Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken is Perfect for an Easy Weeknight Meal
Best ever, easy dinner that will have the whole family licking their fingers. These sticky Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken Thighs are my new go-to meal for busy nights. Another family favorite and go-to meal you will love is Sticky Teriyaki Baked Chicken Thighs.
A few years ago, I saw a recipe on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe for Sweet and Sour Chicken. Despite my dislike of all things sweet and sour, I decided to try it because it had such raving reviews. The reviews were right! It was AWESOME! Not at all like most sweet and sour things I’ve tried. It’s one of our family’s favorite meals. However, it is a little time-intensive, so I don’t make it very often.
A few months ago, I realized I could get very similar results with much less effort by sprinkling flour over chicken thighs and baking them in the oven with the sauce. The whole family loves it! We serve it with white rice and either green beans or broccoli.
These Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken Thighs are a must-make and perfect for busy school nights.
More Baked Chicken Recipes
- Pesto Parmesan Chicken
- Baked Honey Curry Chicken with Green Beans
- Mom’s Baked Soda Cracker Chicken
- Chicken Pillows
- Rice Crispy Chicken Thighs
- Chicken Thighs and Roasted Veggies
HOW TO MAKE SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN Thighs
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Sprinkle bottom of a 9×13 pan with 1-2 tbsp flour and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken thighs in the pan, top side down. Sprinkle remaining 1-2 tbsp flour on the thighs and again salt and pepper.
- Make sauce by whisking together sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic salt.
- Pour sauce over thighs.
- Bake in oven for 1 1/2 hours, if using thawed chicken thighs, or 2 hours for partly frozen chicken thighs. Turn once halfway through baking.
- Serve with rice and veggies, and put the sauce from the chicken on the rice.
- Enjoy! YUM! YUM! YUM!
Tips for making Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken Thighs
- To make it gluten-free, sprinkle cornstarch on chicken instead of flour.
- You can substitute red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar.
- Instead of making the sauce, you can use store-bought sweet and sour sauce.
- If you like chicken skin, you can leave it on the chicken.
Chef’s Tools for Sweet and Sour Chicken:
More Chicken Thighs Recipes
- 8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin removed
- 3-4 tablespoons flour or cornstarch, if you want it gluten-free
- Salt and Pepper
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Sprinkle bottom of a 9x13 pan with 1-2 tbsp flour and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the Chicken thighs in the pan, top side down. Sprinkle remaining 1-2 tbsp flour on the thighs and again salt and pepper.
- Make sauce by whisking together sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic salt.
- Pour sauce over thighs.
- Bake in oven for 1½ hours, if using thawed chicken thighs, or 2 hours for partly frozen chicken thighs. Turn once halfway through baking.
- Serve with rice and veggies and put the sauce from the chicken on the rice.
- Enjoy!
Made these last night and they were a hit! I too am a fan of the original recipe from Mel, but with two little ones, I don’t have the time (willpower) to make it unless my husband comes home early from work. Thanks for the recipe!!
So glad you liked it Adriana! I am the same way, I only have the willpower to make intense meals if I have another adult for moral support Aka: babysitting. 🙂
Loved this recipe! Came out great. Wondering if you have tried with chicken breast and how you adjusted the cook time. Thanks
Hi, I haven’t tried it with breasts but I am sure it would work great, You would just want to make sure that you don’t over cook and dry it out. Cooking time will really just depend on the thickness of the chicken breasts. I would check it after an hour and then adjust time as you feel is needed.
Do u cover it while baking? Can u add pineapple?
I don’t cover it unless and I haven’t ever added pineapple, but I bet it would be really good.
My oven only goes up to 250. I going to add extra time at the end.
Hope they came out okay, at that temp, they may have needed an extra hour or two.
Fahrenheit? 250F would be low for an oven. 250C is probably the top range for most home ovens.
So I’ve never left a comment for a recipe. I made this meal and had to stand guard on the food from my grandkids till everyone ate. It was fabulous
Thanks so much! So glad you and your family liked it!
This is one of the best and easiest chicken recipes ever! The chicken melted in our mouths. Definitely a family favorite!
Thanks, Donna! We love hearing this!
Can I substitute the Apple cider vinegar for red wine vinegar? That’s all I have.
Hi Vanessa, Yes, it should be fine!
OMG this chicken is the best I have ever made THANK YOU SOO much my new favorite recipe
I am so glad you love this recipe! I love it too, my kids beg me to make this!
Can i use sweet n sour sauce thats already made in the jar?
I can’t see why not. 🙂
Thank you! Easy and delicious! I make it once a month. Kids enjoy it too. I’ve baked it at 375 or 400 for less than an hour and test w thermometer if I’m in a hurry. I add onion too.
Awesome! I am so glad your family likes the recipe and I love that you’ve found a way to short cut it a little…I will have to try that!
Just wondering if you cover the dish while it bakes.
Can you make ahead and freeze this?
I haven’t ever tried it, but I can’t see why not.
Made this last night and my husband could not get enough. He is a very picky eater so this was such a delight to find something other than meat and potatoes. It was easy, and delicious, thanks.
Yay!!!! This makes me so happy! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear things like this about picky eaters. 🙂
Just wondering if you cover the dish while it bakes.
Hi Judi, no, I do not cover it while it bakes. I usually turn the meat pieces halfway through the cooking process.
Why do you cook it so long it would be done after 1 hour is there a reason
We really like the way the meat falls off the bone when cooked this long, also it helps the sauce get thick enough. If you don’t want to cook it that long you will probably need to add a little more flour to help thicken the sauce.
