Air Fryer Sweet and Sour Chicken

Better than takeout and ready in 15 minutes, this air fryer sweet and sour chicken is sure to become a family favorite. Serve with rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice for a quick and easy meal that the whole family is sure to love.

If you are looking for more ways to get a delicious, simple meal on the table in 20 minutes or less, you are in the right place. Some other great meals to try are Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowls or Ground Chicken Sloppy Joe’s.

This sweet and sour chicken in the air fryer is one of my families favorites, because they love the combination of the homemade sweet and sour sauce with the juicy pineapples and green onions. Some reasons I love this recipe (and I think you will too) are:

• Easy to make
• Ready in 15 minutes
• Better than takeout
• Simple ingredients
• Healthy take on a classic dish (this recipe is gluten free and paleo friendly)

Ingredients

• Chicken – boneless, skinless chicken cut into small bite size pieces (about 1-1.5 inch pieces). You can use chicken breast, chicken thighs or chicken tenders.
• Arrowroot powder – this coats the chicken and helps a crust form on the chicken. You could also use tapioca powder or cornstarch.
• Olive oil spray or avocado oil spray – the chicken gets sprayed with olive oil or avocado oil spray before cooking to help create that crust.
• Bell pepper – red, yellow or orange bell peppers are best because they are naturally sweet.
• Pineapple chunks – pineapple is a classic addition to sweet and sour chicken. The pineapple is optional but I highly recommend. Use fresh or canned pineapple.
• Green onion – green onion helps to add a pop of color and also adds a slight onion flavor.

Sweet and sour sauce

• Ketchup – ketchup provides it’s own unique flavors and it’s own level of tanginess and sweetness. If you don’t love the idea of ketchup with sweet and sour sauce, replace the ketchup with pineapple juice.
• Rice wine vinegar – rice wine vinegar helps create the sour part of sweet and sour chicken.
• Maple syrup – maple syrup naturally sweetens the sauce. You could also use honey if you prefer.
• Coconut aminos – coconut aminos are a gluten free and soy free alternative to soy sauce. They are slightly sweeter than soy sauce. You could also use gluten free tamari or soy sauce.
• Arrowroot powder – arrowroot thicken the sauce and helps create the perfect sticky sauce. You could also use tapioca or cornstarch.

How to make sweet and sour chicken in air fryer

Cut the chicken: Use sharp kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut the chicken into 1- 1.5 inch cubes.

Coat the chicken in arrowroot.

Cook the chicken: Cook at 375F for 14 minutes.

Chop the veggies

Add peppers to the air fryer basket with the chicken.

Make the sweet and sour sauce on the stove.

Coat the chicken in sauce and add the pineapples.

Top tips

• I recommend using boneless, skinless chicken thighs over chicken breast because the chicken thighs are more forgiving (they stay juicy and tender even if slightly overcooked). If you are using chicken breast, keep an eye on them so they don’t overcook.
• Try not to overcook the chicken. Start checking the internal temperature (165F) around 10 minute mark.
• To make the chicken crispy on the outside, be sure to spray them with olive oil or avocado oil spray (make sure there are no propellants in the spray, that can damage the coating on your air fryer).
• If you want super crispy pieces of chicken, do not overcrowd the basket. This may mean that you have to cook the chicken in two batches depending on what size air fryer you have. If you don’t care if the chicken gets crispy, you can fill the basket more.
• If you want a thicker sweet and sour sauce, add 1 or 2 more teaspoons of arrowroot (start with 1). Be sure to dissolve the arrowroot in water before adding it or it will get clumpy.
• Take the sauce off the heat as soon as it reaches your desired thickness or it will continue to thicken.
• If you want to have more of a pineapple flavor to the sweet and sour sauce, use the pineapple juice that comes with the canned pineapples instead of water in the sweet and sour sauce.
• This recipe as written has a little extra sauce to pour over the rice.

What to serve with air fryer sweet and sour chicken

• Rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice
• Cilantro Lime Rice
• Green beans
• Sesame Ginger Broccoli
• Asian Broccoli Slaw Salad

Common questions

Can you double or triple the recipe?

The sauce is easy to double or triple.

• If you want to cook a double batch of chicken in the air fryer, you will have to cook it in batches.
• To cook a double or triple batch of chicken at once, you can cook the chicken in the oven on a sheet pan at 425F for 15-20 minutes. Add the bell peppers with 5 minutes left on the timer (they can cook up to 10 minutes if you need to cook the chicken longer).

What if you want to use crunchy chicken

You can cook frozen popcorn chicken or chicken nuggets in the air fryer at 400F for 12-15 minutes. Add the bell peppers to the air fryer with 5 minutes to go. Make the sweet and sour sauce and pour it over the chicken, peppers (and added pineapple).

