Do you love Sweet and Sour Chicken? I do. Growing up, I can remember when I first went to a Chinese restaurant. We were living in Pueblo, Colorado, and it was unbelievable.
Right away, I fell in love with Chinese food and thought that sweet and sour sauce should go on everything. While I outgrew that desire, I still enjoy sweet and sour chicken from time to time.
You can visit your favorite local Chinese restaurant or make this delicious dish at home. I’ll show you how to cook the chicken just right and make the tangy sweet and sour sauce that is the perfect accompaniment.
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Don’t be Intimidated by Chinese Cooking
Don’t be intimidated to try making restaurant-style Chinese food from scratch. You can do it, and your everyday grocery store should have everything you need for this recipe. The basics are chicken, cornstarch, flour, white pepper, oranges, lemons, ketchup, and some rice cooking wine or dry sherry.
I know you won’t forget the number of your local Chinese takeout restaurant, but now you can follow my recipe and make a delicious CopyKat sweet and sour chicken right in your own kitchen.
Benefits of Cooking Sweet n Sour Chicken at Home
One of the benefits of making restaurant-style recipes from scratch is that you know exactly what’s in your food. In this recipe, you can be sure that the ingredients are exactly the way you like them.
For instance, if you try to eat as much organic food as possible, you can use all-organic ingredients including free-range chicken that hasn’t been dosed with antibiotics. And, if you make Chinese food at home, it will not contain any MSG.
Sweet and Sour Sauce – Homemade vs Store Bought
You could buy ready-made sweet and sour sauce in a jar, but I think this homemade recipe tastes much better. This sweet and sour sauce is made with real fruit which gives it a depth of flavor that you’ll love.
Also, by making your own sweet and sour sauce, you can eliminate the artificial coloring usually found in a store-bought product. After all, not everyone wants to eat food containing dyes.
What is Chinese sweet and sour chicken made of?
This dish is filled with rich and flavorful ingredients. Orange and lemon give it a fruity aspect, vinegar and ketchup provide tang, garlic and white pepper give earthy flavor, and chicken is the star of the dish.
Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients
- Orange
- Lemon
- Fresh ginger
- Sugar
- Vinegar
- Ketchup
- Red food coloring (optional)
- Cornstarch
- Water
Chinese Style Fried Chicken Ingredients
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Eggs
- Ground white pepper
- Granulated garlic
- Salt
- Rice cooking wine
- Cornstarch
- Self-rising flour
- Ground white pepper
- Granulated garlic
- Water
- Vegetable oil
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken
There are two components to this recipe; the sauce and the chicken. You will first make the sauce and then the chicken. You’ll serve the chicken with the sauce either on the side or poured over it.
How to Make Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Slice the orange, lemon, and ginger and place the slices in a medium pot with water. Bring it a boil and then simmer it for 30 minutes.
- Drain the water through a strainer into a large bowl. Press the fruit and ginger to release the juices into the water. Place the water back into the pot over medium heat. Add sugar, vinegar, ketchup, and food coloring. Whisk until well blended.
- Mix together cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Slowly stream the liquid into the sauce stirring constantly. When the sauce thickens, remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
How to Make Chinese Style Fried Chicken
- Use a fork to whip an egg in a medium-sized bowl.
- Cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces and add the chicken to the beaten egg. Add white pepper, granulated garlic, salt, rice cooking wine, and cornstarch.
- Marinate the chicken for 15 minutes before continuing the recipe.
- Make the batter: In a medium bowl, combine self-rising flour, white pepper, granulated garlic, salt, water, egg, and vegetable oil. Stir until this batter has a uniform consistency.
- Add enough oil to a pot to be 4 inches deep. Heat oil to 350 degrees.
- Use a skewer to dip the chicken into the batter and then into the oil. Fry until the chicken until it becomes light brown in color.
- Remove the chicken from the oil for a minute and then place chicken back in and fry it for an additional minute. Drain the chicken on a wire rack.
Serve the chicken with sweet and sour sauce.
What are some other uses for Sweet & Sour Chicken batter?
