Sweet and sour chicken is definitely my all-time favorite Chinese dish. I just love making this at home whenever I get the chance. I have to be honest and say that preparing this can get a little time consuming when you have to deep fry those chicken bits (although this is a great way to get over your fear of deep frying) but none the less the end result is very rewarding.
The lovely deep fried bite size chicken bits just lightly coated in the rich sweet and sour sauce is absolutely heavenly with a big bowl of steamed white rice. I love using boneless chicken thighs, simple because I find it has more flavor and the meat stays tender and moist. But feel free to substitute this for white meat chicken.
If youβre making this dish a head of time, do not coat the chicken with the sauce right away or it will get a little soggy.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
8 boneless and skinless chicken thighs (cut in bite size)
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying
Marinate the bite size chicken with some salt and pepper.
Combine the flour, corn starch and water to make a thick batter. Drop the chicken pieces into the batter and mix until the chicken is well coated. Shake off excess batter before frying.
Heat up the oil in the wok on medium high heat and deep fry the batter coated chicken until it is golden. Remove chicken and drain on paper towel. Drain excess oil and reserved 1 tablespoon for the sauce.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoon plum sauce
1/4 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup water or chicken stock
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 small clove of garlic (minced)
1 small shallot (chopped)
1 small green or red bell pepper (clean and cut into squares)
1/2 cup fresh pineapple (cut in cubes)
1/3 cup cucumber (peeled and cut in cubes)
In a small bowl, mix together the ketchup, plum sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, water or chicken stock and corn starch and then set aside.
Next, heat the wok with a tablespoon of reserved oil. Drop in the garlic, shallots and the bell pepper. Stir fry for a minute and then add the sauce mixture and bring it up to a boil until it thickens. Then add in the fried chicken, pineapple and cucumber and continue to stir fry. Serve it immediately with steamed white rice or egg fried rice.
Funny enough, I never get sweet ‘n’ sour if I’m getting takeout.
But I’d imagine that homemade is better than take out, less soggy and more fresh…your chicken looks delicious.
I love Sweet and Sour Chicken. I like pineapple in mine, never had cucumber, will have to try that! Definitely making this recipe soon. With white rice on the side. Heavenly! Yours look fantastic!
Oh yum! This looks delicious! I make a version of this at home, but I’ve never tried adding pineapple! I can’t wait to try it now π
I’ve never tried to make this but this recipe looks good. Love the look of the sauce.
Ohh…the sauce is certainly the best part of this meal.
Great recipe and will adapt it to one I already make. Thanks ;o) BTW…it’s one of my favorite homemade dishes too.
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Sweet and Sour Chicken is one of my favorite Chinese dishes as well! Now I am craving it! This looks great!
One of my daughters favorite. Thanks for the reminder to cook it soon for her.
Sweet and sour is also one of my favorites (a close second to Orange chicken) but I’ve never made it at home! I’m going to have to be brave and give this recipe a try. For some reason, I’m super intimidated when it comes to frying!
I love sweet and sour chicken! I never want to order it for some reason, but I always wind up eating more of it than anyone else. Go figure!
I know my kids will love me tonight !!! (I’m doing YOUR recipe..)
Thanks !!!!
It is my all time classic too when I go to a chinese restaurant. Thanks for posting the recipe I should try it at home as well. It looks awesome.
Sounds extremely delicious! Love it!
Ohh one of my favorite Chinese dishes, looks so delicious and you don’t have to do take-out.
I like your recipe for the Sweet Sour Sauce, and this is a great reminder to make it at home!
We have no good Chinese restaurants in Nashville, and I basically forget about it as a cooking option. But, made fresh like this really delicious.
I’ve never made sweet and sour chicken at home, but now I want to! Looks fantastic.
I’ve never tried to make sweet and sour chicken, but this looks absolutely delicious and easy as well. Thanks for sharing π
That looks like the perfect sweet and sour chicken!
delicious chicken sweet and sour sounds yummy
Always love this sweet and tangy dish….very appetizing.
That is a dish I adore! Your sweet & sour chicken looks lovely.
