My Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken is a family favorite. It features juicy meat topped with a sweet and tangy sauce. You can serve this dish in many ways. My family loves to eat it on top of a salad or as a shish-kabob with roasted vegetables.
If you’re craving Chinese takeout, serve it over brown rice or quinoa. This dinner will leave an impression long after the guests leave the table.
When I was growing up, each of us girls had a budget and the task of cooking dinner once a week. This helped us stretch our resources and learn to cook tasty food! This recipe was my favorite to cook for our family. It was always such a hit!
Table of Contents
Recipe for Chinese Food Success
After making this recipe many times, I’ve learned a few tips that take this meal to a whole new level.
- If the marinade fully covers the meat, you’ve made enough. Depending on their size, a batch covers 2-4 single breasts. You may need to double your marinade if you’re using larger chicken breasts. If you double your marinade, you must also double your sauce. No one wants dry chicken!
- When chopping your vegetables, cut them into pieces that are the same size. I like to cut the carrots and celery at an angle to get flat, bigger chunks. This step helps each veggie cook evenly.
- Create new flavor combinations by using your favorite vegetables. We love carrots, celery, new potatoes, peppers, onions, and mushrooms.
- Canned new potatoes are one of my favorite additions, especially when I’m short on time. I cut larger potatoes in half, which works great for kids! I purchase organic potatoes that come in a BPA-free can. You can also use new baby potatoes from your garden. If you can’t find organic potatoes, be sure to grab a variety that is non-GMO.
- I love using pineapple juice in this recipe, but I don’t use concentrated versions with sugar. If I know I’m making this dish, I purchase fresh-sliced pineapple from the store and use the juice gathered in the bottom of the container. If you don’t have pineapple juice, you can use water. Either works great!
- My favorite rice is Lundberg brown basmati rice. If you have leftover rice, use it to make our delicious rice pudding!
Healthy Chicken Ingredients 101
This recipe may sound fancy, but it uses simple ingredients. I’m sure you have most of them in your pantry right now! Here’s what you need to add to your shopping cart.
Organic and Free Range Chicken Breasts: Chicken is a great, lean protein that’s relatively inexpensive. When purchasing chicken, look for organic, free-range birds. Chickens raised in commercial cages are fed GMO-filled grains.
This feed fattens them up, but it also leeches into the meat, affecting consumers. If you’re having trouble finding free-range meat in stores, you can usually create connections with local farmers who are happy to sell you their free-range birds.
Organic Vegetables and Pineapple: A good variety of organic vegetables gives your body a healthy dose of produce! One of the best things about this recipe is that you can customize it to fit whatever you have on hand.
Use broccoli, snow peas, cauliflower, celery, radishes, water chestnuts, or onions. The sky is the limit! I recommend using fresh pineapple chunks as well for a pop of sweetness. The pineapple releases its natural juice as the dish cooks, adding flavor.
Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt: Traditional table salt undergoes a rigorous harvesting process that leaves it stripped of trace minerals. We recommend using Colima sea salt because it’s hand-harvested. This process leaves the good stuff intact!
Plus, it tastes incredible and adds gourmet flair to any recipe. If you don’t have sea salt, you can use pink Himalayan salt.
Organic Liquid Aminos or Gluten-Free Tamari Sauce: Instead of traditional soy sauce, we use liquid aminos. We love the deep, salty taste it gives our food! It’s lower in sodium and contains no soy.
If you don’t have liquid aminos on hand, you can use gluten-free tamari sauce.
Organic Non-GMO Cornstarch: This ingredient thickens the sweet and sour sauce. Healthy alternatives are easier to find as consumers learn more about their bodies. If you’re having trouble finding organic cornstarch, you can always find it online.
Sweetener: Traditional Chinese dishes contain lots of sugar. This recipe is delightful, but instead of white sugar, we use low-glycemic options. My favorite option is Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup.
You won’t notice a difference in taste! A little goes a long way, especially since the pineapple adds natural sweetness.
Homemade Ketchup: My homemade ketchup is the base of a sweet and sour sauce. Don’t let the thought of DIY condiments scare you! This recipe comes together in just a few minutes. You can even make it in advance!
If you prefer, you can always use organic, unsweetened ketchup.
