This Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork Recipe is everyone's favorite!
I made sweet and sour chicken a lot before my “food conversion”, and it was my signature dish when friends and family came over. Since I couldn’t find a good way to adapt the recipe, I didn’t make it for a long time. When I found out that beef tallow is a healthy cooking fat, and I learned a few more ways to tweak the recipe, I began making it again! Now I'm excited to finally share a real food version of this sweet and sour chicken or pork recipe!
Keep in mind that the sauce is still pretty sweet, so it’s not a meal you'll want to have real often, but it’s a yummy treat once in a while, and much better for you than what you’d eat at an oriental restaurant.
Also, see the recipe notes for a spicy/sesame version!
Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork Recipe
See the notes below for how to make this gluten-free.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups uncooked rice, I LOVE this rice these days. For an easy way to add extra flavor and nutrition, make the rice using homemade chicken broth for the liquid. (Which I make and keep on hand in the freezer or I also keep this shelf-stable broth on hand for in a pinch.)
- 3 pounds chicken or pork, cut into bite-sized pieces, about 1"—don't have a good local source for safe meat? Check out this safe meat you can buy online.
- fruits and veggies of your choice: pineapples, (see sauce ingredients below), 2 green or other colored peppers cut into strips or small pieces, 1 onion, mushrooms, carrots julienned or sliced, green onions for the top if desired.
- 2 quarts beef tallow for frying (or lard) if you can't find it locally, find a healthy source online for beef tallow (rendered beef fat) or lard (rendered pork fat) and healthy meats, or to see which items are on sale.
Beer batter ingredients (or see the notes below for an alternative batter & gluten-free option):
- 1/4 cup cornmeal , organic if possible
- 2 cups flour of your choice, unbleached white or Einkorn flour
- 1-2 Tablespoons organic seasoned salt. If you don't have that-- just sprinkle in some garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, pepper, and paprika — about 1/2 teaspoon of each or more to your taste.
- 1 can beer of your choice or 1 1/2 cup water , but water is pretty blah, so you'll need extra seasoning.
For the sweet and sour sauce:
- 3 20 ounce cans pineapple bits in natural juices (so no corn syrup) , strain out the juice and reserve the pineapple
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 -1 teaspoon ground dried ginger , to your taste
- 3 Tablespoons fermented soy sauce
- 5 Tablespoons organic corn starch --organic to avoid GMOs
- 1/3 cup organic palm or coconut sugar
- 5 Tablespoons organic raw apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare the rice according to directions. Keep warm--I just keep it covered.
- Next, prepare the chicken or pork (see notes below for an alternative batter and a gluten-free option): heat the beef tallow in a fryer or a pan with deep sides. Mix the batter ingredients together and stir the meat pieces around to cover well. Once the fat is at 375*, cook the meat pieces until golden. Don't cook too many at once so the fat stays hot enough to bubble. As each batch is done, transfer to a rack over a baking pan and keep warm in the oven. Heat the oil back to 375* before frying more.
- As the meat is frying, prepare the sweet and sour sauce: Combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add half of the reserved pineapple (more if you'd like, otherwise serve it at another meal) and veggies of your choice. Cook in the sauce until they're soft but not too soft--I like mine a little crunchy.
- Put it all together: first rice, then meat, then spoon the sauce over top and enjoy!
Notes
Don't like beer batter?
This recipe was really good too, I doubled it. See the spicy/sesame version below for another option.
Want a gluten-free option?
Instead of the batter, put the meat pieces in a big baggie with 2 whole beaten eggs and shake the bag around until all pieces are coated. Put 2 cups of arrowroot or organic cornstarch in a bowl. Drop meat pieces in the bowl and toss around to coat well, then fry in the beef tallow. Add more arrowroot or cornstarch if needed.
Or here's another gf batter recipe you could try.
Want to try a spicy/sesame version?
The instructions are the same as above, and same with the meat (although I used about 4.5# for this recipe), rice, vegetables, and frying fat, but try these ingredients for the sauce and batter instead:
(These amounts make a lot, enough to feed our family of 6 big eaters.)
