saves a lot of cleanup time 🙂
Another winner recipe. I am definitely drinking the “Mel” kool aid.
Maria – I just use my 12-inch nonstick skillet and there is a bit of splattering, too. I think that’s just part of the process…glad you liked it!
My kids and husband fought and bartered who got to take the leftovers in their lunch the next day! So good. It took awhile to make. I’m a novice at frying foods – any tips on not splattering oil on myself. Is there a best kind of pan to use? Thanks!
Sherylynn – I use apple cider vinegar in this recipe.
As a time saver, I put the cornstarch in a gallon-size ziploc bag, and then put all the chicken pieces in and shook until coated. I shook off the excess cornstarch and put the chicken into a large mixing bowl with the beaten egg and tossed until coated. Great recipe!
I was wondering…what kind of Vinegar did you use? I’ve heard for the most part if it’s not stated, white vinegar is used. I just wanted to make sure to use the right one and go with what you used. Excited to try it! Thanks
I will definately put this one in my recipe box. My whole family loved it!
Looks Good !
Found this recipe on Pinterest and made it tonight with my (extremely picky) husband – delicious!!! Thanks so much!
I made this tonight and it was wonderful!!! Everyone in my family loved it! Thanks for such a wonderful recipe.
I just made this tonight and my husband and I agree it was amazing! I’ll definitely be making this one again! 🙂
Had this for dinner tonight – it was a hit!! While I was making it I thought it would be really yummy to add some red pepper flakes to the sauce – give the chicken a bit of heat. Thanks for the delicious and easy recipe!
Just wanted to drop in and say that this recipe is so so so good! Thank you so much! We loved it.
Wonderful recipe! That sums it up perfectly!
Just made this tonight. It’s a new favorite for the whole family. Thank you.
Incredible recipe. I’ve never liked homemade sweet and sour chicken, Friday I had a girl’s night and wanted Chinese food so I tried this recipe out and it was PHENOMENAL!!! All your recipes are. I just love you, you make my eating life so happy!!!
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I have jumped on the yum bandwagon here……thank you for a delicious recipe!
This is the best chicken recipe! My entire family loved it, including my 6 year old daughter who is very picky. Thank you for sharing such great recipes!
Mel, we made your sweet and sour chicken tonight and it was OUTSTANDING! My 13 year old son with a bottomless stomach said it was “better than a Chinese restaurant!” I have you saved as my favorite go-to now for our recipes 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
AMAZING. I just made these and they are sitting on the table on top of a bed of freshly made fried rice waiting for my fiance to come home (as you can see by the date, today is Valentine’s Day, so I wanted to make something special). The sauce is awesome, but EXTREMELY sticky when baked (just the way I like it). So I would recommend using a strong parchment paper to line the baking pan when you stick these puppies in the oven. I couldn’t even imagine having to try to clean a pan with the mess I just saw. It was really easy to just remove the chicken and throw the paper away. I followed the directions exactly, except in the sauce I used garlic powder and not garlic salt. I’m not sure if there is a difference, but it tastes just fine. And I baked them for 45 minutes at 350, only rotating them twice and they were just fine. I keep sneaking up to the dining room table and popping a piece into my mouth as I’m writing this review. Great recipe! I know my junk-food-loving fiance will love this, and I love knowing there isn’t strange cat meat in it (there are some pretty sketchy Chinese restaurants in Rhode Island) !
Great, even my picky 8yo liked it. Crowd plzer. Made extra sauce for egg rolls later. Tnx.
This is sooooo good! The first time I made it I used white vinegar-loved it. Second time I used half white and half apple cider vinegar and it was WAY overpowering. Great recipe though!
Mel, I know you are sick of hearing from me, but this chicken rocks! Thank you! It reminded me of my favorite chicken from Pei Wei. I wondered if you could give me a suggestion for a filling, not too complicated meal for a family of 8 adults and 5 kids. I’m taking food to a grieving family this weekend and can’t decide what to make. Just wondered what you would prepare for them in that sitation. Thanks again for the delicious recipes!
