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Sweet and Sour Chicken

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Sweet and Sour Chicken

In my college days, I loved eating Chinese food. Once I switched to a wellness lifestyle and realized what was in most restaurant foods, I stopped eating regular Chinese food. I decided to recreate some of the same flavors with real food ingredients. Sweet and sour chicken was one of my favorites, so I decided to come up with a recipe that was more naturally sweet and sour.

What Is Sweet and Sour Chicken?

Well, it’s just like the name says—sweet and sour. Traditional recipes use some type of sugar for sweetness and vinegar for sourness. It’s a really tasty combo. Usually, the chicken in sweet and sour chicken is the breaded and fried type. There are always chopped sauteed veggies thrown in and sometimes pineapple for a tangy-sweet kick.

Sweet and Sour Chicken the Wellness Mama Way

I do a few things differently when I make sweet and sour chicken. I make the sauce with honey or maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, tomato paste, and a delicious orange spread. And I use coconut aminos rather than soy sauce. The taste is similar, and I prefer to avoid most soy products.

And I don’t usually bread and fry the chicken. I do sometimes because it’s so, so good, but diced sauteed chicken breasts are really good too and much easier, faster, and less messy.

For the veggies, I just use whatever I have on hand. That’s the beauty of making your own Chinese food! You can switch up the veggies and protein based on personal preference, what’s in season, and what you have on hand. It’s pretty fantastic. Here are some ideas:

  • Onion – I consider it a must in most of my Chinese recipes
  • Bell pepper
  • Celery
  • Broccoli
  • Snow or snap peas
  • Zucchini – a great way to use up this super garden producer in the summer!
  • Fresh pineapple – delicious in sweet and sour chicken

We usually eat our Chinese food over white rice or cauliflower rice. I’ve also found that it is good over zucchini noodles (made with a spiral slicer) or just roasted zucchini slices. I’ve also eaten it over wilted spinach to get some extra greens, and it was delicious.

More Wellness Mama Chinese Food Recipes

What is missing from this list? Maybe an egg roll in a bowl recipe with gochujang mayo drizzled on top? What’s your favorite Chinese food that you think I should try?

Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

Sweet and sour chicken with coconut aminos, spices, and citrus juices is a real food alternative to this favorite.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Calories 344kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

4 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.
  • In a large skillet, heat the butter or coconut oil over medium heat.
  • Add the chicken, garlic powder, salt, pepper, turmeric, and paprika, and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the chicken is mostly cooked.
  • Add the lemon juice, coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, and fish sauce, and cook an additional 4-5 minutes until the chicken is cooked in the center.
  • While the chicken is cooking, dice the bell pepper.
  • Drain off any extra liquid from the skillet and return to heat.
  • Add the tomato paste, orange spread, honey, and diced bell pepper, and cook on medium/high for another 3-5 minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken and chicken starts to brown slightly.
  • Remove from the heat, and serve over cauliflower rice or white rice. Top with sesame seeds and green onions.
  • Enjoy!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 344 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 73mg24%
Sodium 1198mg52%
Potassium 628mg18%
Carbohydrates 34g11%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 29g32%
Protein 26g52%
Vitamin A 1319IU26%
Vitamin C 43mg52%
Calcium 67mg7%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Coconut aminos are a soy-free substitute for soy sauce, similar in taste.
Feel free to use any vegetables you’d like!
If you’d like crispy breaded and fried chicken in your sweet and sour chicken, follow the frying instructions in the orange chicken post.

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Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

34 responses to “Sweet and Sour Chicken”

  1. Ashley Avatar

    4 stars
    It was a little sweet as I used orange marmalade or jam. Is this what you used? I think I will reduce the sweetness next time.

  2. Rebecca Avatar

    could you make a General Tso Chicken recipe? All I have found use Corn starch 🙁

  3. Linda Biggs Avatar
    Linda Biggs

    5 stars
    I love your site and emails! I wanted to comment on the coconut aminos. If they are a soy sauce type replacement Braggs Liquid Aminos are very good also if you have them on hand. I have this recipe printed out and ready to be made!
    I also like the way your recipes are organized. I don’t have to dodge or print a giant “front page” type picture. There is a smaller one displayed. Our family is coconut crazy-not so much the flavor but the product. I keep a tub of virgin coconut oil at both of our homes! Keep on keeping on young lady!

  4. Amanda Avatar

    Hi Katie, this recipe was a hit! 🙂 Loved it. Also just want to thank you for your wonderful blog, it’s really helping my husband and I understand what it means to eat healthy.

  5. Toni Avatar

    Katie, would love to see a curried chicken recipe if you could please. ?

  6. Ashley Avatar

    This is a great recipe. Simple, yummy and healthy, can’t beat that! The husband and my 20 month old loved it too! A winner all around.

  7. Bizzie Avatar

    This was a fantastic dish! I kept hoping it would taste as good as it smelled while I was cooking it, and I wasn’t disappointed. I just made it last night and will definitely be keeping it in my regular rotation! Super easy with ingredients I always have on hand and I was really impressed with the tastes! Nicely done – thank you!

  8. jake Avatar

    I nearly went into a diabetic coma from reading the amount of sugar/fructose in the recipe! I reduced the orange spread (out of stock at Tropical Traditions, BTW) and honey to 1 T each, and I used white vinegar to add more sour taste.

    1. jake Avatar

      If you have any Asian grocery stores in your area, look for fish sauce there. If not, there’s always Amazon.

  9. Sara Avatar

    Hi, this looks delicious. But I was wondering about the “fish sauce”. I don’t eat fish, so is this a necessary ingredient? Do you taste it at all?

  10. Kim Avatar

    Hi, I loved this recipe! I was out of tomato paste so I omitted it. I also didn’t have orange paste so I juiced 3 oranges and added it toward the end of cooking and let it reduce a bit. I loved having all the juices left in the dish. It was so good! I will be making this often. Thanks for the great recipe.

  11. Sarah Avatar

    Im sorry if I’ve missed this somewhere , but how many people will this serve?

  12. Hina Charania Avatar
    Hina Charania

    Hi. I am curious to know exactly what coconut aminos are? Never heard of them before or even seen them at any store.

  13. Chukwu Ndubuisi Avatar
    Chukwu Ndubuisi

    I love those recipe on sweet and sour chicken, i will give it a try.

  14. Amelia Avatar

    Hi! I love your blog. I just wanted to say, honey should not be heated past 95 degrees!

  15. Greier Avatar

    Please remember that very few people use MSG at home. None of my chinese/asian family and friends cook with MSG (even the hidden kinds like soup-stock powders).

  16. Rachel Avatar

    I’d love to give this a try, and I have everything on the ingredient list, except the coconut aminos… What are those for? Flavor or health reasons? Also if they are for flavor, what type of flavor is it and could I use something else in it’s place? Thanks! And by the way, I’ve tried quite a few of your recipes and they have all been hits with my family!

  17. glenn Avatar

    I bought the meal planner and cannot get logged on. Tried changing password 4 times. Does anyone know how to contact wellness mama?

  18. Danielle Avatar
    Danielle

    Just wondering if the recipes listed on your app will be updated when you post new recipes to your site?

  19. Kelly Avatar

    This looks great! I gotta try this. Just have a couple questions.

    Have you ever had orange peel chicken? I’d love to remake that recipe too.

    Why not brown rice?

4.25 from 12 votes (9 ratings without comment)

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