Sweet and Sour Chicken

4.53 from 82 votes
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Sweet and sour chicken is a popular Chinese recipe. This healthy and crispy sweet and sour chicken recipe is so delicious with sweet and sour sauce. It's better than takeout!

Sweet and sour chicken with sweet and sour chicken sauce.
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Sweet And Sour Chicken Recipe

Sweet and sour chicken is one of the most popular Chinese recipes.

Chinese sweet and sour is a cooking style that is easy, delicious and everyone’s favorite.

The dish comes complete with crispy fried chicken cubes with mouthwatering sweet and sour sauce. It goes well with steamed rice, fried rice or chow mein.


Sweet And Sour Sauce

How do you make sweet and sour chicken sauce?

You will need the following simple ingredients to make the sauce:

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.

My recipe is healthy with no red food coloring in the sauce.

You can make the sweet sour sauce in advance, store in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator.


How To Make Sweet And Sour Chicken

Chinese sweet and sour chicken in a bowl.

The recipe is easy and simple. First, cut the chicken into bite-sized cubes.

Then make the sweet and sour chicken batter and coat the chicken with the batter.

Next, deep fry the chicken and stir fry with the sweet sour sauce.


Cooking Tips

For the best sweet and sour chicken, please following my cooking tips below:

  • The combination of plum sauce, Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce and Chinese rice vinegar make the sauce tastes like the best Chinese restaurants.
  • DO NOT double the sauce. The sauce should lightly coat the chicken cubes so the chicken remain crispy and not soggy.
  • Use baking powder in the batter. The baking powder makes the batter light and airy and the chicken will be extra crispy and crunchy.
  • DO not use red coloring in the sauce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add pineapple to the recipe?

Yes, you sure can. Just opt out the tomatoes in the recipe and replace with pineapple.
You may use fresh pineapple or canned pineapple with syrup. If you use canned pineapple, remember to discard the syrup before cooking.
Cut the pineapple into bite-sizes pieces before cooking.

Can I use air fryer to fry the chicken?

Yes, you can use air fryer. Just lightly coat the chicken with the batter and air fry in an air fryer.

How many calories per serving?

This recipe is only 345 calories per serving.

Sweet and sour chicken recipe with sweet and sour sauce, without pineapple.

What To Serve With Sweet And Sour Chicken

Serve this dish with steamed rice or other rice and noodle dishes. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on FacebookPinterest, and Instagram for new updates.


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4.53 from 82 votes

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet and sour chicken is a popular Chinese recipe. This healthy and crispy sweet and sour chicken recipe is so delicious with sweet and sour sauce. It's better than takeout!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2 People
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Ingredients  

  • 8 oz. (230g) boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size cubes
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, optional
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into squares
  • 1 small tomato, cut into wedges, optional
  • 1 stalk scallion, cut into 2-inch (5cm) lengths
  • oil, for deep frying

Batter:

  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

  • 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons Lingham brand hot sauce , or other chili sauce
  • 1 teaspoon plum sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon Chinese rice vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 3 dashes white pepper powder

Instructions 

  • Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized cubes and marinate them with 1 tablespoon of wine for 10 minutes. In a bowl, mix the batter, then add the chicken cubes to it. In a separate small bowl, mix the Sweet and Sour sauce and set aside.
  • Heat cooking oil in a wok and deep-fry the chicken cubes, shaking off any excess batter before frying. Once golden brown, transfer the chicken to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Discard the remaining cooking oil, leaving only 2 tablespoons in the wok.
  • Add the garlic to the wok and sauté until light brown, then add the green bell peppers. Stir-fry until fragrant. Pour in the sweet and sour sauce and bring it to a boil.
  • Toss in the chicken and tomatoes, then add the chopped scallions. Stir quickly, then dish out and serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Video

Notes

Watch the cooking video on this page for step-by-step guide.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g, Calories: 345kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 28g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 871mg, Potassium: 819mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 14g, Vitamin A: 966IU, Vitamin C: 71mg, Calcium: 103mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Please rate and comment below!

About Rasa Malaysia

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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89 Comments

  1. Musharaf says:

    How to make more thiner sauce?

  2. Musharaf says:

    How to thin sauce ?

  3. Sam says:

    5 stars
    Delicous, surprised at how well it tasted as I substituted the plum sauce and chili sauce for a sweet chilli sauce.The chicken batter was nice and crunchy and sauce was better than any chinese restuarant i’ve tasted! Got great feed back from family!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi Sam, great to know that your family enjoy my sweet and sour chicken recipe.

  4. Kaylee says:

    Hi! May I know what brand of plum sauce do you use? Will Lee Kum Kee brand be okay? Or any other substitutes you can recommend. Thanks a lot!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes Lee Kum Kee is fine.

  5. DZ says:

    Hi Bee, did you retake the photos? They look so good and much better than the last set… Was planning to make sweet sour chicken but with your pork recipe based on the picture alone but I’ve changed my mind… I’ll use this recipe instead!

  6. Musharaf says:

    I have tried this raciept, but at the end chicken pieces are too hard to chew. Can you please tell what i have made a mistake?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      That’s strange I think you fried too long.

  7. Din says:

    Wonderful and easy to follow recipe for a dinner for two! :) The only two questions I had was:
    1) The Chinese restaurants seem to use more batter?
    2) Do the restaurants use more than two tablespoons of oil?
    Apart from that, everything else tasted great.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes Chinese restaurants have thicker batter and more greasy and oil used.

  8. Melinda says:

    I made this dish yesterday and it was a hit. My hubby loved it and said that it’s even better than restaurant sweet and sour chicken. A couple of questions, if I want more sauce, do i just double the sauce recipe? Also, I couldn’t find shaoxing wine. Any idea where to get it in KL? Also, I used rice vinegar (white) as I couldn’t find Chinese rice vinegar. Does that make a difference to the dish?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes you can double the sauce. Rice vinegar is fine. Shaoxing wine any supermarket has it.

  9. Anna says:

    What Chinese rice vinegar you use in that recipe? Black Chinkiang vinegar or perhaps red or white vinegar?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      White vinegar.

  10. Tracey says:

    Today I made my first recipe from your website. It took me a month to find all the ingredients in Greece. Sweet & Sour Chicken – absolutely delicious!!!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi Tracey, wow, thanks so much for trying the recipe.