Whether it is Chinese food or chicken nuggets on the menu, everybody needs to have this Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe at hand. This recipe is kosher, gluten free, pareve, dairy free, and vegan. Serve it with all of your main dishes, it is that good! Read on to learn how to make the best homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe from scratch.
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Why This Recipe Works
McDonalds always had the best pre packaged sweet and sour sauce and I have to say that our copycat recipe comes pretty close (from what I can remember). Some of the things we love about this dish are:
- Easy to make. Using common household ingredients and minimal cooking, Sweet and Sour Sauce is a snap to put together. Chances are that you have all of the ingredients at home already.
- Ready in less than 10 minutes. Mix the ingredients for the sauce together, blend, and heat for 5 minutes. You don't even have to let the sauce fully cool before enjoying it.
- Easy to store. We never had this problem because the sauce always disappears. But, if you have leftovers, or if you make extra, let the sauce cool and store in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 2 months. Put it right next to the Chinese takeout sauce packets and see which one gets eaten first.
- Soooo tasty. This sauce so so yummy and tastes better than anything you can get from a store shelf. Sweet, tangy, spicy, what more can you ask for.
Making Sweet and Sour Sauce step by step:
Step 1 - Blend the ingredients
Add the apricot jam, pineapple juice, white vinegar or rice vinegar, corn starch and water (known as a cornstarch slurry), soy sauce, yellow mustard, salt, and garlic powder into a blender or food processor. If you are using some heat such as red pepper flakes or jalapeno pepper, add them in here as well. Blend for 30 seconds. If you don't mind a thicker sauce, skip this step and go right to Step 2.
Step 2 - Heat
Transfer the sauce to a sauce pan over medium flame until the sauce starts to bubble. While the sauce is at a low boil, stir consistently with a whisk. We love these silicone coated whisks for sauces like this since you don't have to worry about scratching the coating of your pan. That's it! Enjoy warm or cold.
Serving suggestions
- Chinese food dipping sauce. Dip your Pastrami Egg Rolls into this! Enough said.
- Sweet and sour baked salami. Use this Sweet and Sour Sauce as a substitute in our Sweet and Tangy Baked Salami recipe.
- Dipping sauce for fries. Instead of ketchup, use this sauce recipe. Mmmmmm.
- Salami Flatbread sauce. Drizzle a little bit of this sauce over your Kosher Salami Flatbread.
- Sweet and sour Whole Roast Chicken. Our Whole Roast Chicken recipe can always use a little sauce. Brush some of the Sweet and Sour Sauce over the skin during the last 30 minutes of baking.
More recipes like this one
Recipe
Sweet and Sour Sauce (McDonalds Copycat)
Equipment
- sauce pan
Ingredients
- ½ cup apricot jam
- 2 tablespoon pineapple juice
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon yellow mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Add the apricot jam, pineapple juice, water, white vinegar, corn starch, soy sauce, yellow mustard, salt, and garlic powder into a blender or food processor. Blend for 30 seconds.
- Add the ingredients into a sauce pan and heat over a medium flame until low boil. Stir consistently for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the flame.
Notes
Serving suggestions
- Chinese food dipping sauce. Dip your Pastrami Egg Rolls into this! Enough said.
- Sweet and sour baked salami. Use this Sweet and Sour Sauce as a substitute in our Sweet and Tangy Baked Salami recipe.
- Dipping sauce for fries. Instead of ketchup, use this sauce recipe. Mmmmmm.
- Salami Flatbread sauce. Drizzle a little bit of this sauce over your Kosher Salami Flatbread.
- Dipping sauce for chicken. Our Whole Roast Chicken recipe can always use a little sauce. Brush some of the Sweet and Sour Sauce over the skin during the last 30 minutes of baking.