Look no further for what is consistently ranked the BEST sweet and sour sauce recipe on the web! There are so many ways to enjoy this popular and versatile sauce (see blog post for ideas) and it takes just 5 ingredients and only 5 minutes of prep/cook time. This homemade sweet and sour sauce couldn’t be simpler to make and it tastes so much better than store-bought or takeout!
What is Sweet and Sour Sauce?
Sweet and sour sauce is a popular condiment made, just as its name suggests, by combining sweet and sour flavor components (a sugar and a vinegar) with a thickener to make a sauce that is used for dipping, drizzling, and incorporated into dishes. 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. 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.
How To Use Sweet and Sour Sauce
Sweet and sour sauce features a balanced combination of sweet and tangy flavors, making it a versatile condiment that can be used in various ways to enhance the flavor of your dishes. Here are a few ways to use it:
- Dipping Sauce: This is the ultimate dipping sauce for things like potstickers, egg rolls, spring rolls, wontons, dumplings, tempura, fish sticks, and chicken nuggets. Pour the sauce into small bowls to serve alongside your favorite foods and snacks.
- Stir-Fry Sauce: Use this as a base for stir-frying vegetables, meat, or tofu. Stir fry your meat/tofu and veggies and then add the sauce towards the end of the cooking process. Toss everything together and serve it over steamed rice or noodles.
- Marinade: Add the sauce to the meat or tofu before grilling, let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, then proceed with grilling.
- Glaze: This works great as a glaze for grilled or roasted meats and seafood like chicken, pork, fish and shrimp. Brush the sauce over the meat during the last few minutes of cooking for a tasty, caramelized glaze. This also works great for things like baked chicken drumsticks and wings.
- Salad Dressing: Mix some of this sauce with your salad oil, and add a dash of toasted sesame oil if you like, to make an Asian-inspired salad dressing for your greens.
- Sandwich Spread: Use this as a spread for your sandwiches and wraps for an Asian twist. It goes particular well with chicken, turkey and pork.
- Pizza Sauce: Get creative and drizzle this over your pizza for an Asian twist, for example chicken or ham, pineapple, peppers, and onions.
Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients
You need just five ingredients to make the best sweet and sour sauce: pineapple juice, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and ketchup. Then to thicken it you’ll need some cornstarch and water.
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.
Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
Let’s get started!
Get your 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.
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 sauce look the way it does at the Chinese takeout. Check out this all-natural food coloring.
Let the sauce cool completely. Store it in an airtight jar in the fridge where it will keep for up to 3 weeks.
Enjoy!
Watch How to Make It
For more phenomenal homemade Asian sauces be sure to try our:
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Yum Yum Sauce
- Hoisin Sauce
- Black Bean Sauce
- Eel Sauce
- Plum Sauce
- Asian Salad Dressing
- Kecap Manis
- Sweet Chili Sauce
- Ponzu Sauce
- Char Siu Sauce
- Ginger Sauce
BEST Sweet and Sour Sauce
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 where it will keep for 2-3 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet April 9, 2017
Lenee Garner says
This sauce is a hit in my house just made it tonight!!! Store bought sauce is history 😀.
Kimberly Killebrew says
YESSSS!! Thank you, Lenee! :)
Sarah wrenn says
Used white wine vinegar cos that’s all I had. Lovely smooth sauce. A hit with this family
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thanks so much, Sarah!
Charlotte says
We don’t have food coloring. Could we use cherry juice?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Charlotte, if you use cherry juice you’ll want to cut back on the pineapple juice so that you don’t end up with too much liquid.
Sarah says
What note should I be referring to when measuring the pineapple juice?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Sarah, it’s in the Notes section at the very bottom of the recipe: “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.”
Jackey says
This is an excellent recipe. I did however substitute whole grain flour in place of corn starch. If you do this don’t try to make the slurry just put it through a sifter into the boiling ingredients and then stir. I also used coconut sugar in place of sugar and coconut secret coconut tree sap in place of soya for no msg. Have not tried the tamari. If you want this completely msg free opt for homemade ketchup or get a ketchup from an organic market that has all ingredients you can understand. Avoid things that say “spices” as that can be hidden msg.
