BEST Sweet and Sour Sauce
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Look no further for what is consistently ranked the BEST sweet and sour sauce recipe on the web – just check out the rave reviews! It takes just 6 ingredients and 5 minutes to make and the result is a delicious and versatile homemade sweet and sour sauce that beats anything 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, you’re in for a treat. I’m a huge fan of homemade condiments because it gives you full control over what goes in it and what stays out, it enables you to customize it to your tastes (e.g., add or omit ingredients, reduce the salt) and it tastes so much better than store-bought or what you get at the takeout.
Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients
Simple and quick to make, you will need just six ingredients to make the best sweet and sour sauce recipe. Let’s take a look at what’s in it:
- Pineapple juice: adds flavor, tang, and sweetness.
- Rice vinegar: provides the contrasting “sour”.
- Brown sugar: adds depth of flavor and sweetness.
- Soy sauce or tamari: adds the savory umami component (I recommend tamari for a better flavor).
- Ketchup: adds flavor and sweetness.
- Cornstarch and water: for thickening the sauce.
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.
Storage and Freezing
Stored in an airtight jar in the fridge sweet and sour sauce will keep for up to 3 weeks. I’m often asked if this sauce can be frozen. As with all condiments thickened with cornstarch, it does not freeze well because cornstarch tends to break down when frozen and thawed.
How To Use It
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 that I like 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.
For more phenomenal homemade Asian sauces try my:
- 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
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BEST Sweet and Sour Sauce
Equipment
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 natural red food coloring
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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet April 9, 2017
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
first class. Thank you for sharing
Thank you so much, Aidan, I appreciate it!
I tried this tonight with stir fried chicken and Asian vegetables. I didn’t have pineapple juice so added some tropical fruit cordial instead. I served it with basmati rice. There was not a drop left. It was delicious.
Fantastic and nice call with the tropical fruit cordial, thank you for the feedback Sheryl!
So very easy, with ingredients I had on hand. Very good and so much better than bottled!
Fantastic, thank you so much, Joyce!
My husband and I like to go to our usual chinese restaraunt but when covid hit they stopped making their sweet and sour sauce for their sweet and sour chicken and crab cheese wontons. Instead they substitute tiny packets of sweet and sour sauce that you have to open yourself and we go through lots of them despite the fact that the the packetss have an artificial flavor. Today, I decided to make your sweet and sour recipe and sneak it into the place and Im tellin ya, It was Absolutely delicious and I didnt change a thing! Thank you thank you!!!!
Awesome!! I’m so glad, Stacey, thank you very much for the feedback!
I’m late to the party but wow what a winning recipe.Thank yous much for sharing 👏 sharing this with us
Sweet And Sour Red Wine Sauce
1 1/2 cups of red wine
2 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt or a good pinch
2 1/2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
Mix the cornstarch into the wine blending well. Add everything else to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook off alcohol about 1 minute at boiling and until sauce is thick. If you need a thinner sauce add more wine and a pinch more brown sugar. Should balance out nicely. I coat crispy fried pork bites with it :)
Rivals some of the great Cantonese sweet and sour sauces. Restaurant secrets can be hard to emulate. IMO
I blended pineapple cubes in a magic bulky that I had previously frozen. I also added fresh ginger. Still came out excellent. Thanks!
Fantastic, Kimberly, thanks for the feedback!
could I substitute honey for brown sugar if so how much?
Hi Deb, yes you can but I haven’t done so and without experimenting I can’t give you an exact amount. I would say start with no more than 1/4 cup because honey is much sweeter than sugar. Then taste the sauce and decide if you’d like to add more.
nice. I used half of the brown sugar. used cider vinegar and added a little maraschino cherry juice for color instead of red dye because it added a little extra flavor along with color.
This recipe is awesome, my wife Terrie Marie loves it, pork,chicken, it goes with everything and tastes delicious. Thanks for the recipe
Fantastic, Terry, thank you so much and I’m happy you both enjoyed it!
I made this tonight to go with our stirfry, it was good, but could have used a little more sweetness. Maybe Another 1/4 of a cup of Brown sugar. ?
Hi Patricia, you can definitely add more sugar according to your personal preference, that’s no problem.
I made this without the soy sauce and used sugar substitute. Tastes pretty good and you can’t taste the juice
Kimberly, You really ought to check your link to the food colorant recommended in this recipe. ALL 4 of the colorants in this product have nasty chemicals. The red colorant, to which you refer specifically, is neither natural nor beet-based at all.
I love your recipes, but this issue sheds (unnecessary) doubt on your credibility.
Maybe Amazon changed the product you were linked to?
Hi MommaDean, thanks for bringing that to my attention. Yes, Amazon switched the product. Calling my credibility into question is harsh. My aim is to produce consistently good, reliable recipes for my readers to enjoy and I would hope that my credibility is judged on that. I wish I were able to monitor changes like Amazon’s continually changing links but with over 1000 recipes on my site it just isn’t feasible. So it’s helpful when readers bring these things to my attention so I can adjust them.
Super simple & tasty! I added red pepper flakes for a touch of heat.
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.
I’m so glad, George, thank you!