Sweet & Sour Chicken – Takeout style Chinese chicken recipe made with crispy chicken and caramelized onions in a delicious sweet and sour sauce.
I have been on quite an Asian cuisine kick lately! My hubby has been requesting a sweet and sour chicken for a while now, so I decided to give it a go! I’ve made this a few times now, tweaking and perfecting as I go and I think it’s pretty perfect now!
To make this recipe, I cut chicken thighs into cubes and tossed them in cornstarch to fully coat. An egg is added to the chicken and tossed to combine. This combination will give the chicken a nice and crispy exterior after frying it in your skillet. I prefer to use chicken thighs over chicken breast in this recipe because the thighs have so much more flavor and tend to be more tender than breast meat.
For the sauce, all of the ingredients are added to a small saucepan along with half a thinly sliced onion. Then, I let the sauce simmer for about 15 – 20 minutes until it thickens up into a delicious bright red caramelized sauce. It is absolutely fantastic!
Next, the heat on the chicken is turned up high. I slowly add the finished sauce to the hot skillet while stir frying frequently until all the sauce is added. After that, you are ready to serve!
I served my chicken over steamed white rice with a little sriracha and it was mouthwatering good! You can also serve with steamed veggies, homemade chow mien and more! I’ll link some of my favorite side dishes to serve with this recipe for you below.
Ingredients you need for this recipe:
- Chicken Thighs (boneless, skinless) – OR Chicken breasts
- Apple Cider Vinegar – Vinegar gives the “sour” taste for the sauce.
- Brown Sugar – Sweetness in the sauce.
- Ketchup – Sweeten, thicken, and color the sauce.
- Garlic Clove – Minced garlic for the sauce.
- Soy Sauce – I used low sodium soy sauce but you can use regular soy sauce as well.
- Water – For the sauce.
- Red Food Coloring (optional) – For a bright red beautiful colored sauce.
- Yellow Onion – Provides a delicious flavor in the sauce as they caramelize.
- Cornstarch – To coat the chicken for a crispy exterior.
- Egg – To coat the chicken for a crispy exterior.
- Oil – Canola or vegetable oil for frying the chicken.
Tools to have on hand when making this recipe:
How to make Takeout Style Sweet and Sour Chicken:
Add cubed chicken thighs to a large bowl. Toss to fully coat the chicken in cornstarch. In a small bowl, whisk the egg. Pour egg mixture over the chicken and gently toss to fully coat.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, add all sauce ingredients and whisk to fully mix. Add sliced onion and bring to a simmer until sauce reduces to about half.
In the meantime, heat a large skillet to medium-high heat and add the oil. Gently add chicken in an even layer to the hot pan. Let cook undisturbed until bottoms are nice and golden. Then, flip chicken over, breaking apart any pieces that are sticking together. Continue cooking until bottoms are golden.
Turn up the heat on the chicken skillet to high heat and slowly begin adding sauce while stir frying until all sauce is incorporated.
Serve chicken immediately over steamed rice or with steamed vegetables.
Here are some delicious side dish ideas to serve with this recipe:
- Steamed White or Brown Rice
- Fried Rice – Super simple take out style homemade fried rice with carrots and peas.
- Cream Cheese Wontons – The first time I had a cream cheese wonton was at Panda Express and I fell immediately in love with those crunchy, creamy treats.
If you enjoyed this recipe, here are a few more recipes I think you’ll love:
- Garlic Ginger Chicken – Flavor packed Chinese takeout style chicken recipe made with fresh ginger and garlic in a soy sesame caramelized sauce.
- Korean Pork – A Korean style recipe consisting of marinated pork butt cut into very thin strips seared in a cast iron skillet. Bold Korean flavors with a little bit of heat make for a delicious easy takeout style meal make over and over again.
- Crispy Sweet and Spicy Asian Chicken – Just like takeout! Crispy pan fried chicken tossed in a sweet and spicy Asian style glaze.
- Chicken Teriyaki – Pan seared chicken served over a bed of white rice topped with homemade teriyaki sauce and a sprinkle of green onions.
- Glazed Honey Soy Baked Chicken – Super tender and juicy baked chicken with a delicious honey soy glaze. This recipe is perfect for a simple and easy dinner done in under 30 minutes!
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 lbs chicken thighs boneless, skinless
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 egg egg
- 3 tbsp oil for frying
Sauce:
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 drops red food coloring optional
- 1/2 yellow onion cut into 1" slices
Instructions
- Add cubed chicken thighs to a large bowl. Toss to fully coat the chicken in cornstarch. In a small bowl, whisk the egg. Pour egg mixture over the chicken and gently toss to fully coat.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add all sauce ingredients and whisk to fully mix. Add sliced onion and bring to a simmer until sauce reduces to about half.
- In the meantime, heat a large skillet to medium-high heat and add the oil. Gently add chicken in an even layer to the hot pan. Let cook undisturbed until bottoms are nice and golden. Then, flip chicken over, breaking apart any pieces that are sticking together. Continue cooking until bottoms are golden.
- Turn up the heat on the chicken skillet to high heat and slowly begin adding sauce while stir frying until all sauce is incorporated.
- Serve chicken immediately over steamed rice or with steamed vegetables.
I made this tonight and it was almost spot on compared to my local Chinese restaurant. The only step I skipped was the red food coloring which it did not need. The sauce was so flavorful with bot sweet and sour hints. My only only mistake was not using a big enough skillet to fry up the chicken.