Jena says
Thank you. ❤️ My husband was crazy about the flavor. Made sweet and sour spareribs, the little ones. I had some today so yummy. Funny lot of things he won’t eat, ketchup 🤣 have learned to keep my mouth shut. Outstanding.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thank you so much, Jena, I’m so glad you both enjoyed it!
Loriann says
My daughter can not have MSG, that is found in soy sauce. Is there an alternative without soy. Do you think it would make a huge difference if I do not add it?
Tyler says
Tamari. Also works for celiacs.
Paige says
Try coconut aminos. there is no taste of coconut though.
Jon says
Is there something I can substitute for pineapple juice?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Jon, it will obviously alter the flavor profile but you can use orange juice as well.
Anonymous says
I just got done making thuis with the juice from canned mandarin oranges and made up the volume difference with lemon juice.
Turned out really well.
Heidi Wolff says
Is there a substitution for the ketchup? I can’t eat tomatoes. Thanks
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Heidi, there really is isn’t. You could try a mild red chili sauce instead but that will obviously change the flavor profile or you can simply omit it, which will also change the flavor profile. You can experiment and see which you prefer.
Jeff Barnett says
Try adding some of the other ingredients found in ketchup like onion and garlic powder also spices like ginger and cinnamon. Maybe some graham masala.
Max says
Phillipino banana ketchup is even better than tomato ketchup
DrunkJedi says
All it takes is some creativity. Ketchup is made from what, just spit ballin here, but probably tomatoes vinegar sugar and spices. So just take the tomato out, substitute something that you can purée smooth like maybe mangoes. Obviously mangoes have a lot more fructose then something like tomatoes so drop the sugar down a bit. Then add in the vinegar and spices and you have yourself a mango ketchup. Shouldn’t be too hard to figure out with a little creative thinking. As others of said when adjusting the recipe expect flavor profile changes.
Porsche says
Your recipes looks so good and easy to prepare. Will try the sauce. Thank you. Porsche.
Sue Robertson says
I chopped up some bell peppers (red, green,& yellow) sauted til soft, cooked some cut up chicken. Put it all together and made my own Sweet & Sour Chicken.. It was a BIG hit, at first guest were asking what restaurant did I find with such an awesome sweet & sour sauce. I told them, I found it online.
Thanks for sharing.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Fantastic, Sue, thanks so much for sharing and I’m thrilled it was a hit!
Anonymous says
We loved this recipe. My son said it was the best meal I ever made ( I don’t know about that lol) but it was delicious! 👍👍
Laura says
This is our new go-to sweet and sour sauce. Fabulous!! I used it over homemade Italian meatballs. After eating it 2 nights in a row, my husband requested it again a few days later! Excellent!!
Can this recipe be frozen or canned?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Fantastic, Laura, thank you! This recipe hasn’t been tested/approved for canning but yes, it can be frozen. However cornstarch tends to break down when frozen so you may need to re-thicken it once thawed.
Patty says
I used this Sweet N Sour Sauce with my Chicken Stir Fry today and it was a hit. I think next time I will use a bit less rice vinegar. I ended up and added 1/3 cup more light brown sugar. But it’s definitely a keeper. thanks for sharing
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thanks so much for the feedback, Patty, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Kyle Ross says
I consider any recipe with ketchup as an ingredient to be highly questionable, *especially* in Chinese and other Asian cuisines.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Kyle, I’m not sure why you find that questionable. Ketchup is widely used throughout China and Asian countries at large. China actually produces nearly 20% of the world’s ketchup. Interestingly too is that ketchup’s origins are attributed to China where it was a fermented fish sauce called “ge-thcup” or “koe-cheup” and eventually evolved into the ketchup we know today.
Anonymous says
Thanks for the trivia. I learn something everyday.
Debi says
I’ve lived throughout Southeast Asia (loving authentic Asian cuisine across the board) where humble Ketchup is a very commonly used ingredient in most countries…I’m very thankful for Trader Joe’s & Jungle Jim’s where I can find one of our favorite Asian banana ketchups…Ketchup isn’t only used for French Fries… : )