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.
Hi there! I had fun cruising around your website/blog. Your recipe for Sweet & Sour Chicken caught my eye. I always have frozen chicken thighs on hand, and I had everything else called for in your recipe. So it was a natural. We had friends over for dinner and we all really enjoyed the Sweet & Sour Chicken. Thanks for sharing!!
I love this, it makes for a great base which is super malleable.
I had no rice vinegar so I used malt and a bit of balsamico. I also used flour instead of cornstarch.
It was absolutely fantastic and way better than any take away (not to mention it lasted 2 days and costed like 10 bucks!)
Hi Maggi. Hoping to make this over the weekend. Looks delicious, however in the method it says to add ginger and garlic, but doesn’ state ginger or how much in the ingredients.
Hi Marjorie, I just updated the recipe and deleted ginger from the instruction. I used it in my test recipe but decided to skip it to keep the ingredient list a bit shorter. Happy cooking!
Thank you very much Maggie for this simple and very tasty recipe. I just cooked this one tonight since I have some guests coming over for dinner in the house. Everybody loves it and gives a “10”! Perfect! Would definitely cook it again and try your other recipes. Again, you saved my day!
Thank you very much.
Made this for lunch today and it was wonderful. The perfect blend of sweet and sour.
I made this for dinner yesterday and followed the recipe exactly. Today we are fighting over leftovers!
This recipe is absolutely amazing. Whole family loved. Can’t wait to make more recipes from omnivores cookbook. Thank you Maggie
Wow. Thanks to this recipe I can honestly say…NAILED IT!!!
This recipe was fantastic and oh so easy. I made it exactly as written and it was delicious. We ate it all!
This is an absolutely fantastic recipe – easy to make and better than takeaway. We’re self isolating and this was a lovely treat. Will become a regular dinner.
Great recipe! I doubled this and used diluted tomato paste instead of ketchup since I never have ketchup on hand. The crispy chicken (before adding the sauce) was perfect in taste and texture even on its own. I cooked it in batches so it could get nice and browned, and actually found it helped not to separate the pieces until after they’d been flipped – just made it easier to flip when they were in one big connected piece. My big mistake was getting impatient at the end when I put the sauce in the pan and adding all the chicken and veggies in at once – I ruined the crispiness I’d built. BUT the flavor was still so good! I added green beans at the very end, and with 3 chopped up bell peppers and 2 lbs chicken thighs + rice it made leftovers for the whole week!
This is my second stab at this recipe.
I didn’t apply your ‘mise en place’ principle so things got a bit scrambled toward the end and the veg got slightly overcooked..
I realise that the great thing about Chinese cooking in particular is preparation.
Technique follows.
But I’m getting better at them.
Cheers
Thanks for this useful informative blog to sharing step by step.
Made this tonight and it was AMAZING!!! thank you! everyone loved it (me, my husband and 18 and 19 yr old boys) I had just over 2 lbs of chicken so I cooked it in three batches first. Doubled everything else and it was perfect. I used my 14″ wok. Thank you for the video, that helped with the chicken. It came out nice a crispy. Loved the egg drop soup as well 🙂 and I just purchased your cookbook . Looking forward to cooking more of your recipes.
Hi Maggie, I’m relatively new to your site, and I tried the Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe. My family and I enjoyed it so much that I immediately went ahead and bought all the ingredients you recommended in your “crash course” in order to continue making your recipes. And, although I already had Kikkoman soy sauce in the pantry, I purchased superior light soy sauce and superior dark soy sauce because i wanted to be as authentic as possible. So can you please tell me, when one of the ingredients in your recipes calls for “soy sauce,” which one should I use? I hope this is not a silly question, because you may have already specified this somewhere and I forgot! Thank you so much for your recipes–I’m excited about continuing to make them. P.S. I also purchased The Chinese Stir Fry Sauce Cookbook, and I’m looking forward to delving in! Thanks again!
Olwyn
So happy to hear you like my recipes and would like to learn more about Chinese cooking! To answer your question, when I mention soy sauce in the recipe, you can either use the Kikkoman soy sauce or the light soy sauce. The regular soy sauce adds a bit color to the dish, and the light soy sauce won’t but will make the dish slightly saltier. They are pretty much interchangeable. For dark soy sauce, I use it whenever I want to add color to a dish. For example, when you make beef chow fun, soy sauce fried rice, or braised meat.
Excellent recipe, everyone loved it. I used pork tenderloin instead of chicken because that’s what I had on hand. Next time I make it I will double the sauce, there wasn’t quite enough for my liking.
This is really good. It’s a bonus that it’s simple and quick and it keeps well for leftovers. Total winner. Better than at restaurants.
This is a really great way of preparing the chicken!! I also appreciate your workflow directions, very helpful. I did tweak the recipe a little by adding pineapple chunks and juice to it. The recipe just needed a little more sauce, since I added another thigh. I had been planning to make another recipe, and then I came across yours. Yummy, definitely a keeper!
I see no-deep-frying and I think this recipe is for me, cause I prefer to use my oil-free fryer for every meal.
Thank you so much for sharing.
I have a question, can I replace 2 tablespoons rice vinegar with Mirin (Japan cooking wine)?
Hi Marina, I do not recommend using mirin because it’s a sweet wine and taste very different from rice vinegar. You can use another vinegar as replacement, for example, apple cidar vinegar or distilled vinegar. It will change the balance of the sweet and sour sauce but it should be OK.
Hello-this has become a favorite in our house. Any suggestions on how to cook the chicken in an air fryer rather than the pan?