Sweet and Sour Chicken is a stir fry recipe that goes together quickly and fills your mouth with complex flavors and textures. Prep the veggies the night before and put them in a container in the fridge to make it even easier.
sweet sour chicken
sweet sour chicken on rice
chop chop
brown chicken
whisk sauce
soupy
But first a bit of a rant: Our Mediacom internet service has been getting weaker all summer. We eventually had to wait over three weeks to have them completely fix it. I have lots of recipes piling up that I’m dying to share with you, including this one.
OK, now that I’ve had my say, let’s cook something delicious. This is a very versatile recipe. Sometimes I make it with pineapple chunks and green peppers, but this time I wanted to use more vegetables and I only had crushed pineapple on hand. The result was a colorful dish that had a more delicate pineapple taste throughout the sauce.
You can whip this up in the time it takes to cook the rice. Do serve this with the rice of your choice.
Ingredients
2 TBS sesame or olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
5 large carrots cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 chicken breasts cut into bite sizes
1 can crushed pineapple – drain juice and save for sauce
Ingredients for the sauce
1 TBS light olive oil or sesame oil
2 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS soy sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ginger
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup pineapple juice from the can
1 TBS agave nectar or honey
1 cup chicken broth
2 TBS corn starch
Directions
Heat 2 TBS oil in a large pan and quickly stir fry the chicken until it is nearly done.
Remove the chicken to a bowl and let it rest. (Ahh, I need a rest too!)
Add all the vegetables into the same pan and quickly stir fry them until they lose their crunch.
Add the pineapple and the chicken and take the mixture off the heat for a few minutes.
Directions for the sauce
Heat the oil in a smaller sauce pan. Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, pepper, ginger, vinegar, pineapple and agave. Let the mixture come to a boil to blend the flavors.
In a separate cup, mix the cold chicken broth with the corn starch until blended. Add this to the sauce and whisk.
Now pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables and cook for another 2-5 minutes until it thickens. If your sauce is still too runny, add a bit more cornstach by mixing it first in cold water or broth.
Note: Never dump cornstarch into a pan of hot liquid or you will have nasty lumps. Trust me, I’ve done this!
The sauce should be thick and the chicken will be tender. Don’t leave it on the stove simmering too long or the chicken will get tough. (Trust me on this one too.)
That’s it. Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir Fry is an easy weekday meal. Make enough for several nights because it warms up easily in the microwave. The tender chicken will melt in your mouth and the vegetables will be dancing a tango in the tangy sauce.
