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Sweet and Sour Chicken

Name: Sweet and Sour Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients; 5 cups water; 1 orange; 1 lemon; 2 or 3 slices fresh ginger; 1 cup sugar; 1/2 cup vinegar; 1 cup ketchup; Red food coloring if desired; 3 tablespoons cornstarch; 3 tablespoons water; 2 eggs (divided use); 1 pound chicken breasts; 1/4 teaspoon white pepper; 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine; 4 tablespoons cornstarch (divided use); 2 1/4 cups self rising flour; 1/4 teaspoon white pepper; 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 1/2 cups water; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

July 12, 2015 by Stephanie, Last Updated May 23, 2019 55 Comments

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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.

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.
Don’t be intimidated by making restaurant-style Chinese food from scratch. You can do it. Your grocery store should have everything you need for this recipe. You will need chicken, cornstarch, flour, white pepper, oranges, lemons, ketchup, and some rice cooking wine or dry Sherry. So you can see this recipe is achievable at your everyday grocery store.

Benefits of Home Cooking

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.

The Sweet and Sour Sauce

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.

Flexible Recipe

This recipe can be a little bit flexible – you don’t have to stick to chicken. If you like, you could swap the chicken out for pork. Heck, if you have a little batter left over, you could easily slice up some onions and make onion rings – it’s up to you.

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