• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Closet Cooking

Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Top Recipes
    • 30 Minute Meals
    • 6 Ingredient Meals
    • Slow Cooker Meals
    • One Pan Meals
    • By Course
      • Main Course
      • Side Dish
      • Dessert
      • Appetizer/Snack
      • More
    • By Diet
      • Gluten-free
      • Low-carb
      • Vegetarian
      • More
    • By Meat
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Lamb
      • Egg
      • Pork
      • Seafood
      • Turkey
      • More
    • By Cuisine
      • Cajun and Creole
      • Chinese
      • Greek
      • Italian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
      • Mexican
      • Thai
      • Vietnamese
      • More
    • By Type
      • Burger
      • Cake
      • Cookie
      • Dip
      • Pasta
      • Pizza
      • Salad
      • Sandwich
      • Soup
      • More
    • By Ingredient
      • Avocado
      • Bacon
      • Cauliflower
      • Mushroom
      • Pumpkin
      • Quinoa
      • Shrimp
      • Strawberry
      • More
  • Cookbooks
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
Never miss a recipe! Subscribe to the email Newsletter!

20 Minute Light Sweet and Sour Chicken

[heart_this] · Aug 26, 2014 · 27 Comments

Sweet and Sour Chicken

A quick, easy and lighter version of sweet and sour chicken that is so much better than takeout!

One of my favourite Chinese takeout dishes has to be sweet and sour chicken or pork with juicy pieces of pineapple and crisp slices of bell pepper and it’s super easy to make at home in under 20 minutes! As with a lot of my Chinese takeout recipes I like to omit the breading and deep frying and keep things nice and light with a quick and simple saute. This recipe is as easy to make as quickly cooking the chicken at a high temperature, adding the pineapple and bell pepper followed by the ingredients for the sauce and with a total cooking time of less than 10 minutes, this tasty dish is perfect for busy work nights!

Sweet and Sour Chicken
Feel free to omit the red pepper and pineapple or use your favourite vegetables.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

20 Minute Light Sweet and Sour Chicken

20 Minute Light Sweet and Sour Chicken

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Servings: 4

A quick, easy and lighter version of sweet and sour chicken that is so much better than takeout!

ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1/2 red pepper, sliced
  • 1 cup pineapple, sliced
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar or white vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
  • 1 teaspoon chill sauce such as sambal oelek or sriracha
  • 1/4 cup pineapple juice or chicken broth
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup green onion, sliced
directions
  1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat, add the chicken and cook until cooked through, about 2-4 minutes per side.
  2. Add the red pepper and pineapple and cook until just tender but still crisp, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add the mixture of the honey, vinegar, ketchup, chill sauce, pineapple juice, garlic, ginger and the mixture of the water and the corn starch, toss to coat and cook until the sauce thickens, about a minute.
  4. Remove from heat, mix in the sesame oil and serve garnished with sliced green onions.
Option: Replace the chicken with pork.
Nutrition Facts: Calories 320, Fat 8g (Saturated 1g, Trans 0), Cholesterol 100mg, Sodium 552mg, Carbs 25g (Fiber 1g, Sugars 20g), Protein 34g

Nutrition by: Nutritional facts powered by Edamam
Similar Recipes:
Orange Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken
Honey Lemon Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry
Harvest Skillet Chicken with Apples, Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken
Honey and Lime Jalapeno Chicken
Crispy Baked Firecracker Tofu on Coconut Cauliflower Rice
Cashew Chicken
20 Minute Skinny Sesame Chicken
Sesame Chicken
Honey Garlic Chicken
Thai Basil Chicken
General Tso’s Chicken

20 Minute Meals, 30 Minute Meals, Chicken, Chinese, Food, Gluten-free, Main Course, One-Pan, One-Pot, Recipe

eCookbook Bundle Cover

Get ALL 16 Closet Cooking eCookbooks in a bundle for 70% off! Enjoy some of the tastiest recipes from Closet Cooking along with exclusive cookbook recipes!

Get the Cookbook Bundle Now!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Angela says

    August 26, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    I am always looking for new stir fry recipes. This looks so good. Will try this out for sure!
    http://palsywalsyblog.blogspot.ca/

    Reply
    • Keitha Cain says

      February 7, 2020 at 9:11 pm

      This was soooo good. The sauce is excellent and that’s what makes sweet and sour so good. I used pork and shrimp. I added a few more veggies. The beauty of this dish is you can add or subtract any veggies and you still have a wonderful dish because of the great sauce.

      Reply
  2. Tieghan says

    August 26, 2014 at 12:46 pm

    I love sweet and sour chicken, so this fast an healthy version is perfect!

    Reply
  3. Catherine says

    August 26, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    Looks delicious and sounds very healthy. Blessings, Catherine

    Reply
  4. Liz @ Floating Kitchen says

    August 26, 2014 at 7:35 pm

    Sweet and Sour Chicken is one of my favorites. So happy to now have a lightened up version of it! Thanks, Kevin!

