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.
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.
How to Make Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
The chicken for this recipe is flash-fried in a little bit of oil before going into a pan and into the oven to be baked fully.
There’s a good reason for this process:
- It gives a delicious browned “crust” on the chicken pieces
- The sweet and sour sauce is poured onto the par-baked chicken and everything bakes together in the oven – this fully cooks the chicken AND thickens and develops the flavors of the sauce
I have streamlined the chicken coating-and-cooking process to make it ultra-simple.
First, place the chicken pieces in a ziploc-style bag and toss with a bit of salt and pepper.
Second, add the cornstarch, seal the bag, and shake until the chicken pieces are evenly coated.
It might seem strange to coat the chicken pieces in cornstarch before dipping in egg, but it’s the preferred method here, and it works – I promise!
Dip the cornstarch-coated chicken pieces into the egg mixture.
Instead of doing this one little piece at a time, I dump several pieces of chicken in at once, toss around with a fork until the egg mixture fully coats the chicken and then replenish with more chicken as they go into the hot pan.
A Key to Making Sweet and Sour Chicken
Remember that the chicken pieces are just getting a quick minute in the hot pan so they are golden on the outside.
You don’t need very much oil, but you DO need to make sure the pan is hot and rippling before adding the chicken.
Here are a few things that will help:
- Use a nonstick pan – this means you can use less oil and still get beautifully golden chicken pieces.
- Heat the oil in the pan until it is hot enough that the chicken sizzles immediately when added to the pan.
- Cook for just a few seconds on each side until the “crust” is golden brown – you don’t want to cook the chicken completely in this step!
Sweet and Sour Sauce
The sauce for this baked sweet and sour chicken consists of:
- sugar
- ketchup
- vinegar
- soy sauce
- garlic powder
There is just the right amount of sauce for the breaded chicken pieces to bake in without becoming saturated and soggy. As the sauce simmers in the oven with the chicken, it thickens and coats the chicken with a caramelized sweet and sour glaze.
If you like extra sauce, simply whisk together another batch of sauce and simmer it on the stovetop for 8 to 10 minutes to serve alongside the baked sweet and chicken.
A Very Popular Recipe
There are over 500 5-star reviews for this amazing recipe; I’ll highlight just a few:
Stephanie: Amazing! My whole family loved this recipe! Tasted like it was from a restaurant and it was SO easy to make! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Erin: First time poster – this was FANTASTIC. I doubled the sauce, threw in a can of pineapple chunks and used rice vinegar. Thank you – this is going in the rotation. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kimberly: I was worried about the one hour cooking time drying out the chicken but every bite was tender. Will make again. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Vicki: Oh my- officially a fav in our house. It’s been requested 3 times in as many weeks. I add peppers and onion to mine over rice. So good! Thanks for sharing it!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Below is a list of the most frequently asked questions for this recipe – and if you scroll through the comments, you can see many, many variations!
Sweet and Sour FAQ:
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.
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.
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).
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.
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!
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.
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.
I don’t see why not! Many commenters have tried that with good results.
I prefer the Heinz Natural brand (without HCFS) but when I can’t find it, I go with regular Heinz.
What to Serve With This:
Baked Brown Rice
Steamed Broccoli
Creamy 5-Cup Fruit Salad or fresh, seasonal fruit
Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup canola, vegetable or coconut oil
Sauce:
- ½ to ¾ cup granulated sugar, depending on how sweet you want the sauce
- 4 tablespoons ketchup
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar (see note)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch or slightly larger pieces. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Place the cornstarch in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Put the chicken into the bag with the cornstarch and seal, tossing to coat the chicken.
- Whisk the eggs together in a shallow pie plate. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until very hot and rippling. Dip the cornstarch-coated chicken pieces in the egg and place them carefully in a single layer in the hot skillet.
- Cook for 20-30 seconds on each side until the crust is golden but the chicken is not all the way cooked through (this is where it’s really important to have a hot skillet/oil). Place the chicken pieces in a single layer in a 9X13-inch baking dish and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
- Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and pour over the chicken. Bake for one hour, turning the chicken once or twice while cooking to coat evenly with sauce. Serve over hot, steamed rice.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe original recipe
Recipe originally published July 2008; updated Sept 2018 with new pictures, recipe notes, etc.
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!