This recipe gives you that irresistible crispy texture to the chicken thanks to a quick pan sear before baking. The sauce thickens beautifully in the oven, clinging to every bite. It’s not only family-friendly, but it is also budget-friendly and can work well even if you’re making this on a busy weeknight after work. Best of all, when you make this baked chicken dinner, you are doing so with the use of your own ingredients. This results in less grease, adjustable sweetness, and no mystery additives that can be found in many takeout restaurants today.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Crispy without the deep frying: Choosing to bake this chicken in the oven after a pan sear provides crunchy and crispiness while also keeping the dish lighter.
Better flavor: Even if you love takeout and Chinese chicken, this recipe doesn’t compare. It’s absolutely bursting with flavor and fresh ingredients.
Family favorite: This recipe’s a family favorite in my home. My kids love the sweet and tanginess the chicken provides.
Simple: Even if you’re newer to cooking in kitchen, you can tackle this recipe. I promise, it’s an easy dinner to put together!
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Boneless chicken breasts: While I recommend using boneless chicken breasts in this recipe, you can swap them for chicken thighs. Just keep in mind that doing so will change the flavor of this recipe, and thighs will add more fat to the meal.
Soy sauce: I highly recommend keeping the soy sauce in the recipe. However, if salt intake is a concern, you can also use a reduced salt soy sauce. You can also swap the soy sauce with Worcestershire sauce, depending on your preferences.
Vegetable oil: While vegetable oil is typically used when making Chinese chicken, you might want to swap it if you do not have it available. Try using olive or avocado oil for a healthier oil. Note: this will likely change the texture of your chicken when you choose to swap your oils.
Granulated sugar: If you want to avoid using real sugar, you can do so by swapping your granulated sugar for monkfruit sugar (white or golden).
Tips for Success
If you want to make small bites with this recipe, you can do so by cutting your chicken into bite-sized pieces while it’s still raw.
Don’t be afraid to coat your chicken with a thick layer of batter. This will add to the crunchiness of the chicken once it’s done cooking.
Storage & Reheating
Luckily, this recipe can be stored and reheated for later, which is nice when you have leftovers. If you’re planning to store leftovers of this recipe, you can do so using airtight containers designed for freezing or refrigeration. Store in your refrigerator for 3-4 days. You can also store this sweet and sour chicken in the freezer for 3-4 months in the proper container(s).
To reheat, remove the sweet and sour from the containers you’ve used to store it and allow the chicken to come closer to room temperature. You can then reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes, per serving.
Serving Suggestions
We love serving our sweet and sour chicken with homemade dinner rolls, crusty bread, or even our Mexican cornbread. When it comes to Asian recipes, we can’t get enough of this chicken. We also recommend serving it with a fresh, crisp, green salad or, if you’re feeling extra creative in the kitchen, this zesty lime shrimp and avocado salad!
Notes
Using cornstarch is what adds the original texture of sweet and sour chicken to this dish! I do not recommend swapping it for any other ingredient.
Oven-Fried Sweet & Sour Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. Boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup Cornstarch
- 2 Large eggs beaten
- ¼ cup Canola or vegetable oil for pan-searing
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp. Ketchup
- ½ cup Apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 tbsp. Soy sauce
- 1 tsp. Garlic powder
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F and grease a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or a light wipe of oil.
- Season your raw chicken breast cubes generously with salt and black pepper. Place the cornstarch into a wide, shallow bowl, and place the beaten eggs into a second separate bowl.
- The Cornstarch Shield Coating: Dredge the chicken pieces completely in the cornstarch, shaking off any heavy excess, then drop them into the beaten eggs to coat. Pro Tip: Using pure cornstarch instead of flour is essential for baked-sauce chicken. Cornstarch contains zero gluten proteins and is pure starch; when it absorbs the egg and hits hot oil, it forms an incredibly tight, crisp, glass-like network. This shield prevents the chicken from drying out during its long braise in the oven while resisting turning soggy.
- Heat the ¼ cup of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add the chicken pieces in a single layer (work in batches if needed to avoid crowding). Sear for only 1 to 2 minutes per side just until a pale golden, crispy outer crust forms. The center must remain raw. Transfer the par-seared chicken directly into your prepared 9×13-inch baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together the granulated sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder until the sugar grains are mostly suspended.
- The Oven-Braise Glaze Infusion: Pour the raw sweet and sour liquid uniformly over the chicken pieces in the baking dish.
- Bake uncovered at 325°F for exactly 1 hour. Crucial: Every 15 minutes, open the oven door and use a spoon to thoroughly stir and flip the chicken cubes inside the liquid. As the oven’s dry heat evaporates the water content from the vinegar, the sugar molecules undergo rapid concentration. Stirring every 15 minutes redistributes this reduction, enveloping the crispy chicken shells in a thick, sticky, high-gloss lacquered glaze that locks onto the crumb.
- Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. The sauce will continue to tighten and thicken heavily as it drops slightly in temperature. Serve hot over a bed of steamed white rice.
