This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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 corn starch
- 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.
I made this recipie and it turned out sooo good
Thank you so much for the wonderful review! 🙂
Super delicious and easy! Thanks for sharing your fabulous recipe… I definitely cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup and it turned out just fine. Also, not sure if my oven’s running a little hot but I thought an hour was a little long. The sugar began to carmelize and my chicken looked much darker than your pictures, especially around the edges. All in all a great experience and I will continue to tweak it to fit my liking!
Thank you for the nice review Brandy and you are welcome 😁.
This was really good! I think next time I will double the sauce, t was really yummy we wanted to use it on our broccoli and veggies! And use honey instead of sugar to see what it taste like. Thank you for another great recipe!
Thank you for the wonderful review Anne, I’m so glad you enjoyed it 😀.
You are a blessing! I made this recently and it turned out fabulous! The only setback was that I wish I would have made more sauce. Thanks for all the wonderful and true recipes that you post and I have made like the chickenmushroom casserole , poppyseedsorcream cake ( so good!), & pyraniki and many others 😊 Godblessyou both! Lov your website!
Thank you for such a sweet comment, what a compliment 😊. May God bless you and your family!
where does the ‘orange’ come into the recipe??!!
Hi Debbie, there are no oranges in the ingredients list.
Just mixed up the sauce and decided to make another batch for dipping our egg rolls! Amazing recipe! Thanks!
Oh great idea!!
Can I use flour instead of corn starch? Thank you for the recipie, I am making it tomorow:)
I haven’t tried with flour but I don’t think flour will have the same effect as corn starch. It might get gummy, but again, I haven’t tested it to say for sure.
I made a batch with flour and a batch with corn starch due to running out of corn starch and the corn starch batch definitely turned out better, but the flour batch was still good as well!
Thank you so much for sharing that with us. I’m certain your review will be so helpful to others 🙂
I made this a few times already and just made it again today! Thank you for this recipe, it is easy to make and is delicious!
Tanya, thank you for such a nice review and you are welcome 😁.
I’m sorry but the chicken was waaay too sour 🙁 it’s too much vinegar,and I had to add more sugar,but still it felt like I was drinking pure vinegar. Ketchup adds this sourness to vinegar and it’s just too much. I’m sorry but I won’t make it again.
Did you taste the sauce before baking it? It’s definitely too potent as soon as you mix it but once it’s baked for 1 hour, the vinegar cooks out and flavors have a chance to mellow out and it isn’t too sour at all. Were you trying to adjust the sauce before baking it?
Is there really that much sugar in this recipe?
Hi Nick, yes that is correct. It helps to offset the vinegar. One of my readers reported good results cutting it down to 1/2 cup. 🙂
This meal is easy to make for the kids. It’s great because it gets them in the kitchen with me. The whole family loves it. I now have to double this recipe because my family loves it so much. Thanks for the great recipe.
Thank you Ashley for such a nice review and you are welcome 😁.
I made this tonight for my family and to say it was a big hit is an understatement. This is quit possible the best sweet and sour chicken I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Only thing I have to say is if you have teenagers,double the recipe because they can’t get enough of it.
Thank you for such a nice review, it’s quiet a compliment 😁. My son is only 6 and can eat adult size meal, I better brace myself 😜.
Yep, when they hit teenager they turn into locusts. 🙂
This is absolutely delicious had it for supper 2 days in a row🙊
Thank you for the nice review Marina, I’m glad you enjoyed it 😀.
My first attempt at sweet and sour chicken. I needed to use up some boneless, skinless chicken thighs. That was the only modification I made to the recipe. I also needed a gluten and dairy free dish. This was fantastic! My family devoured it and said it was way better than Panda Express.
Yessss!! I’m so happy you all loved it 🙂
This was the best sweet and sour chicken I have ever made and I have tried quite a few.
Jennifer, thank you for such a nice review, this is quite a compliment 😄
sweet and sour chicken is my favorite dish! I have tried more than a few recipes in my years but this one by far was the very best! I doubled the recipe and there were no leftovers. The children loved it as well! I printed it out and this one is definitely a keeper! I added bell peppers and pineapple and onion and some ginger but only because I wanted some vegetables in there. Best sauce ever!
Barbara, thank you for such a great review and nice job improvising it with the vegetables 😀 .
As I read through all of the impressive reviews, I was hoping to find one that stated adding pineapple, bell pepper, and onion worked well. My husband likes pineapple chunks in his sweet and sour sauce. I am going to make this tonight for dinner and am very excited as it sounds delightful!
If I substitute apple cider vinegar for white wine vinegar will it make a big difference? Want to try this but don’t have apple cider vinegar, yet have all other ingredients and just put baby down for a nap…
So sorry I didn’t reply sooner. Your comment got burried on the second page and I completely missed it! Oh boy. sorry! Anyways to answer your question. I haven’t tried that substitution but one reader said she tried regular vinegar and had good results with it. Also, someone reported that rice vinegar would work. I can’t say for sure what the difference in taste will be with white wine vinegar without actually trying it myself.
I must have missed the part on how to make this using less sugar. Can you please tell me how to do that? Thank you. This looks great but I do need to go with a little less sweet.
Sherry, if you reduce the sugar, I’m concerned there won’t be enough sweetness to balance the vinegar. Without testing it myself I can’t really recommend it.
Hi Sherry, update! 🙂 I haven’t tested this myself but one of my readers reported cutting down the sugar to 1/2 cup with good results
Just made it! Awesome! Tastes amazing! Thanks for the recipe. I’m not scared to make it anymore!
Mariya, thank you for the great review and you are welcome 😄👏.
Delicious! I have made lots of recipes already from your Website. And every single one I have tried is absolutely delicious. Made this Sweet and Sour Chicken today for supper. Best ever. I didn’t have apple cider vinegar at home so I substituted it with White Vinegar. Still tasted great. And a big hit with my kids.
I’m so happy to hear you all loved the recipe! 🙂