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Sweet and Sour Pork is a classic on any Chinese restaurant menu and is so easy and quick to recreate at home. The secret to this recipe is in the sweet and tangy sauce.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
Great Flavor and Texture – The sauce is a perfect combination of sweet and sour thanks to hoisin sauce and garlic chili sauce. The dish is loaded with delicious vegetables for amazing color and texture.
Light Breading – Most sweet and sour pork dishes you get at a restaurant are heavily breaded and fried. You usually end up with more breading than meat. This recipe calls for a light coating of corn starch and then a light, quick fry in some oil, there is no deep frying involved.. It’s nice and light with no heavy breading.
Ingredients Needed
- Pork Tenderloin, you could also use a lean pork loin or pork chops, but the tenderloin works the best in this recipe.
- Pineapple, I like to use pineapple chunks but tidbits also work well.
- Sesame Oil
- Bell Peppers, red and green
- Green Onions
- Soy Sauce
- Hoisin Sauce, this is what gives this dish it’s sweet and sour taste
- Asian Chili Garlic Sauce
- Cornstarch
- Sesame Seeds
How to Make Sweet and Sour Pork
- Cut pork into bite size pieces and lightly coat in cornstarch.
- Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in wok or frying pan over medium heat.
- Cook pork in batches until browned and cooked through.
- Remove pork and set aside.
- Drain pineapple and reserve 1/4 cup of juice.
- Add pineapple juice and soy sauce to pan and stir to deglaze the pan.
- Add oil, pineapple, peppers and green onions and stir fry until the peppers are tender but just crisp, about 5 minutes.
- Combine hoisin sauce and chili garlic sauce in a small bowl and add sauce to pan over veggies.
- Add cooked pork and stir until coated and heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.
Tips from leigh Anne
- If you’d like to add a bit of heat to this dish add in some red pepper flakes to the sweet and sour sauce.
- Replace the pork with another choice of protein such as chicken or beef. You can also use tofu for a vegetarian dish.
- Add in more veggies! You could add in snap peas, carrots, broccoli for nutrition, crunch and color.
- Instead of canned pineapple use fresh pineapple.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hoisin Sauce?
Hoisin sauce is often referred to as a Chinese BBQ sauce. It is a thick soybean sauce that is slightly sweet and also a bit sour. If you can’t find Hoisin Sauce you could substitute Black Bean Paste but it may be a bit spicier.
Can I use chicken or beef instead of pork?
Absolutely and in fact I have a sweet and sour chicken recipe you can find here.
How do I store leftover sweet and sour pork?
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
What is the best way to reheat?
It can be reheated in a pan on the stove top, stir frequently or you can place it in a microwave safe container and reheat in the microwave, on high for a minute or two depending on how much you are reheating.
Check out more delicious Chinese takeout recipes:
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Sweet and Sour Pork
Ingredients
- 1 lb. pork tenderloin or pork chop cubed
- 1/4 cups cornstarch
- 3 Tbsp sesame oil divided
- 1 20 oz. pineapple chunks drained and reserved
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 4 green onions sliced
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp Asian chili garlic sauce
- 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds toasted
Instructions
- Coat pork in cornstarch.
- Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in wok or frying pan over medium heat and cook pork in batches until browned. Remove pork and set aside.
- Drain pineapple and reserve 1/4 cup of juice.
- Add the juice and the soy sauce to the pan and stir to loosen up the browned pieces on the bottom of the pan.
- Add remaining oil and stir fry pineapple, peppers and green onions for about five minutes or until the peppers are tender but just crisp.
- Add together the hoisin sauce and chili garlic sauce and add to pan.
- Add pork back in and stir for about 5 minutes.
- Serve over hot rice. I prefer jasmine or basmati.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Tips & Notes:
- If you’d like to add a bit of heat to this dish add in some red pepper flakes to the sweet and sour sauce.
- Replace the pork with another choice of protein such as chicken or beef. You can also use tofu for a vegetarian dish.
- Add in more veggies! You could add in snap peas, carrots, broccoli for nutrition, crunch and color.
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Nutrition Facts:
Nancy McPhee says
Made this recipe and loved it. I added a few strawberries for a change the second time and found they were delicious , but the basic recipe is great. Thanks so much.
Yvette Pugliese says
Happy Birthday!! Majestic yellow is beautiful!
The Queen Vee says
I also tried to leave a comment at Portland Mama and it wouldn’t let me.
I don’t eat chinese very much anymore (although I love it) because it is so high in calories and fat. Believe it or not my favorite is soup, I really love a bowl of Hot and Sour soup, I like to eat it over rice.
Your recipe looks really yummy, I like that the pork is not breaded and deep fried.
Tamara says
This recipe looks amazing. I tried 4 times to leave a comment over at Portland Mama and never was successful. The recipe is printed out and in the “to try” file. THANKS!
Michelle says
Thanks for the tip on using Internet Explorer to vote. I have been trying for days to vote and have never been successful (I use AOL), I thought it was just me! I will keep voting EVERY day! Go Northwest Tailgater!