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My sister Anna shared this sweet and sour chicken recipe with me because her family absolutely loved it. It’s a winner indeed; the best orange chicken I’ve ever tried! Anyway, I pinned it for safe keeping and finally whipped it out.
My son’s eyes lit up when he realized he was having “Panda” for dinner – in his world, all Asian food is “Panda.” Except, this is way way WAY better than takeout! I’m super thrilled that I know exactly what went into this sweet and sour chicken; no preservatives and I even used organic chicken. #patontheback for Mom :).
I tracked down the original recipe source and it was the talented Mel of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe who said it was easily the most popular recipe on her blog (yeah – I can see why!). The only thing I changed was adding an extra egg for easier coating.
This really is quite a treat. Make it tonight!
Ingredients for Orange Chicken:
2 lbs (about 4 Medium) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup cornstarch
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup extra light olive oil, canola or vegetable oil to saute, plus more as needed
Ingredients for the Sweet and Sour Sauce:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp garlic salt
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken:
1. Preheat oven to 325˚F. Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper.
2. Place 1 cup cornstarch into a gallon-sized ziploc bag, add chicken and toss to coat (go on, toss it up, just make sure the bag is closed; that part is important).
3. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large, heavy bottom pot (I used my French oven with nice tall walls to reduce splatterage on the stove).
4. In a shallow dish, whisk together 3 eggs. Dip the cornstarch-dredged chicken pieces into the beaten egg, coating both sides then transfer the chicken to the very hot oil.
5. Cook chicken in hot oil about 30 seconds per side or until golden. Having very hot oil is key. You don’t want to cook the chicken through, but just until golden. Transfer chicken to a 9×13 baking dish and continue dipping and sautéing remaining chicken, adding more oil as necessary.
Cooking tip: if you add oil to the pot, let it heat up a little before you add more chicken.
6. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the sauce ingredients: 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 4 Tbsp ketchup, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp garlic salt.
7. Pour sauce over your sauteed chicken pieces and toss to coat. Bake uncovered at 325˚F for 1 hour, turning the chicken twice while baking to coat with sauce.
Serve warm or hot over steamy white rice, and crisp tender broccoli for a balanced meal.
My son spotted this photo as I was putting the post together and the first words out of his mouth, “Can you make that for me?” :). Mel, thank you so much for sharing this goodness! It’s music to my ears when my son makes requests like that.
Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs about 4 Medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup extra light olive oil, canola or vegetable oil to saute, plus more as needed
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken: Preheat oven to 325˚F.
- Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- Place 1 cup cornstarch into a gallon-sized ziploc bag, add chicken and toss to coat.
- Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large, heavy bottom pot (I used my French oven with nice tall walls to reduce splatterage on the stove).
- In a shallow dish, whisk together 3 eggs. Dip the cornstarch-dredged chicken pieces into the beaten egg, coating both sides then transfer chicken to the very hot oil.
- Cook chicken in hot oil about 30 seconds per side or until golden. Having very hot oil is key. You don't want to cook the chicken through, but just until golden. Transfer chicken to a 9x13 baking dish and continue dipping and sautéing remaining chicken, adding more oil as necessary. Cooking tip: if you add oil to the pot, let it heat up a little before you add more chicken.
- In a medium bowl, stir together sauce ingredients: 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 4 Tbsp ketchup, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp garlic salt.
- Pour sauce over your sautéed chicken pieces and toss to coat. Bake uncovered at 325˚F for 1 hour, turning the chicken twice while baking to coat with sauce. Serve warm or hot over steamy white rice, and crisp tender broccoli for a balanced meal.
♥ FAVORITE THINGS ♥
Shown in this post: (nope, no one paid us to write this; just stuff we love):
*My favorite French oven – somehow food just tastes better when you use it 😉
*This covered 9×12 baking dish comes with a lid, reducing foil waste; and it’s perdy.
*My glass mixing bowls are so versatile; everything from this sauce to your morning cereal 😉
*These cooking utensils are next to my stove always in reach on their little caddy.
What is the most requested meal in your house?
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
This sweet and sour chicken was such a hit with my husband (and he has a very particular taste palate). Thank you so so much for this recipe! I was so excited and nervous to make something *different* … I am so glad this turned out because now we don’t have to go out and to get MSG infused Chinese food when we’re craving it… instead we can make it at home without the MSG 🙂 Thank you Natasha!
I’m so glad you and your hubby enjoyed it!! That’s so true about the MSG infused food from takeout. I love to know what’s in my food 🙂
These look great, I’m making this for dinner tonight!! I’m excited to try this out version out as it doesn’t include any oranges which is an interesting spin.
Thank you Beata! I hope you love the recipe! 🙂
Hi Natasha
Just like to say I love your website and would like to know if you will be adding some new Russian dinner recipes to your website? Thanks
Hi Tania! Thank you :). We are always working on adding more recipes including Russian dinner recipes. Are there any specific ones you are interested in?
