A great homemade sweet and sour sauce is an essential for every recipe collection!
Sweet and sour sauce is a delicious mix of tangy vinegar, sweet sugar, and umami flavors. Once you try this easy version, you’ll never go back to store-bought!
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Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
- Six ingredients and one step are all it takes to make this sauce.
- Uses just simple pantry ingredients.
- Less than 10 minutes to make!
- A good homemade sauce makes for the perfect dipping sauce.
- Make this multi-purpose sweet and sour sauce and use it for everything from pork stir-fry to shish-kabobs or as a glaze over grilled pineapple!
Ingredients and Variations
All of these ingredients can be switched up to create a signature recipe based on how you plan to use it!
Ketchup – Tomato is at the base of the sweet and sour sauce and ketchup is a great thickener. Tomato paste can also be used if ketchup isn’t available.
Apple Cider Vinegar – Use more or less based on how tangy you want the sweet and sour sauce to be.
Sugar – Brown sugar can be replaced with honey, maple syrup, or a brown sugar substitute like Swerve for a low-carb option.
Soy Sauce – Liquid aminos or coconut aminos can be used interchangeably with soy sauce and have the same flavor, less sodium, and more nutritive value.
Variations – Add a little sriracha, some fresh ginger or minced garlic, or even some red pepper flakes for a little heat! This recipe does not use drops of red food coloring, but you can add a couple of drops for visual aesthetics if you like. Swap corn starch for arrowroot flour.
How to Make Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Whisk together all ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil.
- Continue to simmer and whisk until it reaches desired consistency.
Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce Storage
Keep homemade sweet and sour sauce in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator and use it within a week.
Ways to Use Sweet and Sour Sauce
There’s not enough room to list all the amazing ways you can use homemade sweet and sour sauce, it’s that good!
It’s amazing as a dip for egg rolls, spring rolls, crispy shrimp, dumplings, fried wontons, or a sweet and savory sauce for cocktail meatballs.
Swirl a little into a low-carb egg roll in a bowl, use it as a glaze for sauteed Brussels sprouts, roasted asparagus, or use it as a glaze or marinade for salmon, ribs, or grilled sweet and sour chicken thighs.
Kids love dipping their chicken nuggets and tater tots into it!
More Flavorful Sauces
Ingredients
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar *see note
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Whisk to combine.
- As it starts heating up, keep whisking constantly until it thickens into a sauce consistency. It will thicken as it cools.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dip, Dressing, Sauce, Side Dish
Cuisine Asian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Perfect thanks
I added freshly ground chilli as I love a bit of heat!
I’ve stayed away from Chinese cuisine since being diagnosed as a coeliac, so nice to have these flavours again after a few years, much better than I remember
So happy this recipe worked for you John!
I made this sauce exactly as written except I used pineapple juice instead of water. I cooked onions,celery, carrots, green peppers, mushrooms with a little garlic and ginger. I then threw in some left over pork roast and canned pineapple, Added the sauce and wow!!! Was it delicious. So much better than take out.
The best just needed more sugar
Definitely an easy recipe, however I found the amount of vinegar to be too over powering.
Sorry to hear that Dorene, we love this recipe as written but you can definitely reduce the vinegar if you found it too overpowering. Did you use cider vinegar for this recipe?
1s time making this as I was blessed, given some egg rolls, I didn’t have s&s sauce. I looked homemade and found this. I most definitely cut back on cider vinegar to pungent for my liking.
I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR GOOD EGG ROLL RECIPE AND CHOW MAIN I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY THESE RECIPES. THANK YOU KATHY
It’s perfect
Sunday after Thanksgiving prepared some frozen egg rolls, wonton and crab ragoon to snack on while watching all day football when I found out the sweet and sour sauce bottle had only about 1/4 cup left in it. Saw this recipe everything needed was in the pantry. Mixed up a double batch and it was right on time. Had to heat up some more appetizers and stir up some more of the sweet and sour sauce. The bottled sauce was still left over untouched, so had to throw it out. Now I can make my own anytime we need it. Thanks so much.
So happy to hear that you loved the sauce!
They are nice
I substituted fig infused white balsamic vinegar for the apple cider vinegar only because I didn’t have any on hand and it was still amazing. Great easy fast recipe. Thank you.
Oh.My.Goodness! That sounds absolutely delicious Kallen! Great substitution.
Instead of using brown sugar I use pineapple juice and plum sauce (I make my own plum sauce each year) Canned pineapple juice is fine if you don’t have a fresh pineapple on hand.
Thanks for the tip Jacqueline! That sounds delicious!
Just made the sweet and sour sauce it was a big hit with the family
I am so glad your family enjoyed this recipe Ed!
I live waaayy out of town and have no Brown sugar. Can I substitute white sugar?
You can make your own brown sugar with 2 ingredients that you may have at home! If not, white sugar will work. it will taste a little different, but will still be delicious Julie.
This is my go to recipe for sweet and sour sauce. I’ve made it several times and everyone loves it. Plus my partner is allergic to pineapple so it was nice to find a recipe without that. Thanks for sharing
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Keith!
Just made this to pair with some panko-crusted shrimp. Delicious sauce, super easy to make. Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
So glad you enjoyed it Danielle!
This is duck sauce. Sweet and sour is red and made with pineapples and cherries.
Added a 1/4 cup more brown sugar to mine for a little sweeter taste that still had some zing!
Sounds delicious, so glad you loved it!
This recipe was quick, easy and tasted great with our chicken and pork egg rolls.!
Glad you loved it!
Love this! I was making sweet n sour chicken n could not for the life of me find my sweet n sour sauce recipe…got online and found yours! Very good n close to mine! Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it Deb!
I omit vinegar to my sweet n sour sauce because ketchup has enough. The one addition you might want to try tho is pineapple juice. Gives it a great taste and cuts back on the need for sugar. Thanks for sharing and happy cooking!
Thanks for sharing Pam!
So yummy! Served it with beef fried rice and even my kids ate it! That says a lot, too.
I am so glad that your family liked this recipe Angela!