My Secret Sauce Makes Everything Taste Better (It’s Ready In 5 Minutes)

Sweet and sour is my go-to sauce, whether I’m scraping my Chinese takeout plate clean with crab rangoon crusts or using a McDonald’s chicken nugget to swipe out every morsel of sauce hidden in the corners of the accompanying sauce pods. While sweet and sour sauce is perfect in many ways, sometimes it’s nice to change it up a little, especially after the fifteenth chicken nugget in a 20-piece order. This is where my spicy, sweet, and sour secret sauce shines.

I came up with this recipe during the pandemic when restaurants were closing down and I had to get creative at home with what I had in my pantry. All you need are four ingredients to make this spicy sweet and sour sauce, each of which contributes a distinctive element.

Ketchup gives the sauce a vibrant and appetizing red color along with some sweetness and tartness. Lime juice lends citrusy sour notes and liquid to loosen up the sauce’s viscosity. Honey contributes sweetness as well as a subtle floral flavor. And lastly, the game changer: spicy chili crisp. Regular chili crisp will work, but spicy chili crisp gives this sauce an additional kick to balance out all the sweetness.

While this sweet and sour sauce is very different from traditional recipes that use pineapple juice and sugar, it goes really well with anything fried, from fried chicken to vegetable tempura. The sauce consistency is not too runny or too jammy, so it’s the ideal consistency for dipping and even dunking.

How To Make My Spicy Sweet and Sour Sauce

To make 1 cup of sauce, you’ll need:

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup spicy chili crisp
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (about 1/2 lime)

In a medium bowl, whisk the ketchup, honey, spicy chili crisp, and lime juice until well combined. Serve and enjoy!

Store any leftover sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. (But I have a feeling it will be long gone before then!)

I Dip, You Dip, We Dip