Sweet and Sour Sauce

Sweet and Sour Sauce

  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 15 mins
  • Serves: 6,Yield: 2cups

    • About This Recipe

    “I love the pinkish red sweet and sour sauce that is served in Chinese restaurants…I have tried dozens of recipes and been disappointed so I made this one by trial and error…this is the closest I have come to getting that flavor.”

    Ingredients

    Part 1

  • 1/3 cupwhite vinegar
  • 1cupwater
  • 3/4 cupsugar
  • 1/8 teaspoonsalt
  • 1/8 teaspoonmsg
  • 1/8 teaspoonwhite pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoonTabasco sauce

    • Part 2

  • 2tablespoonscornstarch
  • 2tablespoonswater
  • 1/2 teaspoonWorcestershire sauce

    • Part 3

  • 3tablespoonsketchup
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste, minced ginger or 1/2 teaspoonfresh minced ginger
  • 1tablespoonolive oil

    • Directions

  • Over medium heat bring Part 1 ingredients to a boil.
  • Mix Part 2 ingredients and add to boiling mixture.
  • Cook until bubbly and thick.
  • Remove from stove and add Part 3 ingredients.
  • This will keep in the refrigerator for weeks.
  • Room temperature ketchup mixes easier than refrigerated.
  • Serve warm.

    • Reviews

  • “This was good – but I modified second batch by using 1/4 c. white sugar and 2/4 c. brown sugar.Also tried it with chili sauce instead of catsup and my hubby liked it better.”

  • “This sauce was really good.I made it today and served it with chicken nuggets.It was even better than the one you usually get in chinese restaurants.Next time I may try it with chili sauce, but it really is great just as it is.I will definitly make this again!Thanks!”

  • “This is great, and easyI added it to some breaded boxed shrip…cooked some minute rice and frozen oriental vegetables…and PRESTOchinese take out…!!!thnaks.Paula”

  • “Thank you for the quick, easy, and good sweet and sour sauce recipe.Egg rolls were in the oven when we realized we were basically out of sauce.We didn’t have ginger on hand and it was still good, but we look forward to trying it with the ginger – and maybe some garlic and red pepper flakes.Nice balance of sweet/sour.”

  • “Great recipe, I excluded the msg and used fresh ginger.Would recommend for a good sweet and sour sauce.”

  • “I absoulutely loved this easy recipe for sweet and sour sauce! I pour it over veggies, rice, eggrolls and my family loves it! I have also added sesame seeds for added texture. Thanks again!”

  • “Am making wontons tonight and realized I was out of S&S . I made this almost as described. I subbed veg oil for olive oil since I didn’t have any, I used powdered ginger instead of fresh and chinese chili sauce instead of tabasco (I broke the bottle last week). I tripled the chili and omitted the msg (don’t like it) This smelled great and tasted pretty authentic to me. Oh! I also added a just a little (1 tsp?2?) of rice vinegar at the end. Will make again! Thanks %u2665”

  • “This is a great sauce!I did make a few changes, based on personal preference.I lowered the sugar to 1/3 c, omitted the msg and white pepper and replaced the ketchup with 2 Tbs chili sauce. I made some asian style meatballs, served with the sauce over basmati rice.DH and I both enjoyed it.It was too spicy for 2 year old daughter with the addition of the chili sauce, so she got meatballs with plum sauce.thanks for a great recipe!”

  • “I didn’t change a thing, just made it the way you described and I love it! I thinks it’s 95% like the Chinese restaurants make it in the Netherlands, the 5% is probably because the restaurant use cheaper ingredients (something else then ketchup I guess). Thanks for sharing! :)”

  • “I am giving one star because it actually looked like sweet and sour sauce.. the taste on the other hand was not good. I see that a lot of people left out 3-4 of the ingredients and I think that would have been better.. especially not adding the Olive Oil and MSG…”

  • “This is really good sweet and sour sauce. I omitted white pepper, tabasco sauce, ginger paste and olive oil. It still turned out really good. Thanks for posting! : )”

  • “With 50 reviews already posted, I may be reiterating the comments of other chefs! This is a delicious sauce that doesn’t need to be restricted to Chinese food. Being so quick & easy to throw together using normal pantry ingredients (and no pineapple juice), it was perfect for transfoming my ready-made meatballs into a delicious appetizer. Like many others, I skipped the MSG and used a ketchup/chili combo. Thanx for posting!”

  • “Wow, this is delicious! I chose this recipe because it didn’t have a lot of ketchup. Like others, I didn’t use msg but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. This will be a staple (we love sweet & sour). Thanks, SwoR, for sharing.”

  • “Delicious sweet & sour sauce. The best I have ever made, certainly one of the best I have ever had. Followed the recipe exactly, minus the msg, and it turned out perfect!”

  • “Superb!!I don’t use the MSG, and add some hotter peppers for flavor, but this recipe is tops just the way it is.My kids love it!”

  • “I made this for my husband who is a super fussy eater and will eat only certain restraunt’s sweet and sour chicken and he gave it the thumbs up.I used rice vinegar and subbed 1/2 tsp of powdered ginger and instead of white pepper I used Morton’s Nature seasonings.I also used a 1/4 tsp of chile sauce instead of tabasco.my family doesn’t go for super spicey but he likes this one.Since the nearest chinese place is 30 min away I was glad to find one so good.The jarred stuff just isn’t the same.It was very easy to make, I did have to strain out the couple corn starch lumps before the third step but that was my fault not the instructions :)”

  • “I thought this sauce was very close to the one served at the Chinese restaurant up the street.It was very good, maybe a little too sweet.Might try decreasing the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup next time.”

  • “Perfect sauce to go with my potstickers for the kids.I can never find the “pink sauce” that they ask for and this was just that.I will never look again this is it.Thank you for sharing your recipe.”

  • “Great recipe, maybe a bit too sweet if used as a dip but as an incorporation to chicken or pork or veggies is great!”

  • “Perfect to use for fried shrimp!”

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