Sweet and Sour Chicken

Name: Sweet and Sour Chicken
Prep time: 13 min
Cook time: 24 min
Total time: 37 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 lb Chicken Thighs; 1 large Egg White; 1 tsp Kosher Salt; 2 tsp Cornstarch; 10 oz Pineapple Chunks; 1/4 cup Pineapple Juice; 1/4 cup White Vinegar; 1/4 cup Tomato Ketchup; 3 tablespoons Brown Sugar; 4 tsp Oil; 1 chopped Red Pepper; 1 chopped Yellow Pepper; 1 tsp Ginger

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Chicken recipe with Chinese flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 70 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 37 min total

1 lb Chicken Thighs
1 large Egg White
1 tsp Kosher Salt
2 tsp Cornstarch
10 oz Pineapple Chunks
1/4 cup Pineapple Juice
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/4 cup Tomato Ketchup
3 tablespoons Brown Sugar
4 tsp Oil
1 chopped Red Pepper
1 chopped Yellow Pepper
1 tsp Ginger

Step-by-step instructions

Coat the chicken with egg white: In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and cornstarch. Stir to coat the chicken evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
Make the sweet and sour sauce: Whisk together the pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and brown sugar.
Stir-fry the chicken over high heat: Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates. Pour in 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. It's important that the pan is very hot.
Add the chicken and spread the pieces out in one layer. Let the chicken fry untouched for 1 minute, until the bottoms are browned.
Flip and fry the other side for 1 minute. The chicken should still be pinkish in the middle. Dish out the chicken onto a clean plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.
Stir-fry the bell pepper and ginger: Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 teaspoon of cooking oil. Let the oil heat up before adding the bell pepper chunks and ginger. Fry for 1 minute.
Add the pineapple, sauce, and then, the chicken: Add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce. Turn up the heat to high. When the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in.
Let simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Timing depends on how thick you've cut your chicken. The best way to tell if the chicken is done is to take a piece out and cut into it. If it's pink, add another minute to the cooking.
Adjust the seasoning and serve: Taste the sauce and add more brown sugar or vinegar to suit your tastes, if you’d like.
Serve hot with steamed white or brown rice.

Why this works on a weeknight

Sweet and Sour Chicken lands at about 37 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Stir-Fry collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Sweet and Sour Chicken actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥢 Stir-Fry Chicken Chinese