Healthy sweet and sour chicken is the back-pocket recipe you need for harried weeknights or fake-out Fridays - it's ready in just 25 minutes, and the short and sweet list of ingredients are staples you probably already have in your fridge and pantry. Serve it over cauliflower rice for a veggie-packed Whole30 dinner, or reach for steamed white rice if you're feeling frisky.
Make the sweet and sour stir fry sauce. Combine pineapple juice with coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, arrowroot powder, tomato paste, and salt. Whisk until smooth.
Heat oil over medium high heat until shimmering in a wok, dutch oven, or high-sided saute pan. Add chicken, toss to coat in the fat, and cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink - about 3 minutes.
Add broccoli, carrots, and bell peppers and toss with the chicken pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables starting to soften, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute more.
Whisk the stir fry sauce, then pour into the pot. Cook until the liquid has thickened into a sauce and the chicken is cooked through, 2-4 minutes further. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if needed.
Portion over cauliflower rice or steamed rice, and garnish generously with sliced green onions. Serve immediately.
Notes
Use the right pan - a wok is preferable, but if you don't own one, a dutch oven or a high-sided saute pan will work.
If you like pineapple chunks in your sweet and sour chicken, go for it! Use one 20-oz can diced pineapple packed into 100% juice. Strain the pineapple from the juice; use the juice to make the stir-fry sauce, and add the pineapple along with the vegetables.
Substitute cornstarch for arrowroot if you're not paleo or Whole30.
Substitute soy sauce or regular aminos for the coconut aminos if you're not paleo or Whole30. If doing so, hold off seasoning with any additional salt until the end.