First of all I love your blog!! This is one of many I have made (I am actually making 2 more recipes from your site this week (Italian Beef Sandwiches & Ham/Pasta Skillet) Just wanted to tell you this was awesome!! Kids loved it too! I had some trouble with the egg and cornstarch think I was doing it too quickly after work but needless to say this is a repeat in my book! Thanks again and keep those great recipes coming!!
My sister made this the other night and it was amazing. The chicken was so tender!
I tried this using pork (a picnic roast cut into cubes) yesterday. I had been wanting to try this, but for some reason I was thinking it was supposed to use the pork not chicken. I thawed my pork and then pulled the recipe out and it was for chicken. I went ahead with the pork and it was FABULOUS!!! My husband and 3 kids (who have been in a picky eating mood lately) raved about it. I followed the directions except substituted pork for the chicken. 🙂 I also added some stir fried peppers and onions to it at the end (but that is just a matter of personal taste). So, for all of you wondering if this would work with pork. . . .YES!!!
Hi again!
So the chicken is still baking in the oven (3 minutes left) and as I am the type of person to “taste test”, i couldn’t resist! It was so good!! My only problem was that it smelled too strongly like vinegar.. Could it be because I used rice vinegar?? Anyway, it was FANTASTIC!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Hi Melanie!
I’m 15 and just starting to experiment with food. I came to your site through Pinterest (which I recently discovered) and I have been so eager to try your recipes since. The chicken is in the oven now.. I really hope they turn out well so my mom will continue to let me cook!!
-Julianne
Made this last night and I have to give you a GIANT thank you! My nephew who never eats probably ate more than anyone! So YUM! I added a red bell pepper and some onion and served with fried rice. I overheard my nephew telling my sister that he was going to ask for that for the family birthday dinner. Ha Ha! That is grandma’s tradition too. I guess I will have to give my mom the recipe or make it for everyone. We might have to work on that together though as we would probably have to 4x the recipe. Whoa nelly!
This is so yummy! I love sweet & sour chicken-but I always bought it from the chinese restaurant. When I lost my job & was limited on cash, I found this..& it is sooo much better than the deep fried s&s chicken from the restaurant! Making it right now 🙂
Mandy – hmmm, it sounds to me perhaps the heat just needs to be more at a middle ground – in between where it is popping and where it takes forever to brown. I keep mine at right around medium heat (once it has become nice and hot). Each stove is different with heat – good luck if you make it next time!
LOVE this recipe! i know this is a fairly old post so i’m not sure if you will see this comment, but is there any advice you can give me on frying the chicken? when i let the oil get pretty hot, the oil starts popping up everywhere, but if i turn the temperature down, it takes FOREVER to brown :/ still tastes great, but takes forever
WOW! This dish was fantastic! I used rice wine vinegar & tripled the sauce (we like sauce)! I served it over brown rice with an asian veggie mix. The whole family loved it and I will be making this frequently. My husband said it was better than any takeout he’s ever had! Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Just made this for the first time tonight, and it was a big hit! We all loved it, even my 2yr old daughter loved it. Will definitely be a keeper for our family night dinners. Very easy to make also. Delish!
Man oh man is this a good recipe!! My husband agreed that it is better than a restaurant, especially because the meat isn’t hiding in a bunch of breading. Leftovers are great re-heated also, unlike take-out. He said “adding sliced green onion made it over-the-top!” so I recommend adding some next time 🙂 thanks once again for an awesome recipe!!
I love to cook but I’m usually very critical of the final product, however, I couldn’t get enough of this last night. This will definitely be a regular in our house!!
