Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken with Vegetarian Tofu Option

By Aileen Cox Blundell

It is finally Friday! Can I get whoop whoop! What better way to celebrate the weekend than with a healthy fake-away right? This recipe is my kids new number one chicken recipe EVER!!!! (well so Oscar informed me). His favourite take away is always sticky chicken with rice from our local Asian restaurant. While it is amazing, I know it is also packed full of sugar and also high in salt too which I always try to avoid for smaller little ones.

When Oscar asked me for sticky chicken this week for his birthday, I thought making it would be so much nicer and that way I could share a healthy recipe for you all too!

The challenge for me was making a battered chicken that was healthy and easy too. Years ago I spoke to a Japanese chef (as you do) and I asked him how to make a tempura batter. He told me he only used cornflour, salt and soda water! I love the crispiness of the tempura but it is also high in oil so I wanted to change it up slightly.

To start I coated the chicken and tofu (for my vegetarian son) with a light dusting of cornflour, then dipped in egg and fried on a hot pan with just a drizzle of rapeseed oil for about 2 minutes each side. After that I transferred to a baking tray and baked the chicken at a low temperature for about 25 minutes. This made it really crispy, super soft in the inside and much healthier too.

Super Quick Dinner!

The sauce recipe was so easy to make and took me less than 5 minutes to prepare. I blended the pineapple, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and ginger together and that is it! You can also make the sauce ahead of time and freeze too so you have it on hand for busy days. Just pour into a freezer bag!

For the vegetables I used a red bell pepper and a large onion, chopped them into big chunks and fried on a pan using a light drizzle of rapeseed oil. When they were soft enough for my children, I simply poured in the sauce, gave it a big stir, then brought to a bubble, covered with a lid then let it cook over a low heat for 20 minutes (just in time for the tofu/chicken to cook as well).

Once the chicken or tofu is cooked, you just pop the pieces into the sauce, give it a stir and serve over rice! Seriously easy.

Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Tofu

I have a 12 year old son (and a husband) who are vegetarian but I never make double dinners. When I made this dish for them, I coated the chicken and tofu in cornflour, dipped in egg, then placed them both in the oven (separated of course). When the sauce was cooked, I divided the mixture into two serving dishes, added chicken to one and tofu to the other 🙂 Really simple and it just means that as a Mum (or Dad) you are just cooking one meal that the entire family can eat too.

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This is such a tasty chicken recipe and I can’t wait to hear what you think. If you make it make sure to share your recipe on Instagram and #babyledfeeding.

Happy Friday!

Aileen xxoxox

Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken with Vegetarian Tofu Option

Aileen Cox Blundell

Refined Sugar Free Sweet and Sour Chicken with Tofu option. Sweet and tangy pineapple, red and yellow peppers, and fresh ginger.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Dinner

Cuisine Weekend Fake Away, Slow Cooker Recipes, Meat Recipes, Easter Recipes, Vegetable Recipes, Toddler Recipes, Freezer Friendly Recipes, Recipes for Fussy Eaters, BLW Recipes 12 Months+

Servings 4 adults + children

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 chicken breasts/1 pack tofu
• 4 tablespoons cornflour
• 1 egg
• Splash rapeseed oil for frying
• ½ pineapple
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ½ thumb size ginger
• 1 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 large Spanish onion
• 2 tablespoons Sesame seeds
• 2 spring onions
• Cooked brown rice

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat oven to 160ºC.
• Cut the chicken breasts/tofu into bite sized chunks then place into a freezer bag along with the cornflour. Give the bag a good shake to ensure that each piece is fully coated.
• Whisk the egg, then heat the rapeseed oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Dip each piece of chicken/tofu into the egg then place in the frying pan and fry until golden both sides. This only takes about a minute both sides.
• Transfer the chicken/tofu onto a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes while you make the sauce.
• Add all of the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
• Roughly chop the peppers and onion and heat a little extra rapeseed oil in a large pan. Gently fry the vegetables until the onions taste sweet. Pour in the sauce and bring to a bubble, reduce the heat, then cover the pot with a lid and simmer stirring occasionally until the garlic and ginger and cooked. This should take around 15 minutes.
• Place the chicken/tofu back into the sauce and give it a good stir.
• To serve, sprinkle over the sesame seeds and finely chopped spring onions and serve with a side of rice.

Keyword freeze, hand, carrot, time

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Healthy Sweet & Sour Chicken with Vegetarian Tofu Option

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Prep: 15 minutes minutes

Cook: 30 minutes minutes

Total: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 adults + children

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Refined Sugar Free Sweet and Sour Chicken with Tofu option. Sweet and tangy pineapple, red and yellow peppers, and fresh ginger.

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts/1 pack tofu
• 4 tablespoons cornflour
• 1 egg
• Splash rapeseed oil for frying
• ½ pineapple
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ½ thumb size ginger
• 1 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 large Spanish onion
• 2 tablespoons Sesame seeds
• 2 spring onions
• Cooked brown rice

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Method

• Pre-heat oven to 160ºC.
• Cut the chicken breasts/tofu into bite sized chunks then place into a freezer bag along with the cornflour. Give the bag a good shake to ensure that each piece is fully coated.
• Whisk the egg, then heat the rapeseed oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Dip each piece of chicken/tofu into the egg then place in the frying pan and fry until golden both sides. This only takes about a minute both sides.
• Transfer the chicken/tofu onto a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes while you make the sauce.
• Add all of the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
• Roughly chop the peppers and onion and heat a little extra rapeseed oil in a large pan. Gently fry the vegetables until the onions taste sweet. Pour in the sauce and bring to a bubble, reduce the heat, then cover the pot with a lid and simmer stirring occasionally until the garlic and ginger and cooked. This should take around 15 minutes.
• Place the chicken/tofu back into the sauce and give it a good stir.
• To serve, sprinkle over the sesame seeds and finely chopped spring onions and serve with a side of rice.

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