This Sweet and Sour Chicken has been one of our reader favourites for years!
We’ve got crispy yet juicy chicken with a tangy sauce that’s perfectly balanced with just the right amount of sweetness. Want to know the secret to that irresistible crispy coating and the sauce that will have everyone asking for seconds? This is my homemade crispy sweet and sour chicken with a sweet and tangy sauce made from scratch using store cupboard ingredients!
“The best sweet and sour, always a winner in my house, super tasty” – Jacqui Reeves
Table of Contents
🧾 Ingredients
What ingredients give you that sweet and sour chicken with tangy, sweet and well, sour flavour?
The sauce is actually quite a bizarre combination:
- Ketchup – and plenty of it – for a tanginess and colour. I don’t eat a lot of ketchup, but it’s a must for this dish.
- Malt vinegar – it’s the best type of vinegar I’ve found for getting the ‘right’ touch of sourness.
- Brown sugar – for rounded sweetness, and to counteract any bitterness in the vinegar.
- Pineapple chunks in pineapple juice – yep, rather than chopping up a fresh pineapple, I find pineapple chunks actually work better, and the juice is an all-important element to the sweet–tangy flavour of the sauce.
And of course we’re doing this sweet and sour chicken Hong Kong style – which means the chicken is chopped into bite-sized pieces, dredged in a flavourful coating then fried to crisp perfection, before being coated in that sweet and sour sauce.
📺 Watch how to make it
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post***
👩🍳 How to make sweet & sour chicken
We start by coating the chicken in cornflour (cornstarch), then egg and then seasoned flour. Then fry in oil until crispy. You can do this in two batches if your pan is on the small side. I can just about do it in one batch in my wok. Then remove the crispy chicken from the wok.
Pro Tip
Check the chicken is fully cooked:
You want to ensure the chicken is fully cooked before serving. Slice open one of the larger pieces you can find, and make sure it’s no longer pink in the middle. If it’s white with no pink areas, it’s cooked
Now onto the sweet and sour sauce. We fry onions and bell peppers in a wok until very lightly softened (just a couple of minutes), then add garlic and ginger, followed by those all-important bizarre ingredients: ketchup, malt vinegar, brown sugar and tinned pineapple (including the juice). Bring it to a gentle boil.
Let the sauce bubble for a few minutes, so it thickens slightly like this (it will thicken a little more when you add the chicken back in).
Then add in that crispy chicken and carefully toss in the sauce. So tasty!!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItI love take out sweet and sour chicken, but there are a couple of things I don’t love:
- The sauce is too bright orange – like glow in the dark orange. I’ve heard they use food colouring to get it that vivid (does anyone know for sure? let me know in the comments). Mine’s very red (from the ketchup) but the colour is toned down by the addition of dark brown sugar.
- The crisp coating is often flavourless. It’s more there for crunch, rather than to add additional flavour. I add extra seasoning and spices into my coating, so even without the sauce, it tastes delicious.
Can bake the chicken instead of frying it?
Yep! I have a recipe for baked sweet and sour chicken on the blog too.
🥡 More takeaway inspired recipes
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Boiled rice – check out my full post on how to boil rice.
- Egg Fried Rice – my personal favourite side for this sweet & sour
- Special Fried Rice – masterclass post on getting it perfect!
- Some Stir Fried Noodles with beansprouts for a lovely noodle side dish.
- How about Salt & Pepper Chips – Chris loves to pour the sauce over these!
- Maybe add a side of spare ribs? These are Asian style ribs topped with crispy onions, inspired by a restaurant we went to in China town in London.