Soooo yummy! This last time I made it I only had drumsticks so I figured why not? I followed the directions just like for the other pieces and then adjusted the cooking time to 350 degrees for 45 minutes turning every 15 minutes to get saturated! Oh, and I doubled the sauce so that I could add some more…the kids loved it and we served it next to rice! Thanks Mel! 🙂
This was great! Although not even a tiny piece of the batter stuck to my chicken. I did it just as the recipe said and it all fell off immediately when I put it in the frying pan. Any suggestions? Still tasted good, just didn’t have the crunchy outside I was hoping for:)
Jamie – that’s strange that all the coating fell off! Bummer! Was your chicken all the way thawed? I’ve had the coating slip off if I am using slightly frozen chicken pieces. I hope you have better luck if you try it another time!
My husband’s favorite meal, thanks.
Thank you for the fantastic sweet and sour chicken recipe. It was delicious, but something went wrong as my chicken wasn’t crispy. I’m not sure where I went wrong, but I think it was because I made extra sauce and added it all to the chicken dish prior to baking instead of cooking the extra sauce on top of the stove as you suggested. Could this be why it didn’t turn out crispy?
Sue – I’ve done the same thing before – doubled the sauce and poured it all on top of the chicken and had the same results. The breading on the chicken baked up fairly soggy, so yes, I think that probably caused the issue. I usually keep some sauce on the stove to thicken and heat while the batch of chicken cooks.
I love this recipe! Best sweet and sour chicken ever. The texture of the chicken is perfect; not too hard yet not too soft 😀
I made this last night. It was so good. I’ve never actually eating Sweet and Sour Chicken before, so I didn’t have a point of reference, but my husband and I really liked it. It was super easy and delicious!
So I know I have already commented, but we made this again and WOW – We love it every time! I have started serving it with stir fried onions and green peppers and it totally takes it to a new level. So yummy! 🙂
I made this last night. Why had I not made it until now? Possibly because I’m not the biggest fan of Chinese and more particularly, sweet and sour. It was awesome! I was so excited about leftovers, but my hopes and dreams were…devoured. By my one-year-old. No joke. We loved it and we’ll be eating it often!
OMG I made the sweet and sour chicken last night after following the link on the oven-baked ribs recipe. HANDS DOWN THE BEST S/S CHICKEN I HAVE EVER HAD! I can’t believe I made it at home in my own kitchen. Usually I prefer oriental food from my a Chinese restaurant. BUT NO MORE. Love your site. Thanks again!
My husband LOVED this dish! We are really picky about our Chinese food and I was surprised when he said to me, “I like this better than any take out we’ve ever had. We need to have this again, and soon!” Thanks so much for sharing! I love this site!
Well, I made this recipe tonight and I will never, ever make any other kind except this one! It was absolutely delicious! The sauce was perfect and the chicken was tender, tender, tender! Any time I’ve had sweet and sour chicken in a restaurant, the batter on the chicken pieces was way, way too much. This batter was simple and I was so surprised that using cornstarch and dipping the pieces in the egg would result in the perfect blend of coating. My family loved the dinner and this recipe is one I will make many times over.
I made the sauce separately and poured some over the hot chicken when it came out of the oven. I did it that way since I made quite a bit of chicken pieces and when I reheat the leftovers, the chicken will still hold the coating being on the crispy side. Either way, it doesn’t matter………the recipe sure is a winner for me! Thank you so much for sharing this with us, dear Melanie!
We LOVED this chicken! After big disasters in the past with making chinese food I had given up – but I gave it one last try and I’m so glad I did. It was so good! (but so is everything else I’ve tried off of this blog 🙂 ) Do you think this could be turned into a freezer meal?
Danica – glad you loved this. I don’t think this meal would work well as a freezer meal, though. Although if anyone tries it that way and prove me wrong, let me know!
Mel…this is AWESOME! I can’t believe I cooked something this delicious. Thank you for this:)
This is truly the best sweet and sour chicken. My husband and kids immediately requested it be added to our regulars. I ended up making 3 more of your recipes last week: the Indian Butter Chicken, Kicked Up Ramen – Kung Pao style and the Tuscan Garlic Chicken. I am officially a fan! Tonight Bourbon Chicken.
