Abstract: This method for making sugar esters entails first reacting a sugar and an ter of that sugar having a degree of substitution greater than 2 with a Lewis acid or Lewis base catalyst in an organic solvent to form a sugar ester having a degree of substitution up to 2 and recovering the sugar ester having a degree of substitution up to 2 at ambient temperature. The recovery step must be conducted at a temperature below the distillation or boiling temperature of the organic solvent or else the DS of the resulting sugar ester will be greater than 2. This process is especially suited for sucrose esters. The reaction between the sugar and the sugar ester is conducted in the absence of a methyl ester of a fatty acid.