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.
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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.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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 it was a big hit. Thank you!
Made this tonight for dinner, and it was family approved. :) I used sesame oil as my cooking oil, and it definitely added yummy flavor. I added mushrooms, seeing that someone in the comments had done so with good results, and I also prepared broccoli that I added for the last 20 minutes because I LOVE broccoli with my sweet and sour. It was great! I served the sauce on the side, since in my family we all have different feelings about how much sauce should go on things. I was amazed that I was able to make sweet and sour sauce myself, and that it was so easy! I will be recommending this recipe to friends.
I made this with crushed pineapple and on the stove top. It was so good I was asked if I made it :-)
Oh my word, so delicious! I couldn’t help myself, I ate the leftovers from my kids’ plates as well! My husband loved sweet and sour chicken as a kid but is now a pescetarian. I baked a piece of cod and tossed it in the veggies, rice, and sauce. Home run!!
So I baked the chicken, fish, and veggies separately to accommodate my husband, it was a win win in our family, and fairly healthy as well.
I’ll definitely make this again!
I haven’t made this dish yet (printing it as we speak), but I did want to let you know how much I enjoy your blog and your recipes. I have not make one yet that we didn’t like. I am not even necessarily trying to save a ton of money, I just think your recipes are tasty, use less meat (which is my main eating goal) and are easy to make! Thanks for your hard work!
*made* :)
Very good. I used only red and yellow peppers as that’s all I had on hand. I also think it would taste even better with fresh pineapple yum!! This made a large sheet pan and enough for plenty of leftovers. I wonder how it would freeze if you were to make individual meal containers and freeze for later? Another great recipe this is going into my recipe book as a “keeper” :) !
I’m not sure how this one will freeze. Sometimes sauces that are thickened with cornstarch tend to break down after freezing and thawing. :(
I made this and froze it in individual servings and it seems fine to me when I thaw and reheat.
Tastes just like my favorite Thai restaurant, and for WAY less money than going out to eat.
This was so good!!! I made it for dinner last night and it was easy, required minimal touching of the raw chicken (hello kitchen scissors), and tasted phenomenal. It was a major feat of self control to save some for lunch today. In fact, I thought about making it for dinner again tonight. Reason prevailed, but man was it tasty.
It would be good with the pan fried tofu, as well, added with the sauce. I will be making this again soon!
This is sooooo good! I substituted shrimp for the chicken and added in for the last 8 minutes of the veggies cooking. I will definitely make this again!
Terrible…We really didn’t like it and just ended up throwing it…
Hi Beth:
I made this last night and it was amazing. I included red, yellow & orange peppers along with a white onion & the pineapple junks. It was so delicious! I highly recommend it. Thanks for all your recipes.
I would think this would be freezable in a kind of freezer-pack, the chicken + veggies frozen uncooked and then the sauce frozen already made?
This is crazy good!!! Made it for dinner and I spaced the easy part..which was sticking it in the oven and went ahead and did it on the stove top..lol I added in mushrooms and beansprouts..Gosh is this good! going to add it to my monthly menu..Thank you so much!
Yay! Those Easy Oven Fajitas have been loved and repeatedly requested by anyone I made them for, and they’re the simplest things ever. Winning formula, for sure.