Quick & Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken

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Crispy chicken coated in a sweet, tangy, and sticky sauce! This quick and easy Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe is made with simple ingredients - ready in 30 minutes. A great main that's family-friendly, cheaper and better-than-takeout!

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Why this recipe
Ingredients & Substitutes
Variations
Expert Tips
Instructions
Storage & Reheating
Pairing Suggestions
FAQ
More Like This
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Sweet and sour chicken features bite-sized pieces of fried chicken tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce with bell peppers, onions and pineapple.

It's a popular Chinese takeout dish served at Chinese restaurants and one of my all-time favorite Asian chicken dishes.

Whenever my husband and I are craving Chinese food, I'll make this fried chicken recipe and serve it with jasmine rice and more vegetables.

What sets my recipe apart is the chicken is shallow fried (not deep fried), so less oil is wasted, which means less cleanup. It's also lower in calories!

I've been cooking this dish since I was a teen. I remember my first time trying to wing it without a recipe (not a good idea) and it was a challenge to get the sauce right for obvious reasons. But after many trials later, this is the one I'm most proud to share!

Why this recipe

Ready in 30 minutes!
Easy to make.
Made with simple ingredients!
Restaurant quality.
Family-friendly!
Shallow-fried in less oil.

Ingredients & Substitutes

Please scroll down to the below recipe card for full measurements.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs: or substitute with boneless skinless chicken breasts and cook until an internal temperature of 165F.
Red Bell Peppers: or substitute with yellow, orange or green bell peppers.
Fresh Pineapple: or substitute frozen thawed pineapple with liquids strained. Or substitute with canned pineapple; liquids strained.
Onion
Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch. Avoid using tapioca starch as it'll cause the coated chicken to stick together in the pan.
Neutral Oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil. Avoid olive oil or any low-smoke point oil.
Salt
Garlic Powder: don't replace with minced garlic or it'll burn as you fry the chicken.
Sesame Seeds: optional garnish - if you're allergic to sesame seeds, omit them.
Green Onion: for garnishing.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ketchup: for that red color and tangy flavor.
Brown Sugar: or substitute with cane sugar or white granulated sugar.
Regular Soy Sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce.
White Vinegar: or substitute with rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
Cold Water
Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch, tapioca starch or arrowroot starch.

Variations

Pork version - Replace the chicken thighs with diced pork shoulder.
Shrimp version - Replace the chicken with peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp.
Tofu version - Replace the chicken with large diced extra-firm tofu.
Gluten-free Version - Replace the soy sauce with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or gluten-free soy sauce.

Expert Tips

Make sure the chicken smells fresh as this is the star ingredient by doing a smell test - if it smells off, get a fresher pack.
Use chicken thighs for best taste as they have more fat and won't dry out in the cooking process.
Don’t pat dry the chicken as moisture is needed for the cornstarch to stick.
Evenly dice the chicken into 1.5-inch cubes, so they fry consistently.
Evenly coat the diced chicken with starch, ensuring that there are no bald spots.
Use a heavy-bottomed pan to fry the chicken to maintain oil temperature.
Ensure the oil is hot enough before frying, around 325-350 F with a digital cooking thermometer or insert a wooden chopstick into the oil and look for rapid bubbles.
Fry the chicken in batches in a single layer and avoid overcrowding the pan or you won't get crispy chicken.
Avoid moving the chicken as it fries, so it can develop a golden crust.
Drain the fried chicken on a wire rack or paper-towel lined plate to remove excess oil, which leads to soggy chicken.

Instructions

Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make sweet and sour chicken:

Combine sauce ingredients until sugar has dissolved.

Make the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients as listed above and dissolve the sugar. Set aside.

Season diced chicken with salt and garlic powder and coat in cornstarch.

Season and coat diced chicken: Dice chicken thighs into 1.5-inch pieces and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and garlic powder. Then add cornstarch and toss to evenly coat, ensuring no bald spots.

Fry chicken until crispy, cooked and golden.

Fry chicken: Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Fry chicken in batches until cooked, golden and crispy on both sides, or about 3-4 minutes per side.

Transfer fried chicken to a wire rack or paper towel-lined plate.

Drain fried chicken: Transfer fried chicken to a wire rack or paper towel-lined plate to remove excess oil or it can get soggy.

Sauté vegetables and thicken sauce: Reserve 1 teaspoon or 5 ml of the residual oil in the pan and discard the rest. Reduce to medium heat and sauté onions, red bell pepper and pineapple for 30-45 seconds. Add the sauce and simmer to thicken it, about 30-60 seconds.

Toss in fried chicken and mix to coat evenly and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.

Toss chicken in sauce and garnish: Add fried chicken and toss to evenly coat in the sauce. Remove off heat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Storage & Reheating

Sweet and sour chicken can last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge, once cooled. To enjoy, reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until hot throughout.
Sweet and sour chicken can be frozen for up to 2-3 months in a freezer-safe bag, once cooled. I recommend freezing the sauce, vegetables and chicken in three separate bags for best texture. To enjoy, defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until hot throughout.

Pairing Suggestions

Sweet and sour chicken serves well with:

starters like egg rolls, crab rangoon, egg drop soup, or hot and sour soup.
white or brown rice, or fried rice
chow mein, lo mein, plain noodles, soup noodles
cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
protein dishes like Mongolian Beef, Beef Onion Stir-Fry, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Bang Bang Shrimp, Egg Foo Young, Soy Garlic Tofu, and more!

FAQ

Can I make this in advance?

Sweet and sour chicken can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge, once cooled. I recommend storing the sauce and vegetables separately from the fried chicken for best texture. To reheat, microwave or reheat on the stovetop until hot throughout.

Can I air fry sweet and sour chicken?

The fried chicken in sweet and sour chicken can be made in the air fryer: First evenly spray the air fryer basket with neutral oil. Then place the coated chicken into the basket in a single layer, giving each piece enough space - you'll need to air fry in batches. Evenly spray oil over the chicken. Air fry at 400 F for 10-14 minutes until cooked, golden and crispy, no need to flip.

Why is my chicken not crispy?

Soggy chicken can be caused by: not evenly coating the chicken in starch, the oil is not hot enough, overcrowding the pan, constantly moving the chicken around as it fries, or not draining off excess oil.

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