Cassava Crusted Chicken with Sweet & Sour Sauce

Name: Sweet & Sour Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 1/2 Cups
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1 Cup Pineapple Chunks in 100% Juice; 1/4 Cup Ketchup; 2 TB Rice Vinegar; 1 TB Coconut Aminos; 1/2 Tsp Minced Garlic; 1/4 Tsp Onion Powder; Sliced Green Onion (optional)

February 3, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 114 Comments

Crispy cassava crusted chicken with a tantalizing sweet & sour sauce to amp up your dipping action. No more boring chicken tenders here, gluten-free and paleo, this dinner recipe will please the entire family any night of the week!

There really is nothing better than coated/crusted chicken tenders. From pretzels to almonds, (I have a plantain one too!), the possibilities are endless. A savory granola would be pretty fantastic too! Many celiacs think that with the “doom” of diagnosis, coated chicken tenders is a thing of the past. No more gluten-filled panko for you! That sadness should only last a minute before you realize the chicken coating possibilities just got better and more expansive. No more boring chicken tenders for you!

I’ve told you many times how much I LOVE yucca (yuca/cassava) root. My top 3 starches: ALL potatoes, yucca, and plantains. I would not be able to live without these beauties in my life. The other fun thing about these fabulous grain-free plant starches is that they make some fabulous chips. Potato is obviously, so is plantain, but then we have yucca. And lucky us, Goya makes some damn fine yucca chips all ready to be crusted (or snacked on) just for you (they also have fabulous plantain chips!).

So if I feel like doubling up on yucca at dinner time, making cassava crusted chicken seems like a fantastic idea (with a side of baked yucca fries). Of course that leads us down the road of “dipping”. I obviously most always opt for ketchup (so much ketchup!), but sometimes a little something with a bit more tang and pizzazz is welcome. Welcome, sweet and sour sauce! And iconic Asian dip, you know, Chinese take-out battered and fried chicken with that reddish sweet and sour sauce? Yes, I’m talking about that baby!

Success! I made the Asian classic free of all allergens (I’m looking at you SOY!) and healthier of course! I even snuck in my dear love, ketchup! Now, even though cassava isn’t an Asian “food” per-see, those chips make a mighty find replacement for fried chicken bites! The true Chinese take-out version of chicken with sweet and sour sauce was a favorite, but was not ordered often in out family. I mean, it’s a pretty unhealthy dish! But on those occasions we did, o it was savored! Chicken.Dipping.Action!

Now, not going to lie, this chicken actually tasted pretty similar! So did the sweet and sour sauce! It was just way less greasy and heavy which is a win-win! Chinese take-out with a major regional twist but pretty perfect for anyone with food allergies! No worries about the batter or oil contamination either. Just fresh clean cassava crusted chicken and that lovely sweet and sour sauce. So first, here’s the recipe for the sauce!

Sweet & Sour Sauce

Sweet & Sour Sauce

Homemade sweet and sour sauce made healthy, gluten-free, paleo, vegan, and soy-free! Everyone can enjoy this tangy sweet dipping sauce recipe as a condiment to any meal!

Author: Rebecca Pytell
Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 5 mins
Yield: 1 1/2 Cups 1x
Category: Condiment, Sauce
Cuisine: Asian

Scale

Ingredients

1 Cup Pineapple Chunks in 100% Juice
1/4 Cup Ketchup
2 TB Rice Vinegar
1 TB Coconut Aminos
1/2 Tsp Minced Garlic
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
Sliced Green Onion (optional)

Instructions

In a food processor, blend all ingredients together until you have a smooth sauce.
Pour into a bowl and top with sliced green onion if desired.

Easy sweet and sour saucy goodness, right? You’ll probably be making this sauce for everything, not just this chicken! What ever dipping vessel you choose, it will be a good one! But, it’s essential for this chicken! I’ll say it, it was even better than plain ketchup would have been! CRAZY, but true 😉 Now here’s the super easy cassava (yucca) crusted chicken recipe!

Cassava Crusted Chicken