The Best Homemade Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken in the Whole Wide World

I’ve learned that Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken is one of those dishes from a Chinese restaurant that is hit or miss. There is this Chinese restaurant near where my old office building was that had THE BEST Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken. They set the bar quite high, because I have yet to find another place that makes it like they do. They deep fry the chicken (heart attack on a plate, anyone?) and then they give you a container full of sweet ‘n sour sauce that has onions, green peppers and pineapple in it. It’s seriously to die for. I’ve had dreams about it. No really. I have.

In the past when I’ve ordered Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken from other restaurants, they only gave me the deep fried Chicken and a little container of sweet ‘n sour sauce. What? That’s it. Where are the onions, green peppers and pineapple? So I’ve just stopped ordering it from any other place but the original restaurant I got it at.  And if  it doesn’t have those items in it, it’s not Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken to me. I got tired of being disappointed and you can bet that I go back to that restaurant just for that dish. So good.

So this might be hard to believe but I’m pretty sure I found the PERFECT homemade Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken recipe in the whole wide world. I know, I know. I didn’t think it was possible either. But it really happened. A friend found the recipe pinned on Pinterest. I thought it sounded amazing so I knew I had to try it. The recipe is on a blog called “Life as a Lofthouse” and that person originally found it on “Mel’s Kitchen Café.” I added a few things that I think really take it to the next level – after all, I had to make sure it  was real Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken! Not just chicken and orange sauce!

{original recipes are here and here}

INGREDIENTS

The Chicken Coating:

The Sweet ‘n Sour Sauce:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Season your Chicken with salt and pepper to taste.

Now you want to get your Chicken, Corn Starch, and Egg ready so you can dip!

Dip Chicken into the Corn Starch to coat and then dip into the egg mixture. I usually use a strainer to get rid of the excess Corn Starch so that I don’t get too much of it in the egg mixture – but it’s not perfect!

Heat your oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through.

Place the chicken in a 9×13 greased baking dish.  It should look something like this:

Mix all of the ingredients for the Sweet ‘n Sour Sauce in a bowl (whisk it good!) and then pour it evenly over the chicken.  Next up you want to add in your Onions, Green Peppers and Pineapple!

Bake for about 45 minutes. During the baking process you will want to stir the chicken every 15 minutes or so.

There’s a Fried Rice recipe on Life on a Lofthouse’s blog. I didn’t use that. I have my super duper favorite Fried Recipe that I use so I made that. I often change up what I throw it mine – it’s usually what I have on hand at the time. But for this specific meal here’s how I made it…

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups of cooked day old Jasmine Rice (I actually remembered to make it the day before!)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons Sesame Oil
• 1 cup Onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup Carrots, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped Scallions
• 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup Soy Sauce
• salt & pepper

{I also have made it with mushrooms, green pepper, chicken, and celery before}