If take-out is what you’re craving this Sweet and Sour Chinese Chicken is the perfect 20 minute budget-friendly meal to fill that need!
Chinese take-out is one of our most favorite things on the planet. I mean seriously, it’s just so good and all the options that there are amazing.
But we also like to save money too, so we started making our own homemade Chinese take-out and we have hardly looked back. Whether it be this Sweet and Sour Chinese Chicken, potstickers, egg drop soup, etc. We love to make it at home.
Oh and you wouldn’t believe how easy some of these recipes are to recreate! This recipe is only a few ingredients and whips up in under 30 minutes start to finish!
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Like mentioned above, minimal ingredients make this a fast weeknight recipe that the whole family will adore.
- Sweet and sour chicken is a perfect pairing item and goes well with a variety of things such as rice, noodles or soup.
- The dipping sauce is served on the side, preventing the nice and crispy chicken from getting soggy and oversaturated.
There has been much debate on whether this Chinese chicken is served with the sauce over the top or if it is served alongside.
We have been to ALLLLLL the take-out places and not once have we seen it served over the chicken itself. So this is our preferred method of serving, but if you like it over the chicken itself, by all means, drizzle away.
HOW TO MAKE SWEET AND SOUR CHINESE CHICKEN, STEP BY STEP:
To make your sauce, in sauce pan combine your sugar, vinegar and water and heat on medium until sugar is desolved. Meanwhile in small bowl stir together your ketchup and cornstarch (Photos 5 & 6).
Once sugar is desolved stir in the ketchup and cornstarch mixture and turn heat to medium high and bring to a boil.Once mixture is boiling and it rises up in pan remove from heat and cool (Photos 7 & 8).
See how simple this homemade takeout Chinese chicken is? There really is no comparison, just look at all the amazing reviews that people have left making this.
We have been trying to dabble into more ethnic cooking lately, thanks to my aunt who is originally from Japan and likes to share her recipes with me.
Whether they are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. any of these ethnic flavors are loved in our house. My kids have become fanatics as well
Some of our favorite take-out fake-out recipes include Sesame Garlic Ramen Noodles, Chicken Lo Mein and Crispy Orange Chicken!
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR CHINESE CHICKEN:
- The batter for the chicken will be thin, do not worry about it, it sticks to the chicken hen frying and creates a nice and crispy coating.
- Some people like to serve the sweet and sour sauce over the chicken itself, we don’t recommend this as it makes the chicken soggy since it is breaded, but if that is how you are used to doing it by all means go for it!
- Cut your chicken into larger pieces, 2″ work best for actual restaurant size!
- When adding chicken to deep fryer make sure your basket is down and add one at a time, this prevents it from sinking and sticking the the bottom of the grates.
If you are craving take-out but want to keep it on a budget then you have to whip up this Sweet and Sour Chinese Chicken recipe. You won’t be disappointed!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this SWEET AND SOUR CHINESE CHICKEN or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Sweet and Sour Chinese Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken breasts cut into 1-2" pieces
Batter:
- 1/4 cup self-rising flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vinegar we used rice, but can use white
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 Tbs ketchup
- 1 Tbs cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat your deep fryer to 375.
- In bowl combine all batter ingredients and whisk until smooth, batter will be thin but that is what you are looking for.
- Dip your chicken pieces one by one into the batter and then place into deep fryer.
- Fry for about 7-8 minutes or until golden.
- Turn out onto paper towel to drain, repeat will all chicken.
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
- In small sauce pan combine your sugar, vinegar and water and heat on medium until sugar is desolved.
- Meanwhile in small bowl stir together your ketchup and cornstarch.
- Once sugar is desolved stir in the ketchup and cornstart mixtures.
- Turn heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
- Once mixture is boiling and it rises up in pan remove from heat and cool.
Notes
- The batter for the chicken will be thin, do not worry about it, it sticks to the chicken hen frying and creates a nice and crispy coating.
- Some people like to serve the sweet and sour sauce over the chicken itself, we don't recommend this as it makes the chicken soggy since it is breaded, but if that is how you are used to doing it by all means go for it!
- Cut your chicken into larger pieces, 2" work best for actual restaurant size!
- When adding chicken to deep fryer make sure your basket is down and add one at a time, this prevents it from sinking and sticking the the bottom of the grates.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Billy
The chicken is cooked absolutely perfect and the sauce looks so easy to make and I know it is to die for.
Jasmin M
This isn’t real sweet and sour chicken. It’s supoosed to be covered with sweet & sour. Not dipped in it
Tornadough Alli
I do believe there are more than one way to make this recipe. In fact our local Chinese restaurant had it as a dipping sauce on the side as well as one we just went to on vacation. But thank you for your insight.
Mckenzy
Every resturaunt ive gone too always has it on the side as well!
Tornadough Alli
Right!! I’ve never been to one that had had it already coated.
Amy
So pour the sauce over it or toss the cooked chicken in the sauce if you want it to be covered… lol!