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says

    August 26, 2014 at 9:19 pm

    Do you have a General Tsao recipe? I have sesame seeds so wondering if they would work with this one, and if so when do you add them?

    Reply
  6. Jeanette says

    August 26, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    Love how quickly this comes together!

    Reply
  7. kevin says

    August 26, 2014 at 9:53 pm

    Anonymous: I have not posted my General Tsao recipe yet but it is coming. If your sesame seeds are already toasted you can just add them at the end otherwise I would lightly toast the in the pan first, set them aside and add them at the end.

    Reply
  8. Matt Robinson says

    August 27, 2014 at 5:19 am

    This is the perfect weeknight meal, Kevin. Especially once school starts here next week. My boys will love this!

    Reply
  9. Jenny says

    August 27, 2014 at 12:51 pm

    Loooove! My kids favorite take out for sure 🙂 Trying this soon.

    Reply
  10. Julie @ Table for Two says

    August 27, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    The perfect weeknight meal!

    Reply
  11. Aimée says

    August 27, 2014 at 2:31 pm

    Love these flavours, Kevin!

    Reply
  12. Heather Christo says

    August 27, 2014 at 2:59 pm

    omg Kevin- I am so making this! it looks amazing!

    Reply
  13. marla {Family Fresh Cooking} says

    August 27, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    Totally craving this now!

    Reply
  14. RoxiPapi says

    August 28, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    I made this (with pork) last night and LOVED it! Thank you for a great recipe!

    Reply
  15. Aleksandra says

    September 5, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    I made it 10 minutes ago – it's delicious indeed. Instead of pineapple, I used pear and it also composed well. For sure I'm gonna rewrite that receipt in my daily meals book :3

    Reply
  16. Adrián Pérez Solano says

    September 6, 2014 at 6:32 pm

    Oh my god! I really enjoy eating asian dish and so it's time to cook them. This recipe is perfect! I also have a blog and I would like you tu visit it. It's about american baking, and spanish cooking. I wish you could take a look. Thank you, Adrián from http://dulceriasconsorpresa.blogspot.com.es

    Reply
  17. amy @ Chew Out Loud says

    September 27, 2014 at 5:54 am

    Love how simple, healthy, and yummy this looks. Craving it right now. Adore all your colors for the dish, too!

    Reply
  18. Pascal Lavigne says

    September 30, 2014 at 11:57 pm

    Super Bon !

    Reply
  19. Jelena Katić says

    March 5, 2015 at 6:23 pm

    Just cooked, absolutely delicious! I also added some carrot, peas and onion with the peppers. The family loved it!

    Reply
  20. Cheesesteak says

    February 15, 2016 at 1:03 am

    This was very tasty. I added onions and served over brown rice…don't be afraid of the sambal oelek, I'll add a little more next time. Nice and light, I don't feel bad about going back for seconds.

    Reply
  21. Susan J. says

    July 26, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    Your recipes are always amazing.

    Reply
  22. Ariel Paz says

    December 4, 2016 at 10:49 pm

    Or make it even lighter and quicker by using leftover cooked chicken from soup. I omitted the soy sauce as the chili sauce has enough sodium. Served over 3 minute brown rice and it tasted just like, better even, than the chinese restaurant. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  23. Anonymous says

    July 16, 2017 at 4:46 am

    Amazing recipe! My family loved it. I hace modified the amound of igrediance based on my preference but still turned great! A must try recipe. Thank you!

    Reply
  24. Dr Martin Huang says

    January 24, 2018 at 3:10 am

    A Singaporean here!
    First time coming across a sweet and sour recipe for Chicken! Normally what the restaurants or typical seafood stall sells in Singapore is Sweet and sour Pork instead.

    Reply
  25. Christine says

    January 30, 2018 at 3:31 am

    Made tonight for the first time–absolutely fabulous–will be making again and again! Love your recipes, hate all the ads! G
    uess we can't have it all…lol…

    Reply
  26. Gillyflower says

    June 17, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    I found it quite nice, used it for pork. I like ketchup, but am not too keen on it in cooking, but I recognise that it does give a certain taste. I used only a little and finished the measure with fresh tomatoes, cut finely. I will probably try it again. Oh, I did cut some onion into chunks and added that with the pepper and pineapple.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to the free Closet Cooking email newsletter and get a FREE copy of the eBook:
The Best of Closet Cooking!

About Me

Kevin: I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.
Read More

The Best of Closet Cooking 2023 – FREE eCookbook

The Best of Closet Cooking Book Cover

eCookbook Bundle

eCookbook Bundle

Top Recipes

Chicken and Avocado Burritos
Ham and Potato Corn Chowder
Mexican Street Corn Nachos
Balsamic Garlic Grilled Mushroom Skewers
Baked Firecracker Chicken
Caprese Balsamic Grilled Chicken
Balsamic Soy Roasted Garlic Mushrooms
Cheesy Beef Enchilada Tortellini Skillet
Parmesan Roasted Carrot Fries
Asiago Roasted Onions
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
About | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Copyright © 2007-2023, Closet Cooking Ltd. All Rights Reserved.