A quick and easy recipe for a homemade Chinese sweet and sour sauce recipe that tastes just like the ones at your Chinese takeout restaurants and is made without ketchup, pineapple, or food coloring.

Table of Contents
What is Sweet and Sour Sauce?
The sweet and sour sauce is one of the most popular Asian sauces out there and it's not just limited to Chinese cuisine. There's a sweet and sour sauce in Korean cuisine, which is made out of sugar and vinegar without the red color and is mainly used in Korean sweet and sour chicken (tangsuyuk), and then there is also a sweet and sour sauce for Thai cuisine as well which you may know as the popular Thai sweet chili sauce which has more garlic and chili flakes for a spicy kick.
This simple homemade Chinese sweet and sour sauce recipe will be more of a hong kong style sweet and sour sauce with a balance of sweet and tang. I made it without ketchup or pineapple juice and it will be slightly less sweet than the American version.
Not to be bias, but it's one of my favorite sauces, and it's the best sweet and sour sauce I have tasted. It is also the same recipe I use in my Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pork and my Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe and whenever I make Crispy Wonton Strips, I love dipping this sauce in it as well.
Although it won't be easier than buying the store-bought bottled sweet and sour sauce, it will definitely taste better because you will be able to tweak this homemade sweet and sour recipe to exactly the way you like it. You can even make it a spicy sweet and sour sauce by adding some chili flakes, sambal oelek, or sriracha to it.
Before we start, I'd also like to mention that this sweet and sour recipe is made without ketchup and it contains no pineapple juice and has no food coloring in it. So if you're looking for something with those ingredients, this won't be it but if you're looking for a sweet and sour sauce like Chinese restaurants have and you want something very flavorful, then this is for you. Let's get started!
Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients
- Tomato Paste - I like to use tomato paste instead of ketchup because I find it has a lot more flavor. Tomato paste has a lot more umami flavor as well.
- Sugar - I use cane sugar for this recipe, but you definitely can substitute it with honey or brown sugar. If you use brown sugar, the sauce may not be a vibrant red color.
- White Vinegar - for this sauce, I like to use white vinegar because it's easy to find, and it provides a tartness without any additional flavors. In a pinch, you can also substitute it with rice vinegar.
- Soy Sauce - To give the sauce the balance of sweet and sour, I use soy sauce as the savoriness to pull the flavors together. It also adds a bit of umami as well.
- Oil - Use neutral oils without strong flavors. I like to use avocado oil in most of my cooking. We use the oil to toast the tomato paste to bring out the flavors
- Garlic Clove (optional) - I like to add a smashed piece of garlic into the sauce to give it a bit of flavor. It's a subtle flavor since it doesn't simmer in the sauce for too long.
- Corn Starch - this is used to thicken the sauce.
- Chili Flakes/Cayenne/Sriracha (optional) - If you like to make a spicy sweet and sour sauce, you can add chili flakes, cayenne, or sriracha to it.
How to Make Sweet and Sour Sauce
This is a very easy sweet and sour sauce recipe, and essentially is only four major steps. Prepare the sauce mix; toast the tomato paste in a pot; add the sauce mix; then add the cornstarch slurry to thicken it!
Preparation
- In a small bowl, mix the 1½ tablespoons of corn starch with ½ cup of cold water and mix well until it is combined. Then mix in ½ cup of white vinegar, ½ cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mix well.
Make sure not to mix the oil and tomato paste into this. - (Optional) If you are using garlic for flavor, peel it and use the side of a knife to smash it open but keep the clove whole so you can remove it easier at the end.
Making the Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Set a small pot over medium-low heat.
- Add in 2 tablespoons of oil, garlic clove (optional), and 4 tablespoons of tomato paste, and cook it for approximately 5 minutes until the oil turns to an orange color and the tomato pastes turn a slightly darker red.
- Stir the bowl with the rest of the ingredients with a utensil to re-mix the corn starch with the sauce (starch usually settles on the bottom), and pour it into the pot with the tomato paste and keep stirring quickly until the sauce turns thick for about 5 minutes.
**Make sure you keep stirring quickly during this step to prevent clumps in your sauce
- If you used a garlic clove, fish it out with a spoon and remove it.
