Lightened-Up Sweet and Sour Chicken (2024)

April 14, 2021 By Steph 50 Comments

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Tender chunks of chicken, bell pepper and sweet pineapple coated in a sticky, sweet and sour sauce. Lightened-up sweet and sour chicken offers a generous portion of the classic takeout dish, but for less than half the calories per serving. Serve it with some fluffy white rice and broccoli for the perfect fake-out takeout meal.

What is sweet and sour chicken?

Sweet and sour chicken is a dish typically served in Chinese restaurants, typically made with white-meat chicken, coated in sweet and sour sauce, and topped with pineapple and peppers.

The dish is a combination of flavors and textures; soft, tender chunks of chicken, crisp pan-seared bell peppers, crunchy pineapple. The sauce is a combination of sweet and savory. Together, it’s a beautiful and flavorful dish.

When you look at the ingredients of this dish, it seems like it wouldn’t be hard to “lighten up.” It’s already got the veggies and white-meat chicken. The issue is the sauce. The sauce is traditionally made with a lot of sugar. I’m talking, cups of sugar.

We know it’s not easy to lighten up sugary dishes, but what I have done here is just use all the same ingredients, but scaled back a bit. I still use sugar, but less. To bulk the sauce up more, I add some unsweetened applesauce (as always). I also use ketchup for that added tangy-sweetness. All together, it really works. Trust me!

What you’ll need to make lightened-up sweet and sour chicken

For the chicken and vegetables, you’ll need:

chicken breast
corn starch
kosher salt
cooking spray
bell peppers
red onion
pineapple chunks
- fresh or canned will work, but must be drained of all liquid
scallions
sesame seeds

To make the sauce, you’ll need:

ketchup
sugar
unsweetened applesauce
light brown sugar
reduced sodium soy sauce
rice wine vinegar
sesame oil
corn starch

How to cook the chicken

There’s not much to this part; all you have to do is really make sure you don’t overcrowd your chicken. That’s really the key when you are searing meat. Don’t dump it all in at once. I know it’s tempting. You’ll be tempted to dump it all in so that dinner is ready quicker. But, I promise you, taking the extra ten minutes to make the chicken in two batches will result in such a better product.

Make sure you use the largest frying pan you own, or a wok. Preheat the frying pan over medium to medium-high heat. Chop the chicken up into bite-sized cubes. Then toss them in the cornstarch.

When you are ready to cook the chicken, add a generous amount of cooking spray to the pan, then add about half of the chicken. Make sure your chicken pieces are evenly spaced out and not crowded. Make sure no piece of chicken is touching another. Add more cooking spray to the tops of the chicken pieces.

When all the chicken is cooked, place it in a bowl to the side while you prep the sauce.

How to make the sauce

Ok, so this part is beyond easy. Add all of the sauce ingredients into a small sauce pan. Whisk them together, and bring the sauce to a boil. Once boiling, reduce it to simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and syrupy.

Lightened-Up Sweet and Sour Chicken (10)

Lightened-Up Sweet and Sour Chicken (11)

Lightened-Up Sweet and Sour Chicken (12)

How to cook the vegetables and put everything together

To cook the vegetables, add more cooking spray to the pan and saute the peppers and onion for about five minutes, or until they start to char and get tender. Then, drain the pineapple and add the pineapple chunks to the pan with the veggies. Cook that for another minute. Next, add the cooked chicken to the pan, along with the sauce. Cook everything together for a couple of minutes so that the flavors combine. Then, garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.

Lightened-Up Sweet and Sour Chicken (13)

Lightened-Up Sweet and Sour Chicken (14)

Lightened-Up Sweet and Sour Chicken (15)

Lightened-Up Sweet and Sour Chicken (16)

How to serve lightened-up sweet and sour chicken

One serving of this dish is 2 cups! It’s a huge, generous size portion. This recipe makes four servings, but can easily be split into six. It’s a hearty serving.

I love this dish served over white rice and with another vegetable, like steamed broccoli.