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Homemade Low Carb Sweet & Sour Chicken

  • Writer: Keto Upgrade
    Keto Upgrade
  • Apr 3
  • 7 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

This was one of my favorite childhood Chinese take out orders, and man when I figured out the low carb version and tasted it, it transported me back to childhood. It is delicious, a little crispy, has that puffy soft fried coating, and dipped into a sweet and tangy sauce. The recipe makes a lot and is still delicious left over. You can eat it cold or use an air fryer to crisp it up again. You can even freeze it flat on a sheet tray, bag it up, and then air fry for a quick meal later.




The first step for this recipe is to marinate the diced chicken. You can do it the night before or just before you make the sweet and sour sauce (15-20 Min marinade). The original (not low carb) marinade recipe used rice wine, which I didn't have on hand, so I used a 0 carb rice wine vinegar. The rice wine I found does say 0 carbs, so click on this link if you want to purchase it- https://amzn.to/47XKca3


I tried altering and simplifying this batter recipe when I made a beer batter recipe last year. But unfortunately you need all the ingredients in the recipe. There are however, few substitutions that can be made.


The main ingredient is unflavored whey protein isolate, I use Isopure as it has 0 carbs and has never steered me wrong in a recipe. I have not found anything comparable to it yet, but I have not tried almond flour since I don't like contaminating my kitchen with nut products. Plus I don't like the texture that almond flour gives most baked goods.


The next main ingredient is coconut flour. Since I created the original recipe, I have figured out that some of the coconut flour can be swapped out for bamboo fiber and this helps to cut the carbs down in the batter. I didn't want to use all bamboo fiber in place of the coconut flour for several reasons. One it doesn't brown as much as coconut flour, and second, I don't think it gets as crispy. So I wouldn't suggest using all bamboo fiber, I prefer the combination of half coconut flour and half bamboo fiber. This combination seems to work best.


The last main "flour" that is essential is Egg white protein, I tried without it and the batter didn't stick to the food and flew off in all directions. I thought about it later that you may be able to just use a fresh egg white in place of the powder, but then would need to add less liquid. I happen to have a lot of egg white protein that contained sunflower lecithin on hand, which cannot be used to make egg white bread. But it works for these type of recipes.


The original sweet and sour batter has a lot of cornstarch in the dry mix. Most Asian dishes rely heavily on cornstarch for light airy crispiness and to thicken stir fry dishes. I don't prefer to use cornstarch as it has no real health benefits. I usually swap it out of recipes and use arrowroot powder instead. Arrowroot powder can soothe digestive issues and act as a prebiotic, promoting the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. Due to being low in calories and low on the glycemic index, arrowroot may help regulate blood sugar levels. Arrowroot is also a good source of B vitamins, potassium, and magnesium. But you can use cornstarch if that is what you have on hand.


The last two ingredients besides the seasoning are baking powder and xanthan gum. The baking powder helps with browning and gives the puffiness of the traditional fried sweet and sour chicken. The xanthan gum, which is our gluten replacement, is essential to hold everything together. I use Anthony's brand and have found that brands can vary in their gelling strengths. I made the recipe with Great Value brand a few years ago and it turned out fine. Then the next time I made the recipe, the batter was very gloopy, even though I was using the same brand. The new bag I had bought was over 3x stronger than the previous bag I had. Keto ingredients can vary widely from brand to brand and the manufacturing process can change even using the same brand.


The liquid in the batter is just water, a little beaten egg and some vinegar. You can even measure out a large quantity of dry mix and whisk it up very well then measure out 110 g to make batter, which is enough to batter 2 pounds of chicken or any other meat.


The sauce is super simple as well and can be made in large quantities and kept in the fridge for over 2 months.


128oz. Coconut oil (Cheapest per ounce)- https://amzn.to/3DUYEUg

56oz. Coconut oil- https://amzn.to/3DWxV9U

Instant Read Thermometer- https://amzn.to/42vbWQJ

Etekcity Infrared Thermometer - https://amzn.to/4f0Ujwg

Restaurant 10 in Spatulas- https://amzn.to/3Tq1ALd

Nordic Ware Half Sheet Pans- https://amzn.to/3SZ7dzE

Cooling Racks - https://amzn.to/3St6u8T

Magnetic Measuring spoons- https://amzn.to/3Q01IEa


Isopure Unflavored whey protein isolate- https://amzn.to/2Saz1q9

Coconut Flour - https://amzn.to/3shHjuu (I prefer Great Value Brand)

Judee's Egg White Protein- https://amzn.to/4g5P92h

Anthony's Xanthan Gum -https://amzn.to/3VAmhWQ

Bob's Red Mill Arrowroot Powder- https://amzn.to/4f4uFXe

Deal Supplement Allulose- https://amzn.to/47XOQnt (cheapest I’ve found)

Durelife Allulose- https://amzn.to/4of141j

Stur Flavor Pack that has the Tropical I Used- https://amzn.to/4uAXUJk

(These are affiliate links, which means you are supporting my family and channel when you purchase products using these links, thank you very much for your continued support of my channel, it means a lot to me!)


