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Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken is 1000x better than any takeout! It’s crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and exploding with flavor. There is a reason why this is our favorite recipe on the blog!
This meal is going to blow your family away! I love to complete this meal with this dishes like Homemade Egg Rolls, Cream Cheese Wontons or Easy Fried Rice.
The BEST Sweet and Sour Chicken
I am going to keep this as short and simple as possible…you NEED to make this sweet and sour chicken recipe. This recipe is number one for a reason, it’s absolutely incredible. We have yet to find any takeout restaurant beat this recipe. (And that’s saying something, because I love Chinese takeout!)
A simple cornstarch batter makes each piece of chicken nice and crispy, and the sauce is to die for! It’s savory and sweet with the best hint of tang. The sauce thickens as it cooks, coating the chicken perfectly. Everything is super simple to make, so prepare for this sweet and sour chicken to be a regular in your weekly dinner rotation. Easy takeout at home, what could be better than that? (Find more “better than takeout” recipes here!)
Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken Ingredients
Restaurant-quality sweet and sour chicken, but from the comfort of your home! These are all the ingredients you’ll need to make the perfect crispy chicken smothered in a mouthwatering, savory glaze. All measurements can be found below in the recipe card.
- Chicken Breasts: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts for easy prep. This recipe also works really well with skinless chicken thighs or pork if you want to switch things up!
- Salt and Black Pepper: Give the chicken its first layer of flavor. Add to taste!
- Cornstarch: Creates a superb crunch.
- Eggs: Helps the coating stick to each piece of chicken.
- Canola Oil: Just enough to give the chicken a quick fry for crispiness.
- Granulated Sugar: Gives the sauce a touch of sweetness. You can also use brown sugar if you’d like! It will give your chicken a deeper, more caramel-like flavor.
- Ketchup: Adds some extra flavor to the sauce.
- White Vinegar and Apple Cider Vinegar: I love adding a combination of both because it gives the sauce a tangy flavor, but a bit of sweetness too!
- Soy Sauce: A must-add for any savory Asian dish! I used low-sodium soy sauce, but whatever you have on hand works great!
- Garlic Salt: Adds the perfect punch of savory flavor.
Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Recipe
Making this sweet and sour chicken doesn’t take much effort at all! Once you get a taste, you’ll be happy you didn’t order takeout! The crispy breading and flavor of the sweet and sour sauce is seriously the best. You can’t beat the fresh flavor of making Chinese takeout from scratch!
- Prep: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut your chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and then season with salt and pepper.
- Dip: Add cornstarch and slightly beaten eggs to separate bowls. Dip the chicken FIRST in the cornstarch and then coat in the egg mixture.
- Flash Fry: Heat canola oil in a large pan over medium high heat and cook chicken until brown but not fully cooked throughout. Place the chicken in a 9×13 inch baking dish.
- Prepare Sauce: In a medium sized mixing cowl, whisk together sugar, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, soy sauce and garlic salt.
- Bake: Pour over the chicken and bake for an hour. Stir every 15 minutes to coat them in the sauce.
Tips and Tricks
These are a few tips to keep in mind so your chicken turns out as delicious as possible! I’ve also included a few ways to switch things up. That’s the beauty of making sweet and sour chicken at home instead of ordering takeout. You can customize it however you want!
- Method to the Madness: Make sure you first coat your chicken in the cornstarch and then the egg. This method makes the perfect breading for the chicken.
- Flash Frying: Don’t cook the chicken all the way through before baking. You just want to get the chicken lightly brown on the outside, and then it bakes to perfection.
- Vinegar: You can use all apple cider vinegar, but I wouldn’t use all white vinegar, the flavor and zing will be different. If you want a lighter flavor you can also use rice vinegar, it’s still tangy but a little milder.
- Make it Saucy: If you like your dish saucy, double the sauce recipe and place half on the chicken and another half on the stove in a pot at a simmer for 8-10 minutes until thickened.
- Add Veggies: Feel free to add vegetables or pineapple chunks to the dish before baking. (You can even add a little bit of pineapple juice to your sauce!) Chopped red bell peppers, bamboo shoots, chopped onions, broccoli, or snow peas are all great options as well.
Storing Leftovers
One of the great things about Chinese takeout is that it’s super easy to store and reheat. It tastes just as good the next day! Heat up some rice and you have a quick and delicious lunch on your hands.
- In the Refrigerator: Place leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- In the Freezer: Leftovers can be frozen too. Just place in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for 2-3 months. Let thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- To Reheat: Sweet and sour chicken is best reheated on the stove. Reheating it in the microwave can make the chicken rubbery and overcooked. Place leftovers in a saucepan on the stovetop and heat on medium heat, stirring often, until heated through.
More Amazingly Delicious Baked Chicken Dishes
If you have some extra chicken breasts hanging out in your freezer, here are more great ways to use them up! Not only are these recipes insanely delicious, but they’re also super easy to make and use a lot of pantry staple ingredients. Plus, my picky eaters can’t get enough of them which is the biggest win!
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Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
Equipment
- Utopia Kitchen Cooking Knives
- Fine dine Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 cup canola oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- In separate bowls, place cornstarch and slightly beaten eggs. Dip chicken into cornstarch then coat in egg mixture.
- Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until browned. Place the chicken in a 9 x 13 greased baking dish.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine sugar, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic salt. Pour over chicken and bake for 1 hour.
- I stirred the chicken every 15 minutes so that it coated them in the sauce.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Found your site last night while searching for something to make for dinner. We tried the sweet and sour chicken and loved it!!!! I’m so excited about your site, it just made creating my weekly menu much easier! Going to share with all my friends. Thx again!
So glad you found me!! And I am so glad you loved it! XO
Outstanding! I made this last night and everyone loved it! This is also a great gluten free recipe! Thank you!
