This easy homemade sweet and sour sauce is vegan, gluten-free, and can be whipped up in about 5 minutes. You'll never buy sweet and sour sauce again when you see how easy it is to make your own.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Apple cider vinegar - for the sourness and acidity.
- Brown sugar - for the sweet. You can sub for any type of sugar that you would like.
- Ketchup - for flavor and that nice red color.
- Soy Sauce - for flavor (Use Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Tamari for gluten-free.)
- Water or Pineapple Juice - If you have pineapple juice on hand, it tastes great in this sauce, but if not, water works well too.
- Garlic - for flavor. You can use fresh or garlic powder.
- Corn Starch - to thicken the sauce.
🥄 Instructions
- Add apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic, and corn starch to a small saucepan.
- Give it all a good stir until the corn starch dissolves.
- Turn on the heat to medium and stir frequently until it starts to boil. (At this point the sauce will thicken and be shiny)
Note: When made with 1 tbsp of corn starch, this sauce will be thick enough to stick to your food, but not so thick that it's gloppy when cool. If you want a thick sauce use 2 tbsp of corn starch. If you want a thinner sauce use 1/2 tbsp of corn starch.
🥡 Storage
Since it doesn't have preservatives in it, you will need to store it in the fridge, where it will keep well for about a week. You can freeze it if you want in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
🍽️ Serving suggestions
You can use this sauce to make any of your favorite sweet and sour dishes like sweet and sour tofu or use it as a dipping sauce for fried cauliflower, fried tofu, or vegan meatballs.
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
A classic tasting sweet and sour sauce that is vegan and gluten-free.
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or Tamari
- 1/4 cup water or pineapple juice
- 1 clove garlic minced (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
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Add apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic, and corn starch to a small saucepan.
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Give it all a good stir until the corn starch dissolves.
-
Turn on the heat to medium and stir frequently until it starts to boil. (At this point the sauce will thicken and be shiny)
When made with 1 tbsp of corn starch, this sauce will be thick enough to stick to your food, but not so thick that it's gloppy when cool. If you want a thick sauce use 2 tbsp of corn starch. If you want a thinner sauce use 1/2 tbsp of corn starch.
