Lazy Gluten Free: Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice


I'm sure all of you celiacs/gluten-frees are well aware of the lack of Chinese food in your diet. No, I am not referring to healthy options like stir-fry, I definitely mean the fried, you-know-this-must-be-awful-for-you Chinese food. On a whim, I decided to try this sweet and sour chicken. The recipe didn't call for too many ingredients (a Lazy Girl requirement), and looked easy enough to prepare. Not only was it easy to make, I can't even express in words how amazing the chicken was! My husband instantly approved, and I vowed to make it again. It was better than take-out. Seriously.

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

You will need-Coating:
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup cornstarch
2-3 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup canola oil

You will need-Sweet & Sour Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon San-J Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt


Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 9x13 with non-stick cooking spray.

1) Cut chicken breasts into cubes and season with salt/pepper to taste. Put cornstarch in a seal-able plastic bag; add chicken, seal well, shake to coat. 

2) Heat canola oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Remove chicken from bag and dip in beaten eggs. Cook chicken in the skillet until slightly browned, but not cooked through. Remove from skillet and place in the prepared 9x13 dish.

3) Whisk together all ingredients for sweet & sour sauce until well mixed. Pour evenly over the chicken.

4) Bake chicken for 1 hour, turning chicken every 15 minutes (this helps to evenly glaze the chicken during baking).


Fried Rice

You will need:
3 cups cooked white rice (I used instant)
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1 small onion, chopped 
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce


1) During the last 15 minutes of baking for the chicken, heat the sesame oil on medium high heat in a large skillet or wok. Once heated, add the vegetables and the garlic; stir fry until tender. 

2) Lower the heat to medium low and push the vegetables to one side of the pan. Pour the eggs in the empty half of the pan and scramble until cooked through. 

3) Add the rice and soy sauce and mix together until well blended. Stir fry until heated through.

Adapted from Life as a Lofthouse's Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

10 comments:

  1. Andrea - we were told my 8 year son has a gluten sensitivity in January of 2013 and have been looking at creative and yummy ways to modify his diet. I happened upon your blog a week ago and have printed out many of your recipes. Last night I made the sweet and sour chicken. my son LOVED it! Actually we all did. Thank you for sharing your story and your recipes. Tonight we are making the meatball sub sandwiches and tomorrow night it's the honey dijon pretzel chicken. Thank you and keep the yummy and easy recipes coming!!!

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    1. Thank you so much for the kind words! I know what a challenge it can be starting out to find things that actually sound good and are easy to make. I am very glad that these recipes have helped you transition your son (and family) into a gluten free lifestyle. Check back every Wednesday for a new post, and feel free to suggest anything you would like to see GF! :)

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  2. Andrea - actually we have been struggling to find a decent GF cookie recipe. I've tried the mixes, the frozen bake and eat and they are gritty, grainy and just not that great. Any easy ideas?? Thanks for your help!

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    1. Ah yes, GF baking can be tricky. I have two recommendations for easy and good chocolate chip cookies. First would be the Betty Crocker box mix:
      http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/gluten-free-baking-mixes/products/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookie-mix

      And second would be a recipe from the Land O'Lakes website:
      http://www.landolakes.com/recipe/1470/chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies-gluten-free-recipe

      These are both pretty easy to make and yield good tasting cookies in my experience. If you're looking for another variety of cookie, I can see if I can find a recipe to try out and post here on my blog for you. :)
      Good luck!

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  3. Hi there...am new to this and trying my best to learn to cook GF...have been on this journey flying by the seat of my pants for years, knowing something was terribly wrong...TY for all of you delicious (looking-as I haven't fixed anything yet-scared to eat!) question..is there a GF rice? thought couldn't have grains? like I said I'm new..any and all help is gratefully accepted

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    1. Hello! It is not easy to be GF starting out, I remember exactly how difficult it was. Don't be scared to eat, there are so many things out there that you can have. Just be careful about cross-contamination.
      I would say most rice is GF, there is a difference between being grain-free and gluten-free. It's up to you if you want to do a grain-free diet, but the primary things you need to avoid for a GF diet is wheat, barley, and rye. I eat rice all the time and have never had any problems with it!
      Good luck and don't hesitate to contact me with any other questions! :)

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  4. Have you tried this with coconut aminos? I can't tolerate soy either......

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    1. I have not tried that. I would imagine they would work just fine though!

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  5. Recently discovered I have gluten allergy and struggling to find gf recipes that are also compatible with my low fat diet. Up until now I lived on low fat pasta recipes and now I can't find a decent gf pasta. Any suggestions? I LOVE your recipes!!

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    1. Welcome! Starting out can definitely be a challenge, especially for a low fat diet, so great question! I have two recommendations for you for a gf low fat pasta option: shirataki noodles or spaghetti squash. Both are not pasta in the traditional sense, but should be a good substitute. Hope this helps!

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