Air fryer chicken bites with sweet and sour sauce
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4 as a snack
Try these perfect air-fried crispy chicken bites with a really simple sweet and sour sauce. Sweet potato or aubergine would be great veggie alternatives, too.
By Jules Mercer
Ingredients
- chicken breasts: 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1cm/½in bite-size pieces
- plain flour: 5 tbsp plain flour
- egg: 1 large free-range egg, beaten with 1 tbsp whole milk
- panko breadcrumbs: 80²µ/2¾´Ç³ú panko breadcrumbs
- oil: cooking oil spray
- spring onions: 2 spring onions, sliced, to serve
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sweet and sour sauce
- pineapple juice: 150ml/¼ pint pineapple juice
- brown sugar: 40g/1½oz light brown sugar
- vinegar: 40ml/1½fl oz apple cider vinegar
- ketchup: 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- soy sauce: 1 tbsp low salt soy sauce
- cornflour: 1 tbsp cornflour, mixed to a smooth paste with 2 tbsp of the pineapple juice
Method
Preheat the air fryer to 190C.
Add the flour to a plate and season with salt and pepper. Place the egg and milk mixture in a small bowl and place the breadcrumbs in a larger bowl.
Toss the chicken pieces first in the flour, then the egg, then finally the breadcrumbs.
Add the coated chicken to the air fryer in batches, spreading out into a single layer and adding a few sprays of cooking oil. Air fry for 8–10 minutes, until crispy and cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and stir constantly for 2–3 minutes, until the cornflour has thickened the sauce.
Toss the crispy chicken bites in the sweet and sour sauce and top with spring onions to serve.
Recipe tips
This recipe was developed using a 5.5 litre/9½ pint air fryer.