Give the classic takeout dish a fun little twist with these gorgeously crispy sweet and sour chicken bowls. Crispy, panko-crumbed chicken is piled on top of steamed rice and drizzled with the MOST gorgeous sticky, tangy sweet and sour sauce made from cupboard staples in just 30 minutes.
My earliest memories of takeout is undoubtedly a sweet and sour dish. That sticky, sweet, incredibly moreish sauce has been a forever favorite so I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to give it my own spin!
So many sweet and sour recipes are SUPER sweet and cloying, so I really wanted to make sure this sauce was a wonderful balance of not too sweet and not too sour, and I think that’s been achieved here. And it’s achieved with standard cupboard staples you probably already have.
The classic elements are the same. We’ve got super crispy, juicy chicken, but here I’m coating it in panko breadcrumbs and pan-frying it, rather than deep-frying small pieces. It’s a bit like chicken schnitzel or the chicken in a chicken katsu curry. I love this little twist because it means the chicken cooks SUPER quickly and stays crispy when you serve it with the sauce drizzled all around.
If you like the sound of these flavors, I think you’ll also enjoy sticky honey sesame chicken, hot honey chicken tenders, hot honey harissa grilled chicken and hot honey fried chicken sandwiches as well!
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts. Use good quality, free-range chicken for the best flavor. You could also use chicken tenders if you prefer.
- Pineapple. Canned is absolutely fine – you want to look for canned pineapple in juice, rather than syrup. You’ll use the juice in the sauce, and the pineapple as a garnish for the chicken.
- Chinese five spice. I like to add this to the cornstarch the chicken is coated in, for extra seasoning, but you can skip it if you like.
- Panko breadcrumbs. These are light, crispy and a little larger than regular breadcrumbs. You can use regular breadcrumbs if you prefer.
How to make it
Use a meat mallet, or a rolling pin, to pound your chicken breasts into a thin, even layer. This will tenderize the chicken and make sure it cooks evenly in the pan. PRO TIP: If you don’t want to pound the chicken, just slice the breasts in half, lengthways, so you’re left with two thin pieces from each breast.
Coat each piece of chicken in the cornstarch, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs.
Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a pan and cook until lovely and thick. Heat your oil in another pan, then cook the chicken until golden and crispy on each side. Slice the crispy chicken, then serve over rice with lots of the lovely sweet and sour sauce drizzled all over.
Got a question?
You can coat the chicken in the panko breadcrumbs a couple of hours in advance, then pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it and serve. If you like, the sauce can be made 3 days in advance, then reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop when you’re ready to serve.ย
The best way to keep it crispy is to store it separately from the sauce, and to reheat it in the air-fryer, rather than the microwave. Pop it in the for five minutes at 360F/180C.
You could add extra vegetables if you like – steamed or broiled broccoli, green beans, pak choi or asparagus are great. You could also slice the chicken and stuff it into fluffy, steamed bao buns with a crunchy Asian-style slaw and spicy aioli, then drizzle the sweet and sour sauce on top.
Like this recipe? Try these better-than-takeout ideas next
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day ๐.
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Crispy Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Description
Give the classic takeout dish a fun little twist with these gorgeously crispy sweet and sour chicken bowls. Crispy, panko-crumbed chicken is piled on top of steamed rice and drizzled with the MOST gorgeous sticky, tangy sweet and sour sauce made from cupboard staples in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For the crispy chicken –
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 egg
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
For the sweet and sour sauceย –
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice (from the can is fine)
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
To serve –
- 1 cup of long-grain rice (like basmati)
- 2 scallions, sliced
- 1/2 cup pineapple, diced
- 1/4 cup cashew nuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Cook the rice. Add 1 cup of rice to a saucepan you have a lid for, then pour in 1 1/2 cups of water. Set over medium-high heat and when the top of the water starts to look foamy, pop the lid on. Let the rice cook for 12 minutes, then remove from the heat (still with the lid on) and let it sit for another 10 minutes.
- Prepare the chicken.ย Use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound each chicken breast into a thin, even piece, roughly 1/4″. You can do this directly on a wooden board, or pop the chicken into a clear ziplock bag first. This tenderizes the meat and allows it to cook evenly. Sprinkle the salt over both sides of the chicken pieces. You can keep the chicken in two large pieces, or cut them into four. PRO TIP: If you don’t want to pound the chicken, just slice each breast in half lengthways to get even-sized pieces.
- Bread the chicken.ย Place 1/2 cup of cornstarch and 1 teaspoon of Chinese five spice in a bowl, then mix to combine. Crack the egg into a separate shallow bowl (large enough to allow you to coat the chicken easily) then use a fork to mix well. Add 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs into a separate shallow bowl. Working with one piece of chicken at a time, place it into the cornstarch mixture and press to coat on both sides. Shake off any excess, then dunk into the egg on both sides before dunking it into the panko breadcrumbs. Press the chicken into the panko so it’s well-coated on both sides. Set the chicken aside for now.
- Make the sauce.ย Add 1/2 cup of pineapple juice, 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar, 1/3 cup honey, 1/4 cup of tomato ketchup, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and 4 crushed garlic cloves to a pan and set it over medium-high heat. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water to make your cornstarch slurry, then add to the pan with the sauce. Cook, stirring, for about five minutes, until the sauce thickens up nicely. Set aside for now.
- Cook the chicken.ย Add 3 tablespoons of oil to a large frying pan or skillet. When hot, add the breaded chicken and cook for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. Depending on the side of your pan, you may need to do this in batches. Remove from the pan and set aside on a wire rack (if possible).
- Garnish and serve. Pop the sauce back on the heat to warm it up, then divide the rice between bowls. Slice the chicken, then pour the sauce around the rice in each bowl. Scatter with the sliced scallions, diced pineapple and cashews, then serve.
Notes
PREP AHEAD:ย You can coat the chicken a couple of hours in advance if you like, then pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. The sauce can be made 3 days in advance if you like, then just reheated in the microwave when you’re ready to serve.ย
STORAGE SUGGESTIONS:ย If you want to keep the chicken crispy when you reheat it, using the air fryer is best (pop it in for five minutes at 360F/180C). You can reheat it in the microwave too, but you’ll lose the crispiness.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: I often like to add steamed or broiled broccoli, pak choi or green beans here, or you could throw in edamame beans. You could also stuff the chicken into fluffy bao buns, with a crunchy Asian-style slaw, gochujang aioli and a drizzle of the sweet and sour sauce.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: fakeaways
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: chinese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 250g
- Calories: 708
- Sugar: 43.3g
- Sodium: 1294.4mg
- Fat: 12.9g
- Saturated Fat: 2.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8.3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 106.6g
- Fiber: 2.4g
- Protein: 40.7g
- Cholesterol: 145.8mg
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