I tried this recipe last night and had some very happy people in my house!! I didn’t have any cornstarch so I substituted flour. I also sliced up some garlic and chopped onion and added that to the bake. Next time I am also going to add broccoli. My husband was so impressed,said it was the best sweet and sour he has ever had. I said don’t thank me, thank the great recipe!!! We loved it and will certainly make it again, very, very soon!!!!!!
I made this and it came out great! Thanks so much for taking the time to type it out and take the inspiring pictures. 🙂 I put less sugar (and brown sugar), and then a little honey. Not sure if it came out exactly how it was supposed to, but it was delicious! I served it with rice and broccoli, and green onions on top of the chicken. Thanks again!
I was wondering…when you’re cooking the chicken…is it supposed to be almost a yellow when cooking or did I use too much egg?
Yes it is yellow. But the sides will brown a little. 🙂
Can’t I just use pre-made sweet & sour sauce already made in a jar and just pour it over the chicken after it’s done??
damn good woman I think it’s funny all the question about the sweet and sour sauce it’s like just make it and you’ll figure it out. or maybe they don’t know what from scratch means. lol awesome recipe though eating it as I type.
I tried this recipe last night and ALL 6 of us demolished this dish! Finger lickin good! Ours certainly didnt come out like the typical sweet and sour chicken as your photos would depict, but it was truly great! Awesome job. Looking forward to trying some of your other recipes 🙂
Isn’t it amazing!! Thanks for the comment and I am so glad you loved it!!!
I’d love to try it, but no way with that much sugar!
You could probably reduce the sugar to a half cup.
Looks so yummy that I want to make it tonight for dinner along with some Chinese fried rice.. My question is how many servings is this? I have a family of ten and not certain if I need to double or triple the recipe. Thank you. 🙂
Made it for the family last night and they said it was amazing. There were left overs and they were still eating it today!! Thanks for such a wonderful recipe.
I cooked this for my family of 8 last Sunday. I used 6 pieces of chicken and doubled the sauce. There was so much chicken I had to use a 9×13 and an 8×8. I did double the sauce and it was plenty. Sorry I hope that gives you an idea of about how much to make. 🙂
I enjoy cooking, I dread take out. It’s pretty rare when I do but a few weeks ago my brother paid me a visit and he insisted I take a break. That night we ordered Chinese takeout, yuck! I knew he planned to come over again and I vowed I would make it myself. My brother lives the takeout kind of life he says he doesn’t like complicated things. But I stuck with my plans I searched online read reviews and choose this recipe. I was not disappointed this was soooo delicious! Everyone agreed it was better than takeout. It was so great I made it for dinner the next day and my kids asked that I’d make it again! I make pizza religiously every Friday now I will religiously make this every Tuesday. I did however make some modifications. I sautéed the carrots added pineapple chunks and the vinegar mixture and brought it to a simmer. To thicken I added 1/2 tbs of dissolved cornstarch. When ready I mixed the chicken and served. This is a keeper!
Why does it bake for an hour? I’m guessing to thicken the sauce? That seems like a long time, does the chicken get dry?
It is baking at a low temp so it is totally fine. The chicken does brown a bit and the sauce does thicken but it is amazing and does not dry out. It almost makes it more tender. 🙂
Wouldn’t using chicken thighs be a little more foolproof, besides being $1.50 cheaper?
You can for sure use them instead !
Made it. Loved it! Thanks for sharing.
I made these. Very yummy. Left them a little too long in the oven so next time will take them outbefore an hour as the sauce will burn
I just came across your site and decided to make the baked sweet and sour chicken recipe, it was AMAZING!! Can’t wait to try your other recipes!!!!
Can you make this in the crock-pot like your Orange Chicken? How long would you cook it in crock-pot & what setting do you recommend using? Also, how many does this feed? I am cooking for 4-5 people ( I have a picky 3 year old).
I am actually going to test it in the crockpot and I think it would work just as great! It is very filling and it would feed 4-6 people I’m sure. I would cook it on low for 3-4 hours. If you are going to bread the chicken and brown it before putting it into the crockpot I would reduce the time. It won’t need as long but slow cooking it will allow the sauce to thicken. 🙂
I made this tonight, I ran out of time so just baked in the oven. It got ate right up, even my picky 3 year old loved it and wanted 2nds. I think next time I will use 1-2 more chicken breasts though (I used 4 & they were 5oz breasts I believe) & maybe even double the sauce?? There was 5 of us to feed and it was JUST the right amount, I wouldn’t mind having some left overs though the next day and there wasn’t enough for us to have 2nds although it was fine because we got filled up. I also like mixing the sauce in with my rice to give it some extra flavor & there wasn’t much leftover for that. Not sure if doubling the sauce would be TOO much though. Anyways…the recipe was awesome, huge hit with the family and I will no longer waste money on take-out Chinese food, usually we spend $30-$40 when we order it, this way is much better & cheaper…I already have all the ingredients except for the chicken & rice for when I make it again, & I plan on making it again real soon!!
I have never dredged & egg. Always have done dredge/egg/then another coating… you have dredge then egg to fry… is there a strong egg taste? I am ALLERGIC to eggs. (yet able to dredge/egg/another coat). have you ever done dredge/egg/dredge for this recipe? or is too much batter?
Thanks.
There is not a strong egg taste to this and it is the first time I have done it in that order. But it gave me the same kind of breading as from a restaurant so maybe that made the difference. If you are worried about it you could try coating with the egg first but I am not 100% sure how it will turn out. Let me know if you try! 🙂
Definitely dredge—egg—dredge. Strangely the first dry dredge makes the egg stick better and the egg makes the second dredge stick. Just use plain corn starch for the first dredge, as instructed.