- If you like the sauce thinner, add an additional 1-3 tablespoons of water to it.
- (Optional) Add some Worcestershire sauce to it if you want some additional flavor
Tips
- This simple homemade Chinese sweet and sour sauce recipe will be more of a hong kong style sweet and sour sauce with a balance of sweet and tang and it will be less sweet than the American version. If you like it sweeter, reduce the vinegar by 1-2 tablespoons.
- If you don't want to use sugar, you can substitute it with honey
- Although it is not a traditional ingredient, I will occasionally add a touch of Worcestershire sauce for additional flavor. It's an optional ingredient.
- If you want to make it a spicy sweet and sour sauce, try adding some chili flakes, sambal oelek, or sriracha to it.
- You can freeze this if you plan to make a bigger batch! Defrost it in the fridge and microwave to re-heat it back up! (Thanks for the tip Carol Farquharson!)
How to Use Sweet and Sour Sauce
Appetizers and Snacks
This sweet and sour dipping sauce is great as a condiment for appetizers like egg rolls, crab rangoon spring rolls, lumpia, or any type of dumplings especially deep-fried or pan-fried ones like gyoza, or our cheeseburger potstickers.
I like to also use this delicious sauce as a dipping for snacks like wonton chips, chicken balls, chicken fingers, and chicken nuggets.
If you are planning on having guests you can also make sweet and sour meatballs by cooking them in this sweet and sour sauce in a crockpot or slow cooker as an easy appetizer or snack.
Meats and Vegetables
If you have leftover sweet and sour sauce, you can use it as a glaze for anything you oven roast or cook on the grill like ribs, pork chops, shrimp, or kababs or you can use it as a marinade as well.
You can use it as a quick way to flavor your stir-fries as well by mixing it in with vegetables or shrimp.
You can make an easy dinner by pan-frying some chicken, beef, or pork with some vegetables and tossing it in some of this sweet and sour sauce, and serving it with some pasta or rice.
My favorite way to use this is to deep fry some battered chicken, pork, and beef into crispy nuggets and toss them in this sauce for some takeout at home. You can find a delicious batter recipe in my Sweet and Sour Pork recipe.
You can even keep it simple and have it on plain white rice, it's easy and delicious!
How to Store Sweet and Sour Sauce
You can store this sweet and sour sauce in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
FAQs
You can substitute it with rice wine vinegar. I don't suggest substituting it with apple cider vinegar because it has a very strong flavor.
Yes, you definitely can. Keep in mind that the sauce will turn a darker color.
At its core, a base sweet and sour sauce is made with a balance of sugar and vinegar, and to get the bright red color, most restaurants will use red food coloring.
Most Chinese sweet and sour sauce is red because it is very common to use red food coloring in it.
Corn starch slurry is the easiest way to sweeten sweet and sour sauce to give it that silky texture. Alternatively, you can also use a potato starch slurry as well.
More Takeout Recipes You May Like
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Chicken Manchurian
- Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
- Corn Egg Drop Soup
- Crispy Beef
- Sweet and Sticky Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
- Chilli Chicken
- Chinese Lemon Chicken
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Recipe Card
Easy Chinese Sweet and Sour Sauce
Joyce's Recipe Notes
- This simple homemade Chinese sweet and sour sauce recipe will be more of a hong kong style sweet and sour sauce with a balance of sweet and tang and it will be less sweet than the American version. If you like it sweeter, reduce the vinegar by 1-2 tablespoons.
- Although it is not a traditional ingredient, I will occasionally add ¼ teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce for additional flavor. It's an optional ingredient.
- Make sure you don't use any seasoned or cast iron pans for this recipe. The vinegar will strip and remove the seasoning from the pans.
- If you want to make it a spicy sweet and sour sauce, try adding some chili flakes, sambal oelek, or sriracha to it.
- You can freeze this if you plan to make a bigger batch! Defrost it in the fridge and microwave to re-heat it back up! (Thanks for the tip Carol Farquharson!)
Ingredients
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 ½ tablespoons corn starch
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (vegetable, canola, corn, avocado etc)
Optional Ingredients for Extra Flavor
- 1 clove garlic (peeled and smashed, but kept whole)
- ¼ teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Instructions
Preparation
- In a small bowl, mix the 1½ tablespoons of corn starch with ½ cup of cold water and mix well until it is combined. Then mix in ½ cup of white vinegar, ½ cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mix well.Make sure not to mix the oil and tomato paste into this.
