Sweet and sour chicken is an old style American takeout Chinese dish that is not difficult to make at home. I wanted to update my old recipe to make it healthier. The biggest change is taking out the fried crispy coating on the chicken. I went for crunch by using ground toasted almonds and baking the chicken before adding it to the zingy sweet and sour sauce.
You will need a baking pan, saucepan, cutting board, knife, measuring spoons, 3 small pans or bowls for dredging, and immersion blender with chopper (or food processor).
Use a food processor or small chopper to chop the almonds into a coarse flour.
Place in a dredging pan, add panko crumbs and salt and pepper mix and mix thoroughly. You may do this with all almonds, just take into account the calories (1/2 cup almonds 360 cal, 1/2 cup panko 120 cal.)
Cover the baking pan with a silicone baking mat. Or cover with aluminum foil, shiny side down. Spray with cooking spray.
Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line up dredging pans near the baking pan. Place cornstarch in first, pineapple juice in second, and almond-panko mixture in the third. Dredge the chicken chunks in cornstarch, juice, and almond mixture and place on baking pan. Spray with cooking spray.
Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and use tongs to flip chicken pieces. Bake for up to an additional 10 minutes, if necessary. Check for doneness (175 degrees) and add additional oven minutes if needed.
While the chicken is baking, place pineapple juice, vinegar, liquid aminos, and marmalade in the saucepan.
Stir the sauce over medium high heat until hot.
Add carrots to pan, heat until they begin to be soft.
Add peppers to pan, heat until they begin to be soft.
Add arrowroot 1 teaspoon at a time until the sauce thickens enough to stick to the spoon. Remove from heat if the chicken is not ready.
Add the cooked chicken and pineapple to the sauce and heat on low until warm.
Serve with cooked brown rice. Makes 4 servings.
Clean eating tip: You can use gluten-free panko, arrowroot instead of cornstarch, lime juice or water with chicken bouillon instead of pineapple juice, organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar, and coconut aminos.
Healthy sweet and sour chicken gets flavor from marmalade and vinegar. Chicken is baked with an almond coating. Pineapples, peppers, and carrots round out the dish.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 lb skinless chicken tenders
- coconut oil cooking spray
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- 6 tbsp cornstarch
- 8 tbsp toasted almonds, sliced or slivered
- 4 tbsp panko bread crumbs, gluten free
- ½ tsp Salty Wahine guava garlic salt
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 tbsp orange marmalade
- 3 tbsp coconut liquid aminos
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- 1 cup bell pepper, red, green, yellow, cut into 1 inch squares or strips
- 1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 large carrot, cut into spears
- 4 tsp. arrowroot
Instructions
- You will need a baking pan, saucepan, cutting board, knife, measuring spoons, 3 small pans or bowls for dredging, and immersion blender with chopper (or food processor).
- Use a food processor or small chopper to chop the almonds into a coarse flour.
- Place in a dredging pan, add panko crumbs, salt, pepper, cayenne, and ground ginger and mix thoroughly. You may do this with all almonds, just take into account the calories (1/2 cup almonds 360 cal, 1/2 cup panko 120 cal.)
- Cover the baking pan with a silicone baking mat. Or cover with aluminum foil, shiny side down. Spray with cooking spray.
- Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line up dredging pans near the baking pan. Place cornstarch in first, pineapple juice in second, and almond-panko mixture in the third. Dredge the chicken chunks in cornstarch, juice, and almond mixture and place on baking pan. Spray with cooking spray.
- Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and use tongs to flip chicken pieces. Bake for up to an additional 10 minutes, if necessary. Check for doneness (175 degrees) and add additional oven minutes if needed.
- While the chicken is baking, place pineapple juice, vinegar, liquid aminos, and marmalade in the saucepan.
- Stir the sauce over medium high heat until hot.
- Add carrots to pan, heat until they begin to be soft.
- Add peppers to pan, heat until they begin to be soft.
- Add arrowroot 1 teaspoon at a time until the sauce thickens enough to stick to the spoon. Remove from heat if the chicken is not ready.
- Add the cooked chicken and pineapple to the sauce and heat on low until warm.
- Serve with cooked brown rice. Makes 4 servings.
Notes
Clean eating tip: You can use gluten-free panko, arrowroot instead of cornstarch, lime juice or water with chicken bouillon instead of pineapple juice, organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar, and coconut aminos.
Nutrition for healthy sweet and sour chicken
1 whole recipe of healthy sweet and sour chicken with brown rice is about 2911 calories. 1 serving is about 728 calories. Nutrition facts are approximations.
Resource links for sweet and sour chicken
- https://www.auntylilikoi.com/hawaiian-seasonings/#null
- Hawaiian seasonings from Aunty Lilikoi
- http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodasian.html#sweetandsour
- History of sweet and sour from Food Timeline
- https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-cut-a-pepper-step-by-step-article
- Cutting bell pepper from Epicurious
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