So good! I don’t think my husband believed that the sauce was homemade!
Desi – I don’t think this meal would fare well frozen. I, for one, haven’t tried it, but I suppose if anyone else has they can chime in with their results.
Can this recipe be frozen? Any recommendations on the methodology? It looks so good, I want to double/triple the recipe and have it on hand.
The hubby and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe! We make it about every other week…is that too often? =) Anyway, we love it so much we decided we would try and make it in the dutch ovens while camping. We doubled the recipe and add pineapple (with a little juice) and green peppers. The results: AWESOME! The only bad part was everyone loved it SOOOO much there wasn’t any left for seconds, everyone was disappointed =) Guess we’ll have to quadriple it next time! Such an AWESOME recipe!
Lets be fair you dont exactly need me to comment and sing this recipes praises as i think thats been proven already! But made this tonight and it was utterly wonderful, was worried about the vinegar smell that caused me to have a mini sneezing fit (if anyone else experiences this and is worried, have no fear! its fine!), but all turned out fabulously and im ashamed to admit it was devoured between just the 2 of us
Thank you very much indeed 🙂 x
so darn yummy! next to the fabulous orange chicken, this is our new favorite!
thanks for sharing the recipe!
Once again, a winner of a recipe from Melskitchencafe! I am 3 for 3 for this site, and I highly doubt if I’ll ever bother with any other recipe sites. Fairly simple, well-directed, and without processed food – what more can you ask for?
My husband, who hates everything I cook, came in the door tonight and made a *gross* face and said “what are you cooking?” (I think he smelled the vinegar, which I admit even made my eyes tear up a little when I’d open the oven to turn the chicken). Once it was on the plate, however, he proceeded to eat the entire baking dish of chicken. This will be an often requested recipe, I’m sure. Thank you, Mel!!!!
OMG!!!!!!! this ia an amazing recipe!! my family really loved it. thank-you for sharing!!!
I made this today when I all had written on my menu was “chicken”. I am SO glad I did! This was amazing!!!! I have to save some for my hubby who is working late tonight and I don’t want to! LOL
Thanks for a keeper of a recipe!!!!
I love this recipe. I think I’ve made it at least every other week since I discovered it. I’ve also made the sauce separately and served it with egg rolls and cream cheese wontons (and deep fried chicken of course). That turned out excellent as well. Thanks for such a great recipe!!
This is a great recipe; I saute red peppers and onions in the oil after the chicken is cooked and just then pour the sauce in, then add the chicken back into the skillet; you don’t even need to bake the whole thing in the oven for it to be yummy.
I found this on tastespotting and let me tell you, it was amazing! I was concerned it was going to be too vinegary because it smelled liked vinegar when it was cooking, but it was not at all. The only thing I might do differently next time is perhaps use less sugar, as it was possibly just a touch too sweet. Maybe 1/2 cup sugar? I don’t want to mess with it too much though because it really was great.
I tried this for dinner the other night. I have celiac and was SO excited to find a gluten free recipe for one of my favorite foods! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! It was SO yummy and my hubby loved it, said it was the best sweet and sour chicken he has ever had. I’ll have to agree. I’m excited to make this recipe again and again and again! Next time though, I’m going to double the recipe for the sauce =) SO YUMMY!
I made this Friday. My four-year-old loved it. I added green bell pepper which was great. I doubled the sauce but would not next time. The sauce is very powerful and a little goes a long way. We don’t eat much fried food but this was good for a change. I liked knowing what was going into our Chinese food. I will make this again but play around with the sauce a little my husband and I both thought it wasn’t quite. I little too ketchupy or something. It did look just like the real thing. 🙂
I was referred to you by a friend and this is the first recipe of yours I’ve tried. After my family and I scarfed the entire pan of chicken down, I went straight to all my contacts and referred them here as well. You just got a whole new legion of fans. And it’s well deserved! I bow to you 🙂
I made this last night and it was a definite hit! My husband, who doesn’t really like chicken, LOVED it! We will definitely be having this again and again! I also made your garlic knots for valentines day and they quickly became my “go-to” for rolls!!!!! Thanks! Love your website!
