Sweet and Sour Chicken

One of our favorite things we used to do was to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant after church on Sundays.  We’ve since stopped our “tradition” in exchange for good ol’ home cookin’.  Now when we are in the mood for Chinese, I whip it up at home–and boy is it good!  I’m able to sneak in some extra veggies that the restaurants do not add, and my kids still devour their meal.

It’s frugal and nutritious!

Sweet and Sour Chicken {from Quick Cooking Magazine}

1 green pepper; chopped

1 small onion; sliced

1 Tbsp oil

1 (20 oz) can of pineapple chunks

3 Tbsp vinegar

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Ketchup

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

Chicken.  I’ve used cut up boneless, skinless chicken breasts, popcorn chicken and even chicken nuggets.  Anything works.

Stir fry the green pepper and onion in oil until crisp tender.  I often add in a yellow or red pepper if I have them on hand.

While the veggies are cooking, drain the pineapple, but reserve the juice.  Add enough water to the pineapple juice to measure 1 1/3 cup.  Stir in the vinegar, soy sauce, and the ketchup.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the brown sugar and cornstarch.  Once combined, pour in the pineapple juice and mix completely.  Slowly add this mixture to the skillet and bring to a boil.  The sauce will begin to thicken.

While your sauce is cooking, cook your chicken.  When I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I boil the chicken until cooked through and then chop into bite sized pieces.  Otherwise, I bake the nuggets, popcorn chicken while my veggies are stir-frying.

Once your sauce in thick, toss in pineapple and cooked chicken and cook for about 5 more minutes.  Serve over fried rice or Chinese Noodles.

While it may not look like a whole lot, this dish is very filling.  We are easily able (when all 3 kids aren’t in a growth spurt!) to get 8 servings out of this dish.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Tagged as: Recipes