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Home » BEST Sweet and Sour Sauce

BEST Sweet and Sour Sauce

Written on April 9, 2017

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There are so many ways to enjoy this popular and versatile sauce.  And with only 5 ingredients and 5 minutes of prep/cook time, this delicious Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe couldn’t be simpler!  Plus it’s better than your favorite Chinese takeout or restaurant!

sweet and sour sauce recipe best easy homemade chinese takeout

Chinese food and sweet and sour sauce go hand in hand and for that reason you’ll find it served in every Chinese restaurant and at every takeout.  It’s also an essential staple to have in your kitchen.  If you’ve never made your own, it’s time to get on board because not only is it incredibly easy, it tastes WAY better than store-bought and what you get at your local takeout.  Plus it’s free of preservatives, chemicals and junk ingredients.

Get ready for this fast, simple, and thoroughly deeeelicious homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe!

How To Use Sweet and Sour Sauce

Sweet and sour sauce is the ultimate dipping sauce for potstickers, egg rolls, wontons, chicken nuggets, fish sticks and anything else your heart desires.

You can also incorporate it into your favorite Chinese dishes like sweet and sour chicken, pork or shrimp, sweet and sour meatballs, Asian salad dressings, and as a glaze for grilled chicken, pork, seafood, kabobs, ribs, etc.  It’s even delicious just drizzled over a bowl of hot steamed rice.

You can also omit the cornstarch and use this sauce as a marinade.

how to use sweet and sour sauce ideashow to use sweet and sour sauce ideas

How To Store Sweet and Sour Sauce

Store it in an airtight jar in the fridge and it will keep for 2-3 weeks.

Do I Have To Use Red Food Coloring?

Not at all!  You can make this without food coloring.  One of the advantage of making homemade anything is that you don’t have to include the junk ingredients that the store-bought stuff often uses.  The red food coloring is purely for aesthetics and tastes exactly the same without it.  If you prefer the red color but don’t want to use chemicals in your food there are natural food coloring options and I provide a link to one option in the recipe card below.

BE SURE TO TRY THESE OTHER FABULOUS HOMEMADE CHINESE SAUCES!

Hoisin Sauce

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Black Bean Sauce

black bean sauce recipe chinese homemade paste garlic recipe authentic traditional best asian

Plum Sauce

plum sauce recipe chinese asian best homemade

Teriyaki Sauce

teriyaki sauce recipe best homemade

Sweet Chili Sauce

sweet chili sauce recipe homemade best

Let’s get started!

Get your five ingredients ready to go because making this sauce goes fast.  Measure out your pineapple juice, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and ketchup.  Prepare the cornstarch slurry and set it aside.

chinese asian sweet sour sauce recipe best easy fast quick pineapple juice takeout restaurant

Add all of the ingredients except for the cornstarch slurry in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

chinese asian sweet sour sauce recipe best easy fast quick pineapple juice takeout restaurant

Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer for another minute until thickened.

chinese asian sweet sour sauce recipe best easy fast quick pineapple juice takeout restaurant

You can stop at this point or, if you want, you can add 2-3 drops of food coloring to make your sauce look the way it does at the Chinese takeout.  Check out this all-natural food coloring.

chinese asian sweet sour sauce recipe best easy fast quick pineapple juice takeout restaurant

Let the sauce cool completely.  Store it in an airtight jar in the fridge where it will keep for 2-3 weeks.

Enjoy!

chinese asian sweet sour sauce recipe best easy fast quick pineapple juice takeout restaurant

 

PIN ME!

sweet and sour sauce recipe homemade chinese asian best

sweet and sour sauce recipe best homemade

Best Sweet and Sour Sauce

Kimberly Killebrew
Making your own sweet and sour sauce couldn't be any easier!  Plus it's free of junk ingredients and tastes MUCH better than store-bought!
Print Recipe
4.57 from 369 votes
Prep Time 2 mins
Cook Time 3 mins
Total Time 5 mins
Course condiment
Cuisine American, Asian, Chinese
Servings 16 servings
Calories 52 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1 cup canned pineapple juice ,see note
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • OR brown sugar alternative (for low sugar option)
  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar ,found in the Asian or general vinegar section of any grocery store, or you can substitute apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari (GF)
  • For the Cornstarch Slurry: 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
  • Optional: 2-3 drops all-natural red food coloring (the one I've linked to is natural, colored with beets. It's in powdered form, simply stir some in to a couple of teaspoons of water and add it to the sauce)

Instructions
 

  • Place all of the ingredients, except for the cornstarch slurry, in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer for another minute until thickened, stirring constantly. If using red food coloring, stir it in.
  • Let the sauce cool completely and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

Video

Notes

* Freshly squeezed pineapple juice contains enzymes that will break down the cornstarch and prevent the sauce from remaining thick, so either use canned or bottled

Nutrition

Calories: 52kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Sodium: 154mg | Potassium: 47mg | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Keyword Sweet and Sour Sauce
Tried this recipe? Mention @daringgourmet or hashtag #daringgourmet

 

 

 

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Topics include: Affiliate, All Recipes, Asia, By Country or Region, By Type of Dish, China, Disclosure, Food, Gluten Free, Sauces, Seasonings and Condiments as well as: Asia, Chinese, condiment, dipping, gluten free, sauce, sweet and sour sauce, sweet sour sauce, vegan, vegetarian451 Comments →

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451 Responses

  1. Tamara says

    April 15, 2021 at 5:21 pm

    Delicious! I subbed coconut aminos for the soy sauce and made sweet and sour cauliflower bites yum!

