This easy Sweet and Sour Chicken is made with crispy chicken, bell peppers, onion, pineapple, and a quick and easy Sweet and Sour Sauce. It’s simple and a meal the whole family will enjoy.
Check out more of my Chinese-Inspired recipes. I love Mongolian Beef, Chow Mein, General Tso’s Chicken, and Kung Pao Shrimp!
Why I love this recipe:
- Delicious – Whenever we’re craving take-out flavors from home, this sweet and sour chicken tops the list. I first made this recipe over a decade ago, from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, and this adapted version has been a family favorite ever since. It’s definitely not authentic like this recipe, but it uses simple ingredients and is always devoured.
- The Sauce – nothing beats simple sauces made from home and this easy sweet and sour is no exception. It tastes so much better than anything bottled in the grocery store, and I love knowing the ingredients added.
- Make Ahead – I love to prep this recipe ahead, so It comes together effortlessly at dinner time.
How to make Sweet and Sour Chicken:
Prep Chicken: Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch chunks then season with salt and pepper. Place the cornstarch in a large Ziploc bag; add the chicken pieces then toss to coat the chicken evenly.
Dip Chicken: In a shallow bowl beat the eggs together. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Dip the chicken pieces in the beaten eggs and place them carefully in the hot skillet (you may need to coat and cook the chicken in batches), and cook for just about one minute on each side, until golden and crispy, but not cooked through.
Bake: Add chicken to a large rimmed baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-17 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Sauté Veggies: Meanwhile, add the bell peppers and onion to the skillet and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add pineapple.
How to make Sweet and Sour Sauce: Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl then pour into the skillet with the veggies. Cook, stirring, until thickened.
Serve: Remove chicken from oven then pour sauce and veggies over the top. Toss to coat. Serve homemade sweet and sour chicken immediately with hot steamed white or brown rice.
Make Ahead Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Cut the chicken and chop veggies ahead of time, storing seperatly in the fridge. Make the sauce 1 to 2 days a head of time, stored in the fridge. then store it in the fridge. You can also cut up the veggies ahead of time to make this a super fast meal!
Try more of my Chinese-Inspired Favorites:
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Mongolian Beef
- Chow Mein
- Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Lettuce Wraps
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Hibachi Chicken
- Kung Pao Shrimp
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Recipe
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into 1 inch chunks
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 3 large eggs , beaten
- 1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola), or more as needed
- 2 bell peppers , red and green, chopped into large chunks
- 1/2 sweet onion , chopped into large chunks
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- 5 or 6 cups hot cooked rice
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Coat chicken: Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch chunks and season with salt and pepper. Place the cornstarch in a large resealable bag; add the chicken pieces and toss to coat the chicken evenly.
- Dip chicken:Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs together. Dip chicken pieces in beaten eggs and place on hot skillet
- Cook: Add chicken pieces to hot pan (may need to cook in batches) and cook for about one minute on each side, until golden and crispy, but not cooked through.
- Bake: Add chicken to a large rimmed baking dish and bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Veggies: Meanwhile, add the bell peppers and onion to the skillet and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add pineapple.
- Sauce: Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl then pour into the skillet with the veggies. Cook, stirring, until thickened.
- Serve: Remove chicken from oven and pour sauce and veggies over the top. Toss to coat. Serve immediately with hot steamed white or brown rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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*I originally shared this recipe August 2014. Updated January 2019 and March 2024.
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Yum. I loved the balance of flavors, and it wasn’t hard to make.
I only used three chicken breasts and cannot imagine the massive quantity I would’ve had if I had used four, as my chicken breasts were very large. I think that it would be useful in future recipes to put that amount of meat required for recipes such as these in weight increments instead
Good, but way too much vinegar!! I wish I had read the previous comments by others, so I could have cut some of the vinegar ahead of time. Since this dish was still okay, I will be making it again in the future, just with about half of the recommended vinegar.
I omitted the eggs and used pork instead of chicken. Turned out great!!! Kids loved it, always a bonus!
I agree with Breanne. The recipe was too vinegar-y. I even thought I read the recipe wrong. I would make it again, but I would use much less vinegar.
I thought the recipe was great, except itās too vinegar-y. I saw the note about not enough egg and oil in the comment below, and I agree. But it was very easy to add both of those. The recipe came out looking lovely, again just too vinegary. I would love to know what to replace it with.
Yikes! Not good instructions. Ran out of oil and the chicken is all eggy. Needless to say I smoked out my home using a high heat to fry
Tastes really good to me! Now however I have a ton of tasty leftovers, as I live by myself.
My kids loved this! I would like to add more veggies next time! I personally used tamari and garlic powder instead of garlic salt and low sodium soy. The salts in tamari and the amino acids are a requirement for longevity whereas the salt used in garlic salt is most likely basic table salt. Nutritional yeast is another way to get those important amino acids!
Loved this recipe! Cooked this for my 79 yr old dad and he loved it even more than the Mongolian Beefā¦and he LOVED the Mongolian Beef!