Sauce (heat all ingredients but corn starch, bring to boil and reduce it some. Add cornstarch last after mixing with 1/4 cup cold water, whisk and cook 'til thickened. Turn heat down, add half the pineapple or more if you'd like, plus the vegetables, cook for a minute or so to soften them a bit, remove from heat):
Here's what the family said about it:
- Juice from 2 cans of pineapple tidbits (in juice only, reserve pineapple), about 2.25 cups
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 cups organic orange juice
- 3/4 cup vinegar
- 1/2-1/3 cup organic palm or coconut sugar (taste test after 1/2 cup and make sure it's enough for you)
- 3/4 cup ginger siracha sauce like this one
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup organic corn starch
- 4 cups organic all-purpose flour
- 2 cups organic corn starch
- 1/4 cup baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups water
Here's what the family said about it:
Chicken pieces cooking in beef tallow.
If you make this sweet and sour chicken (or pork), let me know how you like it!
More you might like:
- More Chinese Recipes (For those of you who have missed Chinese food since switching to a more nourishing diet.)
- More about healthy fats/oils – scroll down and see if there’s any you’ve missed.
- Homemade egg rolls go well with this sweet and sour chicken recipe!
- Try this egg roll in a bowl recipe! (Keto-friendly)
- Another post about adapting recipes along with a recipe for caramel corn. But since then, I’ve decided Kettle Corn is tastier, easier to make, and with less sugar, too!
Meal Planning Help!
Sick of planning meals and answering the question, “What am I going to feed these people?” No matter what kind of eater you are (traditional, GF, paleo, vegetarian)… Check out these affordable interactive easy-to-use meal plans where the work is done for you. NOW recipes also available from Nom Nom Paleo, The Paleo Mom, and Wellness Mama all in one spot! You can read over my review here.
Couscous & Consciousness says
I’ve never tried cooking with beef tallow, but this sure sounds delicious.
Sue
Butterpoweredbike says
Kelly, I’m so glad you shared this with the Hearth and Soul hop. I remember making it when you posted the recipe and my family went nuts over it 🙂
Dan says
That looks really good. I’m not much of a deep fryer myself, but I do want to try the sauce.
April@The 21st Century Housewife says
That does look like a delicious recipe – and so nice that even sweet and sour can be kind of healthy too! What a great treat!
girlichef says
I’ve only recently discovered cooking with beef tallow…and I love it, too! Love just the look of those little pork bites…makes me hungry! Thanks for sharing this delicious post with the hearth and soul hop this week 😀
Elizabeth from The Nourished Life says
Oh my gosh, that looks delicious! I love Chinese, but I never have it any more because it’s so unhealthy at restaurants and I’ve had no success at home. All of these Chinese recipes have my mouth watering – I think I’m going to have to try my hand at this again! 🙂
The Diaper Diaries says
I myself am not a fan of Asian food of any kind, but that is all my hubby would eat if he could. And I am totally laughing at the idea of a tub of beef tallow that is $100. That is some tub!!
Vanderbilt Wife says
Yum! Looks delicious. I love good Chinese food at home.
JessieLeigh says
Looks- and sounds- delicious! Kudos to you for finding a way to make it work in a healthier way. 🙂
Debbie says
I haven’t deep fried in years – but I had no idea beef tallow was healthy! That’s good to know! I’ve been using coconut oil (virgin, unrefined when I can find it) for about a year now and love it. It makes the best sauteed chicken! And I personally L-O-V-E butter, and have been using it more, too. Great informational post – thanks for sharing!
KitchenKop says
I can’t find it at mine either!
tina says
This looks tasty. Because I can’t find pastured chickens here in Colorado, I’ll use my pastured piggy I have in the freezer.
I’m gonna order some germinated brown rice. I sprouted some rice this summer and it was easy but I keep the house too cold to sprout rice in the fall and winter.
I wish I could just go out and buy some germinated brown rice but I can’t find it at my local healthy food store.
Erin says
I’m still a little sketchy on deep frying my own food…. just that big pot of hot fat scares me with my toddler. I will be printing out this sauce recipe, though! I’ll just pan fry the chicken (maybe in coconut oil to give it an extra zing?)… my hubby will be super happy anyway. Thanks!
Ann Marie @ CHEESESLAVE says
This looks great! I will definitely give it a go.
elaine says
Yummmm. I just bought some pork (unfortunately not the good stuff) to try a couple of recipes for my business. I was hoping I could find a good Sweet & Sour recipe. This looks so good and I’ve got all the ingredients!! Can’t wait to try it.