Air Fryer Sweet and Sour Chicken (2024)

I could easily label most of my recipes as my favorite but I think this healthy, air fryer sweet and sour chicken would truly be my absolute favorite. Sweet and sour chicken nuggets were always my favorite dish before beginning weight watchers. You know those delicious battered chicken nuggets with that amazing sweet and sour sauce, yeah, I used to get it every Sunday (ugh regrets). When I first started my new lifestyle, this was one of the first dishes I reinvented. My philosophy has always been to not give up the things you love, but to reinvent them into something you can eat everyday! The sauce tastes exactly like your local takeout place, but probably better! And don’t worry, I always build in extra sauce in my recipes to pour over your rice! This is how to make THE BEST sweet and sour chicken sauce!

This photo shows three servings. The recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc. It also makes great lunch leftovers!

What You Need for Healthy Air Fryer Sweet and Sour Chicken

First off, you will need an air fryer, you can use a basket type air fryer; but, I really like a rack type air fryer as well. If you do not have an air fryer, you can bake the sweet and sour chicken nuggets in the oven; however, it does not come out as crispy.

For the ingredients, it kind of seems like a lot of things, but it really is quite simple to make. I will give you all the tips and tricks how to make the sweet and sour chicken sauce to make this recipe a breeze.

For the battered Sweet and Sour Chicken:

• Chicken
• Corn starch
• Seasonings

I typically use chicken tenderloins when I need nuggets sized chicken, but you can use other cuts of chicken. Chicken tenderloins are already thin, so minimal cutting is required, which is why I like them. However, chicken breasts or chicken thighs can work well too. But, you can use beef, pork or even tofu if you are vegetarian. Any kind of protein will work great in this recipe. Remember to cut the chicken, or your preferable substitution, in the same size, so they are all cooked simultaneously.

Corn starch is really great in this recipe, but there are other ways to coat chicken. If you have flour, that works great here as well. Alternatively, a mixture of flour and breadcrumbs can work as well. If you do not want to make battered sweet and sour chicken, you can skip coating the chicken and just cook it to your preference.

For the Sweet and Sour Chicken Sauce

• Brown sugar replacement
• Apple cider vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Ketchup

Brown sugar replacement is a staple in my household, it is great on so many dishes. I use the Swerve brand; however, Splenda has a brown sugar blend, and, alternatively, you can use regular brown sugar.

For this recipe, grab your apple cider vinegar; however, if you have white vinegar, you may substitute that. This recipe calls for low sodium soy sauce, but if you have regular soy sauce, just adjust the amount of additional salt added to the sauce. Finally, the sauce calls for sugar free ketchup, which is why we add some brown sugar back in. If you have and want to use regular ketchup, be mindful about how much brown sugar you put in.

For the Slurry

What is a slurry? It is a liquid-y mixture that makes the sauce thick! It just combines corn starch with some water. Add that into the sauce, after it is made, until you reach your desired thickness.

Vegetables

Finally, for the vegetables. I mean it is a healthy sweet and sour chicken recipe. I love bell pepper, onion and carrots in mine; however, use any vegetables that you prefer. I know a lot of takeout places have pineapple in theirs, but I just really do not like that.

This recipe is for the sweet and sour chicken nuggets and the vegetables, if you want to add some rice, you will have to cook that separately.

How to Make Air Fryer Sweet and Sour Chicken

First, let's go over how to make the sweet and sour chicken sauce. As mentioned, it does seem like a lot of ingredients but I promise it is so easy to make, and most importantly, so worth it.

How to Make the Sweet and Sour Chicken Sauce

Add all sauce ingredients (brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic powder, salt) to a small pan over medium/low heat. Stir together and bring to a slight boil. Allow it to simmer for 5-10 minutes. As that gets going, start on the chicken nuggets.

How to Make Battered Sweet and Sour Chicken Nuggets

As the sauce thickens, preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees and grease it with cooking spray. Cut chicken tenderloins up into bite size pieces, about 1 inch by 1 inch. Place cornstarch on a plate and season with the chicken seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and one very small pinch of cinnamon), stir together. One by one, add chicken pieces to the plate and roll chicken nuggets around the corn starch until evenly coated.

Once all the chicken nuggets are coated, place in the greased air fryer and air fry for 1 minute. Spray chicken with cooking spray (this will emulate actual frying, while keeping this sweet and sour chicken healthy) then air fry for another 3 minutes. Flip/shake the chicken and spray with cooking spray again. Air fry for another 4-6 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked.

Vegetables

While the chicken is cooking, work on the vegetables, remember, the sauce is still thickening. Chop up the vegetables into bite sized pieces. Grease a small pan with cooking spray and heat up over medium/high heat. Add vegetables and sauté until slightly soft.

Meanwhile, combine slurry ingredients (corn starch and water) in a small bowl, stirring to remove any clumps. Once sauce has finished simmering, slowly pour in slurry until desired thickness is reached. After everything is cooked, add chicken and vegetables to the pan with the sauce and toss to evenly coat.

There will be enough sauce to have some rice, you can either make my instant pot rice or my stovetop rice.

Other Ways to Cook Air Fryer Sweet and Sour Chicken

If you do not have an air fryer, you can bake these in the oven at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Be sure to follow the same instructions for spraying and flipping the chicken.

I also make sweet and sour chicken in my instant pot, it is not battered but is still amazing.

Alternative Sauces

Not a fan of sweet and sour chicken? Try out my orange chicken, general tso chicken or sesame chicken. Alternatively, try my chicken fried rice recipe for an all in one dish.

Air Fryer Sweet and Sour Chicken

I could easily label most of my recipes as my favorite but I think this healthy, air fryer sweet and sour chicken would truly be my absolute favorite.

How many WW points is this now?! Click on the link below and it will take you to the recipe I made within your own WW app. Your specific points will be calculated, and you can track that.