I decided to give my parents the night off last night and cook dinner for them, and thought this would be the perfect meal. Boy was I right, we all loved it! Even my siblings, and they are some picky eaters! I’m absolutely addicted to your wonderful website and my family seems to be pretty happy I found it too 🙂
My family teases me about all of the “blog food” meals I’ve been making lately. There have been quite a few lackluster meals. So, it was with low expectations that my family sat down to dinner. Everyone enjoyed it! I doubled the sauce and may experiment with adding a bit more soy or maybe hoisin sauce. Thanks for a great simple recipe I could make with ingredients already onhand.
Ok, this was absolutely perfect! My 12 year old, who says he hates chicken AND chinese food had thirds! Seriously wonderful. My husband said it reminded him of a restaurant he use to go to as a child. Thanks again…fabulous recipe!
Wow. This is the second recipe I’ve made from your “The Best Recipe” list. My family scarfed this down. This was so delicious and easy and I had all the ingredients! It’s super easy. Thanks for a champion recipe and I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Jenna – so glad you loved this “best” recipe. Thanks for letting me know!
this was very good,but next time will use less surgar,husband loved it!!!!
Thanks, Rita!
When tonight’s dinner arrangements fell through last minute, I was scrambling to figure out what to make with what I had on hand. I have had this recipe bookmarked for a long time, because I love sweet and sour, however, my husband does not. He recently tried some of mine at a Chinese restaurant, though, and said it was okay. I decided tonight was the night and if he didn’t like it , he could have peanut butter and jelly.
As we were eating, he asked me what I thought. I said, “It’s pretty darn good!” He said, “Yeah, this needs to be put on the menu.” That confused my 6 year old who thought we were going to have the Chinese restaurant put it on their menu. My husband proceeded to tell me several more times how good it was. Thank you for this recipe!
I’ll share how I adapted the recipe slightly. I ran out of vinegar, so I made up the rest with pineapple juice. Then just before the chicken was done, I stir-fried some green and red peppers and carrots. When they were crisp-tender, I threw in some pineapple chunks and a bit of sauce and cooked another minute or so. Then I tossed the veggies with the chicken before serving. No need for any side dishes. It was fabulous!
Tiffany – great comment! Thanks for checking in on this recipe. I’m glad that your husband revised his sweet-and-sour thinking and liked this version! That’s quite a compliment to you and I love your variations. Thank you!
Oh my!!!! The sweet and sour chicken is “to die for.” I made it tonight and will make it again very soon. Thank you!
Thanks, Stephanie!
Okay, I am left to wonder what I did wrong, because everyone LOVES this dish, and it just had such a vinegar taste and smell to my family. Like overpowering-burn my nostrils smell. All night long.
And your recipes NEVER fail me…so I’m left to wonder what I did. Any thoughts?
I let it cook for a good hour, and let the extra sauce simmer for 20 minutes. I’m wondering if I measured wrong? Who knows. But because of the rave reviews I want to try one more time. 🙂
hayley – I’m so bummed you didn’t love this recipe! You know, it does have a pretty strong vinegar taste so chances are you DID make it right but might not prefer the strong vinegar taste. I know that when I make it and open the oven to stir every 15 minutes, I’m assaulted by a wave of burning vinegar but after the hour of baking it simmers down to silky, sweet and sour perfection. I’m sorry you didn’t love it!
Melanie–Thanks for sharing a great recipe! I made this for dinner last night and it was VERY well received. My 10 year old who isn’t usually much of a meat-eater was super excited to try this and took a large serving. We all really enjoyed it and I’m sure that we’ll be having it again soon. I wonder, have you make it with boneless skineless thighs before? Do you use breasts exclusively because they’re more lean? I was thinking about it when I fished my bag of breasts out of the freezer and had to move the thighs aside to get to it, so I thought I’d ask!
