Sweet and Sour Sauce – homemade Chinese sauce made with 6 simple ingredients. Perfect with chicken, pork or as a dipping sauce for dumplings or spring rolls!
Forget the store-bought stuff and make this sauce from scratch! I also recommend my Homemade Teriyaki Sauce and the Hoisin Sauce.
If you visited my blog before, you may know that I like to make my own condiments whenever possible. Especially when it comes to Asian cuisine sauces. I almost always have my teriyaki sauce in my fridge, ready to go. It’s very convenient and made from ingredients I know. I add it to cooked chicken or pork and serve over rice. You can serve it with crispy spring rolls or fried potstickers.
Ingredients
- sesame oil
- low-sodium soy sauce
- brown sugar
- white sugar
- ketchup
- apple cider vinegar
- crushed red pepper flakes
- cornstarch
- water
How to make Sweet and Sour Sauce?
- Combine all ingredients (except cornstarch, water and crushed pepper flakes) in a saucepan and bring to simmer.
- Make cornstarch slurry and add to sauce. Cook until thickens.
- Store in a jar or use right away.
What does it taste like?
This sauce is tangy, not overly sweet and has a little heat from the crushed pepper flakes. You can adjust it to your liking by adding more sugar or vinegar. Skip the pepper flakes if you don’t want it to be spicy.
How to use this sauce:
- with chicken
- with pork
- for dipping dumplings, potstickers, spring rolls, etc.
How long does it last?
This homemade sauce will last for up to 2 weeks.
How to store this sauce?
I like to make a batch of this sauce and store it in a jar with lid, right in my fridge. Add it to cooked chicken or pork and heat up in a skillet.
More Asian recipes:
- Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry
- Chicken Chow Mein
- 10-Minute Teriyaki Shrimp
- Firecracker Chicken
- Asian Sesame Dressing
For more recipes like this one, feel free to browse our Asian Category.
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, soy sauce, oil, ketchup, brown sugar, white sugar and whisk well.
- Bring the mixture to simmer.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water (cold, tap).
- Add cornstarch mixture to the sauce and whisk well. Simmer until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat.
- Add pepper flakes.
- Cool the sauce completely. It will thicken even more.
- Use the sauce right away or pour into a jar with lid.
Notes
- Please note, that the nutrition value can vary depending on what product you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use calorie counter you are familiar with.
- If you don't have apple cider vinegar, use white vinegar.
Melissa Jackson says
I like this recipe, but I have diabetes, what can I use in place of the brown and white sugar?
Shelley says
A good replacement for white sugar is Monk Fruit and I usually replace brown sugar with Swerve’s brown sugar blend.
Vanessa says
I didn’t have any store bought sauce on hand and needed some sweet and sour dipping sauce ASAP. This was Excellent and super quick to throw together. I didn’t use cornstarch to thicken and left it out and it was still good! It’s still a bit thick like a maple syrup. It makes enough for an 8oz canning jar.
Christopher Moore says
I’ve been looking forever for a restaurant quality sweet and sour sauce and I’ve finally found one. This is going in my personal cook book . Thanks
Anna says
Thank you for giving it a try!
Jan says
My family absolutely lOVED it! Young to old, it was a big hit.
Melissa says
Oh I love sweet and sour! Great recipe and very easy to make!
Kristyn says
This takes no time at all, to have a delicious sauce on hand! Sweet & sour is one of my favorite sauces with chicken or meatballs.
April says
This is my faaaaaavorite sauce! So good with homemade eggrolls, nom nom nom.
Anna says
Yes! I love it with eggrolls! Thanks, April!