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Healthy Chinese Food at Home

Featured Recipe: Sweet & Sour Chicken with Brown Rice

More healthy Chinese food recipes

Make Chinese favorites cheaper and healthier at home

By Jessie Price, Food Editor, EatingWell

Before I moved to Vermont, I had a weakness for Chinese takeout. I lived in San Francisco and when I headed home after working late, I was exhausted. I’d order Chinese food from one of dozens of delicious local Chinese restaurants and chow down.

Now, since I don’t live near any good Chinese restaurants, I turned to making some of my favorites like Sweet & Sour Chicken at home. The silver lining is that I can make healthier versions of Chinese restaurant classics, with perfect fresh produce, and I get to eat them when they’re hot and sizzling straight out of my wok. (Scallop & Shrimp Dumplings and Kung Pao Tofu turn out really well too.)

I’m not the only one who would benefit from making healthier Chinese food at home. EatingWell’s recipe for Sweet & Sour Chicken (see below) was developed for a family who needed a little help eating healthier and avoiding the Chinese takeout trap. Their story, and more than 175 of our favorite comfort-food recipes, appear in our new cookbook, EatingWell Comfort Foods Made Healthy.

In the meantime, make your Chinese dinner delicious with this Sweet & Sour Chicken with Brown Rice.

Sweet & Sour Chicken with Brown Rice

Our version of sweet & sour chicken is just as satisfying as the classic Chinese takeout favorite, but without all the extra sugar, salt and saturated fat. The recipe is flexible enough to accommodate your family’s favorite vegetables (carrots, scallions, bok choy); just be sure to cut them into similar-size pieces so they’ll all cook at about the same rate.

High Fiber | Low Sat Fat | Heart Healthy

Active time: 30 minutes | Total time: 35 minutes | Makes 4 servings, about 1 1/2 cups stir-fry & 1/2 cup rice each

Ease of preparation: Easy

Building the perfect taco is a very personal task—cheese under meat, cheese on top, no cheese at all? This is just our recommendation.

Ingredients
2 cups instant brown rice
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons apricot preserves
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 pound chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons finely grated or minced ginger
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
6 cups bite-size pieces of vegetables, such as snow peas, broccoli and bell peppers
1 5-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained

Directions
1. Prepare rice according to the package directions.

2. Meanwhile, whisk vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch and apricot preserves in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, undisturbed, for 2 minutes. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink on the outside and just starting to brown in spots, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate.

4. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 20 to 30 seconds. Add broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add vegetables, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the vegetables are tender-crisp, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in water chestnuts and the chicken. Whisk the reserved sauce and add to the pan. Simmer, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is heated through, about 1 minute. Serve with the rice.

Per serving: 465 calories; 10 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 68 mg cholesterol; 62 g carbohydrate; 34 g protein; 7 g fiber; 674 mg sodium; 406 mg potassium.

Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (320% daily value), Vitamin A (70% dv), Fiber (28% dv).

3 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings

Exchanges: 2 starch, 3 vegetable, 4 lean meat