Renee – I’m happy you liked this! I’ve never used chicken thighs before but imagine they would work great. I like the leaner chicken breast but if you have chicken thighs waiting to be used, I bet they would work just fine!
amazing!!! Big hit with all 3 of my picky eater kids. Husband loved it, I loved it. Its going to be made again.
Thanks!
Thanks, Melanie!
So…. i’m making a variation of this recipe as I type (only has 1 15-minute turn left!) and it looks just AMAZING! I made a few changes for calorie counts (less oil, splenda instead of sugar, less cornstarch and only an egg) – but it STILL looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it – thank you for sharing so many great recipes! Every one of yours i’ve tried has been awesome! (we had your chili for dinner last night…. wow!)
fittingbackin – I saw your post on the chili and am thrilled you loved it (that white chili is one of my favorites!). I hope you liked this chicken – your healthified changes always make me proud!
Thanks for the recipe! It’s SOOOO YUMMY!!
Would this sauce work for an orange chicken?
Thanks again!
SO GOOD! I made this week. I absolutely loved it and and so did my very picky boyfriend! He was super skeptical (as always) when he read the recipe but now he keeps telling everybody about it!
Thanks, Ellie! I’m so glad your picky-eater boyfriend loved this…that’s a success!
OH MY STINK!!! This was DELICIOUS!!!
Thank you so much! Quick question–can this same sauce be used to make orange chicken?
Thanks again!
Marcela – I’ve never tried this sauce with orange chicken because it has a different flavor than I like in my orange chicken but it’s always worth a try. I’m glad you liked it so much!
Yummy! Need I say more! I made this for supper tonight and got rave reviews from the fam!! We loved it. I served it with a Rice Pilaf and Stirfried Veggies. This is definately the Best!
Tammy – love your sides to this meal and I’m glad it was such a hit!
Becca – glad you and your family loved this one, too!
Melanie, I made this recipe for my family a few weeks ago and they LOVED it! I can’t wait to make it again, thank you so much!
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for some time now and I finally made it last week. Oh. My. Goodness. WOW! So much better than take out. It’s great because I already had everything on hand! Love your site! Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
Kathleen – thanks for checking in to let me know you liked this!
I am making this for dinner tonight. I have been wanting to make it for a long time and haven’t gotten around to it. It looks/sounds delicious… can’t wait!
Yum! Loved this. I love that I can make this at home and won’t have to go for take-out.
Just came across your blog and Love it! Made this for dinner tonight and it was a HUGE hit. This will be a definitely be something I make a lot from now on–thanks!
Thanks, Kim! I’m glad the first recipe you tried turned out so well!
This is amazing! We all loved it and gobbled it up. It was so easy to make and it tasted just like the sweet and sour chicken from Chinese restaurants, except maybe better! Thank you Mel!!!
Thanks, Kensi!
This is one of the best recipes I’ve come across on a food blog… amazing!
Thanks, Liz!
Looks so good! Love your site and recipes! What kind of vinegar do you use in this?
Hi Jennica – I usually use apple cider vinegar in this recipe.
I might have already commented on this to say it’s one of the best recipes I’ve seen in years. But I wanted to add that I use half the amount of sugar the recipe calls for with delicious results. Just in case anyone was wondering about using less sugar.
Christina – thanks for the tip on less sugar!
I made this last night and it was WONDERFUL! My husband loved it and it’s definitely being put into heavy rotation at our house!
Thanks, Amy!
This was wonderful! I decided to make it, but I was somewhat skeptical because I’ve made it before and it really wasn’t that good. But YOUR recipe is just so delicious. I had my husband run by and picked up the fried rice from the restaurant. My kids said this chicken was far better than the takeout we normally get. I think the cornstarch instead of flour makes a big difference. Also…the sauce is great.
Cindy – I’m glad another attempt at sweet and sour worked out well for you! Thanks for letting me know.
