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A Dash of Sanity

Easy family friendly recipes: dinner to dessert.

Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken

by 68 Comments

Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken is grilled to perfection, making this healthy yet keeping the authentic taste of this classic favorite Chinese take-out dish.

Grilled Sweet & Sour Chicken is grilled to perfection, making this healthy yet keeping the authentic taste of this classic favorite Chinese take-out dish.
I have mentioned on numerous occasions how much our family loves Chinese take-out. My kids love Sweet & Sour Chicken, really they love any Chinese chicken that is coated with a yummy sauce. While I love Sweet & Sour Chicken too I just never order it because it is so unhealthy, being fried and loaded with sugar. But yesterday I was craving it bad! Like I could taste it by just thinking of it, kind of craving.

So, since our summer theme is the “summer of the kabobs” I tried to give it whirl and bring a family favorite to the grill. Making this recipe healthier and a whole lot tastier.

Enjoy from our grill to yours, Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken.
XOXO San

How do you make Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken?

  • Mix rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, and apple cider vinegar in a medium mixing bowl and stir together until well combined.

  • Place chicken breasts in marinade, cover, and let it marinate in the fridge for 1-2 hours. I make it in the morning and let the chicken sit in a Ziplock bag with the marinade until dinner.

  • If you are using metal skewers skip this part, if you are using wood skewers follow the directions below. I know there is a debate about whether or not to soak your skewers and to each their own. But I soak mine, I have found that I get fewer wood pieces in the chicken and they don’t go up in flames.

  • I completely soak my skewers for 30 minutes, sometimes accidentally longer. Make sure the entire stick is completely dredged in water. Once they have soaked, remove and start to assemble the skewers.

  • Take the chicken and one piece at a time, lace them through the skewer starting at the larger end of the chicken. You can also just slide the entire tender on the skewer if you’d like.

  • After adding one piece of chicken, add 2 pieces of purple onion, 1 red pepper piece, and another piece of chicken. Repeat the process until the skewer is full. Set kabob on a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken, onions, and peppers. Keep the remaining marinade, and baste chicken on grill while it is cooking.

  • Heat gas or charcoal grill. Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cover grill and cook 3 minutes, then turn over the kabob, baste with remaining marinade and cook another 3 minutes. At this point check the chicken. To know if the chicken is done the juices should be clear and the center of thickest part is cut (170°F). If not done, continue to cook, at this point, I leave the lid open and just turn the kabobs so they are cooked evenly on both sides. My chicken takes about 8-10 minutes.

  • Remove from grill and serve immediately with brown or white rice, or cover with foil and serve later. Enjoy!

Looking for more baked chicken take out recipes? Try my Baked Orange Chicken, Baked Chicken Wontons, and Baked Honey Garlic Chicken Tenders.

Don’t forget to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board to save for later!

 

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Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken

Grilled Sweet & Sour Chicken is grilled to perfection, making this healthy yet keeping the authentic taste of this classic favorite Chinese take-out dish.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time25 mins
Course: Main Course
Servings: 6
Calories: 537kcal
Author: Sandra

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds chicken tenders or chicken breast sliced into tenders
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 red pepper chopped into large chunks
  • 1 purple onion quartered and then each quarter halved
  • 2 cups brown rice cooked and prepared by package directions

Instructions

Marinade

  • Mix rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, and apple cider vinegar in a medium mixing bowl and stir together until well combined.
  • Place chicken breasts in marinade, cover, and let it marinade in the fridge for 1-2 hours. I make it in the morning and let the chicken sit in a Ziplock bag with the marinade until dinner.

Kabobs

  • If you are using metal skewers skip this part, if you are using wood skewers follow the directions below. I know there is a debate whether or not to soak your skewers and to each their own. But I soak mine, I have found that I get less wood pieces in the chicken and they don’t go up in flames.
  • I completely soak my skewers for 30 minutes, sometimes accidentally longer. Make sure the entire stick is completely dredge in water. Once they have soaked, remove and start to assemble the skewers.
  • Take the chicken and one piece at a time, lace them through the skewer starting at the larger end of the chicken. You can also just slide the entire tender on the skewer if you'd like.
  • After adding one piece of chicken, add 2 pieces of purple onion, 1 red pepper piece, and another piece of chicken. Repeat the process until skewer is full. Set kabob on a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken, onions and peppers. Keep the remaining marinade, and baste chicken on grill while it is cooking.
  • Heat gas or charcoal grill. Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cover grill and cook 3 minutes, then turn over the kabob, baste with remaining marinade and cook another 3 minutes. At this point check the chicken. To know if the chicken is done the juices should be clear and the center of thickest part is cut (170°F). If not done, continue to cook, at this point I leave the lid open and just turn the kabobs so they are cooked evenly on both sides. My chicken takes about 8-10 minutes.
  • Remove from grill and serve immediately with brown or white rice, or cover with foil and serve later. Enjoy!

