Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe

This sweet and sour sauce is glossy, tangy, and perfectly balanced with pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, and soy sauce. If you want an easy homemade sauce that tastes better than takeout and comes together in minutes, this is a great one to keep in your back pocket.

What is Sweet and Sour Sauce?

Sweet and sour sauce (or just sweet sour sauce or Chinese red sauce) is a condiment that is typically associated with Asian cuisine but is actually used in many global cuisines. It refers to any sauce that combines sweet flavors with a puckery acidic balance.

Is duck sauce the same thing as sweet and sour sauce? No, duck sauce is very sweet but with no “sour.” It is typically made with many fruit purees and juices including apricots, plums, peaches or pineapples.

Gather This

You are going to love that a lot of these sweet and sour sauce ingredients you might already have on hand in your kitchen. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.

• Ketchup– The base for the sauce and also what will give it color without having to use food coloring.

Variations

There are lots of ways to add variety to this homemade Chinese sauce. You can easily customize it to make your own tasty sauce.

• Orange – Use orange juice instead of pineapple.
• Ginger – Add fresh ginger for additional flavor.
• Heat – Throw in some red pepper flakes for a little heat.
• Maple syrup – Substitute maple syrup for some of the sugar.
• Seasonings – Use onion powder or garlic powder to punch up the flavor.
• Soy sauce – Throw a dash of light soy sauce in for a bit saltiness.

If you’re looking for another good homemade sauce that’s Asian-inspired and perfect for dipping or marinating, try Teriyaki sauce or this Sweet Thai Chili sauce.

How to Make Sweet and Sour Sauce (Step-by-Step)

Making this dipping sauce is literally as easy as one, two three!

1. Whisk ingredients. Whisk together all of the ingredients except the cornstarch, the mixture will not completely blend until fully heated.
2. Heat thoroughly. Continue to heat until small bubbles form, but be mindful to keep the heat at medium. This mixture is heavy with sugar and has the tendency to boil over easily. The sugar can also scald easily, so whisk frequently.
3. Combine with cornstarch. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water, and then combine with the sauce and remove from the heat.

One thing to make sure you do when you’re making this recipe is to avoid adding cornstarch on its own. Instead, you’ll want to make a cornstarch slurry. Add a little cold water to the cornstarch and mix until you get the perfect consistency before combining it with the other ingredients.

Perfect Pairings

This versatile sauce is used mostly as a dipping sauce in the States, but it can also be used as a marinade or as the star sauce on sweet and sour chicken or sweet and sour shrimp.

While you can obviously use this as an accompaniment to Chinese cuisine like a homemade stir fry, I like it with lots of other foods as well. It may even make some picky eaters more excited about meal time.

Next time you make chicken nuggets or pork chops try whipping up this easy recipe and serve a little bit on the side with your meal. Or you can slather your sweet and sour sauce on while you’re cooking a great recipe like sweet and sour chicken or even on veggies like bell peppers.

More Homemade Sauces

There’s no meal that a good homemade sauce can’t elevate. Here are some of our favorites.

Teriyaki Sauce Recipe

4.80 from 5 votes

Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Crab Cake Sauce Recipe

4.89 from 17 votes

Bang Bang Sauce

5 from 5 votes

Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe

Sweet and Sour Sauce is an amazing dipping sauce. This EASY recipe will make you think it came from your local Chinese takeout!

5 from 11 votes

Print Pin Rate SaveSaved!

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: sweet and sour sauce

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 10

Calories: 105kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, whisk together the 1 cup sugar, 1 cup pineapple juice, 1/3 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup ketchup and 2 tablespoons soy sauce over medium heat.
• Continue to heat until small bubbles form, whisking continually and until sugar dissolves and the ingredients have fully combined.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water, when blended, whisk into the sweet and sour sauce and then remove from heat.
• Serve hot or allow to cool fully before storing.
• If you tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings!

Video

Notes

Storage: Store homemade sweet and sour sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. As it chills, it may thicken slightly, so stir it well before using again.

Freezing: Sweet and sour sauce can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and whisk well after reheating.

Nutrition

Calories: 105kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 0.1g, Saturated Fat: 0.003g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g, Sodium: 257mg, Potassium: 56mg, Fiber: 0.1g, Sugar: 24g, Vitamin A: 32IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 5mg, Iron: 0.2mg