Kitson struck two minutes before the interval and Tony Pulis' team were unfortunate not to add to their tally after dominating most of a full-blooded contest.
Pulis opted to leave his two new signings, Robert Huth and Tuncay, on the bench after the former Middlesbrough duo were recruited for a combined £10million on Friday.
Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon, who replaced the injured Marton Fulop, soon needed treatment after he was clattered by Kitson.
And it wasn't long before a long throw by Rory Delap caused the visitors problems, with the lively Kitson hooking the loose ball over the top.
Sunderland did start to settle and only excellent defending by Abdoulaye Faye and then Danny Higginbotham denied Darren Bent on two occasions.
Bent, who made it clear he wanted to join Sunderland and not Stoke on his facebook website, was predictably the pantomime villain for the home fans.
And the £10million signing was soon thankful to his strike partner Kenwyne Jones for some brave defending at the other end of the field in the 25th minute.
Delap varied one of his long throws to pick out Glenn Whelan 25 yards from goal and his fierce shot flew straight into Jones' face, knocking him off his feet.
Gordon then raced from goal to rescue Anton Ferdinand after hesitancy from the defender let in Liam Lawrence.
But Stoke's pressure, and particularly their bombardment from set-plays, led them to taking the lead two minutes before the interval.
Sunderland struggled to clear Lawrence's left-wing corner and, when the ball was headed down by an under pressure Jones, Kitson smashed his volley into the turf and past Gordon from eight yards.
Stoke went for the jugular at the start of the second half and it took a terrific goal-line clearance by Phil Bardsley to keep out Lawrence's stinging shot in the 48th minute.
Steve Bruce was becoming increasingly frustrated in his technical area and he had seen enough by the 59th minute, when Andy Reid and Frazier Campbell replaced Steed Malbranque and Kieran Richardson.
But Stoke continued to dominate as some intricate approach play led to Kitson feeding Ricardo Fuller, who leathered a left-foot shot just over the top.
Bardsley had a long-range effort well held by Thomas Sorensen, but the ex-Sunderland kepper was otherwise untroubled against one of his former clubs.