Healthier Sweet and Sour Chicken

Print Recipe

5 from 11 votes

A lightened-up version of sweet and sour chicken, dialling back on the sugar by using pineapple juice to sweeten.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Main Meal

Cuisine: Chinese inspired

Servings: people

Calories: 249kcal

Author: Amy

Equipment

Wok / skillet

Ingredients

Sauce

125ml (½ cup) Pineapple Juice (from the canned pineapple chunks)
2 tablespoon Apple Cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce light
2 tablespoon Tomato Ketchup (sauce)

Cornflour Slurry

3 teaspoon Cornflour / corn starch
6 teaspoon Cold water

Stir Fry

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 Onion (white or brown) halved and finely sliced
1 Minced Garlic
400g (13oz) Chicken Breasts cut into bite sized pieces (SEE NOTE 1)
2 teaspoon Minced Ginger
1 Carrot peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 Bell pepper / capsicum, any colour deseeded and chopped into 1inch pieces
432g (drained 272g) Can of pineapple chunks in natural juice (separated from the juice)

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients.
In a separate bowl mix together the cornflour and water.
Heat oil in a wok (or skillet) over high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the chicken and stirfry until white (but still pink inside)
Add the ginger, carrots and bell pepper and stir fry for a further 2 minutes.
Add the sauce ingredient and stir until the sauce starts to boil. Add the cornflour slurry and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for approx 3 mins, until the sauce thickens.
Add the pineapple, stir through and serve.

Notes

NOTE 1: If you have time I highly recommend you tenderise the chicken breast before using, this will make your chicken extra soft (ideal for kids). Mix the chicken chunks in a bowl with 1 & ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. Refrigerate for 20 -30 mins. Rinse well in a colander to remove the baking soda and then shake/pat dry to remove excess water. If you prefer you can replace breast with thigh (no need to tenderise thigh)

SWEETNESS: This isn't your traditional sweet and sour sauce recipe. Most recipes contain ½ cup - 1 cup of sugar. Taste the sauce before adding to the pan. If you feel it is on the tart side feel free to add some sugar or sweetener (I'd start with 1tsp and work my way up from there, just remember the pineapple chunks will add further sweetness).

Serve with rice or, for an extra veggie boost, try serving with cauliflower rice.

Nutritional Information is a ROUGH guide only, calculated using an online nutrition calculator. Information is for the sweet and sour chicken only and does not take into account what you serve it with (rice etc).

Nutrition