Quick and Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken — This sweet and sour chicken recipe takes just 15 minutes to make and tastes way better than takeout. Perfect for a weeknight dinner!
Table of Contents
I’m all about a 15-minute dinner. Especially when it tastes better than what I’d get in a restaurant, it’s healthier, less expensive, and faster than calling for takeout. Score on all fronts.
This recipe features a simple sweet and sour sauce that’s packed with the perfect balance of sweet yet sour Asian flavors. Soy, sesame, garlic, and more.
The homemade sweet and sour sauce coats the chicken beautifully and really makes this dish what it is. You’ll likely have extra, which I could eat by the spoonful. It’s great over rice or veggies.
Before cooking the chicken it’s tossed with cornstarch, which helps keep it moist, tender, juicy, and provides a very lightly ‘breaded’ exterior without actually breading it.
Ingredients Needed
For both the chicken and the homemade sweet and sour sauce, you’ll need the following:
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Apple cider vinegar
- Ketchup
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Garlic
- Cornstarch
Chicken
- Chicken breasts
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Cornstarch
- Green onions (optional, for serving)
- Sesame seeds (optional, for serving)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken
Making homemade sweet and sour chicken is so much easier than you may think! If serving with rice, be sure to get it started first so it’s done by the time the chicken is ready to eat.
- Make the sweet and sour sauce: It consists of sugar, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic, corn starch, and water. Add everything but the water and cornstarch to a saucepan.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, then combine the water and cornstarch in a separate bowl before adding it to the homemade sweet and sour sauce.
- Let that bubble away for a few minutes until it thickens up.
- Make the chicken: Add the diced chicken into a baggie with the cornstarch, salt, and pepper and toss to coat the chicken pieces fully.
- Fry the chicken in a skillet with a few tablespoons of olive oil (no need to deep fry!).
- Once the chicken is cooked, pour in the sweet and sour sauce and continue cooking until the chicken is coated in sauce and heated through.
Serving tip: I like to serve my homemade sweet and sour chicken with rice and sprinkle chopped scallions and sesame seeds on top as garnishes. I adore the contrasting textures!
Recipe FAQs
If desired, you could dice the chicken a day or two ahead of time and you can also whisk together the sweet and sour sauce beforehand. That way, all you have to do is quickly throw everything in a pan the day you plan on making the recipe.
I bet you could, although I prefer my chicken without pineapple.
If using canned pineapple, make sure it’s packed in water and not syrup. Drain well before adding to the skillet at the very end of the cook time.
If using fresh pineapple, add to the skillet just before stirring in the sauce. You want the pineapple to heat through, but still retain some bite.
If you want to make this Chinese sweet and sour chicken with veggies, like broccoli or sugar snap peas, add them after you add the sauce to the chicken and let them simmer in the sauce for a few minutes until they’re crisp tender.
This recipe calls for chicken breasts, but you could use thighs as well. You want boneless, skinless thighs though. I don’t recommend using bone-in chicken for this Chinese sweet and sour chicken recipe.
Video Tutorial
What to Serve with Sweet and Sour Chicken
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Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar, packed
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Chicken
- about 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if necessary
- 2 green onions, sliced into thin rounds, optional for garnishing
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, optional for garnishing
Instructions
Make the Sauce
- To a medium saucepan, add all ingredients except water and cornstarch, whisk to combine, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- To a small bowl, add the water, cornstarch, and stir to combine.
- Add the water and cornstarch mixture to saucepan, reduce heat to low, and allow sauce to simmer for about 5 minutes while you make the chicken; whisk intermittently.
Make the Chicken
- To a large ziptop bag, add the chicken, cornstarch, salt and pepper to taste, seal, and shake to coat chicken evenly.
- To a large skillet, add 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, chicken, and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until chicken has cooked through. Stir and flip intermittently to ensure even cooking. If skillet seems dry while cooking, add an additional tablespoon or two of oil as necessary.
- After chicken has cooked though, reduce heat to low, add the sauce, stir to coat evenly, and allow it to simmer for a minute or two.
- Optionally garnish with green onions, sesame seeds, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Chicken is best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Chinese Chicken Recipes:
Better-Than-Takeout Cashew Chicken – Juicy chicken, crisp-tender vegetables, and crunchy cashews coated with the best garlicky soy sauce! Skip takeout and make your own restaurant-quality meal that’s easy, ready in 20 minutes, and healthier!
Easy Better-Than-Takeout Chicken Fried Rice – One-skillet, ready in 20 minutes, and you’ll never want takeout again after tasting how good homemade is! Way more flavor, not greasy, and loads of juicy chicken!
Healthy Sesame Chicken and Broccoli — Skip takeout and make this Asian favorite at home in just minutes!! So EASY and HEALTHIER than what you’d get in a restaurant but tastes just as AWESOME!!
Kung Pao Chicken Recipe — An easy, BETTER-THAN-TAKEOUT recipe with juicy chicken and such a flavorful sauce!! Don’t call for takeout when you can make this HEALTHIER version at home in 20 minutes!
Better-Than-Takeout Sticky Chicken — Stop calling for takeout or going to the mall food court and make this AMAZING sticky chicken at home in 15 minutes!! So EASY with the perfect balance of sweet and spicy with plenty of sticky sauce!!
