Description
Air fryer sweet and sour chicken is a Chinese stir-fry dish made with crispy chicken, bell peppers, onion and pineapple.
Ingredients
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1/2 cup honey
- 5 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons ketchup or tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup pineapple juice
Chicken
- 1 1/2 pound (700 grams) chicken, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 white onion chopped into 3/4-inch sized pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch sized pieces
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch sized pieces
- 1 cup pineapple chunks, cut into 3/4-inch sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onion
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Combine honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce and ketchup (or tomato paste) in a medium bowl. Keep aside.
- In a small bowl mix together the cornstarch and pineapple juice. Keep aside.
Chicken
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- In a shallow dish mix together flour and cornstarch.
- In a separate shallow dish whisk eggs.
- Coat the chicken with the flour mixture, next dip in the whisked egg, then again coat in the flour mixture.
- Preheat your air fryer. Place the chicken in the air fryer basket. Cook at 360°F|180°C for 9-10 minutes or until cooked through. Work in 2-3 batches not to overcrowd the basket.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
- In the wok heat oil over medium high heat . Once it is hot, add the garlic and onion and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add the red and green bell peppers, and continue cooking for 1 minute.
- Add in the pineapple and stir fry for 1 minute.
- Finally add the chicken and the sauce and bring the sauce to a boil.
- Add the cornstarch slurry to the wok and cook until the sauce thickens (stirring constantly), about 1 minute.
- Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.
- Serve over rice. Enjoy!
Notes
Stove method: In a wok heat about 2 cups of oil over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot (350°F), work in batches, adding the chicken and frying until golden brown, about 6-7 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Discard the oil from wok and clean it with paper towels.
Cut your chicken into small, bite-sized pieces of roughly even size. This way they will cook through during browning, and maintain even consistency by cooking evenly.
We strongly encourage you to use fresh bell peppers and fresh pineapple when you can. It tastes so much better and has a better crunch factor.
You can add chopped carrots or sliced mushroom to this recipe when you’re cooking your veggies.
Serve this immediately, like all great Chinese street food, so your chicken and vegetables are still nice and crunchy. You want crisp, healthy veggies, so avoid mixing everything together until you’re ready to eat.
Pineapple’s sweet taste can easily overpower other flavors in a dish. You can always add more, but it’s hard to take away from a sauce. For that reason, we recommend that you err on the side of caution and use smaller quantities of pineapple with this recipe just in case.
If you’re using fresh pineapple, remember the bromelain enzyme. Only add fresh pineapple at the end, and only to the meals you know will be eaten. If you’re planning to have leftovers, keep fresh pineapple away from the portion of the sauce to be stored.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 18 min
- Category: Chicken recipes
- Cuisine: Asian
Nutrition
- Calories: 350kcal
- Sugar: 30g
- Sodium: 554mg
- Fat: 3g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 54g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 29g
- Cholesterol: 89mg