Homemade Sweet Chili Sauce
This homemade sweet chili sauce is full of flavor, but it’s not too spicy — great for dipping your favorite foods! It’s easy to make and tastes SO much better than store-bought, with no high-fructose corn syrup!
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
Sweet chili sauce (nam chim kai) is a classic condiment served with southeast Asian cuisine, especially in Thailand. It can be used as a dipping sauce, a marinade, a glaze, and more. It’s my go-to for spring rolls, but I also use it to jazz up fried tofu! Honestly, it’s good on EVERYTHING!
These days, you can find sweet chili sauce in the international aisle at most grocery stores. However, these store-bought sauces often contain additives or things like high-fructose corn syrup.
Stop paying for bottles at the store when you can make this Homemade Sweet Chili Sauce with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! This delicious, zesty sauce is not only super flavorful, but it is also vegan, low in sodium, and can easily be made gluten free. When you make it at home, you know exactly what goes into the jar!
If you haven’t tried sweet chili sauce before, you are going to love this recipe! You’ve never had a sauce with so much depth of flavor, from such simple ingredients!
Is Sweet Chili Sauce the Same as Sweet and Sour Sauce?
Though they are similar in purpose as a dipping sauce and marinade, sweet and sour sauce and sweet chili sauce have different ingredients and flavor profiles.
Sweet and sour sauce is pineapple-based, with no heat (spice). It is naturally brown in color, and red food coloring is added to give it the distinctive color you might be used to seeing in restaurants or in bottles at the store.
Sweet chili sauce, on the other hand, incorporates red chilis and does have hint of spice. How spicy depends on how much and what type of pepper is used. It also contains a fair amount of sugar, which tones down the heat.
As a kid, I loved sweet and sour sauce. As a grown-up, I appreciate a bit of spice! Sweet chili sauce is one of my favorite condiments and I always keep some on hand.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (use coconut aminos for GF version)
- 4 teaspoons red pepper flakes or red chili flakes
for the Corn-starch slurry
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
In a small bowl, whisk together the corn starch and water to form a slurry; set aside.
- Toast the red chili flakes in a medium saucepan on the stovetop for about 3 minutes over medium heat. This helps to develop the flavors of the spice.
- Add your vinegar, water, sugar, minced garlic, and soy sauce and bring this mixture to a boil. Allow to boil for 4 minutes, stirring as needed to keep from boiling over.
- Reduce heat to low. Slowly add the cornstarch slurry, whisking until fully incorporated.
- Remove pan from heat. The sauce is ready to use right away, but it will continue to thicken as it cools. Allow sauce to cool to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container and storing.
7 New Ways to Use Sweet Chili Sauce
Sweet chili sauce is well-known as an egg roll dipping sauce, or accompaniment for chicken satay. But have you tried it with burgers? Here are some of our favorite unique ways to use this umami sauce:
- Dipping sauce for fries
- Glaze on chicken wings
- On top of cream cheese as a dip for crackers
- Sauce for grilled salmon
- Dipper for chicken nuggets
- Flavoring stir-fries
- Spread for sandwiches
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this Sweet Chili Sauce Need to Be Refrigerated?
Yes, your homemade sweet chili sauce needs to be kept refrigerated. It is made without added preservatives like you’d find in a store-bought bottle, however, the high vinegar content does help it keep longer than most homemade sauces. When stored in a glass jar or food storage container in the refrigerator, your sweet chili sauce should stay good up to a month.
Are Red Pepper Flakes and Red Chili Flakes the Same Thing?
Red pepper flakes and red chili flakes are essentially the same thing and can be used interchangeably. The main difference is the type of pepper used: chili flakes are made from red chili peppers, while red pepper flakes can be made from a combination of peppers.
Since they can be made from a variety of peppers, the red pepper flakes have potential for being spicer. If you’re new to spice, I recommend sticking with red chili flakes, which are more predictable. You could also look for red pepper flakes that are labeled as mild.
On the other hand, if you want a spicier sauce, use red pepper flakes labeled as hot. Trying different varieties of peppers allows you to experiment with spice levels.
Is Sweet Chili Sauce Gluten Free?
Since soy sauce contains wheat ingredients, the original recipe is not entirely gluten free. However, this can easily be converted into a gluten-free recipe by substituting coconut aminos for the light soy sauce. The flavor will be almost exactly the same!
