Paleo Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is the second time that I have made Paleo Sweet and Sour Chicken and the flavors are outstanding!! I did not expect to find dishes like this starting out on Paleo. I would choose this over take out any day.

I will warn you though that it is definitely more time consuming than the recipe appears - however worth every bite!  I have no doubt I will be making this many, many more times but I think I will reserve it for a weekend evening meal when I have a bit more time to spend.

The time consuming part is cooking the chicken. Again - worth the time, but the chicken is covered in almond flour (I used almond meal) and tapioca starch and then cooked in a hot skillet to give a phenomenal crispy coating. It really needs to be cooked in batches as to not overcrowd the pan and get that great crispiness. The recipe does say this, but the extra batches starts to really tack on the time. You will also need to add more coconut oil to pan between batches.

I am writing this is the morning, and my mouth is watering even posting this picture of the chicken.

The original Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe comes from Paleo Leap. The only things I am changing is to make the cooking time 30-40 minutes depending on many batches of chicken you have to prepare, the amounts of flour and eggs needed and substituting almond meal for almond flour because it is less expensive and works fine.. Everything else is perfection.

Paleo Sweet and Sour Chicken

Original Recipe: Paleo Leap
Serves 3-4
Prep: 25 mins - a little more if you are cutting a fresh pineapple
Cook: 30-40 minutes - depending on batches of chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts - cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup pineapple - cut into chunks, best flavor if fresh cut
• 1/2 cup fresh pineapple juice (optional)
• 1 bell pepper - chopped
• 1 large onion - chopped
• 3 tbsp. raw honey
• 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 green onions - thinly sliced
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• ½ cup coconut oil 
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. In a medium - large bowl combine the almond meal, the tapioca starch, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Dip each chicken cube in the beaten egg then completely coat with the flour mixture.
3. Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet placed over  a medium-high heat.
4. Cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Do not overcrowd your pan or you will not get as crispy a coating. You will most likely need to work in batches and add additional coconut oil to your pan between batches. 
5. Set the chicken aside and clean the skillet.
6. Heat some coconut oil again over a medium heat, add the bell pepper and onion, and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Stir in the pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, chicken stock, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens.
8. Return the chicken to the skillet. Mix everything well and let it all heat up for about 5 minutes.
9. Serve warm with green onions sprinkled on top.