I have a new family favorite weekday meal; shrimp in homemade sweet and sour sauce! My kids love the sweet taste of it. The good thing is the sweetness comes from pineapple not sugar!

This super easy recipe will WOW you for sure; it’s full of flavor, made with wholesome ingredients and on the table within 30 minutes. Let’s get cooking!

How to make healthy sweet and sour shrimp

Clean the shrimp

Start with the dirty work. This is the not-so-cool part of this dish: peeling and deveining the shrimp. You can of course buy already cleaned-peeled-deveined shrimp, but if you are doing it yourself, here is a great how-to.

Make the sauce

I heat up a saucepan or a deep skillet with some avocado oil and I add the onion, half of the garlic and ginger. I stir until the onion is translucent. Now I add the tomatoes and pineapple and stir frequently until the tomatoes are softened and start to fall apart. I turn off the heat and use a submergible blender to blend the tomato mixture into a smooth sauce.

I taste the sauce and add lime juice (and vinegar) to balance the sauce and some salt and pepper.

If you have kids that don’t like spicy food but you do, here is what you do; you divide the sauce in two. Add some sriracha sauce to one batch to spice it up a bit and keep the other one ‘plain’.

Now the sweet and sour sauce is ready.

Blanch the veggies

I like it when veggies are still crunchy and firm. That is why I only blanch the veggies; a quick in-and-out of boiled water. Just enough to get them a bit softer, but still have crunch and texture. I usually blanch my vegetables for 1-2 minutes. I drain the water and rinse them in ice water.

Finish the sauce

I heat up a (deep) skillet with some avocado oil and add the remaining garlic and ginger. Once fragrant, I add the shrimp and the veggies. Stirring until the shrimp turn pink (which will happen pretty quickly!) I add the sweet and sour sauce, stir a bit more until the sauce is warm again and take it off the heat. I make sure not to overcook the shrimp; nobody likes rubbery shrimps, right?

Serve on/with/in

I serve my sweet and sour shrimp over (brown) rice, but you can definitely use (zucchini) noodles as well. After I divide the rice over plates and add the sweet and sour shrimp, I top each plate with spring onions and toasted sesame seeds. Or I serve it all in a hollowed out pineapple. So tropical and kids love it!

I am so happy with another family favorite weekday meal! We love it and I hope you and your family will do too! It is

naturally sweet – tangy – easy and quick to make – kid friendly – and so delicious!

I added this meal to my easy weekday family meal list underneath, fish filets with passionfruit sauce, family friendly falafel, homemade oven roasted tomato sauce on top of zucchini noodles, meat(less)balls with mashed potatoes, gallo pinto; tropical rice and beans. Looking for more dinner inspo? Check out the dinner section.

Sweet and sour shrimp

Shrimp in homemade sweet and sour sauce. The sweetness of the sauce comes from pineapple; no sugar is added. Ginger and lime juice give the sauce extra depth of flavor.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Total Time 25

Course Main Course

Servings 4 people

Calories 372 kcal

Equipment

submergible blender

Ingredients

2 tbsp avocado oil
1 medium size onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tbsp ginger (minced)
6 medium size tomatoes (diced)
1 cup pineapple (cubed)
2-3 tbsp lime juice (or use half lime juice, half (apple cider) vinegar)
2-3 tbsp sriracha sauce (optional)(to taste)
2 lbs medium size shrimp (preferably fresh)
1½ cup brocolli florets (from more or less 1 medium size head of brocolli)
1½ cup sliced carrots (from more or less 1 large size carrots)

For garnishing (optional):

2 tbsp coriander leaves
2 tbsp spring onion (chopped)
1 tbsp sesame seeds (toasted)

Instructions

Start by peeling and deveining the shrimp. You can of course buy already cleaned-peeled-deveined shrimp, but if you are doing it yourself, here is a great explanation on how to.
Heat up a saucepan or a deep skillet with some avocado oil. Add the onion and half of the garlic and ginger. Stir until the onion is translucent. Now add the tomatoes and pineapple and stir frequently until the tomatoes are softened and start to fall apart.
Turn off the heat and use a submergible blender to blend the tomato mixture into a smooth sauce.
Taste the sauce and add lime juice (and vinegar) to balance the sauce and some salt and pepper.
If you have kids that don't like spicy food but you do, here is what you do: you divide the sauce in 2. Add some sriracha sauce to one batch to spice it up a bit and keep the other one plain.
The sauce is ready. Set it aside.
To keep the veggies crisp, firm and vibrant, slightly blanch them; a quick in-and-out of boiled water (1-2 minutes). If you prefer your vegetables softer, add 1-2 minutes to the blanching-time. Then drain the water and rinse the veggies with ice water.
Heat up a (deep) skillet with some avocado oil and add the remaining garlic and ginger. Once fragrant, add the shrimp and the veggies. Stir until the shrimp turn pink that's is when they are done (which will happen pretty quickly!) Then add the sweet and sour sauce. Stir until the sauce is warm again and take it off the heat.
Serve sweet and sour shrimp over (brown) rice or noodles. After dividing the rice/noodles over plates, add the sweet and sour shrimp. Garnish with all/some of the toppings (optional).

Notes

Nutritional information:

the information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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