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This quick and easy recipe for healthy sweet and sour chicken skips the batter and deep fryer, and it’s better than takeout!
Table of Contents
About My Sweet and Sour Chicken
This healthy spin on sweet and sour chicken is a great way to enjoy the flavors of a takeout treat in your very own kitchen. A lot of the sweet and sour sauce I was served as a kid was just sweet; a gelatinous red sauce that tastes like pure sugar.
This recipe brings on a punch of tanginess to match the sweetness to create a a nicely balanced sauce worth smacking your lips over!
What to Serve With Sweet and Sour Chicken
- I love serving this good stuff over a fluffy bed on coconut ginger rice.
- Seared baby bok choy is a great option if you’re looking for a complimentary veg side!
- And one of my favorite sides when serving an East Asian-inspired main is this cool and crunchy smashed cucumber salad.
Ingredients
Stir Fry
- Chicken thighs. You could use chicken breast as well. You want skinless and boneless since you’re going to be cutting it into cubes.
- Olive or avocado oil. For frying.
- Garlic. A staple ingredient in any recipe.
- Fresh ginger. Another great flavor infusion that brings everything together nicely.
- Vegetables. I like using red bell pepper, yellow onion, and carrots. These are typically what I’ve seen in takeout varieties and I think they work really well.
Chicken Marinade
- Low sodium soy sauce. Low sodium tastes just as good as regular, so it’s worth going for less sodium!
- Rice wine. This brings balance and cuts through heaver flavors brought on by the ketchup and honey.
- Sesame oil. Sesame always works well with this sort of flavor profile. You could use olive or avocado oil though.
- Sea salt. To taste. The soy sauce will offer up a good amount of saltiness, so add your salt a bit at a time!
Sweet & Sour Sauce
- Rice vinegar. This adds a nice zing without being overpowering.
- Raw honey. A lot of recipes like this call for sugar; I always swap it for a natural sweetener like honey.
- Ketchup. This is the key component to that sweet and sour chicken we adore.
- Low sodium soy sauce. Low sodium tastes just as good as regular, so it’s worth going for less sodium!
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, then place the cut up chicken into it; toss to coat.
- Pop it for about 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
- While the chicken is marinating, prepare the sweet and sour sauce. Just dump all of the ingredients into a large bowl and whisk until well combined! You could also put the ingredients into a glass jar, cover it with a lid, and shake it until it’s nicely blended.
- Once the marinade is done, set it aside and prep your vegetables.
- Heat the skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and simmer it until it’s golden brown. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and add a drizzle of oil to the pan again if needed.
- Pop the vegetables into the pan and cook until they’ve softened—about 2 minutes.
- Bring the chicken back to the pan and cook for another minute.
- Stir in the sweet and sour sauce, tossing all of the ingredients to coat. Bring the sauce to a low simmer just to thicken it a bit.
- Stir the scallions into the mixture, top with sesame seeds, and serve!
How Many Calories Are in Sweet and Sour Chicken?
Your typical sweet and sour chicken can have upwards of 600 calories per serving. This recipe contains 330 calories per serving, which I calculated with the help of a trusted calorie counting app.
Useful Kitchen Tools
Recipe Notes
- For an even healthier option, use homemade ketchup in the sauce! This allows you to control the sugar content if you’re keeping an eye on that stuff.
- I use chicken thighs in this recipe because I love how tender and flavorful they are. But if you prefer breast meat, you can absolutely use that instead.
- Any color bell pepper will work in this recipe, but we like the sweeter varieties (red, yellow, orange).
- A lot of sweet and sour recipes out there include pineapple chunks. You could definitely add those in when you add the vegetables for an extra pop of sweetness.
Have You Made This Recipe?
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You May Also Like These Easy Dinners
- Easy Healthy Cashew Chicken
- Easy Soy and Sesame Beef Stir Fry with Noodles
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- Garlic and Ginger Turkey Meatballs with Hot Honey Glaze
Healthy Sweet and Sour Chicken
This quick and easy recipe for healthy sweet and sour chicken skips the batter and the deep fryer so you can enjoy this takeout classic guiltlessly.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut up into bite-sized chunks
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped into bite-sized chunks
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped into bite-sized chunks
- 1 large carrot, julienned
Chicken marinade.
- 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp rice wine
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
Sweet and sour sauce.
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
Instructions
Chicken marinade.
- Whisk all of the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Place the cut up chicken into it and toss to coat. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
Sweet and sour sauce.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the sweet and sour sauce ingredients until well combined. (You could also place the ingredients into a glass jar, secure the lid, and shake until combined.)
Bringing the dish together.
- Heat a skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot, transfer the marinated chicken to it and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes). Transfer the chicken to a bowl and set aside.
- If necessary, add a bit of oil to the pan. Add the vegetables, and let them sauté until they've softened—about 5 minutes.
- Bring the chicken back to the pan and cook alongside the vegetables for another minute or until the chicken registers an internal temperature of 165ºF. Stir in the sweet and sour sauce and toss all of the ingredients to evenly coat them. Bring the skillet to a low simmer and let the sauce thicken a bit.
- Turn off the heat, stir in the scallions, and top with sesame seeds.
- Serve with rice, noodles, or as is!
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 393kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 390mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 38g
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
One of my faves to make for my family. Sweet and sour chicken is always a request for dinner! Better making it homemade than ordering take-out!
This healthy sweet and sour chicken sounds amazing! My family is going to love it.
I’ve made this chicken several times, and it’s always a hit at our house. Thank you!
This was so easy to make! It tasted just like the takeout version! So good!!
So good, had it with rice and everyone was very pleased! Will make again.
Awesome, Ibrahim!
I love how flavorful this is, and so healthy too! I will absolutely be adding this to our dinner rotation. Recipe printed!
Yay! I love how wholesome it is, too.
I love how healthy this recipe is, although you wouldn’t know it because it’s soooo flavorful!
Haha, right? It’s so tasty but so nutritious!
So much better than take-out. Always a hit with the family. I like to make lots so I have leftovers for another meal.
Leftovers are always a good thing!
Oh that sweet and sour sauce sounds lush. Can’t wait to try it.
Keep me posted!
Loved this! I never really thought about the breading on it before but so true this is so much lighter and a better option. And still so delicious. Thank you!
It’s amazing what we get used to. I don’t like to knock Chinese takeout since it’s amazing and totally necessary on so many levels, but it’s nice to have a lightened up version once in a while :)