It's easy to make delicious Thai Sweet Chili Sauce at home! This recipe uses basic pantry ingredients to make a versatile sweet and spicy sauce in less than 10 minutes. Use it as a dip, a sauce, in stir-fries, over rice, or anywhere else you want a bit of heat. (Vegan and Gluten Free).
Combine and simmer: In a small saucepan, whisk together ⅔ cup of water, sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, 2 teaspoons of Sriracha, and tamari. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 3 minutes for the flavors to meld.
Thicken: In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and remaining 1 tablespoon cold water until smooth. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the simmered sauce and whisk to combine. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Adjust spiciness: Whisk in ¼ teaspoon of the red pepper flakes. Taste and add remaining Sriracha, if you can handle more heat. (And, if you really like heat, add the remaining red pepper flakes too). Depending on your desired consistency, you can thin the sauce now with a bit of extra water (see note 4).
Notes
Sugar: Use granulated or cane sugar. Avoid brown sugar and coconut sugar for this recipe, because they'll turn the sauce brown.
Vinegar: Rice vinegar is recommended because it's mild and light tasting. If you don't have rice vinegar, substitute for apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. They will result in a slightly different flavor, but will still be tasty!
Finely grating garlic: This sauce is very quick-cooking, so finely grating the garlic on a microplane (or using a garlic press) will help the garlic flavor infuse quickly. If you don't have either of these, do your best to mince the garlic as finely as possible.
Thinning the sauce: Depending on how you plan to use the sauce, you may want to thin it slightly with a bit more water. It's easier to thin than to thicken, so make this adjustment at the end—and in small increments. We usually keep the sauce as is for foods where a thicker sauce is more desirable (e.g. drizzling over bowls, or coating crispy tofu or "chicken" bites). But, if you want a thinner sauce (e.g. for dipping spring rolls into), add small increments of water until the sauce is your desired consistency.
Storage tips: Refrigerate extra sauce in a jar or airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Yield: Makes ¾ cup sauce. Nutritional estimate assumes 1 tablespoon per serving, but adjust as needed.