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homemade mcdonalds sweet sour sauce
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Copycat McDonald's Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe - with Chicken Nuggets

Our favorite chicken nuggets dipped in a homemade copycat McDonald’s sweet and sour sauce.
Course Chicken Breast
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 704kcal
Author Adina

Ingredients

  • Sweet and sour sauce:
  • 1 ¼ cup apricot jam
  • 2 tablespoons light sugar syrup or corn syrup
  • 3 tablespoons apple vinegar
  • 3 teaspoons corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder or 1 garlic clove grated
  • 4 tablespoons water
  • Chicken nuggets
  • 2 lbs chicken breast
  • 2 ½ cups panko or other dried breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup Parmesan very finely grated
  • 1 teaspoon dried herbs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 eggs
US - EU

Instructions

  • Sweet and Sour Sauce
  • Place all the ingredients for the sauce except the water in a small pan and blend until smooth using a hand blender. Add the water to the pan and bring everything to a boil. Let simmer on medium-low heat, often stirring for about 5 minutes.
  • Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the pan while stirring so that the sweet and sour sauce will not catch. You will notice that the sauce will become darker and thicker while cooking.
  • Cool: Take off the heat and let cool completely. Stir well before serving.
  • Chicken Nuggets
  • Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celsius/ 410 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Pre-bake panko: Place the panko breadcrumbs on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, level well, and bake until golden, about 5 to 6 minutes, stirring once and leveling again after the first 3 minutes. The panko breadcrumbs should be nicely golden but not too dark.
  • Cool: Place the panko into a large shallow bowl, let cool completely. I usually bake the panko just after or before making the sweet and sour sauce, so they both have time to cool.
  • Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius/ 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
  • Mix the panko breadcrumbs with the Parmesan and the herbs.
  • Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces. Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper.
  • Bread chicken: Place the flour into a shallow bowl and the lightly beaten eggs into another bowl. Place the bowl containing the panko breadcrumbs near these bowls.
  • First, coat the chicken pieces with flour, shake off excess. Next, dredge the chicken pieces through the eggs, shake shortly to allow the excess egg to drip off, and coat in panko breadcrumbs.
  • Bake: Place the chicken pieces on the prepared baking sheets and bake the sheets one at a time for about 10 minutes or until cooked through. Flip the chicken nuggets once after 5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the chicken.
  • Serve the chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce and baked potato wedges. See the suggestions above regarding the leftover sweet and sour sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 of the dish | Calories: 704kcal | Carbohydrates: 87g | Protein: 55g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 260mg | Sodium: 1162mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 30g