Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken with green and yellow peppers. Serve with brown rice for a tasty dinner!
I know what you’re thinking. How can this be sweet and sour chicken? It’s not even red, but the red sweet and sour sauce you usually see in Chinese restaurants is usually because of red food coloring. I remember eating it as a kid but it was way too sweet with not enough sour so I gravitated towards curry and other spicier meals, which is probably the reason I have such a tolerance for hot and spicy foods now.
I’m keeping my version clean and simple. The chicken is quickly cooked in a wok so no deep-frying needed here and the sauce is light with only a few ingredients to get that tangy sweet and sour taste.
Pineapple is also a traditional addition to this dish, I opted to skip it but feel free to add some small pieces of diced pineapple if you like. Sweet and sour also calls for plenty of crunchy vegetables like peppers and onions, so load up with these and you’ll be making healthier choices.
I added some ketchup to my sauce but even with that I still couldn’t get that familiar red shade. The sauce is pretty clear and colorless but the flavor is definitely there. I always have some bags of frozen brown rice in the freezer for recipes like this. It’s so much easier than boiling water and waiting for the rice to cook, or you could switch the rice to cauliflower rice for an even lower carb version of this famous Chinese takeout.
This sweet and sour chicken will give you all of the taste you’re familiar with but won’t make you feel bloated and full because if you love Chinese food as much as me, it’s hard to put that fork down and call it a day, right?
Check out some of my other favorite takeout dinners!
Have a great week friends!
Light Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 slice fresh ginger about 1 inch long
- 3 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- 1 green pepper thinly sliced
- 1 yellow pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup green onions chopped
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, pepper and fresh ginger in a small pot until it comes to a boil.
- Sti to make sure the sugar has dissolved.
- Mix together the cornstarch and the 1 tbsp water and add to the sauce.
- Stir and simmer until slightly thickened and glossy then add the ketchup. Set aside.
- In a large wok or nonstick pan, add the olive oil and heat over a medium to high heat.
- Chop the chicken into small pieces and add to the hot oil. Cook until golden brown and no longer pink in the middle.
- Add the peppers and green onions and stir well for 2 minutes to keep the vegetables still on the crunchy side.
- Finally, add the sauce back into the chicken and combine.
- Serve over brown rice and garnish with more green onions and red pepper flakes if desired.
This dish looks amazing and I especially love the shot of you sprinkling the crushed red peppers… how did you achieve that?
Hi Deb and thank you! As for the shot,I increased the shutter speed to around 1/1200th and I always shoot using a tripod
I’ll have to try that… thanks for responding!
Looks so tasty!
As a passionate lover chicken, it’s always fun to learn new recipes which make my mouth water. Seems like a finger-licking recipe which I have to try. Is there any alternative to using soy sauce?
Hi Agness, that’s a tough question, maybe tamari or even a low sodium soy sauce would be better
I am coming over for dinner!
Love how fresh and colorful this dish is!