This sweet and sour sauce recipe can be made from fresh cherries and pineapple or bottled juice. Delicious with chicken, pork, vegetables, noodles or rice.
Cherries are only available for a limited time during the year. When they reach my local grocery store, I like to capture the flavor and preserve them into a freezer-friendly, sweet and sour cherry sauce that we can enjoy all year. Our favorite way is this Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir-Fry recipe.
I have tried many sweet and sour sauce recipes over the years looking for the right flavor combination that matched our favorite Chinese restaurants. Most recipes I explored involved some sort of vinegar, tomato, and pineapple combination. As I experimented with recipe after recipe, I kept thinking that something was missing.
Eventually, I realized that many of our local restaurants include cherries and pineapples in their sweet and sour sauce. They usually use those nasty-fake maraschino cherries. It dawned on me that cherry was the missing flavor.
A lot of trial and error has gone into this sauce and I urge you to experiment with small batches and adjust to your liking before making a large batch for the freezer. I have included both a small batch and a large batch recipe below.
Tips for Making Sweet and Sour Sauce
Use arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch if you are using fresh pineapple or freezing your sweet and sour sauce. Cornstarch loses thickening strength when combined with the acidity of fresh pineapple (canned is ok). Cornstarch also tends to break down when frozen. I use Bob’s Red Mill Arrowroot Starch.
Cherries: Both sweet and tart cherries can be used for this recipe. You may need to increase the amount of sugar to balance the sweet and sour.
Vinegar: Different vinegars will give you versatility in flavor. Experiment with white, apple cider, or rice vinegar
You can substitute bottled juice for fresh fruit. If substituting juice for fruit, eliminate the water from the recipes:
- 3 ounces of cherries – substitute 1/4 cup of bottled unsweetened cherry juice
- 1 pound fresh cherries – substitute 1 1/2 cups of bottled unsweetened cherry juice
- 1 fresh pineapple – substitute 3 cups of unsweetened pineapple juice
Small Batch Cherry Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
Ingredients:
3 ounces cherries (about 1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup vinegar (cider, white, or rice)
1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce
1 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
Directions:
1. Extract the cherry juice by combining cherries and water in a saucepan over low heat. Heat and simmer slowly until skins are soft, and the juices are released. Gently crush the cherries with a potato masher and continue simmering over low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain and discard the solids. Measure out 1/4 cup of cherry juice. Add more water if needed.
2. Add cherry juice, ketchup, vinegar, and tamari or soy sauce to the saucepan and stir to combine. Add the sugar and simmer over medium heat and while stirring.
3. Once the sugar is dissolved, combine the arrowroot powder with the pineapple juice and add to the saucepan. While stirring, bring the saucepan to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool. Yields 1 cup.
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Large Batch Cherry Sweet and Sour Sauce for Freezing
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh cherries (about 3 cups)
1 fresh pineapple, chopped (about 3 pounds)
1 cup water
3 cups ketchup
2 cups vinegar (cider, white, or rice)
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
6 cups cane sugar
3/4 cup arrowroot powder
Directions:
1. Extract the juice by combining cherries, pineapple, and water in a large saucepan over low heat. Heat and simmer slowly until the fruit is soft, and the juices are released. Crush the fruit with a potato masher and continue simmering over low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain the fruit through a damp jelly bag or double layers of cheesecloth. Discard the solids. Measure out 4 1/2 cups of juice. Add more water if needed.
2. Add 3 cups juice, ketchup, tamari or soy sauce, and vinegar to the saucepan and stir to combine. Add the sugar and simmer over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Combine the arrowroot with the remaining juice and add the slurry to the saucepan. While stirring, bring the saucepan to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool. Divide into freezer containers and freeze up to a year. Yields about 6 cups.
This sweet and sour sauce recipe can be made from fresh cherries and pineapple or bottled juice. Delicious with chicken, pork, vegetables, noodles or rice.
- 3 ounces fresh cherries (about 1/2 cup)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup vinegar
- 1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
-
Extract the cherry juice by combining cherries and water in a saucepan over low heat. Heat and simmer slowly until skins are soft, and the juices are released. Gently crush the cherries with a potato masher and continue simmering over low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain and discard the solids. Measure out 1/4 cup of cherry juice. Add more water if needed.
-
Add cherry juice, ketchup, vinegar, and tamari or soy sauce to the saucepan and stir to combine. Add the sugar and simmer over medium heat and while stirring.
-
Once the sugar is dissolved, combine the arrowroot powder with the pineapple juice and add to the saucepan. While stirring, bring the saucepan to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool. Yields 1 cup.
This sweet and sour sauce recipe can be made from fresh cherries and pineapple or bottled juice. Delicious with chicken, pork, vegetables, noodles or rice.
- 1 pound cherries (about 3 cups)
- 1 medium pineapple, chopped (about 3 pounds)
- 1 cup water
- 3 cups ketchup
- 2 cup vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- 6 cups cane sugar
- 3/4 cup arrowroot powder
-
Extract the juice by combining cherries, pineapple, and water in a large saucepan over low heat. Heat and simmer slowly until the fruit is soft, and the juices are released. Crush the fruit with a potato masher and continue simmering over low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain the fruit through a damp jelly bag or double layers of cheesecloth. Discard the solids. Measure out 4 1/2 cups of juice. Add more water if needed.
-
Add 3 cups juice, ketchup, tamari or soy sauce, and vinegar to the saucepan and stir to combine. Add the sugar and simmer over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
-
Combine the arrowroot with the remaining juice and add the slurry to the saucepan. While stirring, bring the saucepan to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool. Divide into freezer containers and freeze up to a year. Yields about 6 cups.
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