Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce

Name: Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce
Prep time: 1 min
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 60 ml water; 100 ml apple cider vinegar; 1 tbsp cornflour; 4 tbsp honey; 2 tbsp pineapple juice; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 60 ml passata

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If you love a Chinese takeaway, then you need to try making your own Sweet and Sour Sauce. It's is much easier than you think and in less than 10 minutes, using ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard, you have yourself a deliciously smooth sauce that you can use for so many recipes, or just as a dip.

A small jar of sweet and sour sauce with a spoon sticking out of it

If you have only every tried sweet and sour sauce from a jar, or your local takeaway, then you are missing out. It's so easy to make and tastes a million times better. It's an essential dipping sauce, and a perfect balance of sweet, tangy and can be a little bit spicy if you like.

Why should you try it?

Tastes so much better than store bought or takeaway
Ready in less than 10 minutes
Uses store cupboard ingredients
Easy to adapt

Step by step

Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan, gently heat and whisk until smooth. Keep whisking whilst on simmer for 3-5 minutes, until it has thickened.

A saucepan containing sweet and sour sauce and a small whisk

How to use sweet and sour sauce

This is one of those sauces that has way more uses than you probably might think. Using it to make a sweet and sour prawns or chicken dish is the obvious choice, but there are lots more options.

We love it as a dipping sauce and it's great with spring rolls, meatballs, or to use it as a marinade for ribs or chicken kebabs. Our toddler loves dipping homemade chicken nuggets in to it too.

Sometimes we just drizzle it over boiled rice to jazz it up a bit.

Sweet and sour shrimp topped with cilantro leaves on a bed of rice

How to adapt the sauce

The great thing about being able to make the sauce yourself is that you can adapt it to suit your own tastes. If you don't like super sweet sauces, then you can use less honey or you could go the opposite and make it super sweet if that's your thing.

Another way we like to adapt this sauce recipe is to add a kick of heat to it. You could add a little fresh chopped red chilli, some cayenne or a dash of your favourite chilli sauce.

FAQs

How long does sweet and sour sauce keep for?

You can store it in an air tight jar in the fridge and it will last for up to a week, but it will start losing its flavour after 3 days so it's best to try and use it up within a couple of days. If you are using it up to a week later, you might want to add a little more vinegar before reusing to boost the flavour.

Extra Tips:

The sauce can be used up to a week later (but best up to 3 days after making), however you might want to add a tiny bit of vinegar before reusing to boost the flavour.
Use leftover sauce as a dip for spring rolls and meatballs, or use as a marinade for ribs or chicken kebabs.
feel free to adapt how sweet it is by adding more or less honey.
Add a kick of heat to it with some chopped fresh red chilli, a pinch of cayenne or a splash of your favourite chilli sauce.

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