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    Home > Sauces and Dips

    Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe

    Published: Feb 9, 2021 · Modified: Feb 20, 2021 by Nicky Corbishley

    Go to Recipe Go to Video Print Recipe

    Sweet and tangy, this homemade sweet and sour sauce is ready in less than 10 minutes.
    Just add the 6 ingredients to the pan, stir and simmer for a few minutes and you're done.
    A fantastic dipping and drizzling sauce for prawn toast, coconut prawns and fried rice.

    Spoonful of sweet and sour sauce being poured into a small white bowl of sweet and sour sauce

    Jump to:
    • 📋 What do we need?
    • 🔪 How to make sweet and sour sauce
    • 🍽️ What to serve it with
    • 📺 Watch how to make it
    • 🍲 More fantastic sauces and dips
    • Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
    • 💬 Reviews

    A handy sauce to have on standby in the fridge or freezer, this easy sweet and sour sauce is quick to prepare using minimal ingredients.

    • Like it spicy?
    • Want it extra sweet?
    • Want a double batch?

    No problem, I've got answers to all these questions and more in the recipe card.

    📋 What do we need?

    Ingredients for sweet and sour sauce on a wooden table
    • Sugar - use light brown or dark brown sugar (I use light brown most of the time). Dark brown sugar is slightly more acidic, so if you like it really tangy, go with that one.
    • Vinegar - I find malt vinegar give the best tangy for sweet and sour sauce. However, if you're making this for someone who can't have malt vinegar (i.e ceoliac) you can replace with white wine vinegar.
    • Garlic and ginger - use fresh minced garlic or ginger, or you can replace with the minced garlic and ginger that comes in a jar. Both work equally well.
    • Ketchup - I use good old Heinz as it's well seasoned and pretty inexpensive. No need to waste your gourmet ketchup on this sauce!
    • Pineapple juice - use fresh, from-concentrate-cartons (I have been known to raid the kids juice cartons) or even the juice from a tin of pineapple in juice. Fresh bottled stuff has the most flavour, but there's more than enough flavour to compensate in the other ingredients if you use the cartons or tinned juice. I alternate between all three, and no-one ever notices the difference.

    🔪 How to make sweet and sour sauce

    1. One of the simplest recipes on our site! Just add all the ingredients to the pan (full ingredient quantities in the recipe card at the bottom of this post), bring to the boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes until slightly thickened.
    2. Turn off the heat and serve!
    3. How about serving it up with coconut shrimp?👇
    Coconut prawn being lifted out of a small bowl of sweet and sour sauce with chopsticks

    👩‍🍳PRO TIP You may be able to see some little flecks of ginger and garlic in the sauce. If you don't want to see them in your sauce, you can strain the sauce into a jug over a fine-mesh sieve.

    Small white bowl filled with sweet and sour sauce on a place with coconut prawns

    🍽️ What to serve it with

    • Crunchy Coconut Prawns
    • Sesame Prawn Toast
    • Salt and Pepper Chicken
    • Poured over Crispy Chicken Wings
    • Drizzled on Chicken Fried Rice or homemade Pad Thai


    📺 Watch how to make it

    🍲 More fantastic sauces and dips

    • Sweet Chilli Sauce
    • BBQ Sauce Recipe
    • Easy Satay Sauce Recipe
    • Creamy Tomato Ravioli Sauce
    • Creamy Coleslaw Recipe
    • Homemade Mint Sauce

    Stay updated with new recipes!
    Subscribe to the newsletter to hear when I post a new recipe. I’m also on YouTube (new videos every week) and Instagram (behind-the-scenes stories & beautiful food photos).

    Spoonful of sweet and sour sauce being taken from a small white bowl of sauce.

    Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe

    By: Nicky Corbishley
    Sweet and tangy, this homemade sweet and sour sauce is ready in less than 10 minutes. Just 6 ingredients - add to the pan and simmer. Done!
    5 from 2 votes
    Rate this Recipe Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 5 mins
    Cook Time 5 mins
    Total Time 10 mins
    Course Dips, Sauces, side dish
    Cuisine Chinese
    Servings 6 servings
    Calories 93 kcal

    Ingredients
     

    • 2 garlic cloves - peeled and minced
    • 1 tsp minced ginger
    • 2 tbsp malt vinegar
    • 150 ml (⅔ cup) tomato ketchup
    • 6 tbsp light brown muscavado sugar
    • 180 ml (¾ cup) pineapple juice - fresh, from a carton or from a tin of pineapple in juice

    INSTRUCTIONS
     

    • Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan and stir together.
    • Heat over a medium-high heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
    • Turn off the heat and pour into a serving bowl. Serve hot, warm or cold.

    Video

    ✎ Notes

    Can I make it ahead?
    Yes - make the sauce, cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Serve cold or warm through in a saucepan before serving.
    Can I freeze it?
    Yes - make the sauce, cool, cover and freeze. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and heat until piping hot in a saucepan before serving. You can also reheat from frozen in a saucepan, or in the microwave, stirring a few times during reheating.
    Ingredient swaps
    More heat:
    If you like a bit of heat, add in 1 tablespoon of sriracha OR ½ tsp chilli flakes OR a finely chopped fresh chilli with all of the other ingredients before simmering.
    More sweetness:
    Add an extra 2-3 tablespoons of light brown or caster (superfine) sugar. 
    You can make the sauce, then taste and add more sugar to taste.
    Added texture:
    Add fresh or tinned pineapple chunks for added texture.
    How to scale up this recipe
    You can double or even triple this recipe. You will need to simmer for an extra 5-7 minutes, until the thickness is to your liking if you're making a bigger batch.
    Nutritional information is per serving.
    This recipes makes approx 360ml (1 ½ cups) - which i've counted as 6 servings.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 93kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 231mgPotassium: 138mgFiber: 1gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 130IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg
    Keywords Chinese dipping sauce
    Tried this recipe?Mention @KitchenSanctuary or tag #KitchenSanctuary on Instagram!

    Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.

    Hi I’m Nicky

    I love to cook and I want to share with you my favourite, delicious family friendly recipes. I want to inspire you to create fantastic food for your family every day.

    Read More
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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Lisette Callis says

      March 06, 2022 at 6:11 am

      I make it with chopped capsicums, mushrooms, carrot, and pineapple pieces onion and garlic, star anise etc.. My deep fry batter is mix veg pineapple and onions or cauliflower florets instead of pork. I put chickpea flour in the batter or eggs and milk for extra protein 🙂

      Reply
    2. RONNIE GRAY says

      February 25, 2022 at 11:49 pm

      5 stars
      Quick easy to prepare and makeas good as bought stuff

      Reply
    3. Christine says

      April 25, 2021 at 6:41 am

      5 stars
      Love this homemade version, used it as a dipping sauce instead of bbq sauce this weekend, such a fab change😋

      Reply

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    Hi I’m Nicky

    I love to cook and I want to share with you my favourite, delicious family friendly recipes. I want to inspire you to create fantastic food for your family every day.

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