Sweet and Sour Chicken Skillet

I shared yesterday how obsessed my kids are with sweet and sour chicken… and here’s our favorite recipe of all time!

Granted, sometimes they don’t dig the onions and peppers, but us adults do, so more for us right?

What I love most about this recipe is that it can be made all in one skillet, leaving you with way less dishes to worry about after dinner. All you need is a deeper skillet, otherwise the frying process can get a bit messy.

This recipe uses that exact sauce I shared yesterday, just cooked in a slightly different way, so it cooks down with the chicken and veggies, leaving them gloriously coated with that sweet and tangy sauce.

Let’s see how to make it!

How to make a sweet and sour chicken skillet?

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Prep frying area and preheat oil.
2. Combine batter. Whisk together and set near the stove, so you won’t have a long distance to carry the battered chicken.
3. Season chicken. I kept it simple and just used salt.
4. Batter chicken. Do this one piece at a time, then carefully add to hot oil.
5. Fry. For 2-3 minutes, or until cooked through.
6. Let cool. Transfer chicken to wire cooling rack. This keeps the chicken crispy.

1. Drain out frying oil.
2. Saute veggies. Just a couple minutes, until crisp tender. Add garlic and cook a minute more.
3. Add sauce. Stir well.
4. Simmer. Cook until sauce is simmering and thickening, just a few minutes.
5. Add chicken. Add in fried chicken and stir well.
6. Serve. Serve immediately.

Variations of this recipe

• Chicken – if you like chicken thighs, you can swap out the chicken breasts for chicken thighs.
• Other protein – in fact, this recipe works great with pork (we like to use pork chops), and shrimp too!
• Peppers – I like the combination of bitter and sweet peppers, which is why I included both a green and red bell pepper in this recipe. But feel free to change the peppers to what you like.
• Pineapple – we like to use frozen pineapple tidbits, but canned or fresh will work as well.
• Non-fried – if you’d prefer to save a few calories, you don’t have to fry the chicken. You can just saute it in the skillet until cooked through.

Making sweet and sour chicken ahead of time

I don’t recommend making this recipe ahead of time, since the chicken won’t stay crispy if you make it in advance.

However, you can absolutely prep things ahead! This cuts the total time way down.

1. The onion, bell peppers, and garlic can be chopped. Just keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
2. The pineapple can be drained. Just keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
3. The sauce can be whisked. All except the cornstarch and water, that should be added when cooking. Keep the sauce refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to cook.
4. The chicken can be sliced. Just keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

Storage

Leftover sweet and sour chicken should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eaten within 3-4 days.

To reheat so the chicken stays crispy, I like to separate the chicken from the sauce, and pat it dry with paper towels.

You can either reheat the chicken in the air fryer (at 390°F for 2-3 minutes), or in the oven (at 350°F for 10-15 minutes), and reheat the rest of the sauce and veggies separately.