Healthier Orange Chicken — Stop calling for takeout or going to the mall food court and make this HEALTHIER orange chicken at home in less than 10 minutes!! EASY, authentic, and so INCREDIBLE that you’ll never miss the fat and calories!!
Chicken Chow Mein — Chewy chow mein noodles, crisp-tender veggies, and juicy chicken are stir-fried in a sesame-soy sauce! It’s a SIMPLE and FAST recipe that anyone can make.
Originally posted on January 18, 2017 and reposted on August 12, 2022 with updated text.
This was so good!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe, it was like eating restaurant chinese. Hmmmmmm!
Glad it was like eating at a Chinese restaurant, but at home!
This was delicious! I added some carrot, onion, and green bell pepper. And served with white rice. My husband and finicky girls all gave it thumbs up! Question. (If I want to cut back a little on the sugar, what would you suggest?)
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad this was a winner!
I have never tried to cut back on the sugar because there’s a fair amount of vinegar in it and I feel like it could be too pungent without the sugar. But you can play around with it and see what you can get away with.
I absolutely loved this recipe, I am really picky when it comes to “at home” recipes. I am also quite inexperienced in cooking and I was able to successfully and easily do this! I would add less apple cider vinegar and garlic next time. I could almost taste the apple cider vinegar. I also didn’t have olive oil so I used vegetable oil and it tasted fine! But such an amazing and yummy recipe! Definitely worth trying!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad you enjoyed this!
So fast so easy and my wife and 1 year old loved it!
Thanks for the 5 star review and it was a hit with everyone!
Great and easy gluten free recipe. I followed the recipe but I added cut up fresh pineapple chunks and bell pepper slices. Tasted better than the Chinese restaurant
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you think this tastes even better than from a Chinese restaurant!
Love this recipe! My family won’t even order this in restaurants anymore because this is better. Thanks, Averie!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad my version beats the restaurant version!
I need a good white rice recipe. I know at P. F. Changs they serve 2 white rices. One taste normal nothing added the other just woke up taste buds in my mouth I didn’t even know I had. Prior to P. F. Chang’s I never ate Chinese food because in my opinion they all stunk to high heaven. I cannot eat something that doesn’t look smell and taste good. Just walking near all Chinese food doors, nit going in made me nausious. My niece had her gradution dinner @ P. F. Changs, I told her babe I will try to enter the restaurant. But OMG P. F. Changs is the only Chinese restaurant that I walked into first of all and secondly it was like bring on the menu, the aromas inside were oh so delicious smelling. Now I am more inept at trying to make these things myself. Thank you for any help you may have.
Honestly white rice is one of those things that I don’t think much about and just make it.
If you’re looking for a great rice recipe I would suggest either of these https://www.averiecooks.com/2016/02/easy-better-takeout-chicken-fried-rice.html https://www.averiecooks.com/2017/04/easy-better-takeout-shrimp-fried-rice.html
And this is THE BEST PF Chang’s copycat recipe you’ll ever taste https://www.averiecooks.com/p-f-changs-chicken-lettuce-wraps-copycat-recipe/
You knocked this one out of the park, Averie. My daughter said it was like going to a Chinese restaurant right in our own home. I did have some problems with the chicken sticking–I pre-heated the skillet so I’m not sure why this was an issue. I’ve never used corn starch as a breading before (I’ve used a flour mixture) so wondering if that had something to do with it? My pan is a Cuisinart.
Glad you guys loved it and I love your daughter’s quote :) As for the sticking…cornstarch can cause chicken to stick a bit (it will for me too) but you can always just add a bit more oil next time to the skillet as necessary to help prevent the sticking. Or maybe a nonstick skillet? But honestly unless I’m cooking eggs I don’t use nonstick skillets much!
I totally have to make this. My mom used to make a pork version but I’d like chicken SO MUCH better.
This was so good and easy! The sauce…mmmm….loved it!
*Throws away all takeout menus*. This looks stinking amazing- and I cannot believe how easy it is! Total life saver!
Anytime you can throw away a takeout menu, that’s a step in the right direction :)
Hey girl- this looks so amazing!
Oh how I love sweet n sour chicken! But this version is healthier and even faster than takeout! What’s not to love?
This looks so good! We love sweet and sour chicken… and the 15 minutes part is a total win in my books!
This is your kinda food! And the 15 min part is always a win :)
This looks so good Averie!! Can’t wait to give it a try!! :)
Thanks!
You must have read my mind. I was thinking about making your cashew chicken later this week but I’m not sure I have cashews on hand. But I have everything needed to make this!
Awesome! Keep me posted if you make it!
I’ve made many different asian flavored dishes but haven’t done a sweet and sour chicken in ages. I like that this isn’t fully breaded and fried like most takeout versions. A15 minute recipe that looks this good is always a winner!
I loved that this wasn’t breaded and was quick and easy!
I was anxious to try this and it was wonderful! The sauce is amazing–I haven’t had sweet and sour in a while and it was a delicious “re-introduction”, so to speak! I also steamed some broccoli and was glad I had enough to coat it as well.
I’m so glad you loved it and yes the sauce…so good! Glad you added broccoli, too! Perfect for soaking up the sauce!