Homemade always tastes better, especially when it’s a take-out copycat of a favorite dish from a Chinese restaurant. Bite sized breaded chicken pieces and chunks of bell peppers and onion covered in a delicious and tangy sweet and sour sauce. After you give this a try, I betcha it’ll be going on your menu rotations! 

If you love to splurge on take-out food, this packed-with-flavor sweet and sour chicken is for YOU! It’s better than any take-out – this dish takes no more than 30 minutes and with 3 boys and busy school schedules, I NEED quick but still delicious and homemade dinners. The sauce for this recipe is very easy to throw together since the ingredients are all staple pantry items. 

The best part of this sweet and sour chicken is that it’s kid-approved and even your pickiest eaters will enjoy it! Our youngest loves this dish and easily gobbles down two bowls of it. I serve it in a rice bowl for a quick weeknight dinner. You can double or triple the recipe for a large crowd and can be prepped in advance as well. 

Most places deep-fry the chicken in a thick batter and a few cups of oil. I’ll be the first to admit, yes, it’s so delicious but for this dish it’s not needed. I recreated this from a few recipes I’ve used in the past to make this dish more guilt free. 😉 You still get all the flavor without the heavy breading. For this chicken, I only use corn starch and a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and the thin coating still gets you crispy sweet and sour chicken!

Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 3 good sized chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 small onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces

SAUCE

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
• 1/4 ketchup
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 tablespoons cold water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a small sauce pan, add sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion salt, and ketchup. Stir till it’s all combined and bring it to a boil. In a small bowl mix together 1 tablespoon corn starch and 2 tablespoons cold water until dissolved. Add to the sauce pan and whisk until the sauce is thickened, then reduce to low heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add 1/2 cup corn starch and chicken pieces to a large ziplock bag, seal, and shake it good to coat the chicken. 
3. Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. If you need to know when the oil is hot and ready, drop tiny pieces of corn starch into the oil and check if it sizzles. Add coated chicken and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes, flip the pieces and sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes. 
4. Add bell peppers and onions and sauté until the chicken is browned and cooked through. 
5. Add sauce to the chicken, peppers and onions and stir to coat well for a couple of minutes and serve over cooked rice. Enjoy!