A few weeks ago, Christina told me about a delicious sweet and sour chicken recipe on Tasty Kitchen that everyone was raving about. Turns out the recipe is from My Kitchen Cafe, and Melanie has a plethora of incredible chicken recipes that I can’t wait to try.
Mr. How Sweet is always asking for homemade chinese food, and I always drop the ball. Mine just never tastes as good as take-out.
Trust me when I say that this is the best sweet and sour chicken I have ever had in my life. Better than take-out. Better than Trader Joe’s. Better than everything.
Mr. How Sweet agrees – a week doesn’t go by where he isn’t begging me to make it again. I don’t mind making it, because we use skinless, boneless chicken – it is healthier than any take-out we would get.
I also don’t like to hear Mr. How Sweet whine. It makes my ears bleed.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
from My Kitchen Cafe
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup cornstarch
salt & pepper
1/4 cup canola oil (I used olive oil)
Preheat oven to 325.
Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Coat chicken in egg and then in cornstarch. Pan fry in oil until golden brown, but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish.
Sauce
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon garlic salt (I used garlic powder)
Mix all ingredients together and pour over chicken. Bake chicken for 6o minutes, turning every 15 minutes. You can also make extra sauce – add all ingredients to a saucepan and simmer until thick.
Mr. How Sweet loves this so much, that he wants a special compartment in his man purse just to store sweet and sour chicken.
I’ll get on that.
I’m Jessica and this is where I share my stuff. You will find a balance of healthy recipes, comfort food and indulgent desserts.
mmm i love homemade sweet and sour!
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mmmm this would be a perfect dinner for tonight. Although I’d be afraid it’s all my husband would ask for once I made it! I love making homemade chinese because of how much healthier it can be made.
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Does the sauce keep in the refrigerator? I want to make it and keep it in the fridge to use on tofu!
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Jessica — May 16th, 2010 @ 6:32 am
I’m sure it does – we had leftovers for a few days and the sauce on the chicken was still great!
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This looks awesome and sounds delicious. So simple! Way better than any mystery takeout (however, I do love that mystery takeout…haha).
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I’m totally making this for my husband this week! He would love it!
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Thanks for introducing us to ‘ My Kitchen Cafe’ it looks like a great site.
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I’ve been absolutely craving this dish… too funny!! This looks amazing!! :)
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Putting these ingredients on my grocery list for next week!!! Delish!
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Nice! Looks fantastic. I love making homemade takeout. Ya’ll should try this too- its simple version of at home beef and broccoli. Josh loves it- http://itzyskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/12/beef-broccoli.html
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Definitely making this very soon. Adam LOVES Chinese food too, but I hesitate ordering out. Maybe I’ll make shrimp!
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I have made this a few times. It is fantastic!!
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Mmm, looks delicious! A must-try!
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i love melanie’s blog! and this chicken looks great. enjoy your sunday, beautiful!
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I’m bookmarking this one girl…
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This picture is mouth watering!
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My husband loves sweet and sour chicken. We never have it because it’s always so unhealthy. But this version is healthy and looks delicious.
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YUMMMM! Love Sweet & Sour Chicken- can’t wait to try this! :)
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That looks soooo good! I LOVE sweet and sour chicken, it’s my all time favorite Chinese food. YUM
Jenn
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Mmm, it looks like Chinese food from the mall, but sounds much healthier!!! Yummmmmmmmmm!!!
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That looks really good! No wonder he wants you to make it all of the time LOL
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So glad you liked this! (And glad my husband isn’t the only one who nags me about making it again and again!)
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Yum!
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Yum…it reminds me a bit of that chicken in sweet and spicy sauce I had at the airport lounge…it wasn’t fried, either.
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girl i hope you had a great weekend…i did. it was amazing. all that i told you was going down, it was so FUN!
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One of the hubby’s favorite foods ever….can’t wait to make this for him. Thanks!
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ooh my husband would love this as well.
and I need to know.
seriously is it always dinner like that in yer domicile?
would you do that if you didnt blog?!
I need to be mo’ like y ou.
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I have NEVER made anything Asian at home… but I just might have to try this! Looks great girl!
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These look delicious! I am scared of pan frying, I always screw it up!
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Thanks for the link :)
This recipe should come with a warning that once you make it, your honey will whine for you to make it every day. It’s THAT good! Glad Mr. How Sweet enjoyed it!
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I’ve made this too! And my husband LOVED it. Seriously, I’ve made like 20 of Melanie’s recipes and they’ve all been incredible.