I heard about this recipe the other day and had to make it that night! This was great!! I loved the sauce cooked down on the stove, so similar to the take-out sauce. I added some bell peppers, pineapples and onion to ours the last 20 minutes of baking. Mr. loved it, so it’s a keeper and is being shared (and linked back) on my blog. =)
Rachelle – I love that idea of adding pineapple and bell peppers to the mix. I’m glad you liked it!
oh my goodness, these were so good! i was so proud of myself for making something that tasted like food from the chinese restuarant! i just don’t think i really expected these to turn out so fabulous but they sure did! thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Erica – glad you liked this meal, thanks for letting me know!
Made it tonight-Kids Loved it!! Thanks!
Thanks, Liz. I’m assuming you figured out the time the chicken cooks and I’m glad you and the kids liked it!
How long does the chicken cook?
YAY yet another winner of a recipe!! I made this tonight and everyone loved it. Thank you soooo much:)
Thanks, Sonya!
Oh, wow, this was great. My toddler and baby ate it! Hooray! I added those Chinese noodles, green onions, and pineapple wedges to my bowl, thanks again. Off to try another recipe of yours:)
Erin – glad this was such a hit with your kids! I love your additions of noodles…yum!
Thanks for your reply! It is a great recipe and I will make it the same way next time. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing something wrong.
Oh. I made this. Oh. SO. GOOD. We all loved it!! It was easy and I can’t wait to make it again!
Thanks, Sara – glad it was a hit!
I was just wondering if the coating is supposed to be crispy after baking. I made it exactly as written, and it was fabulous. However, the coating came out soft, so I was wondering if I did something wrong. I baked it in a 13 x 9-inch Pyrex dish. Maybe if I’d used a different kind of pan?
Veronica – I would say the coating doesn’t stay overly crisp. When I make it, the chicken and coating soaks up some of the sauce and the coating softens a bit. it shouldn’t be soggy, by any means, but it definitely isn’t crunchy and crispy. I use a glass 9X13-inch pyrex dish, too. One way to combat this would be to bake the chicken without the sauce and thicken the sauce on the stove and pour the sauce over the chicken while serving it. The chicken probably won’t be as flavorful with the sauce flavor but it would keep the coating a bit less soft (or you could just fry the chicken until completely cooked through in the first step and serve it alongside the sauce).
This was SO GOOD! I doubled the recipe, but cooked it in a 9×13 pan. I should have spread it out on a cookie sheet so it could have stayed a bit crispier, though. My husband said it was “the best sweet and sour chicken he’s ever had”.
TraciW – so glad you and your husband liked this! Thanks for letting me know.
so delicious, Melanie! we all loved it! i will definitely be making this again. thanks for another winner~
Thanks, Jeanette!
Melanie, we loved loved loved this! I’ve had it on the “to make” list and finally did tonight. My hubby said it was better than take out, and I agree! I just can’t get enough of your recipes, because every single one has been beyond delicious! Thank you!
Hey Ashley – so fun to hear from you and I’m happy that you liked this meal! Thanks so much for your sweet comment!
I cook for 5 adults and three kids daily, it is very rare to find something everyone likes. However I made this recipe tonight and all I heard was, “So when are you going to make that again?” Thanks for the recipe!!
Shannon – you are amazing to cook for all those people every day! I’m glad this meal pleased everyone…great news!
I made the sweet and sour chicken last night with jasmine rice and broccoli and it was delicious!!! My 8 year old said that this is one of her favorites – yay!!!
Thanks, Brenda – glad this meal came through for you!
This was great. I was a little worried that there would be scrambled eggs in my chicken, but there weren’t. My mom made a recipe very similar to this that she got from a local restaurant. So great.
Sally – thanks for your comment! I’m glad this worked out despite your initial reticence.
okay, this may be my favourite recipe YET!!!!!!!!! absolutely, unbelievably, undeniably DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!
Yay, Mia! So glad you liked this one, too!
