Sweet & Sour Chicken

Y’all know how much we like our #chinesefakeaway meals. There is just something about making those classic Americanized Chinese Food dishes at home. My latest endeavor was to tackle the Chinese takeout staple – this home version of Sweet & Sour Chicken is loaded with crispy chicken pieces with bell pepper, onion and pineapple in a delicious sweet & sour sauce. What is so amazing about this dish is the mix of textures from the glossy sauce to the crunchy chicken.

The method I share for coating the chicken in the recipe is one you can use in so many other recipes. It comes out super crispy and adheres so well to the chicken. You also don’t have to use excessive amounts of flour or oil in the preparation. If you wanted to use this method to make some quick chicken nuggets, just swap out the ginger for paprika. Leave everything else the same.

One thing about cooking any type of Chinese food successfully is the prep. In general, the popular dishes cook up rather quickly. So you need to make sure you have everything ready and waiting before you put even one piece of chicken into the pan. This is a good practice for lots of styles of cooking but especially true for this style. There is very little inactive or waiting time once you start because if you leave that chicken frying for just 30 seconds too long, it gets hard and dry.

You might be thinking to yourself- isn’t Sweet & Sour Pork more common than Chicken? You may be right…but as with lots of meals, my family’s preferences prevail. You can certainly swap our the chicken thighs for a pork roast. Prepare it essentially the same way – cut into 1 inch cubes and coat in the same method. Cook time will also be similar. Use your meat thermometer to make sure it’s cooked through.

While it is typical to serve Sweet & Sour Chicken with white rice, my family unanimously likes chow mein noodles better. So that’s what I made with this the last time I made it. It’s an easy Simple Chow Mein recipe that is pretty simple to make alongside this chicken recipe. If you have everything ready, you can start it at the same time you are frying the chicken.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Sweet & Sour Chicken

Crispy chicken pieces with bell pepper, onion and pineapple in a delicious sweet & sour sauce.

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American, Chinese

Keyword chinese fakeaway, chinese food, crispy chicken, pineapple, red bell peppers, Sweet & Sour Chicken, sweet & sour sauce, sweet and sour chicken, white onion

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 Large Red Bell Pepper cut into 1-inch squares
• 1 Medium White Onion cut into 1-inch squares
• 1 20oz can Pineapple Chunks in 100% Pineapple Juice reserve juice for sauce
• 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
• Oil for frying

For the Chicken

• 1½ lb Chicken Thighs, boneless, skinless cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 Large Eggs beaten
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger
• 2 cups Flour
• ½ cup Cornstarch
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger

For the Sweet & Sour Sauce

• 1 cup Ketchup
• ½ cup Soy Sauce
• ¼ cup Sesame Oil
• ¼ cup Rice Vinegar
• Reserved Pineapple Juice
• 2 tbsp Corn Starch
• 1 tbsp Minced Garlic

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

• Combine all sauce ingredients a small sauce pan. Bring just a bubble over medium-high heat. Then reduce to medium low and let simmer.
• In a medium mixing bowl, add bell pepper. onions, pineapple and sesame oil.
• In a large mixing bowl, add cut chicken. Combine ginger and beaten eggs. Pour over chicken and toss to evenly coat. Combine flour, cornstarch, salt and ginger. Add flour to bowl and toss to evenly coat.
• Add enough oil to a frying pan to be about ½ inch deep and put over high heat. Once up to at least 375degF, start add coated pieces of chicken (shake a little to separate). Do not over crowd the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove to a baking rack over paper towels on a baking sheet. Repeat till all chicken is cooked.
• In a separate frying pan over medium high heat. add pepper mixture. Saute for about 5 minutes.
• On a large serving dish, add pepper mixture to bottom in a mostly single layer. Pile crispy chicken on top. Then pour sweet & sour sauce over top. Serve with rice or noodles.