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Grilled Sweet and Sour Chicken

From ingredients to enjoyment, this recipe makes it easy to create something wonderful.

Prep Time
2 hrs 20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
2 hrs 40 mins
Servings: 6 Servings
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Brine:
  • 2 2 quarts water room temperature or cool water, not warm or hot
  • ⅓ ⅓ cup coarse, kosher salt (use half the amount for table salt)
  • ¼ ¼ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
  • ¼ ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 6 6 thin cut chicken breasts about 2 pounds (or use 3-4 thicker chicken breasts and cut them in half lengthwise or pound thin)
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
  • 1 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ ½ cup ketchup
  • 1 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. For the chicken, prepare the brine by whisking together the water, salt, brown sugar and soy sauce in a large bowl until the sugar and salt are mostly dissolved.
  2. Cut each chicken breast into 2-inch strips (so about two strips per chicken breasts, depending on the size of the chicken breasts) and submerge all the chicken pieces fully in the brine mixture. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours (or up to four hours). Any longer than four hours and the chicken may be too salty.
  3. For the sauce, whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes to reduce and thicken slightly (can simmer longer for a thicker sauce), stirring occasionally. There may be a strong vinegar smell as the sauce simmers and the vinegar evaporates - that's completely normal (and the sauce will not taste overly vinegary).
  4. Preheat grill to medium heat (on my pellet grill, I preheat to 350 degrees for this recipe). Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine.
  5. Grill the chicken, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F (exact cooking time will depend on what type of grill you have; it takes about 15 minutes total on my pellet grill for thin cut chicken at this temperature). During the last two minutes of grilling brush the chicken liberally with the prepared sweet and sour sauce.
  6. Remove the chicken from the grill to a serving platter and drizzle with remaining sauce OR serve the sweet and sour sauce on the side.

Notes

  • Brine: you can use up to four pounds of chicken using the same amount of brine. 

Nutrition Information

Serving 1 Serving Calories 463kcal (23%) Carbohydrates 49g (16%) Protein 50g (100%) Fat 6g (9%) Saturated Fat 1g (5%) Cholesterol 145mg (48%) Sodium 7627mg (318%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 47g (94%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories

% Daily Value*

Serving 1 Serving
Calories 463kcal 23%
Carbohydrates 49g 16%
Protein 50g 100%
Fat 6g 9%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Cholesterol 145mg 48%
Sodium 7627mg 318%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 47g 94%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.