Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls

This Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls is made with chicken thighs, bell peppers, sugar, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, sesame oil, and maple syrup. 

This Sweet and Sour chicken tastes like pure heaven. It has every flavor you can imagine: salty, sweet, spicy and sour! This is such an easy stir fry that you can pair with the potstickers with sesame ground pork. It is an easy recipe but you HAVE to prep everything before you begin. Since everything cooks so quickly, its smart to measure out each ingredient prior to cooking! 

Take out food can have a ton of food chemicals you do not want to consume. This is a quick stir fry that is homemade, healthier and can be made in under thirty minutes.

Check out my Keto Kung Pao Chicken and my Miso Tuna.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tip
• Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls
• Food safety

Ingredients

• Chicken Thighs
• Cornstarch
• Vegetable Oil
• Bell Pepper
• Granulated sugar
• Rice vinegar
• Ketchup
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil
• Maple syrup
• Garlic
• Scallions
• Sesame

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Toss the chicken in the cornstarch. Leave it in the refrigerator for one hour. 

Add sugar, rice vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, water, cornstarch and garlic in a bowl and stir. This is your sauce!

Bring a large skillet of oil to simmer on medium heat. You may need to use two skillets as there is a lot of chicken!

Add the chicken on medium heat and cook until they’re crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove and set on a plate and in the same skillet, add the diced bell pepper. Cook until the pepper skins start to blister and turn brown in spots. Remove on a plate for a second and pour in the sauce for 30 seconds and then add the pepper and chicken back into the pot. Cook until the sauce starts to caramelize, thicken, and coat the chicken, about 5 minutes. 

Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds.

Substitutions

Chicken: Feel free to use chicken thighs or chicken breasts for this recipe.

Cornstarch: Cornstarch is a great way to thicken the sauce and make the chicken crispy. You can also use flour or xanthan gum.

Vegetable oil: If you don't have any vegetable oil on hand, you can substitute another neutral high-heat oil. Canola, safflower, peanut or grapeseed oils are all great choices.

Sugar: Feel free to use brown or granulated sugar. You can also use equal parts honey or maple syrup.

Soy Sauce: Instead of soy sauce you can use Tamari, Worcestershire sauce, Miso, Maggi seasoning, Salt, Coconut aminos, or Liquid aminos.

Garlic: For best quality, use fresh garlic instead of garlic from a jar.

Maple Syrup: You can use maple syrup or honey.

Variations

Cooking is a great way to get creative! Feel free to modify to your liking.

• Spicy - add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish.
• Deluxe - Serve on a bed of rice, lo mein, or my 10 MINUTE SESAME LIME BOK CHOY

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.

I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality.

Storage

This chicken be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to three months.

Top tip

Feel free to modify this recipe to however YOU will like it. Check out the substitutions to see how you can achieve that.

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Food safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.