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.
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This is our families absolute favorite meal! I always have to make double when we make it:)
Wow what a winner, absolutely delicious. Will be cooking again and again.
I found this recipe on a Gluten Free site, but it has soy sauce which means its not GF. Do you know of a substitute for it?
Tamari is a type of soy sauce that is traditionally made without wheat. Here is what’s available and where you can find it.
Wonderful!!! The whole family loves it but the apple cider vinegar is a bit overwhelming, tried to cut back and add more sugar but still a little too sour. Any other suggestions? My family thinks it tastes better as leftovers.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the leftovers! Yes, you can reduce the amount of vinegar as needed to suit your preferences a little better.
Great recipe. After cooking the chicken I tipped out most of the oil and quickly fried off some onion, pineapple, capsicum added some frozen peas and chilli flakes to the sauce, This all worked very well. Yum!!
I made this tonight and my husband really liked it. I thought the amount of apple cider vinegar was a bit overwhelming so I will cut it in half next time. Chicken was very tender and all in all a great flavor.
This was DELICIOUS! I used a bag to dredge the cornstarch, and baked in the same cast iron skillet I used to fry the meat to save a couple of dirty dishes. Can’t wait to try your lemon chicken recipe next.
This is the single best recipe I’ve found for homemade sweet and sour chicken, period. It’s become an almost weekly staple in our house as its the one thing we can ALL devour.
We usually serve with plain white rice, quickly stir-fried California blend veggies, and TJ* Chinese Pot Stickers. The end result is a meal that is so much better than take-out, for a much more reasonable cost.
My one question though, we are trying to eat a little healthier and with time constraints I would prefer to skip the frying step. Could I just add a few TB of cornstarch to the sauce mix before pouring over the diced chicken, and bake as usual?
Seldom, that sounds like a wonderful idea but without trying it myself, I cannot say with certainty. Please use your best judgment.
Will the recipe taste the same with flour instead of cornstarch? And how about the apple cider vinegar? Do I have to use that? Of can I use something to sub that also?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot advise appropriate substitutes that will not alter the overall taste/texture of the dish. Using a substitution may also result in a mediocre outcome.
Hello from the UK. Just made this and my husband said at the first bite “better than a takeaway”. Will be making again SOON!! Thanks for the recipe
Made this for Saturday night dinner as per the recipe, tossed in chunks of red and green pepper, white onion and pineapple when baking chicken and sauce. It was beautiful looking and delicious. My foodie son and my husband and myself loved it. Served with sticky rice, stir fried beans sprouts with broccoli, mushrooms and green onions. Perfect and a keeper.
This tasted amazing ! I didn’t have apple cider vinagar so i substituted with white spirit vinagar and it came out so nicely.
Thank you so much for this recipe.
The recipe says to stir in the cornstarch and then dip it in the eggs – should that not be vice versa – coat it in the eggs and then dredge in the cornstarch?
The recipe is correct.
This was amazing…I substituted the vinegar with pineapple juice and it was better than take out!
Forgot to add that I also included about a teaspoon of crushed ginger to the corn starch while breading the chicken….
Hi..I made it and the result is wonderful.it’s so delicious ..thank you for this tasty recipe..:))
I make this atleast once a month, lol, its so amazing!!!!
I would like to add pineapple, red peppers, and onions. When should I do this? Thanks
You can add them in during the last 20-30 minutes of cooking time.
Used potato starch instead of cornstarch! Worked just fine! This recipe was delicious!!!!!! So good! I wouldn’t recommend adding too much black pepper though, it distracts from the sauce.
I just tried making this in the crock pot and it was perfect! I did double the amount of chicken and sauce. Thank you for a great receipe.
Hi Meliss,
How long did you cook in the crock pot? Did you still fry the ckn pieces before?
Does the chicken need to be completely cooked through before putting it in the oven for the 55 min?
The chicken does not have to be completely cooked through before it goes in the oven. You are simply cooking the chicken until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes.