Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Thighs (2024)

These are my sweet and sour baked chicken thighs and they are made with my healthy and skinny sauce, first, seared on the stove, then fully cooked in the oven.Recreating takeout food at home is one of my favorite things, or as I call it, takeout fakeout! Sweet and sour chicken is one of my first recipes on here. You know the classic breaded chicken nuggets with that sweet sauce. Ugh, so good! Well, it is my first because it is one of my favorites! It has been a long time since I made sweet and sour chicken. But I was also looking for ways to switch it up. So here it is, my sweet and sour baked chicken thighs.

Marinate these in my super secret sweet and sour sauce all day, for the best and juiciest chicken. Then, we sear them on the stove to get a good crisp on the skin. We will pop them in the oven to finish cooking. While the chicken is cooking, we will thicken up the marinade into a sauce to drizzle over the chicken. I call this my skinny or healthy sweet and sour chicken because the sauce is low and sugar and we do not use oil.

If you know me, you know I love my sauce. In all, or at least most, of my recipes, I always add enough sauce for rice and veggies. This recipe is no different, as there will be a plethora of sauce for anything you could possibly need. I mean come on, who wouldn't want this healthy sweet and sour sauce. You can also use this recipe just for the sauce and skip the chicken part.

Quick Tips From Allie Carte

• Use any cut of chicken or any type of meat
• Make extra sauce, you are going to want this for days!

What You Need for Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Thighs

This is a recipe for three chicken thighs, three servings. Adjust the servings anywhere from 1 to 100 servings, you can easily modify this recipe for the amount of servings that you need.

• Chicken thighs
• Sauce

I know that list makes it look very easy, but you really only need the chicken thighs and the sauce. Yeah, the sauce has a couple ingredients but we will get into that.

This recipe is for chicken thighs. I am honestly not the biggest fan of chicken thighs. While I do love them occasionally, and there is a time and a place for them, they are just not my favorite. They were honestly amazing in this recipe, and I do really enjoy eating them. They are just not my all time favorite chicken to eat.

With that being said, you can substitute any cut of chicken or type of meat in this recipe. If you want a classic breaded version, try my air fryer sweet and sour chicken. This recipe would be great with shrimp or pork as well. Again, if you just want the sauce, you can use the recipe for just the sauce as well.

If you are on weight watchers, this sauce is zero points and the only points value comes from the chicken. Therefore, if you use a lean type of chicken, this could be zero points!

Healthy Sweet and Sour Sauce

For the sauce, we will need a couple of ingredients. I typically have all of these in my house, they are just basic ingredients.

• Brown sugar replacement
• Apple cider vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Sugar free ketchup
• Garlic powder
• Salt

For this recipe, I use a lot of sugar free items; however you do not have to. But this is my skinny sweet and sour chicken, which is why I use those items, and honestly, I do like them and do not notice a difference.

For the brown sugar replacement, I typically go with Swerve brand. However, you can use like a Splenda blend or just a normal brown sugar. Substitute the apple cider vinegar with white vinegar. I typically have apple cider vinegar as I use it for many recipes. The soy sauce I use is low sodium. However, if you have regular soy sauce, just be cautious of the extra salt that you use. Finally, sugar free ketchup, because, like I said, we are using sugar free items in this recipe. You are more than welcome to substitute regular ketchup.

How To Make Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Thighs

Start by marinating the chicken. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl, stirring together. Place the chicken and sauce in a baggie or airtight container. Marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to all day. I typically like to do this before work or panic call my husband at lunch when I forget, since he works at home. Either works!

When it is time to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare by lining a baking tray with cooking spray.

Grease a pan with cooking spray and heat up over medium high heat. Once heated, add the chicken thighs, skin side down, leaving the marinade in the bag. Sear about a minute or two per side, then add in the marinade. According to the FDA, you can eat a marinade, as long as it comes to a boil. Bring the marinade to a simmer, and let the chicken cook for another 2-3 minutes per side.

Transfer the chicken thighs to the greased baking tray. I use a meat thermometer probe to know exactly when the meat is ready. Bake in the oven for about 15-17 minutes, until fully cooked.

As the chicken is cooking, reduce the heat to a low/medium and bring the sauce back up to a simmer. Then, simmer for a couple minutes, until desired thickness.

When the chicken is ready, spoon the sauce back over and enjoy!

Making Just the Sauce or without Using it as a Marinade

If you want just the sauce, or if you do not feel comfortable eating a marinade as a sauce, I have you covered. First combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl. Heat a small/medium pan over low/medium heat. Add the sauce and bring to a simmer, simmering for a couple minutes.

The key here is a slurry. A slurry is just a combination of cornstarch and water to thicken sauces. Combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water. Pour a little into the sauce and continue to stir. Keep the sauce as a simmer and add as much of the slurry as needed until thickened.

What to Serve with Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Thighs

you know me, you know I love my sauce. In all, or at least most, of my recipes, I always add enough sauce for rice and veggies. This recipe is no different, as there will be a plethora of sauce for anything you could possibly need. I mean come on, who wouldn't want this healthy sweet and sour sauce. You can also use this recipe just for the sauce and skip the chicken part.

I make this with my instant pot rice or stovetop rice. This recipe is amazing with just some steamed broccoli, my crunchy crack broccoli or my candied carrot chips.

Classic Sweet and Sour Chicken

If you are looking for a classic sweet and sour chicken recipe, you have to try my air fryer sweet and sour chicken. It will blow you away!

If you love this classic takeout fakeout dish, try out my general tso chicken, sesame chicken or orange chicken!

What To Do With Leftovers

The leftovers should be good in the fridge for about 4 days, in an airtight container. Leftover sauce can be used for just about anything, I also have an instant pot sweet and sour chicken recipe that uses this sauce. If you have leftover thighs, try out my garlic butter chicken thighs.

Video Tutorial

Are you more of a visual learner? You can watch a video tutorial then come back here for a more detailed list of ingredients and instructions.

Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Thighs

These are my sweet and sour baked chicken thighs and they are made with my healthy and skinny sauce, first, seared on the stove, then fully cooked in the oven.Recreating takeout food at home is one of my favorite things, or as I call it, takeout fakeout!

Click the link to automatically calculate your WW points!