Sweet and Sour Chicken
Our version of Sweet and Sour Chicken is just as delicious as the takeaway classic you know and love – for a fraction of the calories! You’ve still got the tender chicken pieces, crunchy veggies and juicy pineapple chunks, all coated in our homemade sticky-sweet sauce. Basmati rice, noodles or prawn crackers will help you mop up every last drop!
Also in these categories:
NutritionPer Serving
- Calories293
- Carbs31g
- Protein31g
- Fat2.7g
- Saturates0.7g
- Sugars24g
Your dishes
You’re amazing, look at the Sweet and Sour Chicken dishes you’ve made…
For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card below. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff in the blurb!
If you don’t think of Sweet and Sour Chicken when you’re imagining what you’ll be eating on a slimming-friendly diet, we get that! Thanks to reduced-fat swaps and Pinch of Nom magic, our version comes in at just 293 calories per portion.
This recipe has been a Friday-night staple for years in our house. Between this and our hugely-popular Diet Coke/Pepsi Max Chicken, we rarely ever set foot in our local Chinese takeaway – after all, homemade is better for you and your budget!
Just as sweet, sticky and flavourful as the restaurant dish, you can serve this one really simply over a bed of basmati rice or noodles. It’s jam-packed with colourful, crunchy veg so there’s no need to prepare more greens for a side dish (unless you fancy it!).
For more Chinese-inspired recipe ideas, have a scroll through our blog by tapping here.
What diets is this Sweet and Sour Chicken suitable for?
This Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe is suitable for diary-free diets.
As always, take extra care when cooking for people with allergies and be sure to use different utensils, cookware and preparation areas.
Do you need any special ingredients to make Sweet and Sour Chicken?
All of the ingredients for this recipe should be available at your local supermarket.
Hints & Tips
Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.
Send us a Hint or Tip
We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.
SEND US a HINT & TIP, Or QUOTE for this recipe
THANKS
we have your picture
The process
- Check
Now we have your Hint & tip
we’ll check them over. - Review We’ll review your Hint & Tip, and see if its suitable to use on the website.
Your details
- Name: %name%
- Recipe: %recipeName%
YOUR HINTS & TIPS
Your “QUOTE”
SWAG!
Due to the large number of submissions we recieve we’re afraid we’ll only inform you if we use it on the Recipe page - then we’ll send you some swag…
(Please remember others may of had the same idea as you!)
‘Truly scrumptious dish, I changed up some of the veg as not keen on baby corn and mange tour - so increased ones I did like - I used 300 grams of pineapple - I cooked slower and lower toward the end before I added the cornflour mix, lush with rice’
How many calories are in this Sweet and Sour Chicken?
This Sweet and Sour Chicken is included in our Everyday Light category because it contains just 293 calories per portion. For more delicious dishes all under 400 calories, take a look at other Everyday Light recipes!
This Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe is ideal when following any of the larger diet plans such as Weight Watchers or counting calories.
The average woman needs around 2000kcal per day to maintain a healthy body weight, and men typically need slightly more at 2,500kcals, but you may want to reduce these if you are aiming to lose weight. You can find more information on the NHS website.
Step 1
Spray a large frying pan or wok with low-calorie cooking spray and set on a medium heat.
Step 2
Add the onion and garlic and fry for 8 minutes until starting to soften.
Step 3
Add the chicken and continue to fry for 5 minutes until browned on all sides.
Step 4
Add the peppers and baby corn and cook for a few minutes.
Step 5
Add the courgette and sugar snaps and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Step 6
Pour in the orange juice, soy sauce, sweetener, rice vinegar, tomato purée and chopped tomatoes.
Step 7
Add the stock cube to the water and stir until dissolved. Pour into the pan.
Step 8
Mix the cornflour with the cold water until smooth and add to the pan, stir well and simmer for 20 minutes until thickened.
Step 9
Add the cucumber and pineapple and stir until combined.
Step 10
Sprinkle over the spring onion and serve with rice or noodles.
What could I serve with this Sweet and Sour Chicken?
You can’t beat serving this Sweet and Sour Chicken on a fluffy bed of basmati rice. It would also go down a storm with any of these fakeaway-style dishes:
How do you know when Sweet and Sour Chicken is cooked?
