Sweet-and-Sour Sausage

Sweet-and-sour sausage is an easy weeknight dinner recipe, ideal for when you’re craving something a bit different from the usual but need a hearty meal nonetheless. It’s made in one skillet (except for the rice), making it a breeze to clean up after dinner as well. The sweetness in the sauce perfectly balances the sour, and the addition of pineapple makes for a palate-pleasing texture and taste—even for pickier eaters. Serve it over a bed of tender rice with a side of crunchy sauteed veggies on the side.

Ingredients for Sweet-and-Sour Sausage

• Sausage: This recipe calls for a package of uncooked sausage links. Opt for unflavored links, since we’ll be adding plenty of sweet-and-sour flavor to make these sausages really tasty.
• Sugar: Regular granulated sugar or coconut sugar is best for this sweet-and-sour sausage recipe.
• Cornstarch: You’ll be using water and vinegar in this recipe, which can make for a watery sauce. Cornstarch helps to thicken it into a more syrupy sauce. If you want to try other thickeners, there are several ways to thicken sauce.
• Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar is the ideal vinegar to use here, although regular white vinegar is fine if you want a tart sour taste as opposed to a smoother one.
• Ketchup: If you want to try making your own ketchup to keep on hand, we have a number of ketchup recipes to choose from.
• Pineapple: Look for a can of crushed pineapple in its own juice or in water.
• Rice: Cook the rice so it’s ready when the sweet-and-sour sausages are finished cooking.

Directions

Step 1: Cook the sausage

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In a large skillet, cook the sausage until a thermometer reads 160°F, then drain any excess liquid. When it’s cool enough to handle, cut the sausages into small bite-sized pieces. Set the sausage aside while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

Step 2: Make the sauce and combine

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In a bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, water, vinegar and ketchup, then add the blend to the skillet and mix to combine, stirring frequently. Bring the pan to a boil. Reduce the heat, and cook for two minutes or until thickened, stirring less frequently. Add the drained pineapple and sausage, and heat everything through. Serve the sausage and sauce over cooked rice.

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Sweet-and-Sour Sausage Variations

• Add onion: Caramelize strips of onion before adding the sausage to cook.
• Up the tomato: Along with the ketchup, add diced tomatoes to the skillet to create a chunkier, tomato-fresh sauce.
• Make it with apricots: Tender apricot preserves would be a lovely addition to this recipe.
• Toss in some pepper: Chunks of bell pepper cooked with the sausage add a nice crunch and flavor to the dish.

How to Store Sweet-and-Sour Sausage

Once cooled, store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. It’s best to store the rice separately, but you can mix everything together if you’d prefer.

How long do sweet-and-sour sausages last?

If leftovers are stored properly, you can consume your sweet-and-sour sausage for up to four days.

Sweet-and-Sour Sausage Tips

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What kind of sausage should I use?

Plain sausage links are best. If you’d like a bit more sweet in your sweet-and-sour, you can choose a maple brown sugar or sweet apple sausage link, but do note that this will change the flavor of this recipe.

How can I cut down on overall cook time?

If you’d prefer, you can cut the sausage before cooking it. The sausage will cook faster this way.

What should I serve with sweet-and-sour sausage?

Sweet-and-sour sausage is often just a side dish, but served this way over rice, it becomes the main dish. Because of this, we recommend serving sides with the sausage, such as sauteed green beans or an asparagus dish of your choice.