Slow Cooked Sweet And Sour Chicken – This is a no-fuss dish is one that we refer to as homemade take-out. It’s a bit of an oxymoron I know, but, many of our favorite take out dishes can be prepared in a family-style version at home. This slow cooker chicken isn’t breaded and fried, so it’s lighter; at the same time it hits all of the same flavor points. In this recipe, I’ll give you 3-methods for cooking the vegetables so you can choose which technique suits your schedule and taste the most.
Layer the sweet and sour chicken ingredients in the slow cooker and let your personal chef do the rest!
The flavor is as vibrant as it is colorful
See it at Whatcha Crockin’? here
Slow Cooked Sweet And Sour Chicken
Servings: 6 -8
Ingredients
- 3 lb boneless skinless chicken cut into chunks
- 1 cup pineapple chunks fresh or canned, drained
- 1 medium red bell pepper cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 medium green bell pepper cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- Sauce:
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- 2/3 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp honey or brown sugar
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp Chinese 5-Spice powder [see cook's note]
- 1 tsp fresh minced ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes [more or less to taste]
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Thickener:
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup cold water
- cooked jasmine/basmati rice for serving
Instructions
- Spray the inside of a 6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Arrange the chopped vegetables on the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Arrange the chicken and pineapple chunks on top. Whisk together the sauce ingredients. Pour on top of the chicken and pineapple.
- Cook on low for 5 hours or until the chicken is fork tender and cooked through. Increase the slow cooker to the high setting.
- Dissolve the cornstarch in cold water. Whisk into the sauce until thickened.
- Simmer on high for 10-15 additional minutes.
- Serve over rice.
Notes
To add Vegetables at the end of Cooking:
Omit the vegetables at the beginning of preparation.
a) Cook the chicken and pineapple in the slow cooker with the sauce as directed. Add the vegetables during the last 1 hour of cooking. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch and water per the recipe, before serving.
b) Alternatively, stir-fry the bell peppers and onion in a couple of drizzles of oil in a skillet on the stove-top. Season with salt & black pepper to your taste. Thicken the sauce in the slow cooker per the recipe, then stir in crisp-cooked vegetables just before serving. Chinese 5-Spice powder includes; cinnamon, fennel, schezwan peppers, star anise and clove ground into a spice blend. It's readily available on the spice aisle or in the Asian section of most grocery stores.
Omit the vegetables at the beginning of preparation.
a) Cook the chicken and pineapple in the slow cooker with the sauce as directed. Add the vegetables during the last 1 hour of cooking. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch and water per the recipe, before serving.
b) Alternatively, stir-fry the bell peppers and onion in a couple of drizzles of oil in a skillet on the stove-top. Season with salt & black pepper to your taste. Thicken the sauce in the slow cooker per the recipe, then stir in crisp-cooked vegetables just before serving. Chinese 5-Spice powder includes; cinnamon, fennel, schezwan peppers, star anise and clove ground into a spice blend. It's readily available on the spice aisle or in the Asian section of most grocery stores.
Tried this recipe?Mention @melissassk or tag #melissassk!
Anonymous says
October 4, 2013 at 3:06 pmMelissa – please double check the thickener measurements!
Melissa says
October 4, 2013 at 4:16 pmThe amount is correct. 1/4 cup is the equivalent to 4 Tbsp. If you’re concerned, start with 2 Tbsp of each and add as needed.
Sharon Price says
October 5, 2013 at 6:54 amCan u please tell me what that delicous looking desert is in square 1 in the top left habd corner of this page??? I would like to make that… Thanks! Sharon
Melissa says
October 5, 2013 at 1:52 pmSharon, that’s my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Lasagna. Here’s the link: https://www.melissassouthernstylekitchen.com/2013/03/chocolate-peanut-butter-cup-lasagna.html
Anonymous says
December 9, 2014 at 11:45 pmHow do you print out the recipes without all the other stuff? I don’t want to print 3 pages when the recipe just takes up one page.
Melissa says
December 10, 2014 at 12:03 amUse the bright green print button at the end of each post with the share buttons. Open the print page and look at the top. You can choose to print with or without the images.
Peggy Curry says
March 5, 2019 at 1:16 pmMay you use pork chops cut up rather than chicken? = sweet and sour pork!!
Thank you. Both sound delicious
Melissa says
March 5, 2019 at 1:21 pmHi Peggy, you can great idea!