Schezwan Sauce Recipe (Szechuan Chutney)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy.
This Homemade Schezwan Sauce (Szechuan Chutney) is hot, spicy, fiery red, and much more delicious than the store-bought sauce. Make this versatile sauce at home using a few basic pantry ingredients.
Table of Contents
I have a jar of my homemade Schezwan sauce in my fridge almost year-round. Two ounces of Kashmiri chilies, half a cup of ginger, and the whole kitchen smells like an Indo-Chinese street cart.
I spent a long time getting this sauce recipe right. A spoonful turns plain leftover rice into Schezwan fried rice in ten minutes, and that rice shows up on our table at least twice a month.
I make mine with Kashmiri chilies only. They give that deep, glossy red without blowing your head off, so the sauce is spicy but still friendly enough for the whole family. It also means no food color. The red you see comes entirely from chili.
The name is a little misleading. Despite the spelling, this sauce isn’t from Sichuan province in China. It was born in Indian Chinese restaurants, which is why it is far more garlicky and chili-forward than anything you’d eat in Chengdu.
What Is Schezwan Sauce?
Schezwan sauce (also called Schezwan chutney or Szechuan sauce) is a spicy, garlicky red chili sauce from Indo-Chinese cooking.
It is made by cooking a paste of soaked dried red chilies in oil with ginger, garlic, celery, and onion, then seasoning it with soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, and sugar.
It is hot, a little sweet, a little tangy, and used both as a dip and as a cooking sauce for fried rice and noodles.
Homemade Schezwan sauce has no added color or preservatives, and you choose the oil, chilies, and heat level. One batch costs a fraction of a few store-bought bottles and keeps for a month in the fridge, so it pays for itself the first week.
Ingredients
- Dried Red Chilies – These make the base of the sauce. I use dried Kashmiri red chilies (Kashmiri lal mirch) because they are bright red and mild, so the sauce looks fiery but stays balanced. Byadgi chilies work the same way. Regular dried red chilies make it much hotter.
- Oil – Any neutral oil works. Sesame oil (til ka tel) gives the most traditional taste. The generous amount of oil carries the flavor and helps the sauce keep well.
- Ginger – This recipe uses a lot of it, which gives the sauce its warm, sharp bite.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic is the key. Don’t use pre-minced garlic in brine; it tastes sour once cooked.
- Celery – It is the quiet “restaurant smell” in Indo-Chinese food. Skip it if you don’t have it.
- Onion – It adds body and a little sweetness. Shallots are a good swap.
- Soy Sauce – Adds salty, savory depth.
- White Vinegar – Use plain white vinegar for tang. Rice vinegar is a softer substitute.
- Tomato Ketchup – Gives the sauce its glossy body and sweet-sour balance. Use a gluten-free tomato paste if you need it gluten-free.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar rounds off the heat.
- White Pepper Powder – It adds a sharp, background heat without dark specks. Black pepper is fine in a pinch.
- MSG (Ajinomoto) – Optional. It boosts the savory, umami taste you get in restaurant sauces and is sold in Indian stores as Ajinomoto or “Chinese salt.” The US FDA classifies MSG as generally recognized as safe, but skip it if you prefer.
- Salt
How To Make Schezwan Sauce
Prepare The Chilies
Step 1: Remove the stalks from 60 g (2 oz) dried Kashmiri red chilies.
Step 2: Slit each chili lengthwise with scissors and remove the seeds, as shown in the photo below. Seeds add extra heat and a gritty texture, so removing them keeps the sauce smooth and lets chili flavor shine instead of burning.
Step 3: Soak the deseeded chilies in boiling hot water for 30 minutes. Hot water softens the dry skins, which helps them blend into a silky paste later.
Blend The Chilies
Step 4: Drain the soaking water. Add the chilies to a blender with ¼ cup of fresh water.
Step 5: Blend into a smooth paste. It should look like the photo below, thick and even with no visible bits of skin. If it’s grainy, blend for a few more seconds and scrape down the sides.
Cook The Sauce
Step 6: Heat ¾ cup of oil in a pan over high heat.
Step 7: Once the oil is hot, add ½ cup finely chopped ginger, ¼ cup finely chopped garlic, ¼ cup finely chopped celery stalk, and ¼ cup finely chopped onions. Fry for 2–3 minutes. High heat flavors the oil fast, but keep stirring. Burnt garlic turns the whole batch bitter.
Step 8: Lower the heat to medium. Add the chili paste and ½ cup water, then cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring often. This is where the raw, harsh chili taste cooks out. Stir from the bottom so the paste doesn’t catch. You’ll see it darken a shade and thicken as the water cooks off.
Step 9: Add 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 cup tomato ketchup, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon white pepper powder, 1 teaspoon MSG (optional), and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook for 5-6 minutes.
Step 10: Take the pan off the heat and let the sauce cool to room temperature. Jarring it while hot traps steam, and those water drops under the lid can make the sauce spoil early.
Step 11: Spoon it into a clean, airtight jar and refrigerate.
Pro Tips By Neha
- Weigh the chilies. Dried chilies vary a lot in size, so 60 g gives you the same sauce every time, while “20 chilies” doesn’t.