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I think I’ll show this recipe to boyfriend so he can make it for me. haha, he is such the better cook.
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Made this last night and my husband and I both LOVED it!!! Thank you so much for posting this recipe!! We will definitely keep this one on hand!!
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Yum… This looks great! I rarely have any success with making take out dishes at home and not wishing that I had just ordered take out. I’ll have to try this one since it comes with such a glowing recommendation!
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I just made this tonight and it was delicious! My husband raved just like you warned. I have a big family so I doubled the recipe and it was perfect. We have some leftover for hubby to take to work tomorrow too!
The one thing I noticed, the recipe says to dip it in the cornstarch and then the egg but with the first few pieces that I did that to, it smelled too ‘eggy’ frying up. I switched it and dipped it in egg first, then cornstarch and it worked much better for me. It all tasted great at the end and the sauce is to die for! We are def. having this again! Thanks for sharing!
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Jessica — May 19th, 2010 @ 11:30 am
You are right! So sorry about that, just changed it. It is egg first, then cornstarch. So glad you liked it. :)
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Lacey — March 4th, 2011 @ 4:23 pm
Are you sure?? The Pioneer Women says first cornstarch then egg? Which is better?
Meg — December 5th, 2012 @ 12:53 pm
I do flour/cornstarch, then egg, then flour/cornstarch. It makes it fluffier, I think.
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I just came across this recipe, and I can’t wait to try it! Does it really take the full 60 minutes for the chicken to cook completely?
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Jessica — May 25th, 2010 @ 4:13 am
The chicken could probably be done in 30-45 minutes, but it’s also about letting the sauce thicken. I am not positive though, because I always cook it for the full 60.
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Wonderful recipe and one I will make again. The only thing I would do different is to double the sauce.
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I made this dish last night for my boyfriend and I and it was amazingly delicious. I would not, however, consider it healthy (3/4 cup of sugar!! eek!). I had a massive sugar buzz afterwards… not good! Next time, I will try to scale back on the sugar (down to 1/2 cup) or try to find some kind of replacement for it!
But as far as Chinesse food goes, this was better than take-out!
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Made this for dinner tonight! Super good! I did make extra sauce and added pineapple tidbits and sauteed green peppers. Will definitely file this away to make again. =)
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Jessica — January 18th, 2011 @ 3:04 am
Glad you liked it!
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I made this last night, was DELISH! Made it with mushroom, cabbage and carrot fried rice.
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I’m a little late but wanted to know, it says “Cook the sauce on the stovetop at medium heat for 8-10 minutes until it simmers and thickens.” Is that only for the 2nd half you’d use on the side? Does the first half do all it’s thickening in the oven and therefore not need to go on the stovetop before covering the chicken?
Thanks!
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Jessica — April 11th, 2011 @ 11:10 am
Yes! You don’t need to cook it for the first.
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Just made it and between 2 of us its been totally obliterated, no chance of leftover yumminess tomorrow but right now we are in heaven, admittedly a massively overfull podgy looking heaven, but its a very content place indeed. you are a star for bringing this one to my attention and it will become a regular im sure
THANK YOU :)
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This looks super good!
Do you think I could use rice vinegar would work as well?
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Jessica — June 24th, 2011 @ 6:48 am
I would probably not use rice vinegar – apple cider vinegar is best for the sweet and sour flavor.
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Made this the other night at about 10pm – I guess you could call it a late dinner. Anyway, turned out great! I had a little problem when I was pan frying because I couldn’t seem to get the cornstarch to stay on the chicken, any tips? Other than that, it went according to your recipe! Thanks again! I’m starting to actually enjoy cooking :)
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Made this for dinner tonight.. was yumtastic!! :)
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I just made this for dinner… mmm
I want to marry this chicken.
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Whoa whoa whoa. I just made this and it was basically THE BEST CHICKEN I EVER ATE.
I added a bunch of sauteed veggies like broccoli, different colored bell peppers, green beans, carrots, celery, and water chestnuts.
Thank you for making my life awesome. As usual.
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Alright….so…I have been drooling all over your blog for about a month now. Quite literally. Your concoctions look and sound amazing. So last night I decided to try one of your most basic recipes…sweet and sour chicken. Made some stir fry with that and some couscous on the side and VOILA!! You have proved yourself in my kitchen, lady. All I’ve got to say is “keep ‘em comin.” Fantastic!
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is there a way around pan frying?
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I’ve always been too intimidated to attempt homemade Chinese put this looks so easy, I can’t wait to try it! Thanks!
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