- (Optional) If you are using garlic for flavor, peel it and use the side of a knife to smash it open but keep the clove whole so you can remove it easier at the end.
Making the Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Set a small pot over medium-low heat.
- Add in 2 tablespoons of oil, garlic clove (optional), and 4 tablespoons of tomato paste, and cook it for approximately 5 minutes until the oil turns to an orange color and the tomato pastes turn a slightly darker red.
- Stir the bowl with the rest of the ingredients with a utensil to re-mix the corn starch with the sauce (starch usually settles on the bottom), and pour it into the pot with the tomato paste.Whisk everything quickly until the sauce turns thick. (approx. 5 minutes.)**Make sure you keep stirring quickly during this step to prevent clumps in your sauce
- If you used a garlic clove, fish it out with a spoon and remove it.
- If you like the sauce thinner, add an additional 1-3 tablespoons of water to it.
- (Optional) Add ¼ teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce to it if you want some additional flavor
- Once it has thickened, pour it out into a bowl and enjoy with some snacks!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Cinnamon says
How much does this recipe make? What's the amount?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Cinnamon
This makes about 2 cups of sauce
Donna says
Can you substitute katsup for tomatoe paste to give it a more tangy taste? I cut the vinegar a little and it is really good, next time will cut vinegar a little more, also can you substitute apple cider vinegar for white vinegar?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Donna!
Ketchup would make a sweeter sweet and sour sauce since it has added sugars. You can substitute it with ketchup, but it won't be as tangy and strong.
You can also use apple cider vinegar as well, but it will have a slightly different flavor, and you will taste and smell the apple cider vinegar flavor very strongly.
Hope this helps! 😊
Chris says
It's Worcestershire! Not Worchestershire.... 🙂
Joyce Lee says
Hi Chris!
Oh my gosh! hahaha! Thanks so much for pointing this out! I think I've been pronouncing this wrong all my life!
haha thanks again! 😀
Chris says
Don't worry, you're not alone! 🙂
It's pronounced:
Woos (with the oo pronounced the same as in cook or look, and the s pronounced as s, rather than the z sound of s in lose, hope that makes sense!)
ter
sheer (rhymes with beer).
Joyce Lee says
haha yes! It makes total sense!
Thanks again for this! 🙂 I really appreciate it!
Carol Farquharson says
Hi Joyce, I made a bigger batch and froze it in portion sizes. I used the first one out the freezer yesterday. I defrosted the sauce before heating in the microwave, no need for any additions. It was perfect!
Joyce Lee says
Hi Carol!
I'm so happy to hear from you again! I really appreciate you taking the time to come back to let me know! 😊
Now I'm going to make a big batch for myself too! haha! I'm going to update my recipe card with your tip!
Maddy says
This is the fifth sweet and sour sauce I’ve attempted to make in two days. This is the only winner. The others were utterly awful. Thank you so much for this! The Worcestershire was the magic ingredient to send it over the top amazing. How long do you recommend storing it for? I feel this will be a staple sauce in my house now. I’m a massive sauce fiend haha
Joyce Lee says
Hi Maddy!
I am so happy you liked it! I'm super happy to share!
I also want to thank you for taking the time to let me know! 😀
I usually store this in the fridge for about 2 weeks, don't worry I know what you mean - I am a sauce fiend myself! hahaha!
Carol Farquharson says
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. My hubby and I absolutely love this sauce. So much better than the ones that have pineapple juice in. Is it possible to make big batches and freeze it?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Carol!
I'm so happy you both liked it! I have never tried freezing it but I don't see why it wouldn't work!
I think the worst-case scenario would be that after you defrost it, it may not be as thick as it originally was, but you can easily just heat it back up and put a small amount of corn starch slurry into it again to thicken it.
Please let me know if you try this and how it turns out for you, as I am curious as well! 🙂
Lisa says
I loved that I had all of the ingredients in my pantry. Easy, peasy!
Joyce Lee says
Hi Lisa!
Yay! So happy you liked it!