Sweet and Sour Chicken

From: Made It. Ate It. Loved It.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breading:
3-5 chicken breast
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup canola oil

Rinse chicken, trim off fat or extras and then cut into 1 inch cubes. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken into cornstarch and coat all the way. Dip into eggs. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chicken until browned. Place in baking dish. Three chicken breasts can be in a 9x9 dish  but five chicken breasts fit better in a 9x13 pan.

Sauce:
3/4 cups sugar
4 Tablespoons ketchup

1/2 cup white distilled vinegar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Whisk until smooth. Then pour evenly over chicken. Turn chicken so the sauce gets on both sides and then put in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn chicken and then cook for 15 more minutes. 

Verdict: Thumbs up!! Oh my goodness, sweet and sour chicken is one thing I can go crazy over at Chinese buffets. But now that I can make my own (and it tastes just as good!) I will eat more sushi and wontons at my next buffet!

Look - I have tried other varieties of sweet and sour chicken (Here and Here) but I will never make another kind again. I am obsessed with this recipe.

Also, the best part of this recipe! Only myself and Hunter really like the chicken with sauce. Stephen and Brianna would rather just have the chicken nuggets. So what I can do is go ahead and make the chicken nuggets - either using this recipe with the cornstarch, or using my faithful recipe I've used for years. Then I just set out 12-15 nuggets, spread this sauce over them and cook them for 10-15 minutes (even after I've already fried them in the skillet) just to let the sauce caramelize. Then two people can have regular chicken nuggets, and two can have the sweet and sour, and it doesn't take any extra time.

And the sauce is delicious over rice, too!

Sweet and Sour Stir-Fry

From: Light Cooking Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 cup red bell pepper strips
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks packed in juice, undrained
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp Equal or 6 packets Equal or 1/4 cup Equal Spoonful
1 package (6 oz) frozen pea pods

Heat oil in wok or skillet. Add chicken; cook until chicken is no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add water chestnuts, pepper and onion to wok; cook until vegetables are tender, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
Combine cornstarch, soy sauce and vinegar in small bowl; stir to dissolve cornstarch. Add pineapple with juice, ginger and salt. Add to vegetable mixture; cook until sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in Equal.
Add pea pods and chicken; cook until pea pods and chicken are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I only used about 1/2 lb of chicken. I omitted the water chestnuts because I didn't have them on hand. I used about 1/3 cup of sugar instead of the Equal. I used fresh peas from our local food co-op instead of the frozen variety.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! I have made a variety of sweet and sour chicken before that I loved but Stephen didn't. Also, I didn't like having green peppers in it. I really liked this recipe, with the red pepper instead and the crunch of the pea pods. I don't really remember the taste of the other recipe but this was definitely delicious. I served it over rice because I just have to have rice with stir-fry.

Sweet and Sour Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 cup red bell pepper strips
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks packed in juice, undrained
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp Equal or 6 packets Equal or 1/4 cup Equal Spoonful
1 package (6 oz) frozen pea pods

Heat oil in wok or skillet. Add chicken; cook until chicken is no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add water chestnuts, pepper and onion to wok; cook until vegetables are tender, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Combine cornstarch, soy sauce and vinegar in small bowl; stir to dissolve cornstarch. Add pineapple with juice, ginger and salt. Add to vegetable mixture; cook until sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in Equal. Add pea pods and chicken; cook until pea pods and chicken are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

From: Somewhere on the Internet

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, chopped
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup canned pineapple
1/2 cup canned pineapple juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped cashews (optional)

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, red pepper, and chicken to pan; saute 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove from pan; set aside.

Add onion, celery, and bell pepper to pan; saute 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. While this sautes, combine pineapple juice, soy sauce, cornstarch and brown sugar in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add pineapple chunks to veggie mixture; cook 30 seconds.

Return chicken mixture to pan. Stir in juice mixture; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute. Sprinkle with cashews. Serve over rice.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
I think the next time I will leave out the bell pepper. Both Stephen and I love bell pepper but it just didn't fit this recipe for some reason.

Verdict:
Thumbs up!! This was incredibly delicious and super easy to make. Funny, but Stephen said he would prefer it without the chunks of pineapple in it, and that's funny because he loves pineapple. I, on the other hand, loved the pineapple. He said the next time he'll just pick it out and eat it separately like he did this time.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, chopped
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup canned pineapple
1/2 cup canned pineapple juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped cashews (optional)

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, red pepper, and chicken to pan; saute 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove from pan; set aside.

Add onion, celery, and bell pepper to pan; saute 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. While this sautes, combine pineapple juice, soy sauce, cornstarch and brown sugar in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add pineapple chunks to veggie mixture; cook 30 seconds.

Return chicken mixture to pan. Stir in juice mixture; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute. Sprinkle with cashews. Serve over rice.