The other day I got a message on Facebook from Tiffany exclaiming how much she liked my Easy Oven Fajitas and Oven Roasted Greek Stuffed Pitas and she asked if I could create a similar recipe, but with Asian flavors. Challenge accepted!! My mind quickly recognized how the same chicken, bell peppers, and onions that are used in the Easy Oven Fajitas are also used in many stir fry dishes. So, it was really easy to convert a simple stir fry into an oven-roasted Sheet Pan Sweet and Sour Chicken.
Sheet Pans for the Win!
The concept for this recipe is simple. Toss your chicken and diced vegetables on a large sheet pan with a little oil and spices, then let them roast while you throw together a simple sweet and sour sauce. When they come out of the oven, simply pour on the sauce, stir it up, and serve over warm rice! It really couldn’t be easier.
Stove Top Option:
If you prefer to cook on the stove top instead of the oven, you can still make this recipe! Simply toss your cubed chicken in the spices and quickly stir fry in a skillet until cooked through. Then remove the chicken from the skillet and stir fry the vegetables in the same skillet. Add the cooked chicken back to the skillet, pour over the mixed sauce, and heat through. Finished! I like it when I have options. ;)
Sheet Pan Sweet and Sour Chicken
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 large onion ($0.35)
- 2 green bell peppers ($1.50)
- 1 red bell pepper ($1.69)
- 20 oz can pineapple chunks ($1.59)
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1.25 lb.) ($2.53*)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger ($0.05)
- Salt and Pepper to taste ($0.05)
- 1/4 cup ketchup ($0.20)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.16)
- 1/3 cup rice or apple cider vinegar ($0.16)
- 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.14)
- 1.5 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.06)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.21)
- 6 cups cooked rice ($1.13)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Cut the onion, bell peppers, and chicken breasts into one-inch pieces. Drain the pineapple well, reserving the juice for the sauce. Place the onion, bell pepper, chicken, and pineapple chunks on a large sheet pan in a single layer. Use two sheets, if needed, to prevent the chicken and vegetables from piling on top of each other. They need a little room to brown correctly.
- Drizzle the cooking oil over the ingredients on the sheet pan, followed by the garlic powder, ground ginger, and a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Toss the chicken, bell peppers, onions, and pineapple until they are evenly coated in oil and spices.
- Bake the chicken and vegetables in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until they are slightly browned on the edges. Stir half way through the baking time to redistribute the heat and allow excess moisture to evaporate.
- While the chicken and vegetables are baking, prepare the sauce. In a small sauce pot whisk together the reserved pineapple juice (about 1 cup), ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and cornstarch until the cornstarch is fully dissolved. Heat the mixture over medium flame, stirring often, until it begins to simmer. When it begins to simmer the cornstarch will begin to gel and thicken the sauce. Once the sauce has thickened to a glaze, remove it from the heat and set it aside until ready to use.
- When the chicken and vegetables have finished baking, remove them from the oven and pour the prepared sauce over top. Stir until everything is coated in sauce.
- Serve the sweet and sour chicken over cooked rice with sliced green onions sprinkled over top.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
This one works great for Meal Prep!
How to Make Sheet Pan Sweet and Sour Chicken – Step by Step Photos
Begin by draining a 20 ounce can of pineapple chunks, saving the juice for the sweet and sour sauce. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Cut one large onion, 2 green bell peppers, 1 red bell pepper, and two boneless, skinless chicken breasts into one-inch pieces. Place them all on a large baking sheet with the pineapple chunks and spread them into a single layer. Divide them into two baking sheets if needed, to make sure they’re not piled on top of each other. Drizzle 2 Tbsp cooking oil over top, followed by 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Toss the ingredients until they are all coated in oil and spices. Bake the chicken and vegetables in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until they are slightly brown on the edges. Stir them once half way through the baking time.
While the chicken and vegetables are baking, prepare the simple sweet and sour sauce. In a small sauce pot, combine 1 cup of the reserved pineapple juice with 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup rice or apple cider vinegar, 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1.5 Tbsp cornstarch. Whisk until the cornstarch is dissolved. Heat the sauce over medium heat until it begins to simmer, at which point the cornstarch will begin to gel and thicken the sauce into a glaze. Stir the sauce often as it heats.
After 40 minutes the chicken, bell peppers, onions, and pineapple should have slightly browned edges. The more room there is around the pieces the better they’ll brown. When they’re crowded, they trap steam and tend to stew in their own juices, so you want to make sure there is space (mine could have benefitted a bit from a little more room). Remove the baked chicken and vegetables from the oven.
Pour the prepared sauce over the chicken and vegetables…
Stir until everything is coated in the sweet and sour sauce. Sprinkle sliced green onions over top.