This recipe can be a little bit flexible – you don’t have to stick with chicken. If you like, you could swap the chicken out for pork. Heck, if you have a little batter leftover, you could easily slice up some onions and make onion rings – it’s up to you.
What goes well with Sweet and Sour Chicken?
Sweet and sour chicken is delicious on its own, but it can accompany several dishes to make it a full meal. Here are a few suggestions for you.
- White rice
- Fried rice
- Cream cheese wontons
- Chow mein
What else can you eat Sweet and Sour Sauce with?
Sweet and sour sauce is one of those condiments that is perfect for so many dishes. Should you have some leftover, save it in an airtight container in your refrigerator, and you can use it for the following.
- Wontons
- Egg rolls
- Chicken nuggets
- Spring rolls
How to Store this Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe and Sweet and Sour Sauce
Should you have leftovers I recommend that you place the sauce and the cooked chicken in different containers. Don’t pour the sauce over the chicken and then put it in the refrigerator because the breading will get soggy.
Both the sauce and the chicken will last in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
How to Reheat Sweet and Sour Chicken
I like to reheat the chicken in an air fryer or a convection oven. I will reheat it for 7 to 8 minutes at 350 degrees.
Heating the chicken in an air fryer really helps to crisp up like the first time. You can reheat it in the oven at 350 degrees, but it will take about 10 to 12 minutes.
Reheat the sauce on low heat on the stovetop until just warm.
Like Chinese restaurant recipes? Check out these favorites
- Chinese Seafood Buffet Crab Casserole
- Salad Wonton Strips
- PF Changs Lettuce Wraps Recipe
- General Tso Chicken
- Honey Walnut Shrimp Recipe
- Hunan Chicken Recipe
- Spare Ribs Recipe Chinese Style
- Cheese Wonton
- Chinese Almond Cookie Recipe
- Chinese Doughnuts
Best Japanese Food Recipes
- Tempura Batter and Tempura Vegetables
- Shrimp Tempura
- Hibachi Steak
Be sure to check out more of my Chinese recipes and copycat restaurant chicken dishes.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1 orange sliced
- 1 lemon sliced
- 2 or 3 slices fresh ginger
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 1 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- red food coloring if desired
Chinese-Style Fried Chicken
- 2 eggs divided use
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper divided use
- 3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic divided use
- 3/4 teaspoon salt divided use
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch divided use
- 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
- 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus more for frying
Instructions
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Place the sliced orange, lemon, and ginger into a medium pot with 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Drain the water through a sieve into another pot. Press the fruit into the sieve to release all the water and juice. Discard the solids
- To the pot with the water, add the sugar, vinegar, and ketchup and whisk until well blended. Heat the sauce over medium-high heat.
- Combine the cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Slowly stream the liquid into the sauce, stirring constantly to thicken.
- When the sauce thickens, remove it from the heat. Store any unused sauce in an air-tight container.
Chinese-Style Fried Chicken
- To make the fried chicken, place 1 egg in a medium-sized bowl and beat it with a fork. Add the chicken to the bowl along with 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of granulated garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, and the rice cooking wine. Stir to combine. Allow the mixture to marinate for about 15 minutes before continuing the recipe.
- In another medium-sized bowl, make the batter by combining the self-rising flour, 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of granulated garlic, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1 egg, and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil with 1 1/2 cups of water. Stir until the batter has a uniform texture.
- Add vegetable oil to a pot until it reaches a depth of 4 inches. Heat the oil to 350°F.
- Batter the chicken by taking a piece from the marinade and using a skewer to dip it into the batter.
- Carefully lay the battered chicken into the cooking oil and fry until the chicken becomes a light golden brown. Remove the chicken from the oil for about 1 minute. Then return the chicken to the oil and fry for an additional minute to make it extra crispy.
- Drain the chicken on a wire rack and serve with sweet and sour sauce.
Tracy
Great recipe! It’s my go to for Chinese food! I skip the sweet and sour sauce and go right to the battered chicken… that’s my favorite! Thanks