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!
Get ready for a fast, simple, and deeeelicious Sweet & Sour Sauce!
This sweet and sour sauce is perfect as a dipping sauce for potstickers, egg rolls, chicken nuggets and anything else your heart desires. Use also to incorporate into your favorite Chinese dishes like sweet & sour chicken, pork or shrimp, sweet & sour meatballs, Asian salad dressings, and as a glaze for grilled chicken and pork, etc.
BEFORE WE GET TO THE RECIPE
DON’T FORGET TO TRY THESE OTHER GREAT CHINESE CONDIMENTS:
Homemade Hoisin Sauce
Homemade Black Bean Sauce (aka Black Bean Garlic Sauce
or Black Bean Paste)
Homemade Chinese Plum Sauce (Duck Sauce)
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Ready to make some Sweet and Sour Sauce?
Let’s get started!
Add 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.
You can stop at this point or, if you want, you can add 2-3 drops of food coloring to make your sweet and sour sauce look the way it does at the Chinese takeout. Check out this all-natural food coloring.
Let the sauce cool completely.
Enjoy!
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Best Sweet and Sour Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned pineapple juice ,see note
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- OR sugar-free brown sugar substitute
- 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 add a bit of powder for color)
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
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Cat Sipes says
Do you use unsweetened pineapple juice or sweetened pineapple juice?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Cat, I use 100% pineapple juice but you can use either – if you use sweetened you can cut back a bit on the brown sugar.
Tabs says
Hi, just made this sauce and I used unsweetened pineapple juice but I would guess if you only have sweetened just put a bit less sugar/ sweetener in.
Really nice sauce, can’t wait to try the black bean sauce
Jo says
Fab recipes, made this twice now, much better than local takeaway, can I freeze left over sauce though?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, thank you Jo! Cornstarch doesn’t freeze well, you’d need to make a batch without cornstarch to freeze and then reheat/add the cornstarch later.
delle says
l’ve read somewhere that to use potato starch instead of cornstarch because potato starch is more stable in the refrigerator or freezer?
Amanda Stone says
Hi there, I am trying to ditch all questionable ingredients from our diet and make my own dressings and sauces as much as possible. That’s what brought me here. However, my concern is that ketchup is store bought and contains all those bad things. Are you using home made ketchup or can pure tomato paste be subbed for ketchup in this recipe? Thanks so much 🤗
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Amanda, it depends on the brand of ketchup – some have junk ingredients in them while others are simply tomatoes, vinegar and seasonings. Tomato paste will not yield the same flavor results, so I do recommend ketchup.
Tammy Meyer says
I need it a little more sour.
Christopher Parker says
Oyster Sauce
Wilma J Strong says
This is the best and fastest red sauce! I didn’t have rice vinegar so I used red wine vinegar. Used crushed pineapple with juice. Came out wonderful! Couldn’t have been easier!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Wilma, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
Marlene says
OMG!! The Best sauce I’ve ever made! Hubby now thinks I’m a cooking goddess ( as if he needs more reasons!). Thanks so much for sharing this!! I will definitely be making this again!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
LOL, Marlene, that’s wonderful, thanks so much!
Charles Hudson says
This sweet and sour sauce is wonderful Easy to make. I have already gone through a dozen spring rolls with this sauce You will not be disappointed. Many thanks for sharing!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Charles!
Jenny says
Hi, I made this tonight but found it very sour and mostly tasted like soy sauce and vinegar. Also, mine was dark brown, I followed the recipe so what went wrong?? I added more ketchup and sugar but it was still very tangy.
jr says
Yep, mine was sour and sour sauce, too. If I make this again, I will be using a significantly less amount of vinegar.
Nancy says
It was delicious and easy! Thanks for putting this recipe out there!
CAROL - says
wow!! easy and fantabulous sweet and sour!! made crab rangoon and served it with this awesome sweet and sour. next up, sweet and sour chicken, yummers!! Thank you so much
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Carol, thank you!
Donna Johnston says
Made sweet and sour yesterday it is lovely I used ordinary vinegar just a little less. I’ve already past recipe to my friends.
Thanku
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you so much, Donna!
Anonymous says
With this recipe can you preserve it in canning jars. For long term shelf live.
Anonymous says
Turn on vent full blast. Gets smelly 😭
Rosiev says
I didn’t have pineapple juice, so used orange juice…turned out great. Thank you for sharing.
Anonymous says
i don’t have pineapple juice, what else can i use?
Kathy Delp says
Tried making this. Unfortunately, the rice wine vinegar measurement was WAY to much for my liking. Had to readajust all my other ingredients again to try and fix it. If I do it again, will definately NOT use that much vinegar.