Cheers,
Rosa
Home made is unbeatable of course! I also only use chicken thigh, the flavour is much better than breast and it doesn’t dry out as much. We usually have Sweet and Sour Pork on our menus, not chicken, so I think this would be a nice alternative. Yumm…
Yum. Your recipe does sound great, I haven’t cooked it for ages at home either, but a Chinese t/a wouldn’t be the same without S&S Pork.
My favorite too….and this is a killer recipe. I don’t know why I don’t make this more often!
Sweet and sour chicken is one of my favorites! I never tried making it at home – but with your recipe I will now! Delicious!
I love this dish too! Especially when you get a really good, juicy piece of chicken π
What a lovely dish. I really like the plum sauce in it. We love using our wok, which is old and very well seasoned. However I do admit to a bit of anxiety over deep frying. Maybe it’s a fear I should face.
Sam
This comes next to orange chicken in my fav list.Your post makes me wanna make it for today’s dinner…not a bad idea…looks tempting
I lovvvvvve sweet & sour, and can’t imagine how much more delicious it must be homemade. I’ve never had home-prepared Chinese food, and imagine it must be fantastic!
This looks saucy and wonderful. Nice work.
Oooh, I love sweet and sour chicken. And I’ve on a make-my-own-takeout kick lately. So this is perfect! Yum!
Thank you so much for posting this! My youngest is an absolute sweet and sour chicken fanatic and he would love this recipe! I’m not crazy about the deep frying part but I’m willing to give it a shot. I bet this is so much better for you then anything you get a restaurant! :o)
This is one of my favorites! I love making Chinese food at home…it somehow makes me feel like I have all the secrets to take-out π Thanks for the new recipe!
I love the sauce. I am saving this recipe! The addition of cucumber it totally something new to me too. I bet this is a million times better than the sweet and sour chicken from a Chinese restaurant.
Oh my! I haven’t had this in probably over a year. Now I know what I want for my birthday dinner!
Delicious! Sweet and Sour Chicken is definitely one of my favorite Chinese dishes. Your version looks fantastic!
This looks really good. I have never had sweet and sour chicken, although sweet and sour pork is a favourite of mine.
I love sweet and sour chicken but have never tried to make it at home — I might give it a whirl now, though!
Sweet and Sour Chicken is one of my husband’s favorite foods but I never let him order it because it is so full of sugar and fat! I love that your recipe is far more healthy…I am definitely going to give this a try the next time I feel like being a nice wife…maybe never?? π
OOo I love the sweet and sour too! This looks so good!
oh wow, this recipe looks great!
I have a package of chicken thighs in my fridge now that are DYING to be used for this recipe… This looks mouth watering! Thanks so much for sharing this great recipe, and these beautiful photos.
My husband would be in heaven if I made this for him! He loves sweet and sour. And you’re absolutely right; dark meat is much better than white. Beautiful snaps as well!
sweet and sour is one of our favs, homemade is always better, love the sauce…thanks for sharing
sweetlife
I am like Monet: I love sweet and sour and also orange chicken. You did a great job. This looks delicious;)
Truthfully, I haven’t had this in YEARS! This makes me want to order take out right now! Bookmarking…
Yum! I love sweet & sour chicken. Your picture looks gorgeous, just like the sweet & sour chicken they serve in a restaurant.
My daughter loves the orange chicken at Panda Express. I bet she would love this too. I noticed that you put plum sauce in too. Yum!
This is going into my `take-out at home`file — we`re on a small island here, with no chain restaurants, and no ethnic take-outs…the pub is ok, but when you want some take-out chinese food, a burger doesn`t cut it.
Thanks! Theresa
Sweet and sour is my favorite! i’m totally stealing this from you! I’l give you credit when I post it though! π
This brings make so many memories from my childhood…thanks π
my mom used to always make sweet and sour pork and i loved it..never really thought of chicken..
Oh my, this is my youngest son’s favorite dish in the world…he has been crazy about it since he was little. He had prepared it several times, but is always saying he has not found a “great recipe” yet (I have been no help).
I will have to send this to him π