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 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!