When I started to cook, in my teens, one of the first recipes I made was Sweet and Sour Chicken. I made it for Mother’s day. This recipe is similar to my first attempt, as I have tried many variations over the years. But I have found the foundation of my original recipe has stood the test of time! I love Sweet and Sour Chicken – but I do not like my chicken deep-fried. I make my Sweet and Sour Chicken on the stovetop with a small amount of olive oil. This recipe allows you to control how sweet or sour you make the sauce which is quick and easy to make! I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients
1 ½ pounds, skinless, boneless chicken, cubed
Olive Oil or Stir Fry Oil
Lawry seasoned salt
Pepper

1 Sweet onion, chopped
1 Red pepper, chopped
1 Green pepper, chopped

1 can Tidbits pineapple chunks
Jasmine Rice

Mushrooms, optional
Red Wine

Sauce
1 cup Apple vinegar
½ cup Tomato paste
½ cup Ketchup
1 cup Pineapple juice
1 tbsp Soy sauce, light
1 tsp Ground ginger
2 – 3 tbsp Brown sugar

Tips
You can adjust the brown sugar and pineapple in your sauce to adjust sweetness. I prefer to use tidbits pineapple chunks since they are easier to mix into the dish. I use a blend of tomato paste and ketchup – you could use only one of them. I make my rice in a rice cooker. It allows me to add the water and rice, then turn on the rice cooker and walk away.

My original way to make this dish:
Cover the bottom of a braising pan with olive oil and heat on low heat. Mix together the Sweet and Sour sauce and put aside. Add cubed chicken to your braising pan and add Lawry seasoned salt and pepper. Stir occasionally. Remove any excess liquid leaving about 1 tablespoon. Add onion and pepper and cook for a few minutes. Add sauce, cover and simmer for about 30-minutes. Add pineapple chunks a few minutes before serving to heat them. Serve over your favorite rice and enjoy!

Another way to make this dish:
My original method allows you to use one braising pan as long you remove the excess liquid before adding the vegetables and sauce. This method uses a braising pan plus a frying pan for the chicken as I cooked it separately. My husband likes mushrooms so I had a small frying pan with red wine and mushrooms.

Pour a small amount of olive oil or stir fry oil in a braising pan and frying pan. Place your chicken in the frying pan and season with Lawry salt and Pepper. Periodically stir until chicken is cooked.

In your braising pan, add your onions and peppers. Cook until soft or until how caramelize you would like your onions.

While the vegetables are cooking, measure out your sauce ingredients. Add your liquids, tomato paste, ketchup, ground ginger, and brown sugar to your braising pan. I like to stir each grouping of ingredients before adding the next.

I like to let this simmer for a few minutes and then I add my chicken.

I let the mixture cook for about 30-minutes to allow the ingredients to blend. During that time I get my rice cooker out and make the rice.

When there is about 10-minutes left, I had my pineapples to my braising pan so they have a chance to heat through.

At about 5-minutes I will simmer the mushrooms in red wine. They will reduce about half in size and will absorb the flavor from the wine. Just be careful to not let them cook too long so they do not reduce too much.

I like to serve over Jasmine Rice! And make extras because it warms over nicely the next couple days and the flavor will only improve!!

Categories: Chicken Recipes, Dinner Time!

Tags: brown sugar, cooking, easy to make, ginger, health, onion, pepper, pineapple, recipe, rice, soy sauce, sweet and sour chicken