Notes

Total time does not include the time to let the chicken marinade. Marinade adapted from Damn Delicious

Nutrition

Calories: 537kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 652mg | Potassium: 872mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 745IU | Vitamin C: 29.1mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 2.1mg

 

 

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Comments

  8. Diana says

    Hi,
    Awesome post.! Sandi, do you have a favorite place you like to buy your wooden skewers? I have noticed some differences in how they are made, their sturdiness, ease of handling, etc. There are a variety of skewer qualities out there. =)

    Reply

    • Sandra says

      Diana – so honestly I pick them up where ever. Pier 1 to King Soopers (Kroger Foods) but my favorite are the metal ones from Bed Bath and Beyond, I got them several years ago.
      I like bamboo the best, and the medium thickness. The thick ones are hard to get the food off and the thin ones crumble in the grill, I have found too that the darker the bamboo the better, not sure why though. xo San

      Reply

  12. Dawn Lopez says

    I do quite love Chinese food (along with many other different types of food) but Chinese food places are hard for me to eat at without feeling after-effects. Anything I can make at home is something I’m willing to try so thank you so much for the great idea and recipe!

    Reply

    • Sandra says

      Thanks for coming by girl and I feel the exact same way about how you feel after….not good. Can’t wait for you to try. xo San

      Reply

  13. Pam says

    You always have the best looking dishes! My daughter has found so many recipes on your site to try and this is another one!

    Reply

  15. Amy Desrosiers says

    Yum, I love Chinese sweet and sour chicken too! This healthier version is wonderful, and looks great!

    Reply

  18. debra p says

    Beautiful photos of what looks like a delicious recipe! This would be great to serve when having friends over. I love healthy foods that also taste amazing.

    Reply

  21. Tammi says

    We were making a lot of kabobs last summer but haven’t since – it’s a on the deck and grill thing to make, Now that warmer weather is here again, I’m craving them – I need to try this recipe!

    Reply

  22. Goldi says

    yum!!! I love kabobs and sweet and sour! I am not a HUGE fan of chicken because it gets so dry, but my husband is an amazing cook and he will figure it out so that it won’t be dry! Thanks for the great detail and recipe!

    Reply

  29. Andrea says

    I pinned this just the other day, it looks delicious! I just recently tried Trader Joe’s vegetable fried rice, I think this would go amazing alongside it.

    Reply

  33. Kelsey Gill says

    Made this last night and it was easy to prepare and so delicious!! Todd said this recipe is a keeper! 🙂

    Reply

  34. Erin @ The Speckled Palate says

    This sounds delightful, Sandra, and the perfect way to combat a craving without going completely over the top. It’s also CRAZY beautiful, too!

    This recipe was one of my favorites shared during last week’s That’s Fresh Friday link-up! I’ll be sharing it at my blog tonight as a fave. Please stop by and join in on the fun this week, too! Keep up the great work, and I can’t wait to see what you do next!

    Reply

  35. Mary says

    My husband prefers pork over chicken,wonder about doing it the same with pork, Seems to me it would be a winner, what do you think ? Thanks for the wonderful recipe 🙂

    Reply

    • Sandra says

      KC so happy you liked it. The pineapple is a great addition. Thank you for coming back and giving feed back! xo San

      Reply

  38. Bianca says

    Looking to test this out tomorrow since we are having such lovely weather! But don’t have money to buy apple cider vinegar as it’s quite expensive at our local shops. Is ther an alternative for it? Extra rice wine vinegar, white vinegar etc? Or was the apple cider vinegar important taste wise?
    Will be able to buy some next week but craving this now! 🙂

    Reply

  39. Jennie says

    WOW! This recipe is one of the best we have found on pinterest. We grilled these kabobs for dinner last night and it was a huge hit. Everyone wanted to take the leftovers to school/work for lunch today. Thank you so much for sharing your delicious recipe!

    Reply

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