    Reply
  2. Dianne says

    April 11, 2021 at 11:58 am

    Love it and so easy to make !

    Reply
  3. Debbie Florio says

    April 7, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    This is by far the best sweet and sour sauce recipe I have tried!

    Reply
    • Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says

      April 7, 2021 at 11:11 pm

      Thank you so much, Debbie! :)

      Reply
  4. Haisley Bible says

    March 28, 2021 at 3:17 pm

    i would definitely suggest not putting in so much ketchup!! kind of tasted like too much

    Reply
  5. Veronica Davis says

    March 20, 2021 at 10:54 pm

    I made it but I could taste the apple cider vinegar a lot but I could still taste the sweet sauce and couldn’t taste the apple cider when I ate it with chicken! Amazing!

    Reply
  6. Carol Ann Phillips says

    March 16, 2021 at 1:37 pm

    I have little clumps of ketchup that’d not dissolve. What did I do wrong?

    Reply
    • Cameron T says

      April 7, 2021 at 4:17 am

      Try mixing the ketchup with sugar first, so it turns into a slushy partially dissolved mixture. This should bind the ketchup so when you add liquid, it will dissolve.

      Reply
  7. Kelly says

    February 21, 2021 at 5:49 pm

    Very good, although I am wondering how to turn it red, because it’s so Brown I don’t see how red food coloring would penetrate that colour after using the soy sauce

    Reply
    • James says

      February 28, 2021 at 8:44 am

      It does :)

      Reply
  8. Anonymous says

    February 19, 2021 at 6:56 pm

    I also didn’t have Pineapple juice, but I had fresh pineapple that I had thrown into the freezer before it turned. I threw the pineapple in the microwave and then blitzed it in the blender and used that. It is delicious.

    Reply
  9. J Maleia says

    February 18, 2021 at 2:02 pm

    I’ve made this recipe many times, usually exactly as it is published above. There has been a time or two I didn’t have pineapple juice and substituted cranberry juice and once I was in a hurry and discovered I had no pineapple juice and used one of my grandkids’ Roaring waters tropical punch! It’s been great every time.u

    Reply
  10. Evelyn Jepson says

    February 14, 2021 at 7:15 am

    Im going to make it, because our local doesn’t always include it and it charges for it, so will make my own..

    Reply
  11. Lindsey says

    February 12, 2021 at 12:05 pm

    Had a good but not too sweet flavor. good on chicken and got some on the cauliflower which was good.

    Reply
  12. Robert Sumner says

    February 10, 2021 at 4:48 pm

    This was a really good sweet & sour sauce for its type. I favor S & S with maraschino cherry juice, which is not always handy.

    I would make this one again, but be careful with the ketchup. Three tablespoons may be too much!

    Reply
  13. Gordon Gray says

    February 7, 2021 at 2:25 am

    Dead easy to make, tastes better than take out, just added a little lime juice to reduce sweetness

    Reply
  14. Ana María de js. Rodríguez Melendez says

    February 6, 2021 at 4:01 pm

    Me gusto el tip que das de obsercion de no usar jugo fresco de piña gracias pir la información

    Reply
  15. Pat says

    February 3, 2021 at 1:20 pm

    Made sauce didn’t add slurry. Cooked chic chunks than added sauce coated chic then added slurry cooked down. Served with Asian salad .keeper2/21

    Reply
  16. Kelsey says

    January 30, 2021 at 7:40 am

    Didn’t have pineapple juice so I used mandarin can juice and apple cider vinegar with a bit extra brown sugar and it turned out amazing!! Great recipe. Note that if you do change it to a different size that the corn starch slurry doesn’t change so you have to do the math yourself.

    Reply
  17. NI says

    January 29, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    This was a good recipe, I had all the ingredients except for straight pineapple juice, I used pineapple and mango instead. The only critic I have is that it tastes a little powerful- more on the vinergary side which I don’t know how to change now that I’ve made it, but nevertheless its a good recipe.

    Reply
  18. Patricia Alexander says

    January 27, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    I am head chef at a mission for men and women. We also feed the homeless and families in need , around 150 people a night. I made an extra large batch to go over chic filet chicken, which was donated and a few pots of rice. Everyone really enjoyed it. And it was super easy to make. Thank you so much . My day went so smooth and I can think of a hundred things it would go with. More recipes like that Please

    Reply
  19. Anita says

    January 23, 2021 at 2:20 pm

    I simply love this recipe. I used a little more Brown sugar because I used regular vinegar instead of the Asian version. It is so delicious. In I love it. Thank you

    Reply
  20. Mike says

    January 23, 2021 at 1:04 pm

    I’ve never had the pineapple juice so I make it with cran-mango and it’s fantastic!

    Reply
    • Alex says

      March 18, 2021 at 5:16 pm

      That was going to be my suggestion, and it’s red!

      Reply
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kimberly killebrew the daring gourmet

Welcome!  I’m Kimberly and I share delicious originals, revitalized classics and authentic dishes from around the world.  Come travel the world through your taste buds!

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The Daring Gourmet is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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