The Best Sweet and Sour Chicken (2024)

The Best Sweet and Sour Chicken is diced chicken dipped in a light batter and fried to crispy deliciousness! Served with my sweet and sour sauce, this makes the perfect anytime meal!

I’m a huge lover of takeout food. But I also love when I can make my favorite takeout recipes in the comforts of my own home and this Sweet and Sour Chicken is one we have been doing for many years.

I’m finally getting the chance to update this recipe, it was one of the first ones that I posted on my site way back when I first started…that was many moons ago.

This Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe is one of those recipes that tastes just like the kind that you get at your local takeout joint! I’m not even kidding.

Plus it is super easy to throw together, and you know me when it comes to good food and the ease of recipes. They are my absolute favorite.

I think out of all the recipes that we make, this is one of the ones that we do honestly make the most often. It is just that good, and I’m not even being biased at all.

Once you try it you will be wanting to make The Best Sweet and Sour Chicken over and over. I mean we can’t stop, and it’s always requested when my parents come over, they are the toughest critics you know!

The best part of this is that you can choose to either dip your chicken in the sweet and sour sauce or drizzle it all over your chicken pieces and toss to coat.

I like it either way, so feel free to do with that however you’d like! Either way, it will still taste amazing and goes great with so many other dishes as well.

Some of my favorite at-home takeout recipes we have on our site include: Alice Springs Chicken Copycat, Copycat Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup and Cracker Barrel Chicken Tenderloins.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

• This all comes together from start to finish in 30 minutes.
• Using my homemade sweet and sour sauce, you can’t go wrong.
• This can be doubled to serve larger crowds.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):

Chicken breasts
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Cornstarch
Pepper
Soy sauce
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Granulated sugar
Kosher salt
Ice-cold water
Egg
Oil for frying
Sweet and sour sauce

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN:

1. Add the diced chicken to a medium-sized bowl, add the onion powder, garlic powder, cornstarch, pepper, and soy sauce. Stir to combine, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
3. Add the water and egg to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just combined, some lumps are okay. Add the chicken to the batter and stir to combine.
5. In a heavy bottom skillet with deep sides, fill it up 2-3 inches with the frying oil. Heat the oil to 350°F over medium heat. Fry the chicken pieces, not touching in the oil. You will need to fry in batches, do not crowd the pan. Flip the chicken halfway through until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
6. Drain on a rack over a cookie sheet to let the excess oil drip off. Serve with sweet and sour sauce for dipping or toss the chicken in the sauce and serve over rice.

CAN I ADD PINEAPPLE AND PEPPERS TO THIS?

Yes, you can add the peppers and pineapple if you like that with yours. I know some take-out places do serve theirs with these ingredients so just saute your peppers and add the pineapple and toss together!

WHAT CAN I SERVE WITH THIS RECIPE?

There are so many good sides that go with this recipe! You can pretty much serve anything with this, some of our favorites include:

• Vegetable Lo Mein
• Easy Vegetable Fried Rice
• Cream Cheese Wontons
• Chinese Garlic Green Beans
• Egg Drop Soup

These are just a few of our favorites, but feel free to serve this with any of your favorite sides!

IS IT BEST TO SERVE THE SAUCE ON THE SIDE OR OVER CHICKEN?

This is a personal preference, we do both. We like to dip our chicken in the sauce and then sometimes we like to just drizzle and toss our chicken in the sauce.

Either way tastes great and is perfectly acceptable, so whatever you’d like to do would be fine.

HOW TO STORE:

While we find that this is served best fresh as it is crispy at that point you can store this in the refrigerator where it should keep for up to 5 days.

You can remove from the refrigerator and reheat it in the microwave until heated through, your chicken might be slightly soggy especially if you stored it in the sauce.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

• Easily double this recipe to serve more people.
• This is best eaten the same day that it is made.
• If you want to add peppers and pineapple to this you can.
• Serve with the sauce on the side or with the chicken tossed in the sauce.
• We like to serve this over rice.
• Serve with any of your favorite sides, see above for some of our favorites.

Looking for takeout but don’t want to pay the price? Then you have to make The Best Sweet and Sour Chicken! Super easy and quick.

If you like this recipe you might also like:

• Easy Hong Kong Style Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Baked Cream Cheese Wonton Cups
• Kung Pao Chicken

If you’ve tried THE BEST SWEET AND SOUR CHICKENlet me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!