You should cook this Sweet and Sour Chicken until the sauce is thick and rich, and the chicken is cooked through – this will take around 40 minutes in total.
Here in the UK, the standard advice is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and maintained that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep you and your family safe!
How long can you keep Sweet and Sour Chicken in the fridge?
Make sure that you eat this recipe within 4 hours of serving it.
If you have any leftovers, then make sure that you allow them to cool before popping them in a container with a lid and refrigerating. Leftovers of this Sweet and Sour Chicken can be kept in the fridge for around 3 days.
Can I freeze Sweet and Sour Chicken?
Yes, you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;
- Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough in individual portions.
- Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.
Don’t forget to add a label telling you the name of the recipe and the date you’re stocking your freezer up.
How do I reheat Sweet and Sour Chicken?
From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with a loosely fitting lid and heat for 5-7 minutes until piping hot.
From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 4-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 6-7 minutes until piping hot.
ORDER Our NEW cookbook Air Fryer NOW
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Our version of Sweet and Sour Chicken is just as delicious as the takeaway classic you know and love – for a fraction of the calories!
-
Prep Time
15 MINS
-
Cook Time
40 MINS
- KCals 293
- Carbs 31G
Instructions
- Spray a large frying pan or wok with low-calorie cooking spray and set on a medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic and fry for 8 minutes until starting to soften.
- Add the chicken and continue to fry for 5 minutes until browned on all sides.
- Add the peppers and baby corn and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the courgette and sugar snaps and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the orange juice, soy sauce, sweetener, rice vinegar, tomato puree and chopped tomatoes.
- Add the stock cube to the water and stir until dissolved. Pour into the pan.
- Mix the cornflour with the cold water until smooth and add to the pan, stir well and simmer for 20 minutes until thickened.
- Add the cucumber and pineapple and stir until combined.
- Sprinkle over the spring onion and serve with rice or noodles.
Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?
With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.
—
We agreed with Slimming World to remove their trademarked terms from our website
Love this Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe? Tag us on Instagram or in our Facebook group!
15 comments
See what others have to say
ClaireSunday 3rd April 2022
Can I use any veg to replace the cucumber?
LisaMonday 4th April 2022
Hi Claire. I’m not a lover of cucumber, so I usually just leave it out or replace with a few extra sugar snaps. You could replace it with any quick cooking veg you fancy though.
Frances TerrellSaturday 24th April 2021
Is there a substitute for the xanthan gum?
HollyTuesday 27th April 2021
Hey Frances, you can swap the xanthan gum for cornflour, hope that helps!
SharonSaturday 15th February 2020
Hi it says 1/2 orange juice only, is this based on a large orange
Sharon FitzpatrickTuesday 12th May 2020
Hi Sharon, thanks for getting in touch with this question. This is based on a medium sized orange. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
TracyMonday 26th August 2019
Hi
Could you confirm the size of the tin of tomatoes please.
Many thanks
Emma TThursday 19th September 2019
Hi Tracy,
We use 400g tins ????
Anne WalkerTuesday 14th May 2019
Can this dish be frozen?
Emma TThursday 20th June 2019
Hi Anne,
Yes, it should freeze well ????
Rosemarie WangWednesday 3rd October 2018
I cooked this tonight ,really nice. But I used two tbsp of light, two tbsp of dark soya sauce. And it was still very dark. Can I ask if you use the dark for colour or taste? Thanks in advanve.
Jessica VillaineSunday 25th March 2018
Cook this for dinner tonight was delicious ???? will definitely make again. I cook it in the actifry instead of a wok it worked really well. Thank u x
Angela WaltonMonday 14th August 2017
Mine looks nothing like your photos, mine is much more red in colour and still has loads of the sauce. What did I do wrong?
Emma TMonday 11th September 2017
Hi Angela,
Perhaps yours needed reducing down slightly more? All ingredients can vary slightly in colour and fresh ingredients vary in water content.
Hope that helps!
Eileen PedersonSaturday 24th September 2016
How much sugar content has this got in because we are on a no sugar diet having lost 4.1/2 stone in 2 years by doing this going from a size 22 to a size 12/14 plus my husband is a diabetic so sugar is a no go for him
Thank you Eileen
Join the conversation
Comment or ask our advice