BEST CHICKEN EVER!! We have this all the time . Now a family favorite, thanks for the recipe.
Can you add bell peppers while baking?
I’m sure you can, I’ve never tried it though.
Made this last night and the whole family loved it!! I added red onion, red bell pepper and pineapple. Absolutely wonderful! Thanks for a new recipe that I’m sure I’ll use for many years to come. Can’t get over how easy the sauce is to make just using pantry items I always have on hand.
Right! The sauce is so easy and delicious! I’m so glad your family loved the recipe and your additions sound delicious! Thanks for leaving a comment Jan.
Delicious tender juicy chicken but I was disappointed when all the sauce blackened and solidified in the pan so there wasn’t any to put on the rice. Perhaps I’ll try a lower temp next time but my oven thermometer said that the oven wasn’t hotter than the 350 recommended. I will try again because the chicken was wonderful!
Hi Lea, try covering it except for the last thirty minutes.
Thanks! I’ll let you know. It’s on the menu plan this week.
I added more sauce (made another batch) when I flipped the chicken to ensure there was sauce to add to the rice
I have organic skinless boneless thighs. Assuming they’ll be just as good correct?
Hi, Denise. Skinless boneless thighs will work and taste good. Since they don’t have bones, they will cook faster. If they are thawed and you have opened them up, check them at 45 minutes. If you leave them closed, check them at 1 hour to see if they are tender and falling apart. Leaving the thighs closed will help keep them moist.
Do you have a oven thermometer. Check to see what temperature your oven is set on. Mine is set lower then what set it to.
Is it brown sugar or regular sugar? Thank you!
Hi Aubrie, It is regular sugar.
Everything I excpeted with none of the work or mess! Mel’s sweet and sour chicken is a favorite for sure, and this just takes the cake for the prepper and the eaters, lol. I used skin-on thighs and the crispy flavorful skin was delicious!! Thanks for sharing
Yay! I love hearing this Michelle! So glad you and your family loved it! And yes! I am all over simplifying anything I can. #fivekids
I only got boneless thighs thighs how long do U think I need to cook for now
They probably need about 1 hour if they’re thawed or 1 1/2 hours if partly frozen.
I just made this, letting it marinade in the fridge for dinner 🙂 i used the cornstarch instead of the flour. Crossing my fingers it turns out yummy! Also making french cut green beans and white rice with it ♡
You’ll love it! My family goes crazy for this!
Can I mix flour in with sauce?
I’ve never tired it that way, but that is a good idea!
I drained a #7 can of pineapple chunks ,added thenjuicentomthensause and added the chunks at the halfway point. Also sprinkled a few dried hot pepper flakes to the sauce. Wow, was it good!
Wow! That sounds like a great addition! So glad you liked it!
What about using boneless thighs? How long would I need to cook my chicken for?
Hi Sally, I have used boneless and I cut off 1/2 hour of the cooking time.
Dont know what happened to my chicken but there was no ‘sauce’ just a thick goopy stuck to the bottom of the pan stuff. I always look forward to the sauce to go on my rice. Now I have to figure out how to salvage.
As it cooks if it looks like the sauce is thickening quicker then you would like, you can add a little water. It seems to depend on how much moisture comes our of the chicken. After it cooks to salvage the sauce you can remove the chicken, add a little water to the pan and whisk it around to make a sauce again.
I also am not a fan of restaurant sweet and sour dishes but made my own sweet and sour sauce the other day for hubs and used real pineapple juice. That may have made a lot of the difference. I think I’m going to mix a little mustard and brown sugar for this for extra browning on top. But is 1 1/2 hours not too long? That is about 2x as long as I usually cook bone-in chicken thighs.
I JD, I like to cook them that long because we prefer it very tender and pretty much falling off the bones. Give it a try and see how you like it.
Hello from the future,
This was a hit, thanks. Like others, I wanted to include some pineapple, so I substituted juice from canned for a third of the rice cooking water, then added a bunch of small pieces to the cooked rice at the end. And since there were no kids around, I added a little bit of oil from a jar of Cantabrian chili peppers. Excellent taste sensation. Boneless at 350 degrees were done in about 30 minutes with a thick sauce (cornstarch).
Great flavor, but I wasn’t going to cook chicken for 90 minutes at 350. There was a lot of liquid that perhaps would have evaporated and thickened if I cooked it for another 45 minutes, but I’m worried about what that would do to the chicken. Perhaps I should remove the chicken and thicken it afterward?
But wow–it tasted great.
Glad you liked it Tom. My family likes the chicken to be falling off the bone so we do 90 min and 350. You could bake the sauce longer to thicken it or transfer it to a pot and boil it on the stove until it thickens.
Horrible! Gross! Homeless camp lol
I am so sorry you didn’t like it, this is one of our favorite meals.
This recipe was very easy to turn into a low version. It is really good and my husband really loved it. I’m making it for the second time within two weeks. The sweetener substitute worked just the same. Only wish I could have the real rice with it but just veggies will do. Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks, Delena! So glad you liked it.
I made this on 01/18/25 and we loved it!! I did not have soy sauce and substituted with Worcestershire sauce. Always looking for new, simple ideas for dinner and this one is a winner. 5 STARS, hands down! Thank you so much, Maria!
So glad you liked it Lisa!
The sauce is delicious definitely will make it again 😋.
Thanks, Samantha! We love hearing this!