ACK!! Everytime I stumble across another ‘must try’ recipe on your blog, I panic….what else am I missing!!? OH the stress!!!!!!
I am a HUGE fan of all chinese food Ah heck, who am a I kidding, I’m a huge fan of all things edible. I finally found an AMAZING recipe for ginger beef the other night, so I am soooo excited to be able to try this out and add it to my ‘chinese food’ recipes. (we have NO good chinese food restaurants in this entire city!) *sigh*
Thanks Mel, can NOT wait to try this out!!!!!! YUMMMMMY!!!! I know it will be awesome cuz thus far, every single recipe I’ve tried (what am I at now, 100?!!) {{lol}} has been nothing short of fabulous.
Thanks for your quick response. I made your honey lime enchiladas tonight for the second time. Soooo Yummy. I picked up my 14 year old from school and she asked what was for dinner. She was so excited it was the enchiladas. Thanks again for sharing your great recipes.
Natalie – glad you liked the enchiladas! It’s always a plus when the kiddos are happy BEFORE dinner (instead of dreading what’s on the menu).
Melanie-
What kind of vinegar do you use? I am excited to make these. 🙂 Yours is my favorite blog for RECIPES!
Thanks always for your time.
Natalie
Hi Natalie – I use apple cider vinegar when I make this. Hope you like it!
Oh yes, the results were definitely worth it. Even my pickiest eater asked for seconds. The whole family enjoyed it!
I’m relieved, Alicia! Thanks for checking back in to let me know.
We’re trying this tonight. It’s in the oven right now. I was just wondering if there are any easier ways to coat the chicken besides piece by piece in the corn starch and then the egg. Has anyone every tried putting the cornstarch and chicken in a large zip lock baggie and shaking it around to coat it and then dipping it in egg? Just trying to save a little time and mess. Can’t wait to try it.
Hi Alicia – I’ve never tried the bag-and-shake method but it’s worth a try! In fact, I’m making it for a large dinner group in a few weeks and I may give that method a try. It definitely is one of the more time consuming meals I make but I hope you think the results are worth it!
I made this tonight, but I didn’t put it in the oven. I made the sauce and put it in a skillet on the stove top and boiled it with carrots and bell peppers until the sauce was thick and the veggies were tender. I used white rice, already cooked chicken (cubed) and then poured the sauce/veggies over the top. It was a huge hit. Thanks for all the great recipes. You are my number one stop when I’m trying to get some fresh ideas.
Sonya – your adaptations sound delicious! I’m so glad you liked it and your comment was so nice – thank you!
Delish! This is amazing! My husband said its better than the restaurant!
Elena – thank you!!
Just wondering if you ever used pork with this recipe? By the way I love your website. Thanks for saving my cooking and my husband thanks you as well.
Amber – thanks for your comment! You are so nice. I’ve never tried pork with this recipe but have thought about it many times (does that count?). I’m guessing it would sub just great for the chicken.
We had this tonight and it was GREAT!!! The chicken was so tender and flavorful…much better than s&s chicken from the chinese restaurant. This is the 1st recipe that I have cooked from your site and I can’t wait to try more. I spent lots of time browsing your blog as I prepared our menu for the month. Lots of your recipes are written on my calendar. Thx so much!
Shaunta – thanks for checking in to let me know you liked this meal! I appreciate your rave reviews and hope you have good luck with any other recipes you try!
Melanie C. – I’m on my way to check out those green beans – sounds like a perfect accompaniment to this dish. I’m so glad you liked it!
I made this for dinner tonight. it was delicious!! husband, 3 1/2 year old boy, MIL, and I all loved it!! I served it over basmati rice, and on the side I made ‘chinese buffet green beans’ from allrecipes.com. sprinkled sesame seeds over everything. chicken was very tender.
thanks for yet ANOTHER great recipe!!
This recipe was so good I decided to create a blog just to review it. Here is the link to my review with picture included. http://akdrip.blogspot.com/2010/04/sweet-and-sour-chicken.html