Does sweet and sour have pineapple?

  1. Whisk 1/4 cup pineapple juice and cornstarch together in a small bowl until smooth.

  2. Combine cornstarch mixture, remaining 1 3/4 cup pineapple juice, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, crushed pineapple, and garlic powder in a large pot over high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce comes to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and continue to simmer until sauce is clear and reaches desired consistency, 15 to 25 minutes.

Cook's Note:

I always use the pineapple juice from 2 cans of pineapple chunks and crush 4 to 5 of the chunks for the crushed pineapple, then the pineapple chunks are ready for your sweet and sour pork or chicken.

Homemade sweet and sour sauce is quick, easy, and the perfect condiment for Chinese takeout or your own fried chicken.

Why It Works

  • Pineapple juice furnishes the sauce's fruity flavor, while ketchup boosts its sweetness and provides the signature red color.
  • A slurry of cornstarch and water thickens the sauce to an appropriately viscous consistency.

Editor’s Note: This recipe originally appeared as part of the Sauced series that explored recipes for popular side sauces. 

High school was all about strip mall Chinese and large plates of sweet and sour chicken. I was so fond of the stuff, I scoured used book stores for any cookbook with a good looking sweet and sour sauce recipe. I wish I could find the one I finally decided on—it documents all my adjustments to the original recipe. But years later, I've settled on one that isn't too far off.

While sweet and sour can be found in diverse forms in China, the American version builds upon the simple mixture of sugar, vinegar, and spices with the addition of fruit juice—most commonly pineapple—and ketchup, giving the sauce both its red hue and uniquely Western flavor.

Serious Eats / Debbie Wee

Unlike my duck sauce, which felt like an improvement on the take-out version, this recipe is more or less what you'd expect from anything labeled "sweet and sour."

It has the fruity base with rice vinegar providing the sour, and brown sugar adding the sweet. It's thickened with a cornstarch slurry that brings the whole thing to the thick, gelatinous consistency that's a requirement in my mind.

Quick and easy to make, it's great tossed on standard fried chicken to create one of the best plates of sweet and sour chicken you'll eat, or as an accompaniment to some of our favorite DIY Chinese-takeout dishes. It brought me right back to those high school days.

Click Play to See This Sweet and Sour Sauce Come Together

  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch (about 1/4 ounce; 7g)

  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) water

  • 2/3 cup (160ml) pineapple juice

  • 1/3 cup (80ml) rice vinegar

  • 1/3 cup (74g) light brown sugar

  • 3 tablespoons (45ml) ketchup

  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) soy sauce

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Set aside.

    Serious Eats / Debbie Wee

  2. In a medium saucepan, combine pineapple juice, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in cornstarch slurry and cook until thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

    Serious Eats / Debbie Wee

Special equipment

Medium saucier or saucepan

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
59 Calories
0g Fat
14g Carbs
0g Protein

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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 59
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 171mg 7%
Total Carbohydrate 14g 5%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 12g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 9mg 47%
Calcium 13mg 1%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 66mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Does sweet and sour sauce contain pineapple?

While sweet and sour can be found in diverse forms in China, the American version builds upon the simple mixture of sugar, vinegar, and spices with the addition of fruit juice—most commonly pineapple—and ketchup, giving the sauce both its red hue and uniquely Western flavor.

What is Mcdonalds sweet and sour made of?

McDonald's Sweet 'N Sour blends flavors of apricot and peach flavors with savory spices and leaves a slight lingering heat. This sauce is the perfect Chicken McNuggets® dipping sauce when you want something slightly sweet with a touch of heat.

Is pineapple sweet or sour?

Knowing anything about the fruit, let alone how to tell if a pineapple is ripe, seems like a doomed endeavor from the start. But inside, it's a different scene entirely. Ripe pineapple is perfectly sweet, slightly tangy, and somehow packed with warm, sunny energy.

What can I use instead of pineapple in sweet and sour?

Swap the pineapples for these instead: the sourness with vinegar and the sweetness with sugar. Vinegar is just as sour as pineapples but without the sweetness. That can be remedied by using sugar. Both are an easy and simple ingredient substitutes that you already have!