Healthy 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?
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Mix rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, and apple cider vinegar in a medium mixing bowl and stir together until well combined.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken
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
Nutrition
Save
I love that this is a healthy option! I am always looking to save a few calories where I can!
Me too! xo San
This looks and sounds beyond delicious!! Definitely adding this to our list!
I have always wanted to try a healthier version of this… I love ordering it… but my hips do not!
I feel you girl! Me too. xo SAn
Oh my that looks so amazing. I love grilled chicken. Now I want my husband to get the grill out for dinner!
I hope he does too just for you! xo San
Love roasted veggies, I so can have this on Paleo except for the rice. yummy!
Yes, gluten free – YAY. Can’t wait for you to try it. xo San
yum! looks like a tasty dish for these hot summer days!
Perfect grill food. Looks amazing and I bet it is tasty. I am getting hungry now.
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. =)
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
I am sitting here in a satisfied stupor just looking at your food photos. . . and I am a vegetarian!!!!! My family likes Chinese food too. thanks for the recipe.
Jen you made my day! I will be making a recipe just for you then soon! xo San
I am totally wanting to try this out. Great photos that make me want it today!
Thanks Tess. xo San
This recipe is awesome! Perfect for this time of year too when we like to grill.
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!
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
You always have the best looking dishes! My daughter has found so many recipes on your site to try and this is another one!
This looks amazing. I think I will make it next week
Yum, I love Chinese sweet and sour chicken too! This healthier version is wonderful, and looks great!
This looks delicious. I want to make this!
You are seriously making me drool all over my keyboard. I’ve got to make this soon for my family. What a neat summer meal to make.
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.
This looks absolutely wonderful and the recipe looks like one I can probably handle. If it is too complicated, I shy away from it. Thanks! I will definitely give this a try for dinner tomorrow!
I pinned that. It looks so flavorful and indeed it does look grilled to perfection.
Thanks Liz!!! xo San
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!
Enjoy it girl, love this nice weather! xo San
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!
Those Kabobs look amazing!! I love finding ways to make our favorites healthy
Wow that looks really, really good. I wish I had a plate of those skewers in front of me right now.
I wish I could mail you some…lol! xo San
Those look so good! I made my own Chinese dinner last night actually, I made Pork Chow Mein, easy and tasty!
And sounds amazing! xo San
These are the BEST looking kabobs I’ve seen all day! Making me hungry girl. Thanks for linking up to Wonderful Wed Blog Hop. Carrie, A Mother’s Shadow
I love grilled chicken skewers and these absolutely amazing! Thanks so much for linking up to Wine’d down Wednesday!
Cathy
These look so delicious, what a great summer dinner idea!
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.
Hi Sandra
This is a Tickle my Tastebuds Tuesday feature at http://imnotatrophywife.com
Thanks for linking up and hope to see you tomorrow! laura
These look so delicious! I love Chinese take out too & this looks like the perfect way to make your own at home! Pinning to my dinner board!
These look so good! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
Made this last night and it was easy to prepare and so delicious!! Todd said this recipe is a keeper! 🙂
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!
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 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight, delicious! I popped some pineapple onto my skewers as well.
KC so happy you liked it. The pineapple is a great addition. Thank you for coming back and giving feed back! xo San
This looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it.
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! 🙂
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!
I’ll be making this recipe tonight. I was wondering when you use the granulated garlic, pepper & salt?
Looking for when you add garlic. Assuming it’s in marinade.????