Restaurant-style crispy juicy sweet and sour chicken without deep frying or a wok! {Gluten Free Adaptable}
Sweet and sour chicken is probably THE most popular Chinese dish. Crispy chicken, a sweet scrumptious sauce, and crunchy peppers. It just has all the comforting elements in one bowl. If you travel to China, you will probably be disappointed that you can only find the pork version in restaurants. After all, pork is more of a staple meat for Chinese people than chicken. However, when I was living in Japan, sweet and sour chicken was one of the dishes I learned to make early on.
In most Japanese grocery stores, you will find packaged chicken thighs already cut up into bite-sized chunks. Back then I had zero cooking experience. So I was delighted to discover these products that could save me a bit of trouble, and I went straight for the chicken version.
Why this recipe
Today I want to share this easy sweet and sour chicken recipe that yields crispy chicken, sticky sauce, and crispy veggies, like the restaurant version. But the setup is more practical for any cook to make in their home kitchen. The greatest things about this recipe are:
- No deep-frying required! You will use much less oil to pan fry the chicken. The chicken will end up super crispy and stay that way, even after it’s been tossed in the sauce.
- The sweet and sour sauce is well balanced and rich. It is very fragrant and uses less sugar than most of the sweet and sour chicken recipes.
- No wok required! You can use a regular skillet to make this dish taste great.
Cooking notes
1. How to make crispy chicken without deep frying
I hate deep-frying! That’s why I developed a formula to creating crispy chicken with a crunchy coating that is like the takeout you’d get from Chinese restaurants, without making a mess.
Simply use: oil + salt + egg + cornstarch
This combination creates a dry batter that is suitable for pan-frying. Normally, deep frying requires at least 4 to 5 cups of oil. If you use this batter, you only need 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of oil to pan-fry the chicken in a regular skillet. Not only does it yield an extra crispy exterior and juicy, flavorful meat, but the chicken also stays crispy even after you coat it with sauce.
2. Use any cut of chicken you like
I’m a dark meat person. But using chicken breast creates awesome results, as well.
Just remember to cut the chicken into 1″ (2.5 cm) pieces. The size of the chicken pieces matters because you want the surface to turn crispy with the inside just cooked through at the same time. No matter you use breasts or thighs, they will turned out great.
3. Prep work
Before you start cooking, your countertop should have:
- Marinated chicken that’s coated with cornstarch
- A bowl of chopped garlic
- Chopped onion and pepper in a plate
- Mixed sauce
When you start the cooking, it will only last a few minutes. It’s important to prep all the ingredients before turning on the heat.
I like to group my ingredients according to the recipe (for example, place onion and peppers in one plate), so it’s easier to add them during the stir fry process.
4. Workflow
You only need to:
- Pan fry the chicken, move all the cooked chicken to a plate.
- Saute garlic to release fragrance.
- Add the sauce
- Add back chicken and veggies
NOTE: I only briefly cooked the veggies, so they are very crispy and have a vibrant color. If you prefer to cook your veggies until tender, you can add them right after you saute the garlic.
I hope you enjoy the dish!
More easy restaurant-style stir fry recipes
- Orange Chicken
- Chicken and Broccoli (Chinese Takeout Style)
- General Tso Tofu
- Ginger Beef Stir Fry
- Honey Garlic Shrimp
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Sweet and Sour Chicken (Without Deep-Frying)
Ingredients
- 1 pound (450 grams) boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breasts), cut to 1-inch (2-cm) pieces
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 egg , beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir-fry
- 1/3 cup peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 small white onion , chopped
- 1 bell pepper , chopped (I used a mix of colors in this recipe)
Instructions
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Combine chicken pieces, vegetable oil, and salt in a big bowl. Mix well and let marinate for 10 to 20 minutes.
- Add the beaten egg into the bowl with the chicken. Stir to mix well. Add cornstarch. Stir to coat chicken, until it forms an uneven coating with a little dry cornstarch left unattached.
- Heat oil in a heavy duty skillet until hot, until it just starts to smoke. Add chicken all at once and spread out into a single layer in the skillet. Separate chicken pieces with a pair of tongs or chopsticks.
- Cook without touching the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bottom turns golden. Flip to brown the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a big plate and remove the pan from the stove. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Place the pan back onto the stove and turn to medium heat. You should still have 1 to 2 tablespoons oil in the pan. Add garlic. Cook and stir a few times until it releases its fragrance.