So yummy. Made the recipe as is. Adding it to our meal plan.
Thank you!
Made this recipe this last weekend with chicken thighs, think her suggestion for chicken breasts would be better for more consistent size pieces. Very good, will make again soon, add more vegetables than you think you will need as they melt into the chicken and sauce and are very good.
The sauce had waaaaay too much of a ketchup flavor. Not sure why ketchup is being used to make sweet & sour sauce but it was not good.
It was a tasty recipe, but I would reduce the amount of apple cider vinegar-feedback from the kids and husband were that it was the predominant taste.
They still went back for seconds, so not a fail by any means!
I really loved this recipe! I made it for lunch today and plan on using the leftovers for more lunches! Note for myself : I used rice wine vinegar.
Very tangy. Chicken delicious. I will cut back on sugar and vinegar next time but great easy recipe. Loved the coated chicken – will use that in more recipes
Very good! Very sweet – if you’ve been cutting back on sugar or don’t have a sweet tooth, I’d suggest reducing the sugar in the sauce. Chicken very moist – thank you!
Thank you for another great recipe I cant wait to try. If you can in the future make it so when the recipe is printed it all fits on one page. When I went to print this one it was going to be 3 pages.
Loved this recipe. So much better thank take out!
Husband says it tastes just as good as Chinese take away! The whole family enjoyed it.
Everyone in my family loved this for dinner tonight. We did not have bell pepper’s and it still turned out great. I would recommend when making the sauce to open your windows to let the fragrance dilute from the ACV.
This was DELICIOUS! I used fresh pineapple and only 1/4 cup of Truvia.
This sounds yummy! But I was wondering if it would be okay to just put the cooked chicken into the skillet with the sauce instead of pouring the sauce onto the chicken ? Thank you! š
Sure! I just found that it was such a large amount, it was easier to toss in the baking sheet.
Whereās the original recipe you posted for sweet n sour chicken? I like that one better.
This is the same recipe, I just don’t bake them all together with the sauce, like I used to. š
I made this for dinner tonight, and it tastes great! I was just wondering if the full cup of vinegar is correct. Even after I cooked everything, the sauce still burned my nose when I breathed over my plate. Please let us know!
Thanks Natalie. I do use the whole cup of vinegar. The rice vinegar is even a little more mild, or you could use less next time, if you prefer.
This was so good! We loved it!
I’m so glad! Thanks for coming back to comment. XOX
We are really big fans of Chinese food at our house and my husband thought this was the best sweet and sour chicken he had had! I’ll be saving this recipe and sharing it with others!
Thanks for another great recipe! (We love your kung pao chicken recipe too!)
What a nice compliment from Chinese food connoisseur’s š . Thanks for your kind comment š
Can you use fresh pineapple?
Yes, absolutely! Enjoy!
I just want to thank you _ your recipes are great & I really Appreciate that I can print JUST THE RECIPE UP AND NOT ALL THE REVIEWS _ THAT WASTE ALL MY INK _ &
THAT GIVES ME MORE INK TO PRINT YOUR RECIPES_ THANK YOU
I made this recipe tonight with an oven temp tweak: I upped the oven temp to 420ā for 25 minutes, with delicious family-approved results on a large stoneware sheet pan. I just wasn’t patient enough for the 45+ minute bake at the lower oven temp. The internal temp was over 180ā and this yummy chicken was taunting us, “Eat me!” Thank you for sharing! I found this recipe link on Pinterest.
Looks delicious! I plan on making this for dinner tonight. Just curious. The recipe says to cook for 45 min to 1 hour. That seems long to me for chicken breast pieces (esp. after they are partially cooked in the skillet already). Does it really take that long?
Thanks!
Hi Michelle, you can try cutting the baking time down to 30minutes–the sauce wont thicken as much. I’ve always made the recipe as stated and it turns out great!
Hello š i want to try this as soon as possible! but i see peppers and i think onion too in the picture .. yet they aren’t mentioned in the recipe!?
Hi Ella, Sorry I forgot to mention that. I added a note at the bottom of the recipe saying that I like to add 1-2 chopped bell peppers and a chopped red onion to this dish! You could also add pineapple chunks!
mmm mmm mmm I actually love cheap chinese, but even better would be to make this at home. or how about you make it for me? looks amazing!
Thanks Aimee, it really is the easiest to make from home! Wish I could come make it for you š
Looks delicious! I enjoy eating Sweet and Sour chicken at our local Chinese restaurant but it’s always nice to be able to make it at home too. My kids love helping me cook meals like this.
Thanks Erica, that sounds like a great idea to have your kids help you make it!
Just wondering what time you’ll be here for lunch today! š Looks soooo good! Pinned.
Hahaha how fun would that really be?! Thanks Alli
MMM! One of our favorite meals! Looks great!
It’s a classic! Hope you get to try this version!
Yummy! Thanks for the recipe – can’t wait to try it!
Thanks DeDe, hope you get to try it soon!
Yummy! Looks amazing!