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We love sauces and condiments—so much so that our fridge is stuffed full of half-used jars. We're "sauce people". Lately, I've really appreciated being able to make a moderate amount of sauce—something we can use over a couple meals and not clutter the fridge for the months thereafter. This Thai-inspired Sweet Chili Sauce is one we keep coming back to. It's more sweet than spicy and has a familiar flavor profile, so it's almost always a crowd pleaser. It also takes less than 10 minutes to make.
You can drizzle this easy sweet chili sauce over bowls, use it to coat tofu, brush it on roasted veggies, and pretty much anything else that could use a bit of sweet-and-spice. This sweet chili magic is the best sauce!
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What is Thai Sweet Chili Sauce?
Sweet Chili Sauce is a popular Thai condiment that's often paired with fried foods, like chicken and spring rolls. It's sweet, spicy, tangy, and oh-so-good. Due to its popularity, you can find sweet chili sauce in most conventional North American grocery stores. It's often sold in large glass screw-top bottles; but this sauce is fast and delicious to make yourself at home.
How this recipe is different
Traditionally, Thai sweet chili sauce is made with fresh Thai red chilis. Although these chilis are small, they pack quite a punch! With these chilis, it's not hard to accidentally go overboard with spiciness (especially if you don't LOVE a lot of heat). This recipe instead uses two pantry ingredients—Sriracha and red pepper flakes— to mimic the look and spice of a sweet chili sauce. Because our method adds the spicy ingredients in two stages, you can easily taste and adjust the spice levels to suit you.
Also worth noting: some sweet chili sauces contain fish sauce. This recipe skips the fish sauce altogether. Instead, tamari (or soy sauce) provides salt and umami—in a vegetarian and vegan friendly way!
Recipe ingredients
Here are the ingredients you need to make this Thai-inspired sweet chili sauce:
- Sugar: The first ingredient in almost all Thai Sweet Chili Sauces is sugar. Sugar is essential to replicate the sweetness you'd expect in a sweet chili sauce. For this recipe, you can use granulated sugar or cane sugar—but avoid brown sugar and coconut sugar because they'll turn the sauce brown.
- Water: This recipe uses equal parts sugar and water. At the end of cooking, if you'd like a thinner sauce, you can whisk in small increments of water until you reach your desired consistency. We prefer a thicker sauce for coating crispy foods—like tofu or "chicken" bites—or when drizzling it over bowls. But, you may prefer a thinner sauce for dipping things like egg rolls into. It's easier to thin than to thicken, so do this adjustment at the end, if needed.
- Rice vinegar: Vinegar (acidity) balances out the sweetness and provides a much needed tang. Rice vinegar is a mild, versatile, and often inexpensive vinegar. If you can't get rice vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar instead.
- Sriracha: It's not traditional, but we like using Sriracha for both heat and colour. It helps add red color to the sauce, without using food coloring.
- Red pepper flakes: Sweet chili sauces have flecks of red chili in them. Traditionally, this would come from fresh red chili peppers. But for convenience, this recipe uses dried red pepper flakes, because you probably already have them in your pantry! And, by adding the red pepper flakes at the end, you can easily adjust the spice level to suite your taste.
- Fresh garlic: For flavor! We highly recommend grating the garlic on a microplane or crushing it with a garlic press if you have one. Since this sauce cooks very quickly on the stove, the finer the garlic, the faster the flavor can infuse.
- Tamari (or soy sauce): Provides a hint of salt and umami.
- Cornstarch: Helps to thicken the sauce. Make sure to whisk it thoroughly before adding it to the sauce—so you don't get clumps!
Find the recipe card below for the complete recipe, including all ingredients and instructions.
How to make
It takes less than 10 minutes to make this recipe. Here's how to make homemade Thai Sweet Chili Sauce:
- Combine and simmer: Add the water, sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, Sriracha and tamari (or soy sauce) to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer to let the flavors meld.
- Thicken: Whisk together cornstarch and a bit of cold water until smooth. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the simmering sauce and let it thicken (it should only take about a minute).
- Adjust spice levels: Everyone has different spice tolerances, so this step allows you to add more heat at the end, if you like things spicier (like we do!). A pinch of red pepper flakes adds the quintessential look of a sweet chili sauce. At this stage, you can taste and add more Sriracha if you'd like. And, if you like things even spicier, you can add more red pepper flakes too.
Find the recipe card below for the complete recipe, including all ingredients and instructions.
How to use sweet chili sauce
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce is amazingly versatile. Here are just some of the ways you can use it:
- Use it as a dipping sauce for spring rolls
- Dip "chicken" fingers into it
- Drizzle the sauce over rice bowls
- Add it to stir fries
- Use as a glaze on crispy tofu
- Coat meatballs in it
- Brush it over grilled or roasted vegetables
- Serve it on a cheese board—and use it like you'd use a chili jam
- Drizzle it over lettuce wraps
- Dip grilled cheese into it
How else do you like to use sweet chili sauce? Let us know in the comments below!
📖 Recipe
Best Sweet Chili Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup + 2 tablespoons cold water, divided
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar (or cane sugar, see note 1)
- ½ cup rice vinegar (see note 2)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated (on a microplane, see note 3)
- 2 to 3 teaspoons Sriracha, divided
- 2 teaspoons tamari
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- 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.
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