I love me a good Chinese takeout meal, but then again, who doesn’t? It’s definitely one of my favorite guilty pleasures, the only problem is I usually don’t feel so hot after indulging. Especially because most Chinese restaurants use loads of MSG to flavor their meals, which always leaves me feeling sleepy, foggy, and just plain icky. So, I spend a lot of time trying to make Chinese meals at home that taste like, or better than takeout. It doesn’t happen often, but Brett and I recently found an amazing recipe for sweet & sour chicken, and it truly does taste better than the takeout version! You don’t have to take my word for it, try this Better-than-takeout Sweet & Sour Chicken for yourself and let me know what you think!
Better-than-takeout Sweet & Sour Chicken [recipe]
adapted from iheartnaptime
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb chicken (cut into bite size pieces)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 3/4 cup corn starch
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 1/4 cup canola oil
Sweet & Sour Sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup (white vinegar will work too)
- 1 tsp garlic salt
METHOD
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Place the chicken, corn starch, salt, pepper and garlic salt in a large ziplock bag and shake until the chicken is evenly coated.
Bring 1/4 cup oil to a medium heat, in a large frying pan. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture and place in the frying pan with a fork. It’s likely that you’ll need to fry in two batches. Fry chicken for 3-4 minutes on one side, then flip and fry for another 3-4 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with foil and place chicken on the sheet.
Now it’s time to make the sauce! Whisk all the sweet & sour sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Pour about 3/4 of the sauce over the chicken (reserve a bit for coating in the end) and bake for 20 minutes. Turn up the oven to 400 degrees, flip the chicken and pour the remaining sauce over it . Bake for an additional 5 minutes, just until the tops are golden brown.
Enjoy your Better-than-takeout Sweet & Sour Chicken!
Enjoyed this recipe? Find more quick dinner recipes here!
xo