Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls are a Chinese restaurant classic consisting of chicken chunks dunked in batter, deep fried to golden perfection, then dipped into an addictive sweet and sour sauce.

And while they’re by no means a healthy dish, they make an excellent crowd-pleasing treat that’s perfectly acceptable for the occasional indulgence.

Luckily, making sweet and sour chicken balls at home is a simple process that only takes a few simple ingredients.

So, keep scrolling for our foolproof Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls recipe. We’re sure you’ll have a Ball making them.

Ingredients for Our Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls Recipe

For the chicken:

• 300g chicken breast, cut into 1/3” cubes
• 1 tsp cooking wine
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp chicken powder
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/6 tsp baking soda

For the batter:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/6 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/3 cup white vinegar

For frying:

• 5 cups of oil

For the sweet and sour sauce:

• 1/2 cup white vinegar 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup 
• 1/3 salt 
• 2/3 tbsp corn starch 
• 1 tbsp water 

Step by Step Instructions for Our Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls Recipe

This gluttonous Chinese restaurant is easy to make at home for a special treat. Here are the step by step instructions!

Prepare your sweet and sour sauce according to our recipe by adding the 1 cup water, white vinegar, sugar, ketchup, and salt into a small pot. Mix well and bring it to a boil, then mix your cornstarch with 1 tbsp of water and mix until thoroughly dissolved and slowly pour it into your pot. Once thickened, set it aside for dipping later.

Cut your chicken breast into 1/3” cubes. Mix these cubes with your cooking wine, salt, chicken powder, cornstarch, and salt. Leave it to marinate for 30 minutes.

Mix your flour, cornstarch, water, baking powder, and salt together and stir together until no longer lumpy. Set aside for 30 minutes.

After waiting 30 minutes, add your 2 tbsp of oil and 1/3 cup vinegar, then set aside. 

Add 5 cups of oil into your pan and heat it to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have a thermometer to check your oil temperature, try this age old test: put a wooden chopstick in the oil, and if there are bubbles, then that means your oil is ready!

Mix your chicken into the batter and one by one drop the chicken into the hot oil slowly and don’t burn yourself! 

Make sure the chicken doesn’t stick to the bottom by moving it around. At this medium heat (350 degrees Fahrenheit), fry for about 3 minutes.

Remove all the chicken pieces and drain, then set aside. Use a slotted spoon to remove any little floaty bits of batter.

Turn the heat up until the oil reaches 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Add your chicken and then deep fry for 30 seconds, or until the chicken is golden brown.

Remove your chicken and place on a plate.

… Then serve with sweet and sour sauce, and enjoy!

We Hope You Enjoy Our Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls Recipe!

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions, or be sure to let us know if you’ve tested the recipe out. We’re always looking to improve our recipes and make sure they taste great for everyone.