Sweet and Sour Sauce

Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce is better than any sauce you can buy from the store with its balanced sweet and sour flavor. It’s a favorite dipping sauce for your homemade cream cheese wontons or a marinade for your chicken. The options are endless when it comes to all the flavor this sauce can bring to your recipes. For another flavorful sauce, be sure to check out my Homemade Buffalo Sauce.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

This Sweet and Sour Sauce is a thick and tasty sauce that is not something you could find at the grocery store. It’s easy to make any time you need a little extra kick to your favorite dishes. With this homemade sauce, you can be sure to get the right balance of flavor that you may be missing out on with mass-produced sauces. “Sweet and sour sauce is usually associated with the authentic Chinese combination of rice vinegar and sugar. The probable origin of this sweet and sour mixture is the Chinese province of Hunan, where it was originally used as a condiment or a sauce for fish, meat, and vegetables.” – TasteAtlas. 

Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe

With just a few ingredients and a few minutes, you can whip up a vinegar mixture and cornstarch slurry to combine for the classic and popular sauce.

Vinegar Mixture Ingredients (full recipe below)

• Granulated sugar
• White vinegar
• Water
• Brown sugar
• Ketchup

Cornstarch Slurry

• Cornstarch
• Water

How to Make Sweet and Sour Sauce

This homemade sweet and sour sauce is made nice and thick by adding a cornstarch slurry to the vinegar mix. A slurry is a thickening mixture usually made of equal parts flour and water, also known as a whitewash. But, in this recipe cornstarch is used for the slurry for an even thicker consistency. If you do not have corn starch, you could use potato starch, tapioca, or arrowroot as substitutions. I am not sure how flour would work in this recipe, but generally, you would use double the amount of flour as cornstarch to get the same thickness.

• To make the sauce, begin by adding the sugar, vinegar, and water into a saucepan over medium heat.
• Whisk the ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved.
• Add the brown sugar and ketchup to the saucepan, whisking until everything is combined.
• Bring it to a slow boil as you combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl.
• Carefully pour the cornstarch slurry into the saucepan, whisking constantly as it all thickens (which is the point of the slurry).
• Remove the sauce from the heat and serve it with things like spring rolls, potstickers, chicken nuggets, or whatever else you are craving!

How to Store Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce

This homemade sauce should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. It will last up to two weeks. If you use the sauce a lot and want to keep it out at room temperature, the shelf life will be closer to a week. To freeze the sauce, let it cool completely before storing it in freezer-safe containers, including freezer-safe zipped plastic bags. Remember to label and date the containers.

Looking for More Homemade Sauces and Dressings?

Easy Tartar Sauce

Cheddar Cheese Sauce

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Ranch Dressing

Russian Dressing