Thai Sweet Chili Sauce is an integral ingredient or accompaniment for making various Thai dishes. It can be used as a stir fry sauce or a dipping sauce and once you make it home, there is no going back to the store bough ones. Here is how to make homemade sticky Thai sweet chili sauce recipe.
Thai cuisine is limitless and versatile. In Thai cuisine, balance, heterogeneity, and detail are given a lot of importance. Any Thai dish that is made has to taste good, look good and feel good.
Hence, Thai cuisine is one of my favourite cuisines and I love challenging myself for making different Thai dishes. Thai Green Curry with Eggplant and Tofu, Chicken Panang Curry and Pad Thai Noodles are family favourites but making Thai dishes at home does require some preparation.
So, I ideally keep some of the sauces and pastes ready well in advance so that whenever we feel like relishing a Thai feast, I can make it within no time. Thai Sweet Chili Sauce just like Thai Green Curry Paste certainly comes in handy while making various Thai dishes.
Made using garlic, red chilly flakes, sugar, corn starch, tomato ketchup, rice vinegar, Asian Sweet Chili Sauce can be easily stored for about a month. It’s a great recipe for canning too.
It is an essential condiment of any Thai kitchen. As I learned about the same, I prepared quite a huge stock of Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce and stored it.
To give this sweet Thai sauce and authentic taste, I have added a little bit of sambal Oelek to the sauce. Samal Oelek is a chili paste made using a variety of chillies and some added ingredients like shrimp paste etc. It gives a great depth to the sweet chili sauce, but it is definitely not an essential ingredient.
If you don’t have Sambal Oelek, you can definitely add some Sriracha Sauce or Red Chili Paste to this dip.
With the onset of monsoon, I make soups often and Sweet Chilli Sauce will be used with some soups as well as some snacks or noodles that I am planning to make soon! I recommend that you should make this Sweet Thai Sauce as well and do share your ideas for using it with Thai delicacies via your tweets. For today, here’s the recipe for Thai Sweet Chili Sauce:
What is Asian Sweet Chili Sauce?
Sweet Chili Sauce is a Thai condiment which is a must have in all the Thai kitchens. It is a thick, sweet, garlicky sweet and spicy sauce that is so versatile, it can be used almost everywhere. It is extensively used in stir fry and as dipping sauce with most of the crunchy appetizer dishes.
Made using simple everyday ingredients, it is delicious recipe which holds the promise to elevate the taste of any mundane dish.
It is readily available in markets these days, but by making your own at home, you know what is going into it plus it is much economical.
Why make Thai Sweet Chili Sauce at home?
- You can be sure what’s going in it, which means no preservatives, artificial colors etc.
- It’s super easy to make.
- Use basic ingredients which are mostly available easily.
- Can be made in big batch and refrigerated.
- Amount of chili can be controlled.
- Thickness of the sauce can be controlled. You can keep it thick for dipping and thin for stir frying.
Can Sweet Chilli Sauce go bad?
If not refrigerated properly and stored in contaminated container, the sauce can go bad. Make sure to use a clean glass jar to store the sauce and keep it in refrigerator at all time. This way, the sauce can be kept for upto a month.
Does Sweet Thai Sauce have gluten?
This recipe has all gluten free ingredients so it’s totally gluten free and gluten intolerant people can have it.
Is Thai Sweet Chili Sauce vegan?
Some versions of this sauce like the one I have shared have fish sauce or soy sauce in it. In that case it’s not vegan but you can easily replace it with vegan soy or tamari and make a vegan chili sauce.
How to use Thai Sweet Chili Sauce?
You can use this sweet chili sauce as a dipping sauce for spring rolls, wonton, crab rangoon, grilled chicken, fried chicken, chicken wings or chicken nuggets. I practically use it almost always to dip anything I am munching at.
In Thailand, this sauce is served with steamed rice and grilled chicken or pork. You roll the meat in rice, dip it in the sauce and gobble.
I always serve it with my homemade Vietnamese Summer Rolls and scallion pancakes.
A cheesy sandwich goes on a next level after dipping into this sauce.
You can use it as a marinade for tofu, chicken, shrimps, fish like salmon or tilapia or beef before grilling them.
I also like to mix some of it with hung curd, cream cheese or sour cream and churn up a quick dip for crackers and veggies.
Use it as a stir fry sauce for noodles and rice or veggies, chicken and shrimps.
Apply a little on wraps to give a nice after kick.
Toss mushrooms, carrots and bell peppers in this sauce and bake until done for delicious vegetarian sides.
I have a version of this sauce with Pineapple. Do check out Pineapple Chili Sauce.
You can make it sugar free by replacing sugar with stevia. 4-5 drops of stevia should be good enough to sweeten the sauce.
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How to make Sweet Chili Sauce Step by Step
Add sugar, garlic and red chilli flakes, water, vinegar, salt, ketchup, sambal oelek and fish sauce in a pan and bring it to boil.
Mix cornflour with little water to make a lump free mixture.
Add it slowly in the pan.
Cook for 3-4 minutes until sauce thickens a bit.
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce is an integral ingredient or accompaniment for making various Thai dishes. It can be used as a stir fry sauce or a dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 3-4 cloves Garlic Chopped
- 2 tsp Red Chilli Flakes
- 1 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Sambal Oelek
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp Cornstarch
Instructions
Add sugar, garlic and red chili flakes, water, vinegar, salt, ketchup, sambal oelek and fish sauce in a pan and bring it to boil.
Mix cornflour with little water to make a lump free mixture and add it slowly in the pan.
Cook for 3-4 minutes until sauce thickens a bit.
Remove the pan from heat and let it cool.
Transfer in a glass bottle and refrigerate for about a month.
Use as and when required.
Recipe Notes
If sambal oelek is not available, you can replace it with red chilli paste or add more red chilli flakes instead.
You can make this sauce using fresh red chilli peppers as well. If using Jalapeno, remove the seeds and veins if you don't like your sauce too spicy.
For a very spicy version, use thai bird's eye chillies.
Use a paste of 2-3 chillies in place of sambal oelek if using fresh chillies.
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Cristina M
It does not have a serving size for the nutritional information.
Neha Mathur
Hi Cristine, it is good for approx 10 servings.