A Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe that shows you how to make the Chinese takeout favourite Sweet and Sour Chicken in the oven so the chicken is CRISPY but not dried out inside. Coated generously in a sticky sauce with a perfect sweet-sour balance!
I don’t like to shout out from the rooftops “this is the BEST baked Sweet & Sour Chicken!” because who’s to say that theirs is the best? But this is a darn good recipe. And it’s MY favourite way of making Sweet & Sour Chicken in the oven. Here’s why:
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Not sickeningly sweet. It’s made with 1/2 cup of sugar which is still a lot compared to my usual midweek meals. But it is less than the 3/4 to 1 cup that you’ll see in many recipes.
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Not eye-squintingly sour. I don’t know how to properly describe my reaction when I accidentally eat something far too sour! Suffice to say this is tart, not overly sour. 🙂
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The Sauce tastes like restaurant sauce. Many Sweet & Sour Sauce recipes taste like they’re missing “something”. Usually that “something” is either Worcestershire Sauce and/or oyster sauce (sometimes also soy sauce). You can omit one of these but don’t leave out all of them, the sauce will taste very “flat”.
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The chicken really is crispy! The fact is, you will never be able to make chicken in the oven that is truly as crispy as deep fried (except wings – see my recipe for Truly Crispy Oven Baked Wings!). But this is pretty darn close.
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The chicken is NOT DRY. I have seen recipes that call for the chicken to be baked for 45 minutes to 1 hour which I find dries out the chicken. I’m really fussy about dry chicken! Mine is baked for 20 minutes – tops. That’s all you need.
Pretty hard to pick what I love more about this – the Sweet & Sour Sauce, or the crispy chicken! The chicken itself is so yum, it’s hard to resist nicking the pieces straight off the baking tray before they even make it to the sauce.
Try to resist! I promise it’s worth the wait. 🙂 – Nagi x
PS Oh, the other little thing I think makes quite a difference is using some of the pineapple juice in the can for the sauce. It adds that little touch of fruitiness that I really think makes the sauce similar to Chinese restaurants!
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Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb / 500 g chicken breast , cut into bite size cubes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg or 2 small eggs , lightly beaten (enough to coat chicken)
- 1 cup cornstarch / cornflour , placed in a large ziplock bag
- 3 to 5 tbsp oil (vegetable, canola)
- Oil spray
Stir Fry
- 1/2 tbsp oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 small onion , cut into large dice
- 1/2 red bell pepper , cut into bite size pieces
- 1/2 green bell pepper , cut into bite size pieces
- 1 can (8oz/250g) canned pineapple pieces in natural juice. Separate pineapple from juice.
Sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar (white or brown - I use either)
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 - 3 tbsp pineapple juice (from the canned pineapple pieces)
- 3 tbsp ketchup (Australia: tomato sauce)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (Note 1)
- 1 tsp soy sauce (Note 1)
- 1 tsp Oyster Sauce (Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Thickener
- 1 tbsp cornflour / corn starch + 4 tbsp water , mixed together
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F.
- Place chicken in a bowl, sprinkle with salt then add the egg. Mix to coat all chicken with egg, then drain out excess egg. (Note 2)
- Working a handful at a time, shake excess egg mixture off chicken then place chicken in ziplock bag. When all the chicken is in the bag, seal (trap as much air in it as you can to make a "balloon") and shake well to coat chicken in cornflour. Discard excess cornflour.
- Heat oil in a large skillet on high. Add chicken (in 2 batches if your skillet is not big enough) and cook briefly for 2 minutes, turning, just to make the outside light golden and a bit crispy. The chicken should be raw inside.
- Transfer to baking tray, spray with oil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until it becomes a little more golden brown and is crispy.
Sauce
- Meanwhile, discard oil in the skillet and wipe briefly with paper towels. Reduce heat to medium high and heat 1/2 tbsp oil. Add garlic and sauté for 20 seconds, then add onion and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add bell peppers and cook for 1 minute.
- Add Sauce ingredients. Stir until sugar has dissolved and the sauce begins to bubble.
- Add Thickener. Bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Then cook until it thickens to a syrup consistency - about 3 minutes.
- Stir through pineapple pieces (just to warm) and remove from stove.