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Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 90 g (3/4 cup) plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp garlic salt
- 2 tsp paprika
- 3 skinless chicken breast fillets chopped into bite-size chunks
Sauce:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 1 red pepper chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 green pepper chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 2 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped/crushed
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 150 ml (2/3 cup) tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp malt vinegar
- 6 tbsp dark brown muscovado sugar
- 475 g (17 oz) canned pineapple chunks in juice
To Serve:
- egg fried rice or boiled rice
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until very hot.5 tbsp vegetable oil
- Whilst the oil is heating, place the egg in one shallow bowl and the cornflour in another shallow bowl. Add the flour, salt, pepper, garlic salt and paprika to another shallow bowl and mix together.2 eggs lightly beaten, 3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), 90 g (3/4 cup) plain flour (all-purpose flour), ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp garlic salt, 2 tsp paprika
- Dredge the chicken in the cornflour, then dip it in the egg (make sure all of the chicken is covered in egg wash), and finally dredge it in the seasoned flour. Repeat until you've coated all the chicken.3 skinless chicken breast fillets
- Add to the wok and cook on a high heat for 6-7 minutes, turning two or three times during cooking, until well browned. You may need to cook in two batches (I find I can do it in one batch so long as it's no more than 3 chicken breasts).
- Check the chicken is cooked (see notes) and remove from the pan and place in a bowl lined with kitchen towels.
- Whilst the chicken is cooking, you can start on your sauce.
- Add the oil to a large frying pan/skillet, heat it up on a medium-to-high heat and add in the onions and the peppers . Cook for 3 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the onions start to go translucent.1 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 large onion, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper
- Add in the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.2 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp minced ginger
- Add the tomato ketchup, vinegar, dark brown sugar, and the tinned pineapple (including the juice) and stir. Bring to the boil, and then turn down the heat and let it bubble, stirring every so often, until slightly thickened, should take 3-5 minutes.150 ml (2/3 cup) tomato ketchup, 2 tbsp malt vinegar, 6 tbsp dark brown muscovado sugar, 475 g (17 oz) canned pineapple chunks in juice
- Transfer the cooked crispy chicken to the pan with the sauce and gently toss to coat.
- Serve with boiled or fried rice and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.egg fried rice or boiled rice, 1 tsp sesame seeds
Video
Notes
Check the chicken is cooked
You want to ensure the chicken is fully cooked before serving. Slice open one of the larger pieces you can find, and make sure it’s no longer pink in the middle. If it’s white with no pink areas, it’s cooked Nutritional Information is per serving including sesame seeds, but not rice (I don’t know how much rice you’re going to serve this with :-))Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was first published in September 2019. Updated in September 2024 with extra FAQs and housekeeping.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Delicious and I do love that you list ingredients pertaining to each step as you go, so you don’t have to scroll up and down.
Not part of the comment: Just a thought when noting the order of the bowls. Could you note the corn flour bowl first, then the second bowl the egg etc. The reason why is you take your time to make things soooo easy in your recipe, I literally followed step by step and then was out of whack to swap the order of the bowls around for the coating and dipping. Truly, NO biggy….its just EVERYTHING flowed except for that part. Just a thought, not a put down cause you did the best recipe I’ve ever followed.
Hi Nicky,
Just to say I have been cooking up some of your recipes since I found your website. All have gone down a storm with the family, the only thing I can’t get right is the prep time.
10 minutes prep takes me 30 – 40 minutes. I am new to this :-).
What’s worse than this is the devastation I leave behind. Dishes everywhere, my wife was at first annoyed but has resigned herself to the fact that your recipes are well worth the hour or so it takes to clean up :-). Having said that, I can fill a kitchen with dishes just making a sandwich.
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK
Ha ha sorry to hear that Jeff. I’m with you on making a mess though. I created a terrible mess. My husband is 10 times worse than me though. He likes a little dish for every ingredient 🙂
This is actually delicious!
The sauce is far better than my local takeaway spot.
Thank you!
This is a keeper! My husband asked when had I popped out to the local take-away as he said ‘I didn’t hear you going out’. Praise indeed, so thank you for this easy to follow recipe.
Is it ok to reheat leftovers the next day?
Thank you, I love your Kitchen Sanctuary x
Liz
Any idea how this would freeze?
This recipe is so good and beats any Chinese takeaway ! Will be making again for sure.
Nicky if I was to double the sauce would you recommend doubling every single ingredient used?
Thanks in advance!
This was absolutely delicious better than any take away. I have made sweet and sour many times but this was most definitely the best.
Wonderful recipe- everyone loves this when I make it- I serve with egg fried rice
Goddamn this is good😋