- Stir the sauce again to dissolve the cornstarch completely. Pour into the pan. Stir and cook until it thickens, when you can draw a line on the bottom with a spatula without the sauce running back immediately.
- Add back the chicken pieces, white onion, and bell peppers. (*Footnote 1) Stir to coat chicken with sauce, 30 seconds. Transfer everything to a plate immediately.
- Serve hot as main over steamed rice.
Notes
- This recipe yields very crispy veggies that are only briefly cooked, to retain their vibrant colors. If you prefer your veggies to cook more, add them right after the garlic. Then stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes before adding the sauce.
Video
Nutrition
The recipe was originally published in July 20, 2016, using a wok and a deep frying method. I’ve completely altered the steps to make the cooking easier in this new version, which was published on September 14th, 2017. Please update your recipe with the new one if you saved it earlier.
My daughter is nuts for this dish! I’m going to share this wonderful recipe with her. Thanks Maggie – pinning!
This was my first time making this recipe and I have to say, this was so delicious. There is absolutely nothing I would change about this recipe. My family was more than satisfied with it’s savory and sweet taste that made everyone want more. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!
I didn’t realize how much I needed sweet and sour chicken till this recipe-its off the hook delicious. Writing I recipe scrap book so I can make it again and again!
This looks absolutely delicious! One of my favourite dishes 🙂
Yum! This looks infinitely better than my local take-out! Love how easy you make it too!
Super easy to make
Wow, I love your tutorials, Maggie, and I am truly motivated to make this for our next family get together. This looks so darn delicious!
Merci Maggie pour cette recette de poulet à l’aigre doux. J’adore !
Looks so delicious !
thank you for this very explanatory video !
Yuuum! Love the idea of being able to make my favorite take out dish anytime I want… although it maaaay be a bit dangerous 🙂
I love Chinese food, but we don’t have any Chinese restaurants nearby, so this will be a great fix!
I made this last night for my family and Chinese homestay student. Everyone had seconds! I used chicken breasts for the meat. This was inexpensive to make, easy, kind of messy, and really yummy! Thank you for posting.
Maggie: could this be made with Japanese katakuriko, potato starch, instead of cornstarch? Sometimes, I think katakuriko is more crispy…..??
Can I use something instead of the ketchup?
Use tomato paste !
I refuse to use ketchup again from previous Asian recipes that I made.
Oh my word, this is one of the easiest and most delicious recipes I have ever cooked. It was so good that I had to battle very hard not to eat it all myself in one go! Thank you Maggie.
Thanks so much for taking time and leaving a comment Emma! And I’m so glad to hear you like the dish. I have the same problem too, always finish a whole plate myself 😛
Hi,
Your pics shows some pineapple chunks but none in your recipe. Could it be that you missed out this in your ingredients?
Thanks
Hi Dona, actually I used yellow bell peppers but they look like pineapple chunks 😛 We usually don’t use pineapple in sweet and sour chicken (but in another sweet dish that uses a fruity sauce), but you can add 1/4 to 1/3 cup at the end of the cooking if you want to.
Happy cooking and let me know how the dish turns out 🙂
Tried it for last night’s dinner. Tasty and enjoyable. Recipe/instructions are clear and easy to follow. Thanks Maggie
Loved this recipe. Worked really well. Kids
& husband all agree. It’s one that will make a return in the house.
So the bell peppers are raw, are they?
Hi Jules, I used the raw bell peppers to cook the dish. I always prefer to add them at the end of cooking to keep their crispy texture. If you like your peppers cooked a bit more, you can add them right before adding the sauce. That way the peppers will taste be a bit more tender but retain their color.
Happy cooking and hope your dish turns out great 🙂
This recipe is spot on and super delicious!! Very easy to follow
So happy to hear that you like the recipe Cindy!
Hi Maggie, I made this for dinner tonight and it was the best we have ever eaten. Puts the take out versions we have here to shame! I decreased the ginger as some don’t like ginger, but it still had the flavour I like. Hope to convert them to like ginger more! Thanks for showing us how good food should taste.
Very easy and delicious and filling. Definitely a keeper recipe.
Hello Maggie, I tried your sauce last night with pork. I like my recipe but I wanted to try your sauce, so I followed the instructions and I ended up with an amazing dish because of it. Thank you!