Make Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken
This recipe may sound fancy, but it’s pretty straightforward. You should note that your chicken needs at least 4 hours to marinate. The best part? There’s no breading involved, so you get to skip a step.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Equipment
- Large skillet OR wok
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2-4 tablespoons organic toasted sesame oil OR 2 tablespoons coconut oil extra-virgin AND unrefined OR 2 tablespoons grass-fed organic sea-salted butter
- 2-4 organic AND free range chicken breasts , chopped into 1-inch pieces
- Organic vegetables (carrots, celery, new potatoes, pea pods, red AND/OR green peppers, water chestnuts, etc.)
- 1 cup fresh organic pineapple , cut into ½-inch pieces
Marinade
- ½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt, ground
- 1 tablespoon organic liquid aminos OR 1 tablespoon organic gluten-free tamari sauce
- 1 tablespoon organic non-GMO cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon biodynamic white wine, Mirin, OR organic dry cooking sherry
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup, organic, organic coconut sugar OR organic maple sugar OR Christmas Cookie Blend
- 4 tablespoons Healthy Homemade Ketchup OR organic unsweetened ketchup
- 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt, ground
- 4 tablespoons fresh organic pineapple juice OR purified OR distilled water
- 1 tablespoon organic non-GMO cornstarch
Instructions
For the marinade:
- Mix the sea salt, liquid aminos, cornstarch, and white wine in a small bowl. Place the chicken in a glass dish and pour the marinade on top. It should fully cover the chicken.
- Gently stir to coat the meat thoroughly. Marinate overnight or at least 4 hours.
For the sauce:
- Combine the apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, ketchup, sea salt, and pineapple juice in a separate bowl. Whisk in the cornstarch. Set aside.
For the Sweet and Sour Chicken:
- Preheat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil, then sauté the chicken until cooked thoroughly. Remove from the pan and place in a large glass serving boil. Drain the oil. I reserve the oil and put it back in the pan for the vegetables because it has such good flavor.
- Sauté the veggies and pineapple until just tender.
- When the vegetables are nearly done, add the sweet and sour sauce.
- Cook until the sauce looks like a glaze.
- Fold in the chicken and serve over brown rice or lettuce.
Notes
Christmas Cookie Blend (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 6 ounces organic coconut sugar
- 11-16 ounces organic date sugar (based on your available container sizes)
- 6 ounces organic maple sugar
Instructions
- Place the coconut sugar, date sugar, and maple sugar in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. Shake to mix thoroughly.
- Place mixture in a blender and blend until powdery. I prefer milling this recipe in a Vitamix dry goods container. I start blending on one, then slowly increase until the mixture is fully blended. Then, I open the blender, stir, and repeat the process. The final color of your product will differ based on the brand of sweetener you use. Use in place of regular sugar in all your favorite baked goods. Store in a glass jar.
Notes
Healthy Homemade Ketchup (Vegan)
Equipment
- Blender OR food processor
Ingredients
- 1 6-8-ounce can organic tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup organic , OR Christmas Cookie Blend, OR 2 tablespoons organic coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt, ground
- 1 teaspoon organic garlic granules OR 4 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1 teaspoon organic onion powder
- 1 serving (⅟16 ) organic powdered stevia OR 1 dropperful plain liquid stevia
- ¼ teaspoon organic allspice
- ⅔ cup purified OR distilled water
- ⅛ teaspoon organic ground cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Place the tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, stevia, allspice, purified water, and cayenne pepper (if using) in a food processor or blender. Blend until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. Store in the fridge for up to 3-4 weeks in a tightly covered container.
Notes
Step One: Marinate the Chicken
Place the sea salt, liquid aminos, white wine, and cornstarch in a glass bowl and whisk to combine. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender. Add the chicken to the bowl (the marinade should cover all of the meat).
Gently stir to coat the meat thoroughly. Marinate overnight or at least 4 hours.
Step Two: Make the Sweet and Sour Sauce
Combine the apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, ketchup, sea salt, and pineapple juice in a separate bowl. Whisk in the cornstarch or combine using an immersion blender. Set aside.
Step Three: Cook the Chicken
Preheat a deep skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add half of the sesame oil, then sauté the chicken until cooked thoroughly. Set aside.
Step Four: Cook the Vegetables and Add Sauce
Add the rest of the sesame oil to the pan, then sauté the veggies and pineapple. I like to start with the vegetables that take the longest to cook, such as carrots and celery. I usually add the pineapple last.
When the vegetables are nearly done, add the sweet and sour sauce. Cook until the sauce looks like a glaze. Fold in the chicken and serve over brown rice or lettuce.