- When the chicken is done, add it into the skillet and toss to coat in the sauce.
- Serve immediately with rice - or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice! Garnish with scallions if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LyLi says
love Nagi’s recipes. the sauce is awesome. the only mistake i made was not seasoning my chicken w enough salt, thinking the sauce is salty enough. mistake! website is organized and logical. great for my brain to sort through 🙂 thank you!
Angela Kwa says
I am absolutely in love with your recipes!
If I want to make this with pork, how would you sub it/cook it?
Jacqueline Baylis says
Have made this once before and we loved it, just about to make it again, so easy
Briony Harrison says
Hi Nagi
Would I be able to use leftover roast pork for this recipe?
Thanks
Briony
Nagi says
Hi Briony, if you’re going to use already cooked roast pork I think it will dry out too much cooking it again. N x
Paula Dawes says
Hi Nagi, I have fresh pineapple to use up and would love to try this recipe but what would you suggest I replace the pineapple juice with please?
Nagi says
Hi Paula, you really need the pineapple juice here for the flavour – if you have extra pineapple you could blend it and strain for the juice. N x
Sam says
Wowee. Mate your recipes are the bomb! All of them. This is like my 5th in a week and there as not been a bad one. This is perfect also!
John says
Doubled everything this time and all came out perfecto! Yum. Thx Nagi!
Susanne says
The sauce in this recipe is awesome! It’s as close as you can get to restaurant style flavours. I doubled the recipe for the sauce as my grandkids love it with their rice. Thank you, Nagi!
Jacinta Murray says
Oh my!! This took me right back to when I was younger & my favourite chinese meal was sweet & sour pork/chicken. This was so good that my husband & I were silent for about 5 minutes before we could give our verdict which we do with all the meals I make but we were too busy enjoying the amazing flavour. You have done it again Nagi, thank you.
Nadia says
I made this for the first time yesterday and my husband said it’s the best sweet and sour chicken he’s ever had!! If there was one criticism, it’s that the chicken was a tiny bit dry. Am thinking of using chicken thighs next time. Could I use your velveting method too?? Thanks Nagi.
JodieC says
‘This is the BEST Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken ever! Absolutely demolished by the whole family but I’m not surprised as every recipes I cook from here is delicious!
This is Devine…..
Nagi says
WOOT! I’m so glad it was a hit Jodie! N x
Meryle says
Another fantastic recipe the whole family really enjoyed it much better than a jar. I love that you know what you are eating a big thank you Nagi again.
Nagi says
Wahoo! That’s great Meryle! N x
Auriella says
I honestly have not come across with anything you’ve created that I don’t like!
This was a hit! I loved loved loved it and my picky husband also loved it! Thanks so much!!
Heather says
this was the second Of your Asian recipes I made this week. Absolutely delicious and easy to prepare! Thanks again
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Heather!! N x
Kel Gardiner says
I made this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, loved the sauce and didn’t change a thing, awesome.
Nagi says
Perfect Kel! N x
Matt Turner says
This is an excellent recipe, just like UK takeaway Sweet & Sour Chicken Hong Kong style; my family were very impressed.
Nagi says
That’s awesome Matt – thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Nathalie says
Our family loves this recipe and we make it alongside your cashew chicken when friends or family come over and we want to impress them!!
I’ve been thinking – would this also work with tofu?
Nagi says
That’s awesome Nathalie! I’m not sure it would work as well with tofu unfortunately – N x
Rowan Sander says
So so good. Family favourite.
Nagi says
YESSSS!! I LOVE hearing this Rowan! N x
Ryan Johnson says
Hi
: )
Big fan of RT.
This is like a recipe I am searching for. A fave chinese food restaurant blocks away, has a dish named Chinese Chicken Balls. They are ±25mm deep fried balls of a ‘dough’ with one peice of chicken inside. When dipped in their clear red sauce sweet sauce, these are golden jewels of yumminess – crazy and not exactly cuisine but yun. The dough crust has a slight crispness like a good cookie and its not all dough, just enough to round-out the chicken pieces. Would you have this kind of recipe or ideas? RJ, Canada
Penny says
I got ready to make this recipe on the weekend, but then read the directions to fry it. I thought this was an oven-fry recipe?