Im honestly so impressed with this dish! You’ve never failed me (lol) but chinese dishes made at home just never ever seem to taste like all our beloved takeout meals. So I was hesitant trying this recipe but it was absolutely amazing! Definitely going into the meal rotation. Thanks for all you do!!!
I’m so happy to hear that you loved it! Thanks so much for the great feedback 🙂
My friends requested this recipe, and as we gather in crowds, tripled the recipe. I tried a handful of cubes at a time, got frustrated with this mountain of meat I had to dip into egg yolk, flip, and put into the pan, then flip those. I ended up putting the starchy meat into a pot, then poured the egg mixture on top, swished it around, and proceeded to saute. It turned out great, so thank you. And awesome work on the site.
It’s good to know that it works out that way too! lol. I agree, that is the most tedious part of this recipe; the dipping, especially if you’re tripling the recipe! That’s quite a feat! Way to go! 🙂
I made this chicken and it was amazing!!! I never thought that I would be able to make something like this! Thank you sooo much Natasha for sharing! God bless you and take care!!! 😀
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you Diana 🙂
The sauce was a little to watery so I added a little cornstarch and turned out perfect!
Hi Angelika! Did you bake it the full 1 hour and it was still watery?
Hi Natasha, just wanted to say thanks for sharing such great recipes with us. I just made this chicken and it was very delicious, tasted like it took me half a day to make but really, it was more like half an hour minus the baking time. . Anyways kids really loved it and I think i will make it again. . Merry Christmas to you by the way. .
I’m so happy to hear that your kids loved the chicken! 🙂 Thanks so much!
I’m just wondering… Does canned chicken breast also work for this recipe?
I don’t think it would work well at all. it wouldn’t fry up very well; much too flaky and too wet. I’d definitely only recommend raw chicken, but you can use chicken breast, tenders or even thigh meat.
Wow!! Thank you for the quick reply!! But good to know 🙂
I have a Q. Can I use turkey breast in this recipe?
I haven’t tried with turkey breast, but it might work well. Turkey breast is a little dryer so it might not re-heat as well later.
Hello, Natasha. I really want to try this receipe out, but i live in Ukraine, and I don’t think we have an apple cider vinegar… What can I use instead of that?
To be honest, I haven’t tested it with any other kind of vinegar. Sorry, I’m not able to help with that one.
Hi Natasha! How does this dish taste when reheated? Does it still taste good or its better when its eaten same day?
It’s best eaten fresh. It still tastes good re-heated but it’s most tender and tasty when it’s made 🙂
I just thought of looking for this recipe online and here it is posted it at a perfect time! Thank you! Can’t wait to try it.
Will it make a difference if flour is substituted for corn starch? They would serve the same purpose it seems.
Hi Larisa, to be honest, I haven’t tried it with all-purpose flour, I’ve just done it with corn starch. I went back to the original recipe and someone commented that they mixed corn starch with flour with good results, but I haven’t tested it myself so I can’t really speak to that. Sorry I’m not more helpful.
Wow! This chicken is the bomb dot com!! My son liked it more than Panda’s 🙂
Thank you for sharing such amazing recipe. This definitely will go on our regular rotation.
Yay!!! I’m so happy to hear you and your son liked it 🙂 Thanks Vika for an awesome review!
I meant to give this recipe 5 stars, but I noticed it’s not always registers it :/
I making these again right now! The first time I made them there was not enough sauce but still turned out really good this is definitely a family favorite. Making more sauce this time! This is the best sweet and sour chicken I’ve ever made! Thanks for the incredible recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the chicken :). Thanks for a great review!
Hi Natasha 🙂 You used boneless chicken breasts in this recipe or boneless chicken thighs? For some reason, in your picture it looks like thighs but u wrote breast so I’m just making sure 🙂
thank you!
It was boneless skinless chicken breast. Thighs would work too, but they do take more time to pick through.
DO you know what could be the reason that mine didn’t turn out crispy? I browned them pretty well. and baked them accordingly. The outer part of the chicken was almost soft. they were still good though and my boys complimented on how much they really loved them. thank you
They aren’t meant to turn out crispy, but soft, especially after baking in the sauce for so long. I’m so glad you all liked the chicken 🙂
its a bad idea to look at your website when your hungry. it was morning and i was looking through for christmas recipes and i got so hungry that i made your sour cream pancakes and hash browns and eggs. it was so good!!!!!thank you. now im back being brave enough to look at your dinner recipes 😉
Awesome!! Thanks so much for the great reviews :). I’m so happy you are enjoying the recipes. Yeah, that’s my problem with being on Pinterest at night. I’m always starving really late at night 😉
Made it tonight – this was absolutely unbelievable! Love your recipes, so far everything I tried turned out to be a winner.
Thank you Yuliya for such a sweet comment, Merry Christmas to you and your family :).
Thanks for the wonderful meals, as a single mom of 2 boys they appreciate it too>;)
The most requested meal in our house is breakfast burritoes, they like it simple with hashbrowns, sausage, green chilies, and of course the tortilla. They will gladly eat this any time of the day. But after making your sweet sour chicken that may change;)
You are so welcome Sheri :), and thank you for the compliment.