This Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken is so easy and BIG on flavor! The crockpot makes it juicy and moist, with extra sauce for serving over rice. With VIDEO.
I’m going to try to refrain from going on and on and on about my love for slow cookers.
I feel like I’ve probably done that somewhere before… just like I’ve also whined to you about how difficult it can be to get dinner on the table these days.
Another thing I love? CanadiAsian food.
I’m not ever going to claim I know anything about actual Asian/Chinese cuisine, but based on my limited experiences in restaurants in Manitoba, this is how we do our slow cooker sweet and sour chicken!
This crockpot sweet and sour chicken is a hit with the family, especially because it’s loaded with enough chunks of pineapple that they forget about all those peppers 😉
We love sweet and sour sauce on everything.
And I love coming home to a perfectly cooked meal, or just calmly sipping a late afternoon cup of coffee instead of slaving over the stove like I ought to be.
If you’re like me and you’re looking for even more easy slow cooker meals, check out these Easy Crockpot Meals, this Italian Crockpot Chicken and Potatoes, or these Crockpot Chicken and Noodles!
How to make this slow cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken:
- Put your chicken in the slow cooker (so far, so good, right??)
- Add your pineapple, vegetables and sauce.
- Turn on your crockpot.
- Grab a cup of coffee and watch your dinner make itself. Pretty great, right?!
Variations on this crockpot Sweet and Sour Chicken:
The cooking time with this can vary for a lot of reasons. How full your slow cooker is, how hot your slow cooker is, the size of your pieces, etc. Here are some tips to slow down or speed up the cooking process.
- Cook slower: If you’re looking to leave the chicken in a long time (8 hours or so), try putting the breasts in whole. A whole chicken breast will always take longer to cook, but that might be something you want if your slow cooker is less full and you need to leave the chicken in for quite a while. Back in the day before I knew the “rules”, I used to put the chicken in frozen when I worked out of the house all day. This isn’t generally recommended, but I’ve done it quite a few times and am still around to tell the tale 😉
- Cook faster: You can always cut the chicken into smaller pieces to cook more quickly, or make this recipe on the stove top. Simply brown the chicken, and pour the sauce over to simmer and thicken until the chicken is fully cooked. Dinner will be ready in no time!
Tools you’ll need for making this sweet and sour chicken recipe:
- I love my 2.5 quart Crockpot for this recipe because it’s just the right size and because it fills nicely, my chicken doesn’t become dry or overcooked. You can absolutely use a larger slow cooker, just keep in mind that a crockpot that is less full will cook a little more quickly.
- You definitely don’t need them, but if you find yourself short on clean up time, throw in a slow cooker liner and skip the scrubbing!
Looking for more slow cooker meals?
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken recipe
- Slow Cooker Pot Roast with the BEST gravy!
- Glazed Crock Pot Pork Chops
- Sweet and Sour Crockpot Meatballs + VIDEO
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1″ pieces (Or use thighs)
- 1 can pineapple chunks (398ml)
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup vinegar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp minced ginger
Instructions
- Place chicken, pineapple and peppers in a 2.5-4 quart slow cooker.
- Combine sugar, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, corn starch, garlic and ginger and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or high for 1.5-2 hours.
- *If needed, you can stir together 1-2 tbsp additional corn starch and water to thicken the sauce.
- Serve over cooked rice or noodles.
Nutrition Information
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Susie says
Could one use Splenda rather than sugar? And will it change the consistency of the sauce?
Ashley Fehr says
I haven’t tried so unfortunately I can’t say for sure!
Sue says
I made this once already and is came out great. Chicken was done in 3 hours (I used a 7 qt crockpot. Next time I make it can I add onions and celery as well? or will the celery still be too crunchy. I like vegetables that are more on the softer side, not mushy, but not crisp.
Ashley Fehr says
I would cut it into smaller chunks and then it should be fine!
Kelly Marlowe says
Is it ok to use apple cider vinegar?
Ashley Fehr says
Absolutely!
Josh says
My family loved this!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad!
Elle says
I haven’t tried this yet but I am looking forward to it! My question is, do we drain the pineapple chunks or add them juice and all to the crock pot?
Ashley Fehr says
Just add it all to the slow cooker!