More of our Favorite Homemade Sauce Recipes
- Copycat Raising Cane’s Sauce
- Fresh Chimichurri Sauce
- Thai “Secret” Sauce
- KFC Brown Gravy
- Homemade Mayonnaise
- Copycat Chick-Fil-A Honey Mustard
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe (Printable Recipe Card)
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Homemade Sweet Chili Sauce
Equipment
- 1 Saucepan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon light soy sauce or coconut aminos for Gluten-Free version
- 4 teaspoons red chili flakes or red pepper flakes
for the Corn-starch slurry
- 3 teaspoons corn starch
- 2 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- Whisk together cornstarch and water to form a slurry and set aside.
- Toast red pepper flakes in a medium saucepan over medium heat for about 3 minutes, to enhance flavors.
- Add vinegar, water, sugar, minced garlic, and soy sauce to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent boiling over.
- Reduce heat to low. Slowly add cornstarch slurry to sauce, whisking until fully incorporated.
- Remove pan from heat. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Allow to cool to room temperature before storing.
Notes
Nutrition
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Can you use a sugar substitute for sugar in the sweet chili sauce recipe
I haven’t tried that, so I can’t say for sure if it would affect the consistency. If you do try, let me know!
I have made chili sauce with erythritol before. Will never again, it crystalizes and is horrible. Not sure what you want to use but dont use that.
The recipe calls for white wine vinegar so that’s what I used. In your introduction it says rice vinegar.
Is it going to work out? It’s cooling right now.
How long will this sauce stay stable in the fridge, before it starts to separate?
I usually keep homemade sauces for a week, two at most. If they start to separate (and not mix back together easily with a quick stir) then I toss and make a new batch.
I wanted this recipe to work so bad! First, is it rice vinegar or white wine vinegar that you use? You mentioned both. Also, I made this recipe twice and followed the instructions to a T, and it came out extremely spicy and watery. After attempting again and letting it sit in the fridge for 12 hours, it’s still runny.
I made this last night and it was really good. I did have an issue with it getting to gelatinous. Any recommendations?
Can you can this sauce?
No, this recipe was not designed for canning. I don’t know if it would be acidic enough.
Can you make it without garlic? If so do you change it out with something or just omit it. (I can’t do Garlic, ginger or mustard but I can have onions)
I think you could probably omit the garlic, though I haven’t personally tried it that way.
Thank you for recipe! Is light soy sauce the kikkomens light soy sauce or the Chinese light soy sauce?
thank you
I think any soy sauce brand should work here (as long as it is not the sweet soy sauce, which is very thick and a different ingredient)
Is the rice vinegar of 5% acidity
I’m not sure – but I think it can range from 4-5%. The acidity number isn’t super important here because we are not canning the sauce.
I followed the recipe exactly as written and it was delicious! Served it with Coconut Shrimp and rice. Thank you for an easy and fabulous recipe!
Hi Stacey! Your email link appears to be broken. I love sweet chili sauce and was excited to see this recipe! There is one edit that, as someone with celiac disease, I would be remiss in leaving unaddressed: this recipe is not gluten-free. Gluten is found in wheat, barley, and rye, and soy sauce is one of the surprising things that contains wheat flour. There are gluten-free soy sauces available or (my favorite alternative) coconut aminos. I would hate for someone to serve this to a friend with some form of gluten sensitivity thinking it was safe only to make that friend very ill. God bless!
Oh gosh, I know better! I actually use coconut aminos frequently and should have thought to suggest that already. Thank you for reminding me – I made some edits to the post to make this more clear.
Holy smokes. I just made it and thought I was gonna die when I toasted the red pepper flakes! I was caughing and laughing at the same time as my husband in the other room was coughing too. But really, you need a mask or something while makeing it. Mine is cooling now, don’t know what it tastes like and not the reddish color color it should be . Cant wait to tey it tonight with my southwest egg rolls
I made this today. Turned out great. Please note that when you cook red pepper flakes, which I used, I coughed and coughed. Use mask if you are sensitive.
When determining the nutrition, how much was considered to be a serving? Thanks!
I divided the total recipe by 16 servings. Hope this helps!
Oh my goodness!! I love this stuff but can’t eat the seeds! Do you think I could get close to the flavor by wrapping the chili flake in cheesecloth?
I don’t know for sure, but let me know if you try it!
If this recipe doesn’t thicken once cooled, is there a way to save it? Reheat and add more slurry? I really love this combination of ingredients and want so badly for it to thicken! Please help!