No more missing out on your favorite Chinese food dish with this incredibly easy sweet and tangy gluten-free sweet and sour chicken recipe. The crispy chicken thighs are coated with a sticky and tangy Asian sauce. This is restaurant-quality food made at home with clean, gluten-free ingredients. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.
While many Chinese restaurants can accommodate gluten-free eaters, if you’ve been gluten-free long enough, you know eating at a Chinese restaurant just isn’t the same.
Gluten-free Chinese restaurants usually offer stir-fried creations, fried rice, and steamed chicken and vegetable baskets as their gluten-free options. These aren’t bad options, but they’re far from those treasured deep-fried dishes, like sweet and sour chicken and sesame chicken, which I crave most.
To satisfy my intense craving for a sweet and sour chicken dish, I decided to make my own using clean ingredients from my pantry and fridge. My copycat sweet and sour chicken recipe tastes just like I remember, except without the gluten, of course!
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken
You can make this homemade gluten-free sweet and sour chicken in a few easy steps.
Step #1: Gather Your Ingredients
You’ll want to gather and measure out the following ingredients:
For the Chicken:
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)
- 1 1/5 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized chunks
- 1 cup cornstarch (more if needed)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- fresh black pepper, to taste
For the Vegetables:
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (ok to use other colors of bell peppers – see notes)
- 1 cup diced pineapple (canned)
For the Sauce:
- ½ cup pineapple juice (use the juice from the canned pineapple)
- ¼ cup gluten-free chicken broth
- 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce or tamari
- 2 Tablespoons ketchup
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tablespoon ginger, grated (or 1 tsp of ground ginger)
Step #2: Prepare the Chicken
To prepare the crispy chicken, heat half the vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
Add the cornstarch, salt, and fresh black pepper to a bowl and whisk the ingredients together.
Pat dry the chicken and then add half to the cornstarch mixture to coat each piece fully. Add the coated chicken to the hot oil in a single layer. Do not overcrowd the chicken. Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side until all the pieces are lightly browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan with a slotted spatula and place it on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Add the remaining oil to the pan and repeat the process with the second half of the chicken.
Step #3: Prepare the Sauce
Add all the sauce ingredients to a large measuring cup or medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine well. Set aside.
Step #4: Prepare the Vegetables
Wipe the pan used to cook the chicken with a paper towel to remove excess oil and burned bits. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan and heat it over medium-high heat.
Once the pan is hot, add the sliced bell peppers and cook for about 2-3 minutes until slightly softened. Add the pineapple to the pan, pour the sauce over the peppers and pineapple, and stir the mixture for about 2-3 minutes until it’s bubbly.
Add the cooked chicken pieces. Gently fold the ingredients together to coat all the chicken pieces with the sauce. Stir frequently as the sauce will slightly thicken as it coats the chicken. Lower the heat once the sauce is to its desired sticky consistency.
Serve your homemade gluten-free sweet and sour chicken with white or brown rice and additional vegetables, if desired. This dish is best enjoyed immediately after cooking while the chicken is still crispy.
Why We Love this Recipe
Below are four reasons we love this sweet-and-sour chicken recipe:
Tender and Juicy Chicken: Chicken thighs coated in cornstarch and cooked in oil come out tender and juicy. Use chicken thighs vs. breasts for a juicier chicken.
Sweet and Tangy Sauce: The sweet and sour sauce is sweet and tangy and contains only clean ingredients from my fridge and pantry.
Family-Friendly Meal: My kids love this recipe, and they, too, feel like we’re indulging in restaurant-quality Chinese food when I make this recipe.
Easy Clean-Up: Cooking in one pan makes cleanup a breeze.
FAQs and Substitutions
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is almost always gluten-free (check labels), but if you can’t eat corn products, you can use tapioca starch instead. Please note the mixture may be slightly gummier than it would be if you used cornstarch.
Chicken Thighs vs. Breasts: Chicken thighs always taste better in this recipe and are much juicier. However, you can use chicken breasts instead.
Pineapple: I use canned pineapple chunks and juice to make this recipe. You can, of course, use fresh pineapple juice and chunks.
Bell Peppers: I used a red bell pepper to add color to the recipe, but you can use green, orange, or yellow bell peppers instead. I encourage you to use what you have on hand. Add several bell peppers to this recipe to bulk it up with even more fresh veggies.
Vegetable Add-Ins: Since this is your sweet and sour chicken, there are no rules. So if you want to load your recipe with other vegetables, do it. I suggest broccoli florets, snap peas, onions (saute first), carrots, and/or mushrooms.
Thickening the Sauce: The sauce should thicken up on its own from the cornstarch coating on the chicken, but if the sauce is too runny for your taste, add a cornstarch slurry (1 tsp of cornstarch combined with 2 tbsp of water) to the mixture, turn up the heat, and continuously mix the sauce until it thickens. Lower the heat and serve immediately.
Garnish: You can add chopped green onions and sesame seeds on top for additional garnish and flavor.
Gluten-Free Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil I used avocado oil
- 1 1/5 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized chunks
- 1 cup cornstarch more if needed
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- fresh black pepper to taste
For the Vegetables
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil I used avocado oil
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced (ok to use other colors of bell peppers – see notes)
- 1 cup diced pineapple canned
For the Sauce
- ½ cup pineapple juice use the juice from the canned pineapple
- ¼ cup gluten-free chicken broth
- 3 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp gluten-free soy sauce or tamari
- 2 Tbsp ketchup
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tbsp ginger grated (or 1 tsp of ground ginger)
Instructions
- To prepare the crispy chicken, heat half of the vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the cornstarch, salt, and fresh black pepper to a bowl and whisk the ingredients together.
- Pat dry the chicken and then add half of it to the cornstarch mixture to fully coat each piece. Add the coated chicken to the hot oil in a single layer. Do not overcrowd the chicken. Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side until all the pieces are lightly browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan with a slotted spatula and place it on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Add the remaining oil to the pan and repeat the process with the second half of the chicken.
- Add all the sauce ingredients to a large measuring cup or medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine well. Set aside.
- Wipe the pan used to cook the chicken with a paper towel to remove excess oil and burned bits. Add 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan and heat it over medium-high heat.
- Once the pan is hot, add the sliced bell peppers and cook for about 2-3 minutes until slightly softened. Add the pineapple to the pan, then pour the sauce over the peppers and pineapple and stir the mixture for about 2-3 minutes until it’s bubbly.
- Add the cooked chicken pieces. Gently fold the ingredients together to coat all the chicken pieces with the sauce. Stir frequently as the sauce will slightly thicken as it coats the chicken. Lower the heat once the sauce is to its desired sticky consistency. Serve immediately.
Maybe mango or papaya
Any substitutes for the pineapple if you have a pineapple allergy?
Restaurant quality! The taste was delicious! I’ll definitely be making it again. Thanks!
Tried this last week and it was a huge hit! Hubby (who eats anything) really thought it tasted like the dish we used to get in the restaurant. Really easy directions to follow. It will definitely go on my meal rotation!