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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 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.
Hi Natasha,
Can I substitute plain salt for garlic salt?
Hi Kavita, you can substitute 1 tsp garlic salt for 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Enjoy! 🙂
Would I be able to substitute the chicken breasts with chicken tenders instead?
Lena, chicken tenders should work fine 😀.
HI, i just wanted to tell you that i made this today and my hubby said it tastes like chicken minis from chick fil a 🙂
I’ve never tried that and didn’t even realize they had something like that on their menu! lol. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your great review 🙂
Can I use flour as an alternative for cornstarch? And can I just fry them until they’re cooked all the way instead of baking them?
Hi Christina, I haven’t tested anything besides starch. One of my readers said she tested flour and this was what she wrote about it: “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!”
Tried this a few nights ago — was a huge hit with the whole family! We also added some chopped bell peppers and pineapple chunks to the recipe which worked well too.
I’ll definitely try more of your recipes!
Thank you!!
You are very welcome and thank you for the nice review!
I’m making it now with chicken drums. I added a quarter of each ingredient extra and the sauce still taste great. Its in the oven now, Ill let you know how it turns out.
Oh wow! I’m definitely curious to know if this works for chicken drumsticks 🙂
I don’t have apple cider vinegar. Would white vinegar work?
Thanks
Hi Amanda, I haven’t tried that substitution but one reader said she tried regular vinegar and had good results with it. I can’t say for sure what the difference in taste will be with white wine vinegar without actually trying it myself.
I followed the recipe exactly the first time I made it, and it was delicious! The next time I added the juice from a small orange, cut up green pepper and onion, and it was even better! Since then I’ve made it with Pineapple juice and chunks, too. It’s wonderful every time!
Missie, I’m so happy to hear that 😁. Thank you for the great review!
I followed it step by step, came out perfectly! My fiance and mom enjoyed it so much. Thank you Natasha!
You are welcome Solomiya, thank you for sharing such a nice review 😀.
Easy recepie my kids love it every time I make it
That is the best when kids love what we parents make. That’s so great, thank you for sharing with us 😀.
I, was going to use another.recipe when i, found this one…definitely going to make for my church along with a recipe i found on fb for fried rice…i been coming for this church for over 4yrs now…and all my recipes are from the internet…thanks for sharing this c recipe
I hope you love it! I think it would be great with fried rice 🙂
Hi planning on making this tomorrow. Can I substitute flour for cornstarch?
Thanks!
Hi Galina, I haven’t tested anything besides starch. One of my readers said she tested flour and this was what she wrote about it: “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!”
Just wondering, doesn’t an hour in the oven after frying a little, dry the chicken out?
Hi Nonna, the chicken turns out really tender and tasty and not dry at all 🙂
This was excellent. I was going with another recipe and found this at the last minute. My son devoured it in about 30 seconds. Thank you!
Awww that’s the best! Lenise, thank you so much for sharing that with me :). I’m all smiles!
Hi Natasha,
question… how should I prepare the rice for this dish? Would it be the same as sushi rice ? I want to avoid having dry rice..
Hi Nastia, preparing it as a sushi rice would probably be too sticky. What has helped me with getting more moisture into my rice is after fluffing it to sprinkle in a little water and ofcourse we add generous amounts of butter, but you can add it to your preference. I would suggest a medium grain rice like California calrose or Jasmine rice would work as well.
This recipe is great. As I said, usually we use this sweet and sour sauce on fried pork ribs in China, but now I think chicken looks better.Btw, actually, we will add pieces of pineapple to the sauce and stir fry with the meat.It will look more colorful and taste better. Hope u like it.
That sure sounds delicious with pineapple! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Hi just found this recipe can you tell me how I can make it sweet without so much sugar as my husband has just been diagnosed with diabetes and loves sweet and sour chicken thanks x
Hi Viv, I haven’t tested this myself but one of my readers reported cutting down the sugar to 1/2 cup with good results. I haven’t tried this recipe with any sugar substitutes to be able to give advice on anything else.
Hi Natasha,
Are the white specks in your finished product photo seasame seeds?
Hi Shirley, yes we garnish with chives and sesame seeds 🙂
Has anyone tried making this with less sugar or using honey instead of sugar? How did it come out?
Hi Lisa, I haven’t tested this myself but one of my readers reported cutting down the sugar to 1/2 cup with good results 🙂
Hi Natasha can I use garlic powder instead of garlic salt?
Hi Tanya, garlic salt is generally 3 parts salt to 1 part garlic powder. Since there isn’t that much, I would probably substitute a scant 1/2 tsp garlic powder and slightly rounded 1/2 tsp salt to keep it simple.
Thank you!