Sweet and Sour Chicken

I was pleased to receive one of my friend Lishie's recipes in a recent swap. Everything always looks awesome and I love to see her personal touches on what she creates.

I've made several versions of Sweet and Sour Chicken; the flavor in this make-your-own-takeout version was good, but a little too intense. If I were to make this again, I would likely cut down on the amount of orange juice.


Sweet and Sour Chicken
slightly adapted from DeLish; originally from Secrets of a Skinny Chef

• 1 cup orange juice
  
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced & the zest
• 1 tablespoon orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1⁄2 cup AP flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
  
• 1 package frozen veggies - I used a stir-fry mix
• 1 small can water chestnuts
• 1 medium can pineapple chunks, drained
  

Preheat tProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

oven to 450°F.

To make the sauce: in a medium bowl, whisk the first 6 ingredients together (the juice through the oil) until incorporated and smooth. Set aside.

Place parchment paper on a baking sheet (or “grease” with cooking spray).

In one shallow bowl, place the flour, cornstarch, salt & paprika, and mix. In another shallow bowl, the eggs.

To bread the chicken, place all of the chicken pieces into the eggs and toss the pieces until they are covered. Transfer the egg-coated chicken to the flour mixture for coating. Lift each piece, shaking off the extra flour mix, and place them on the prepped baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the breading is crisp.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the vegetables and cook until heated; add the water chestnuts and pineapple.

Transfer the chicken from the baking sheet to the skillet with the vegetables. Pour the sauce over the chicken and veggies, gently stirring until the sauce is incorporated into the skillet. Cook about 2 minutes more, until the sauce thickens.