Serve over warm rice and enjoy your super simple and tasty Sheet Pan Sweet and Sour Chicken!
I made this last night and really enjoyed the recipe. Followed exactly according to the instructions, but turned my oven up for the last 10 minutes because the chicken and vegetables weren’t browning.
My only comment is that even with the sauce, the chicken was not extremely flavorful. I would consider marinating the chicken in some of the pineapple juice and soy sauce for a bit before putting it in the oven next time.
Overall, a great take on sweet and sour chicken, and very easy to prepare. Thanks for the recipe.
Looks delicious! Going on our menu very soon – my husband especially loves sweet and sour chicken. 😊
I tried this recipe last night as I had everything on hand already. It was great! I’m usually not a fan of sweet and sour (I know, blasphemy…) but this was definitely well received by both my husband and myself. It made great lunch leftovers, too.
Where on earth do you live with those prices? $1.69 for a bell pepper? Outrageous! I looking forward to trying out this recipe.
I live in Louisiana. Red bell peppers are usually more expensive than green, which often go for 2/$1. Sometimes I’m lucky and the red peppers are only $1, but not that day. :)
Haha! And I think $1.69 for a red pepper is extremely cheap….more like $2-something each here in Canada. Or $3 in the winter!
That’s about what I pay in Oregon for all but green bells. That’s why I grow mine when the weather allows!
this looks amazing and I can’t wait to try this!
This is a revelation to me. I love sweet and sour chicken but hate the breading/frying process and I have NO idea why my brain just never thought ‘hey-stir fry.’ I like this oven version even better, though I like having the stovetop option too. Yay for more (and better) MYOTO recipes!
We’re not able to use pineapple due to allergies. Could I use orange juice in place of the pineapple juice for the sauce?
Hmm, probably! I’ve never tried that but I don’t see why it would be a problem. :)
I made this tonight, it was really great. Don’t be tempted to short the veggies in this recipe, they do cook down and you’ll really like all the peppers with the tangy sauce.
If I used a frozen stir fry mix of vegetables, would I want to thaw and drain them first?
This looks awfully good. I’m sure I’ll try it. It looks flexible and I’ll probably add more seasoning, to suit my taste. Looks easier than stove top for me since I’m not so quick with a skillet.
Oh, my God. I LOVE sweet and sour chicken. I’m looking forward to making this recipe for dinner next week. Super excited!!!! :-)
looks delicious. Making it tonight.
Made it and it was perfect. I Upped the chicken a bit and added about 8oz of mushrooms. They soaked up the sauce and were amazing, I highly recommend it. Thanks for the recipe Beth
Beeeethh, I miss your weekly recap posts! Don’t get me wrong, your content gets better and better but somehow it was nice to have a glimpse in your personal “home economics”. Those posts really inspired me to plan my meals so that I would waste less valuable food and produce. What I am trying to tell you is that we need some posts like that again. Not once a week, I know that’s an extreme amount of work, but maybe one week per month?
Uf…thank you for all the wonderful recipes, you really taught me how to be more daring and creative in the kitchen (and how to cook, doing that) .
Bests from a Romanian living in Germany!
They inspired me as well! I’ll have to figure out something to do that is similar. The biggest issue is that because blogging is my “job” I often have to buy more food than I’d normally just eat on my own (like supplies for garnishes, freelance projects, etc.), so my weekly grocery bills aren’t exactly normal. :P
I loved the weekly recaps too! Even if you just shared what you ended up eating (and not the receipts since you have blogger grocery bills) that was wonderful. Also, it’s great to see how you store leftovers, stock your freezer, and use up the leftovers of things! I love all of your content – recipes and weekly recaps! – I always share your blog and my husband laughs because I always say “Budgetbytes.com – that’s bytes as in b y t e s” haha :)
Wanted to pop in and mention that I loved reading the recaps also and seeing how you balanced out the meals. Maybe I am just nosey, but it was great seeing a little snap shot of your life and encouraged me to consider my over all planning so that I can buy ingredients that are good for more than one recipe and not just eat whatever all the time, creating waste. Also skills posts are always welcome. I make so many things from your blog regularly and have used skills from your recipes into making my own variants.
Me too! I really miss these posts. I was really bummed when Beth didn’t do her recaps in September as planned. If the receipts/spending aspect is the only blocker I say ditch that, and just focus on the overall recap. Even only dinners would be awesome!
But whatever suits you Beth, i’ll come back regardless :) have loved your blog for years.
This looks delicious! I love making Asian food at home
Looks yummy! Thoughts on using broccoli in place of some of the peppers?
You can definitely do that. I love roasted broccoli! :)