At most Chinese restaurants I’ve been to, if you order the meal as takeout they coat it with sauce, but at the buffet they put the sauce on the side, probably so the chicken won’t get soggy. So it can be done either way.. but it’s truly not that hard to figure out how to sauce something 😂 And just because someone left a sauce on the side is definitely not a good reason to say a recipe is not the real thing.
April
This was amazing. I did like most and put a liitle less vinegar. Other than that, seriously perfect. The whole family loved it. I get asked every night now… Chinese chicken for dinner ??!?!?! Thanks so much!!
Tornadough Alli
Woohoo that’s great to hear! I’m so happy you liked it!
Victoria Reed
followed the recipe exactly. Very disappointed. sauce is disgustingly too sweet
Tornadough Alli
Victoria, I’m sorry this recipe wasn’t for you. People don’t have the same flavor profiles Unfortunately but I’ve had many great reviews. I’m sure you’ll find a recipe you enjoy, this one just isn’t it. But we still love it and will continue to enjoy.
Marie
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I love how simple it is and it tastes exactly like the take out version. We are living outside of the US now and really miss the US version of sweet and sour chicken so this completely hit the spot!
Tornadough Alli
Marie, I’m so happy you were able to enjoy it! It is one of my families favorites for sure!
vicki
Looks great! Was wondering if you can deep fry ahead oof time and if so, what would be the best way to reheat?
Tornadough Alli
Hi Vicki. In all honesty I probably wouldn’t deep fry ahead of time as when you reheat they will most likely be soggy and not crisp.
Anna
I just want to say THIS RECIPE ROCKS! I just got done making it. My Mom is not the biggest Chinese takeout fan like me and my sister but THIS recipe she ate the chicken ALONE! I added pepper and onion powder for more flavor but the recipe is easy to follow and very accurate. My problem in the past is some online recipes aren’t as accurate and it winds up coming out a mess. so super happy with this THANKS A MILLION!
Amy
I’ve made these before and the batter is perfect! Thanks for sharing and don’t let the haters get you down:) You can’t please everyone!!!
Tornadough Alli
Thanks Amy! I think the batter was great too, never had a problem. Thanks for your kind, amazing comment 🙂
Mike Didier
It’s unselfish people like you that take the time to share your efforts to better my abilities. I will give this a try along with the Coconut Cream Cheesecake…………..Calories. Thanks.
Scarlett
Funny how I left an actual comment after making this, not just saying it looks delicious, and you delete the comment.
Tornadough Alli
Hi Scarlett, I did not delete your comment. If you can’t tell by the site today or yesterday I am having issues with load time and my dashboard and nothing is working properly. Im currently in the process of trying to get it fixed. I haven’t seen your last comment so I apologize for that. If there was an issue with the recipe I would love to try to remedy it for you.
Scarlett
This absolutely didn’t work. There was no breading on the chicken at all. So I ended up with fried plain chicken. The batter was way too thin
Tornadough Alli
I found your comment! It was not deleted. I’m sorry this did not work for you. This is the recipe we have always use and it turns out every time. If you’re concerned about the thickness of the batter, I suggest adding more equal parts of the cornstarch and flour to the mix until you get a consistency that sticks to your chicken for you. For us, we usually add pieces one by one so they don’t sink to bottom and get stuck, sort of swirling them around.
Brittany
My family and I love this dish. It is really easy to make and taste really good. The only thing i did have to change is the amount of vinegar. From 1/2 cup to 1/4 and you could still kind of taste vinegar.
Shane edwards
Excellent! I’ve made it twice now and my son, back from college, thought it was “very good”! He’s my true test being traveled and an espiring cook himself. Thanks for posting!!
Tornadough Alli
Thanks so much Shane!! I’m so happy you and your son enjoyed this. I can’t wait to make it again and update the pics. I wish your son all the luck on his culinary journey!
Frugal Hausfrau
Alli, YUM! I bet the combo of cornstarch and self rising is responsible for that crust – they look like perfect crispy chewy deliciousness!
Mollie
Danita Carr
My family would love this! Looks delicious! Thanks for sharing! #SmallVictories
Mrs. AOK
YUM!! Now all I want is sweet and sour chicken with my coffee! 🙂 This looks wonderful.
Thanks for sharing with us.
XOXO
#MMBH
Shellie Bowdoin
My family loves this kind of chicken and I’m sure this is a fraction of the cost of what it costs for take-out. I’m so glad you added this to the Thursday Favorite Things Linkup!
Shellie
Katie
YUM Alli – Sweet and sour chicken is one of my favorites when we get take out. Pinning this for later, even my boys will eat this and that’s ALWAYS a plus 🙂 Thanks for sharing Alli!
sue
This looks like a restaurant dish! I always wondered what the dough was made of and really it isn’t that difficult! Thanks for sharing with us at #overthemoon and see you next week.
Jhuls | The Not So Creative Cook
Your recipe sounds fantastic! I love sweet and sour chicken. I love Chinese foods in general. 🙂
Tornadough Alli
Thank you:)