Low Carb Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe


Prepare Meat and place in the marinade. Allow to marinate for 20min to overnight

2lb. Chicken Breast or Thighs Or any Meat Cut into about 2in strips

1/2 Beaten Egg

1 Tbs. Rice Wine or Rice Wine Vinegar

1 tsp. Salt


Make Sauce

Sauce:

8oz./1 Cup Water

1/3 Cup Unsweetened Ketchup

1/3 Cup White Vinegar

1 & 1/2 tsp Stur Tropical Flavor or other low carb pineapple water flavor enhancer

60g/about 1/3 Cup Allulose (to taste)

1/4-1/2 tsp Salt to taste

1/2 Tbs. Arrowroot + 1/2 Tbs. Water


Combine all ingredients except arrowroot and water into a medium pot and bring to boil while whisking. Whisk together the arrowroot and water then add to the boiling mixture while whisking. Boil until slightly thickened, will thicken more as it cools. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed then pour into a heat safe dish to cool while you make the chicken.


Sweet and Sour Batter

40g/approximately 1/2 Cup Unflavored Whey Protein Isolate

16g/2 Packed Tbs.+ 2 & 1/2 tsp. Egg White Protein

16g/2 Tbs. + 2 & 1/2 tsp. Coconut Flour

16g/3 Tbs. Bamboo Fiber

12g/1&1/2 Tbs. Arrowroot Powder

1/2 tsp. Anthony's Xanthan Gum

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

8-10oz. Water

1/2 Beaten Egg

1 tsp. Vinegar


Oil to fry


Instructions:


  1. Once chicken has marinated for about 10 minutes and the sauce is made, fill a pot with 2-3 inches of oil that has a smoke point of over 375 degree. I prefer using refined coconut oil but there are many options. Turn on low while you make the batter, do not allow the oil to go over 350 degrees

  2. Measure and whisk together all the dry ingredients for the batter, then add 1 cup of water and whisk vigorously to activate the xanthan gum and get the full thickening of the batter then add the beaten egg and vinegar and whisk

  3. Once the batter has thickened add water a little at a time until thick but not too gloopy, similar to the consistency of pancake batter. You can dip one piece of chicken in batter and fry to test the coating before pouring all the batter onto the chicken and beginning to fry in larger batches

  4. Once you are happy with the consistency, pour the batter over the chicken and mix well. Make sure the oil is close to 350 degrees. I liked the trick of using a skewer to pick up the pieces of chicken and dropping them into the oil, don't over crowd the oil and fry in batches

  5. Once the batter has turned golden brown, remove pieces and place on a paper towel lined plate. Once cooled a bit move them onto a wire rack placed on a sheet tray. If eating for dinner, place the sheet tray in a warm oven to keep warm and crispy

  6. Continue frying until there is no more chicken and batter left. While chicken is frying, you can steam some broccoli or make some low carb rice. If you are making for another time, you can place chicken in a single layer on a sheet tray and freeze. Once frozen, you can place the chicken into freezer bags to air fry or oven bake later


Macros: 1/5 of chicken and sauce, about 210g of fried chicken and a little over 1/3 cup of sauce


407 Calories

10g Fat

23.5g Total Carbs

4.6g Fiber

12.3g Allulose

6.6g Net Carbs

67.4g Protein


If you are in the Lower 48, feel free to check out my website to place an order for some High Protein/Low Carb White Bread or some delicious keto brownies or keto breakfast Baked Goods- Sugarswapbakeshop.com or click the link: https://www.ketoupgrade.info/shop-1


                

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Ketoupgrade is a participant in the Perfect Keto Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Perfect Keto. As an Perfect Keto Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.


I created a patreon account. I have many ideas for the future of this channel and maybe even creating my own keto line of desserts at some point. I'm going to be posting some inspirational stuff over there along with more information about my life, past, present and future. I'm excited to take this extra step and do some extra content for supporters. Some behind the scenes of my recipe testing successes and fails alike. Maybe even some merch down the line! If you would like to support me and this channel, please consider becoming a patron.


Address:

Alycia J Distefano

P. O. Box 56

Derby, NY 14047






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