Grandma's Sweet & Sour Stir-Fry

Full of delicious veggies marinated in a sweet sauce, with a splash of pineapple throughout, this Sweet & Sour Stir-Fry is a wonderful main course for dinner, that you'll love :)

This was my grandma's recipe that we've used for years now. It's definitely a favorite! You can pretty much put any vegetables in it you please, it's a very easy recipe to switch up.

Our family usually likes to put in bell peppers (my personal favorite is red), carrots, broccoli, onion, and our latest addition is mushrooms. As well, we add some chopped up chicken breast and pineapple.

And of course we can't forget the sauce! I love this sauce. As you can guess from the name, it's sweet and sour. So we use the drained pineapple juice from the can we used in the veggie mixture, and we put it together with some brown sugar, dried mustard, cornstarch, vinegar, water, and ketchup.

This goes over-top delicious brown rice!

This recipe is really a 'taste and see if you like it' sort of recipe. You really don't have to follow measurements too closely, except for maybe the first time making it. ;) We didn't actually have a recipe for this until the other night when we made it and forced ourselves to figure out what the measurements are. You can do this easily from your head, making sure to taste test after putting in a dash of this and a dash of that. :)

Grandma's Sweet & Sour Stir-Fry
Serves: Around 6 people

Note: This is a very versatile recipe. You can put whatever vegetables in it, pretty much in whatever quantity, within reason, and it'll turn out great! So don't be afraid of experimenting!

Ingredients

1 large boneless breasted chicken
2 cups uncooked brown rice (You can play around with how much rice you need depending on how large your family is. Normally 2 or so cups will do our family of 6)
3 large carrots, chopped
200 grams whole white mushrooms, peeled and chopped
1 - 14 fl. oz can chopped pineapple, drained (Keep the juice to use in your sauce)
1 and 1/2 cups broccoli
Red, green, yellow bell peppers - probably one of each kind, or if you prefer one over the other, go ahead and do a couple of them!
1 onion, chopped

Sweet & Sour Sauce Recipe

3 and 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. dried mustard
2 and 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 cup pineapple juice (from the can you used with the veggie mixture)
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 and 1/3 cup water
1 cup ketchup

Directions

In a small skillet, cook the chicken breast until thoroughly cooked through and slightly browned.
While the chicken is cooking, fill a pot with double the amount of rice you are making (so 4 cups of water) and bring to a boil.
Add the rice and turn the heat down to low and let all the water soak into the rice. Make sure not to lift the lid more than absolutely necessary while the rice is cooking.
Keep tending the chicken, making sure it doesn't over-cook. While doing this and waiting for the rice, start chopping up carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, onion, and whatever other vegetables you have. Remember, you can put in pretty much whatever you'd like, and however much you'd like.
Add all your veggies to another large skillet and cook on medium heat until veggies are cooked through. It's okay if they're a bit crunchy, especially the carrots. Just as long as they're nice and hot and not too, too crunchy. :)
Once the chicken is cooked, add it to the skillet of veggies.
When the veggies are nearly done, add the can of drained pineapple to the mixture and stir around and let cook for a couple more minutes.

For the sauce: Add the brown sugar, and dried mustard to a pot.
Pour the pineapple juice that you drained from the pineapple you added to the veggie mixture to a small cup. Mix thoroughly with the cornstarch and pour into the pot.
Add the vinegar, water, and ketchup to the pot and stir well with a whisk until there are no clumps.
Cook on medium heat, making sure to stir it often.
Take off the heat and pour it into the veggie mixture after that is fully cooked.
Serve the rice with the veggie mixture on top.

(optional): You can chop up some fresh pineapple to have at the table for anyone who wants extra on top!