- Chop the aromatics really fine. A hand chopper or food processor makes ½ cup of ginger a two-minute job, and fine pieces melt into the sauce instead of sitting in it like chunks.
- Taste after cooling, not while hot. Heat dulls salt and sweetness, so adjust once it reaches room temperature.
- Want it thinner? Stir in a little water at the end, a tablespoon at a time.
- Always use a dry spoon. Even a few drops of water from a wet spoon cut the fridge life short.
Variations
- Spicier: Replace a few Kashmiri chilies with regular dried red chilies.
- Tingly, more Sichuan-style: Add 1 teaspoon crushed Sichuan peppercorns with the seasonings.
- Gluten-free: Use tamari instead of soy sauce and gluten-free tomato paste instead of ketchup.
- No MSG: Skip the Ajinomoto; the sauce is still full of flavor.
- Nuttier: Stir in 1 teaspoon white sesame seed powder, or add a splash of sake for depth.
- Jaggery instead of sugar: Swap the white sugar for jaggery for a deeper, earthy sweetness.
How To Use Schezwan Sauce
- Quick dressing: Stir a little into yogurt for a spicy salad or wrap dressing.
- Fried rice: The obvious one. Use it in my Schezwan fried rice or the spicier Schezwan egg fried rice.
- Noodles: Toss a spoonful into veg Hakka noodles to turn them into Schezwan noodles.
- Stir-fries and gravies: Add a teaspoon to stir-fried beans, eggplant, or peppers, or to vegetables in hot garlic sauce for extra heat.
- Dip: Serve with momos, spring rolls, fries, potato wedges, chicken lollipops, or nuggets. For dumplings, set it out next to a milder gyoza dipping sauce so everyone picks their heat.
- Spread and marinade: Slather it on rolls, parathas, and Schezwan dosa, or use it to marinate chicken, fish, or shrimp before grilling.
Storage Suggestions
Schezwan sauce doesn’t need to be eaten fresh, and that is the whole point of making a big batch.
Once completely cool, it keeps in a clean, airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Use a clean, dry spoon every single time, and it will last the full stretch. There’s no reheating needed; spoon it straight from the jar into a hot wok or onto your plate, and let a cold dip sit out for a few minutes if you want it a little looser.
For longer storage, freeze it in a freezer-safe container or zip-lock bag for up to 6 months.
Freezer tip: Freeze the sauce in an ice cube tray, then pop the cubes into a bag. Each cube is roughly one fried-rice portion, and you can drop it straight into the wok without thawing the whole batch.
Schezwan Sauce FAQs
No. The fast-food sauce is a sweet, tangy dipping sauce. Indian Schezwan sauce is a hot, garlicky chili paste used for cooking and dipping.
It depends on the chilies. Made with Kashmiri chilies, as here, it’s medium-hot and colorful. Made with regular dried red chilies, it gets very hot.
The garlic or ginger probably browned too much in Step 7, or some seeds stayed in the chilies. Keep stirring over high heat, and lower the flame a notch as soon as the garlic starts to color.
Old chilies lose their color, and so does a paste that catches on the pan. Use fresh, flexible Kashmiri chilies (they should bend, not snap), and stir from the bottom in Step 8.
No. Sichuan peppercorns are dried berries that make your mouth tingle; they aren’t chilies. This recipe uses dried red chilies for heat and color, with Sichuan peppercorns as an optional extra.
Other Homemade Sauce Recipes We Recommend
Craving more? Subscribe to Whisk Affair to get new recipes and a newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! And stay in touch on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google for all of the latest updates.
Schezwan Sauce Recipe (Homemade Schezwan Chutney)
Ingredients
- 2 ounces dried Kashmiri red chilies (60 g, or any other dried chilies that you prefer, stalks removed)
- ¾ cup oil (use sesame oil for a very authentic taste)
- ½ cup finely chopped ginger
- ¼ cup finely chopped garlic
- ¼ cup finely chopped celery
- ¼ cup finely chopped onions
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce (replace with tamari or coconut aminos for gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 cup tomato ketchup (skip for gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon MSG (Ajinomoto) (optional)
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
Prepare The Chilies
- Remove the stalks from the chilies.
- Slit each chili lengthwise with scissors and remove the seeds.
- Soak the deseeded chilies in boiling hot water for 30 minutes.
Blend The Chilies
- Drain the soaking water. Add the chilies to a blender with ¼ cup of fresh water.
- Blend into a smooth paste. The paste should be thick and even, with no visible bits of skin. If it’s grainy, blend for a few more seconds and scrape down the sides.
Cook The Sauce
- Heat oil in a pan over high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add ginger, garlic, celery, and onions. Fry for 2–3 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium. Add the chili paste and ½ cup water, then cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring often. Stir from the bottom so the paste doesn’t catch. You’ll see it darken a shade and thicken as the water cooks off.
- Add soy sauce, vinegar, tomato ketchup, sugar, pepper powder, Ajinomoto, and salt. Cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat and let the sauce cool to room temperature.
- Spoon it into a clean, airtight jar and refrigerate.
VERY NICE RECIPE , I think if we will take jaggary instead of sugar it will give delicious taste.
Thnx. Sure you can do that.