Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
No need to order take-out anymore – this homemade version is so much healthier and a million times tastier!
I am a complete sucker for sweet and sour chicken when it comes to take-out. But it’s been hard to find a place that has it down perfectly – crisp on the outside yet completely juicy and flavorful with a sweet and sour punch. Thankfully, I found a homemade version from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe that has it down to a tee.
What makes this recipe so perfect is that the chicken is first fried to get that crisp exterior. Then it gets baked in a low temperature for an hour, really letting the sweet and sour flavors meld right into the chicken. I was worried that the chicken would get overcooked but it was actually so unbelievably tender. And the flavor packs in quite a punch!
The cooking time takes a little over an hour but I promise you – this version is well worth the effort!
Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
For the sweet and sour sauce
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- To make the sauce, whisk together sugar, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and garlic powder in a large bowl; set aside.
- In a large bowl, season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in cornstarch and gently toss to combine. Working one at a time, dip the chicken into the eggs.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; discard excess oil.
- Add chicken to prepared baking dish. Top with sweet and sour sauce. Place into oven and bake until the sauce has thickened, about 55 minutes, turning over every 15 minutes to evenly coat the chicken.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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I have made this a ton of times and my entire family loves it!!! The only change I made is dumping the cornstarch covered chicken in the whisked egg instead of dipping them in the egg one at a time. It turns out the same as when I did it the other way and saves time.
Made this sweet and sour chicken tonight with rice and side veggies. Have never tasted anything so good in a long time! Chicken was moist and tender and the sauce was terrific. Will have it again soon.
Delicious and tender chicken! It would be more convenient if I could fry the chicken and make the sauce ahead of time and then bake it at supper time. I am worried that the chicken may become soggy. Has anyone tried this? If so, how and how did it work out? Thanks.
I always do that and have no issues!
This was amazing!!!! Doubled the chicken and sauce. Used thighs instead so no chance of drying out. A lot of work – 2.5 hours start to finish but well worth it. Added some
Hot pepper flakes for heat but other than that stayed true to the recipe. Oh… ran out of ketchup so had to use some cocktail sauce for half of it. Still amazing!!
I f*cking love this recipe. It’s worth the labor. There’s a pan of it in the oven right now and I only have to share with 2 other people tonight. Yea! I ran out of acv so threw in some red wine vinegar and the sauce still tastes delish. I air fry or use the least amount of oil possible and it still turns out amazing. Please make this. You won’t regret it.
Another excellent recipe! I was a bit worried when I was whisking up the sauce that somehow it wasn’t going to turn out, but by the time I pulled the chicken out of the oven, it was sticky and delicious as promised! Better than take-out! I recommend Damn Delicious to everyone I know.
I have been making sweet and sour chicken without any breading. Just pineapple, broccoli, and sometimes other veggies. How much oil is used to fry it? Should there be a lot of oil so they are covered when frying? I’m not big on oil and frying things so I want to make sure I understand. Or should I just put enough in the pan to cook while flipping them?
This is delicious. I also grate some orange zest in the sauce when we want orange chicken. It works!
What can I substitute the apple cider vinegar with :)?
I often use cooking sherry; that works quite well. Also red wine vinegar or raspberry red wine vinegar.
Fantastic!!!
Keeper recipe and will make again and again
Perfectly breaded chicken in a sweet sauce. This dish was easy to prepare and I had everything on hand. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.
I absolutely love this recipe! Do you think you could drop the chicken in a deep fryer for a second and then bake them the rest of the way?
Absolutely you can! Also, if you want it done quicker, you can cut the chicken into smaller pieces. It cooks pretty quickly in the oven – I never bake it for a whole hour. I do higher temp, less time. Usually 425 degrees for about 30 minutes. Tender, juicy, and delicious!
My husband loved this. I doubled the sauce and it was a bit too much so next time will do one and 1/2. I will do less vinegar and add red bell pepper, pineapple and onions. This is definitely on the rotation and was a fantastic meal. Not quite like take out but close.
I have made this many times and it is fantastic. I only bake the dish for 30 minutes and I double the sauce. I also add pineapple chunks and bell pepper to the baking for additional flavor and texture. This is a KEEPER!!
This recipe turned out great. I had to remove the chicken and cook the sauce longer to get it to the thickness I prefer. The flavour was excellent. 10/10
My husband reminded me I haven’t made this in awhile (it was in the rotation a lot for years, but I stopped making it for awhile because the kids don’t love it as much as I do). Made it with cut up pork chops, doubled the sauce because I added some peppers and broccoli that desperately needed to be cooked, and served it over brown rice. Just as good as I remembered it to be (not to mention, much better than the only Chinese restaurant in town)! Adding this to my family recipe book…
This was fantastic and super easy to tweak to preference. I’m not the biggest fan of vinegar and was wary of the amount needed for the sauce, but it was totally fine. I added green and red bell pepper to the dish when it went in the oven, as well as an 8 oz can of pineapple chunks. I drained the juice and added it to the sauce. About halfway through the baking time, I decided to pour out most of the sauce and thicken it on the stove while the cooking everything left as directed. This was a super easy way to reduce the extra liquid from the pineapple juice, and the sauce was so wonderful when I added it back for the last 15 minutes.
The chicken came out so moist and tender. I am definitely making this one a regular in my rotation.
This a HUGE hit in my house.
I always double the sauce so we have extra to put on top, as I feel when the sauce thickens that there isn’t enough remainder (I enjoy lots of sauce normally which is why I double the sauce). I also love to add garlic, minced to thesaucec I serve the chicken over white rice, which is also why doubling the sauce recipe is a necessary step in our home. I’ve been making this for the last three years ♡♡ 🙂
CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS RECIPE.
The recipe was yummy but the chicken pieces were really overcooked after quick frying and an hour in the oven. Would be preferable to make and thicken the sauce on the stovetop, add to the chicken and lessen the cooking time so the chicken just reaches 165F or 74C. (about 15 mins at 350F)
If you don’t cook your chicken all the way they won’t be dried out. I just Fry them for 5 min or so then they will
Finish baking in the oven. I’ve made this for years. I always double the sauce too and the chicken.
I made this for a dinner of three and it was absolutely perfect! It was delicious and tasted just like it came from the restaurant. Thank you so much!