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.
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.