What are other recipes that use sweet and sour sauce

If you want to double the sweet and sour sauce, you can use it as a dipping sauce or to pour over other dishes. Some of my favorites include:

• Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatballs
• Crunchy Sweet and Sour Cauliflower

Storing leftovers

• Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.
• Freezer: Because the peppers will get watery when defrosted, I don’t recommend freezing leftover air fryer sweet and sour chicken.

Reheating leftovers

• Microwave – reheat 2-2:30 on high using a microwave safe plate or container.
• Stove – add leftover chicken and veggies to a small pot and heat over medium low heat, covered until warmed through. You may need to add a little water as the sauce will start to thicken as it’s being reheated.

If you love this recipe, you should try

• Air Fryer Teriyaki Chicken
• Buffalo Chicken Thighs (Air Fryer)
• Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon
• Chili Garlic Oil Noodles
• Instant Pot Asian Chicken and Noodles

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Air Fryer Sweet and Sour Chicken

Air fryer sweet and sour chicken is so easy to make and ready in just 15 minutes. This healthy sweet and sour chicken is gluten free, paleo and better than takeout. The homemade sweet and sour sauce is tangy, sweet and so easy to make.

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Course: dinner

Cuisine: American, Asian

Keyword: air fryer sweet and sour chicken, sweet and sour chicken air fryer

Prep Time: 3 minutes mins

Cook Time: 14 minutes mins

Total Time: 17 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Author: Samantha Rowland

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 medium bell peppers
• 8 oz pineapple chunks
• 3 tbsp green onions, chopped

Sweet and Sour Sauce

• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos (or tamari or soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder

Instructions

• Cut the chicken into 1-1.5 inch chunks. Add the chicken to a bowl and add arrowroot powder and salt. Stir well.
• Add the chicken to the air fryer and spray with olive oil or avocado oil.
• Cook the chicken in the air fryer at 375F for 14 minutes.
• Chop the bell peppers into bite size pieces. Chop the green onion.
• After 7 minutes, pause the air fryer and shake the chicken. Spray with olive oil or avocado oil and ad the bell peppers on top. Cook 5-7 more minutes at 375F.
• While the chicken is cooking, make the sweet and sour sauce.

  Add rice wine vinegar, ketchup, maple syrup, coconut aminos to a small pot. In a bowl combine the water and arrowroot powder. Stir well until the arrowroot is dissolved. Add the arrowroot mixture to the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Cook over medium heat 5-10 minutes until the sauce starts to bubble and thicken. Take off heat when the sauce reaches your desired thickness.
• When the chicken is done cooking, add the chicken and bell pepper mixture into a large bowl. Add the drained pineapple chunks to the bowl along with sweet and sour sauce. Stir well.
• Serve with rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice and enjoy.

Equipment

• Air fryer

Notes

Check out a list of substitutions in the post above. 

Top tips

• I recommend using boneless, skinless chicken thighs over chicken breast because the chicken thighs are more forgiving (they stay juicy and tender even if slightly overcooked). If you are using chicken breast, be sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t overcook.
• Be sure to cook the chicken to 165F. Overcooking the chicken (especially chicken breast) can dry out the chicken quickly. Start checking the internal temperature around 10 minute mark.
• Cut the chicken into similar size pieces to ensure it cooks evenly.
• To make the chicken crispy on the outside, be sure to spray them with olive oil or avocado oil spray (make sure there are no propellants in the spray, that can damage the coating on your air fryer). Spray with olive oil after shaking the basket as well.
• If you want super crispy pieces of chicken, do not overcrowd the basket. This may mean that you have to cook the chicken in two batches depending on what size air fryer you have. If you don’t care if the chicken gets crispy, you can fill the basket more.
• If you want a thicker sweet and sour sauce, add 1 or 2 more teaspoons of arrowroot (start with 1). Be sure to dissolve the arrowroot in water before adding it or it will get clumpy.
• Take the sauce off the heat as soon as it reaches your desired thickness or it will continue to thicken. If you have a glass top stove, you have to move the pot off the burner or it will continue to cook even if you turn off the burner.
• If you want to have more of a pineapple flavor to the sweet and sour sauce, use the pineapple juice that comes with the canned pineapples instead of water in the sweet and sour sauce.
• This recipe as written has a little extra sauce to pour over the rice.

Storing leftovers

• Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.
• Freezer: Because the peppers will get watery when defrosted, I don’t recommend freezing leftover air fryer sweet and sour chicken.

Reheating leftovers

• Microwave – reheat 2-2:30 on high using a microwave safe plate or container.
• Stove – add leftover chicken and veggies to a small pot and heat over medium low heat, covered until warmed through. You may need to add a little water as the sauce will start to thicken as it’s being reheated.

Nutrition Information

Nutrition Facts

Amount per Serving

Calories

376

Fat

 

7

g

Carbohydrates

 

42

g

Fiber

 

2

g

Sugar

 

27

g

Protein

 

34

g

Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database.

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